In 1983, a small island started from a large farmer

Stinky Feet had a very bad relationship with his family. In the end, the only people who were willing to come and see him off were his parents and one brother.

Due to the incident of Mazu's security inspection, I was afraid of causing conflict and impact, so I could only place his body in the coffin first, and could not be buried in the funeral for the time being.

It can only be postponed until after the Lantern Festival, and almost everyone in the village hates smelly feet. His family does not intend to do nothing in vain, but to keep everything simple.

Death is like a light going out, and the story of Stinky Feet leaving was quickly forgotten by the villagers amidst the sound of firecrackers.

However, he did not leave nothing behind. The biggest contribution of Stinky Feet was that he made the entire Xiasha Village understand a truth.

That is, if you are bitten by a dog or cat, you must get a "dog shot".

In the past two days, many villagers came to Zhang Defa's health station and said they had been bitten by dogs before and wanted to get dog shots.

"You have been bitten by a dog for half a year. The dog that bit you is not dead, so you should be fine."

"The one that bit me was killed and eaten by me a long time ago. Doctor Chen said that as long as the dog is not sick, dog injections are effective."

Zhang Defa had quite a headache. To be honest, he really didn't like Dr. Chen. He came to their village to show off his authority, patted his butt and left, but it caused him a lot of trouble.

How could his health station have such a dog needle? This thing needs to be kept refrigerated, and it has to be applied to the superior.

"I don't have it here. If you want to get it, you can go to the health center in town to apply. But it requires at least five injections, and the price is not cheap."

When Zhang Defa told the approximate price of dog injections, many villagers who clamored for dog injections finally chose to give up after weighing it.

After Zhang Defa closed the door of the health station, he carried his bag and took a boat to the school.

Zhang Defa always felt that he was very powerful and knew more than his classmates, but since he came into contact with Xiao Rong and Dr. Chen.

He found that he often listened to the scriptures there and could not get a word in at all. Sometimes, he even had an illusion.

These two people are very likely to be better than his teacher, which makes him quite helpless. No wonder Xiaorong said that if you want to study medicine, it is best to study in the best school.

study hard!
During this time, the entire island was filled with an indescribable atmosphere. Everyone was excited and excited, and there were sounds of gongs and drums everywhere.

Because Dandan Island is about to usher in a grand event that has not been held in more than ten years, that is, Mazu’s security patrol.

Even Dandan Island Primary School postponed the start of school for several days to allow students to participate in this event.

The closer it gets to the day of security patrol, the busier Li Duoyu, who is the head of the family, is, almost busy at Thean Hou Temple from morning to night.

Because he is a tool for throwing the Holy Grail, even now, Li Duoyu is kneeling on the futon, holding the Holy Grail in his hand and asking Mazu for instructions: What time will it be more appropriate to go to the ancestral temple tomorrow to pay homage to the ancestors and offer incense?

I tossed the Holy Grail many times.

Li Duoyu finally asked about the exact travel time.

At 5:30 tomorrow morning, we will officially set off from Thean Hou Temple on Tam Tam Island.

Since the Chinese New Year, Thean Hou Temple has begun to accept donations. Compared with building schools, the villagers of Dandan Island seem to prefer spending money on this aspect.

Li Duoyu alone donated 5,000 yuan in the name of the company, and other relatives in their family, including the uncle, third uncle, and eldest cousin, also donated 5,000 yuan in total.

From the start of donations to now, in less than ten days, Thean Hou Temple has received more than 30,000 donations from believers.

There is a team at Tianhou Palace that specializes in managing money. After they got the money, they immediately paid back all the money advanced by Li Duoyu.

Every expenditure in the entire Thean Hou Temple is recorded and publicized. Even a pair of candles must be recorded.

Some people may try to embezzle other money in the village, but no one dares to do anything wrong with the money from Thean Hou Palace.

And those who are the bosses like Li Duoyu, instead of greedy for the money, often repay the money.

When Li Duoyu bought some small things for Tianhou Palace, he was too lazy to ask the supply and marketing cooperative to issue a receipt.

After asking about the Holy Grail, Li Duoyu ran back home on the spot and fell asleep directly after learning that he had nothing to do.

Unexpectedly, his mother-in-law Chen Huiying had been at his house early and came to supervise him and told him not to eat meat or drink alcohol.

Almost at the same time, Lao Mao, the village broadcaster, used the village’s loudspeaker to broadcast:
[Dear villagers, hello everyone, I am now announcing an important event. Our island’s Thean Hou Temple is going to the ancestral temple to pay homage to our ancestors tomorrow. Villagers who are going will gather at Thean Hou Temple at four o’clock tomorrow to carry lanterns, flags, and sedan chairs.
Also, Mazu is a vegetarian. When you pay respect to your ancestors and burn incense tomorrow, please do not eat meat, meat oil, or drink alcohol. Tomorrow morning, you can go to the Tianhou Temple for breakfast. 】

[Also, except for the villagers who want to pay homage to their ancestors, the villagers on this island should try not to go fishing in the past two days. The shrimps, soldiers and crabs will be our good brothers]

On the thirteenth day of the first lunar month.

Four o'clock in the morning.

Li Duoyu, with a pair of panda eyes, gathered at Thean Hou Temple early, where many people were having breakfast.

This time, there were about 60 people going to the ancestral temple on Meizhou Island to pay homage to their ancestors, and 30 people each from Xiasha Village and Chenjia Village. The formation was quite large.

In addition to adults, many children also come to Thean Hou Temple to have breakfast. If the smelly feet are still there, they will definitely come here to have breakfast.

Li Haoran came to have breakfast early: "Uncle, are you on patrol today? Then should I go back and get the flag?"

"not yet."

Li Duoyu shook his head and said: "Today is not Mazu's patrol, but preparations to go to the ancestral temple on Meizhou Island to pay homage to the ancestors and offer incense."

"What is paying homage to ancestors and offering incense?"

"This one"

"Ask your dad or grandpa, they know better than me."

Li Duoyu really doesn't understand many of the rules and customs of patrolling.

It was only recently that he heard from the older generation that the Mazu Empress on Dandan Island was just the ghost of Mazu who was the golden body of Meizhou Island.

The separation of spirits refers to the construction of a new palace or temple in a place, or when a believer wants to worship a certain god in his home.

You can go to the Dagong Temple, which has a long history and has miraculous miracles, to seek the spiritual power of the gods. After special rituals, the newly sculpted statues are regarded as the clones of the gods in the ancestral temple.

The clone has the same spiritual power, but every once in a while, it has to return to the ancestral temple to burn incense and cut fire in order to maintain its spiritual power.

The Mazu of Tianhou Temple on Dandan Island was separated from the ancestral temple on Meizhou Island more than 200 years ago. According to the original custom, she had already gone back to burn incense and cut fires.

Because of those ten years, the pilgrimage to pay homage to the ancestors was interrupted, and it has been almost twenty years since I went to the ancestral temple.

At almost five o'clock, all the villagers who wanted to pay homage to their ancestors and offer incense had already finished their breakfast, and everyone had begun to line up.

Their team is called the incense ceremony team, and their main duty is to escort the Mazu statue to the Meizhou Ancestral Temple to offer incense.

Walking in the front was Li Duoyu, who was wearing a yellow silk ribbon with embroidered on one side "Place incense at Thean Hou Temple on Dandan Island" and on the other end was "Our Lady of Heaven Protects Peace".

In his hand, he held an ancient, blackened incense burner, said to have a history of more than two hundred years. The two deputy heads, Chen Huotan and Chen Yuanshan, followed behind him, wearing yellow silk ribbons like him.

Further behind are the fisher girls holding red lanterns, who are also the most eye-catching group of people in this incense ceremony.

There are thirty-six women carrying lanterns. People like Shui Hua and Lin Shanshan who have been married and have children are also in this team, and there are even more young girls who are not yet married.

They all wear the same Mazu costume, which can be summed up in one sentence: "Sailboat head, sea clothes, red and black pants to keep safe."

Today, these lamp-carrying ladies all wore simple makeup and bitten red paper on their lips. They were all dressed up quite beautifully.

The reason why many young men woke up so early was to see this group of women holding lamps, and many of them were still there to comment on them.

"I think Chen Xiaoyan from the old Chen family is the most beautiful. She is just eighteen this year and will be able to get married in two years."

"Teacher Lin is pretty good-looking too."

Zhao Dahai said with disdain: "Mr. Lin, what's so good about her? She's too thin. Her body is all bones. It's better for women to be fatter."

When Zhao Dahai said this, Shitou happened to hear him, and he responded directly on the spot: "As expected of someone who breaks shoes, I like the chubby ones like Widow Chen."

Zhao Dahai didn't show any weakness: "Shitou, you haven't eaten meat yet, so you won't understand. When you hit a bone, you will know the pain."

An old fisherman also agreed with Zhao Dahai's point of view: "Yes, Dahai is right. Being too thin is really not good."

Li Haoran on the side didn't understand what they were talking about at all, and sighed: "What are you arguing about? That's because my aunt didn't get in, otherwise she would definitely be the most beautiful."

Speaking of Zhou Xiaoying, many men present couldn't help but sigh. Looking at Li Duoyu at the front of the team, everyone couldn't help but feel resentful.

Zhou Xiaoying can be said to be the only one on Dandan Island. She is fair and has a good figure, neither thin nor fat, and has a good temperament. Unfortunately, she was treated as a child bride by Lao Li a long time ago.

One villager couldn't help but said: "Damn it, I feel like the good luck of our village is all concentrated on Li Duoyu."

Zhao Dahai nodded and said, "It seems true."

An old man saw them chatting there and suddenly said seriously: "Don't talk nonsense on such a big day, Mazu will take it seriously, and maybe she will transfer all your luck directly to Director Li."

After hearing this, the group of people quickly worshiped the statue of Mazu and began to admit their mistake.

The team behind the lantern-carrying woman is composed of more than ten people carrying flags, and in the middle of the team is the person carrying the sacred palanquin.

Finally, there are the believers carrying the sacred sedan. The sacred statue of Mazu is seated in the sacred sedan. There are believers on both sides holding sun and moon umbrellas, and behind them there is a believer holding a precious umbrella.

This time, the only deity who went to the ancestral temple to offer incense was Mazu, and other deities did not need to go.

Many Tianhou Temples have two statues of Mazu, one smaller and one larger.

The smaller one was brought over from the ancestral temple more than two hundred years ago and is entirely made of wood.

As for this statue of Mazu, people on this island generally call it the soft-body Mazu. They use this statue of Mazu for security patrols or business trips, and for all kinds of things.

For example, if you want to go to the ancestral temple to offer incense this time, you must go by the soft-body Mazu. Some villagers also call it Mazu on a business trip.

The other statue is a hard-bodied statue that cannot be moved. It is also called the palace Mazu. Once the soft-bodied Mazu goes on a business trip.

With the presence of the hard-bodied statue, there would be no need for Mazu to be worshipped in Thean Hou Palace when Mazu was on a business trip.

At half past five on time, the sound of firecrackers rang out from Thean Hou Temple.

Miao Zhu shouted at the top of his lungs:

"The auspicious time has arrived, and the incense ceremony team sets off."

The lanterns held by the fisher girl were all lit, and Li Duoyu, who was holding an incense burner, walked slowly in front.

The incense ceremony team slowly walked towards the pier, and along the way, villagers continued to kneel down and worship the statue of Mazu who was leaving the palace.

On the other side of the pier, a large number of villagers gathered, including those from Xiasha Village and Chenjia Village.

But no one blocked the way, but consciously made way for them.

This time we went to Meizhou Island. Dandan Island prepared a total of four boats, including Li Duoyu's fishing boat. This boat was used as a sign and was responsible for transporting Mazu statues.

There are also the tugboats of Li Niantian and Li Zhengfa, as well as the passenger ship that goes to and from Qingkou Pier on the island.

The ship was surrounded by flags, and it looked like an ancient warship.

After all the members of the incense ceremony team boarded the fishing boat, a continuous sound of firecrackers exploded on the pier.

It was at this time that brilliant red lights appeared in the eastern sky.

The old fisherman couldn't help but sigh: "The time is just right, I really know how to count time."

Four fishing boats also headed towards Meizhou Island, and the fishermen with boats on the island also got on their own fishing boats and followed the four boats for about ten minutes.

The fishing boats stopped following. Everyone watched the four boats leave, and then they all returned to the island.

It takes about two hours to sail from Dandan Island to Meizhou Island.

However, you cannot go to pay homage to your ancestors whenever you want. All this needs to be discussed with the Meizhou Island Ancestral Temple in advance.

Li Duoyu has also been busy recently, and these things were all completed by Chen Huotan and Chen Yuanshan.

During the next trip, Li Duoyu was even more confused. It turned out that they were not going directly to the Meizhou Island Ancestral Temple.

Instead, we first came to the Tianhou Ancestral Temple in Xianlianggang and heard from Chen Huotan that there was also a dispute between Xianlianggang and Meizhou Island for the birthplace of Mazu.

They have been quarreling for many years, but for people like them who come here to seek incense, the location of Mazu’s birthplace does not mean much.

If you two are fighting for each other, then just worship both of them.

In ancient times, Xianliang Port was the only dock leading to Meizhou Island. Pilgrims from all over the world would first hold an ancestor worship ceremony at the Tin Hau Ancestral Temple in Xianliang Port, and then take a boat to Meizhou Mazu Temple to offer incense.

Dandan Island still respects the ancient customs. The deity Mazu from Dandan Island first came to stay one night at the Tin Hau Ancestral Temple in Xianlianggang.

The next day, at dawn.

Then cross the sea from Xianliang Port Pier to Meizhou Ancestral Temple to offer incense, completing the incense offering ceremony. The entire ceremony will take two days at the fastest.

But what Li Duoyu didn't expect was that when they were holding the ceremony, there were many people in suits filming everywhere with cameras.

Listening to the accent, it doesn't sound like a local. He speaks a Minnan dialect, but he doesn't pronounce it with a Minnan accent, which gives the impression that it is rather quaint.

(I checked a lot of information for this chapter, which resulted in a late update. There are too many customs about Mazu. If there are any differences, your side shall prevail.) (End of this chapter)