Published : 14/12/2025
Currently, Hong Kong's ICH inventory comprises 507 items, 12 of which are included as national-level Intangible Cultural Heritage. To help readers unravel the significance of these national heritage items from within their profound historical and cultural context, "Our China Story" launches a 12-part series titled "Heritage in Numbers", using figures to explain and explore HK's intangible cultural heritage.
The goddess "Tin Hau", revered as "Mazu" (媽祖), is a sea goddess widely worshipped in Chinese societies. According to incomplete statistics, there are approximately 350 Tin Hau temples across Hong Kong. Legend has it that the name of Hong Kong originated from the Hung Heung Lo Tin Hau Temple (紅香爐天后廟) in Causeway Bay; the nearby MTR station was also named "Tin Hau Station".
Currently, the Hong Kong intangible cultural heritage database has recorded the customs of celebrating the Tin Hau Festival in over 20 communities, and these locally inherited "Tin Hau Festivals in Hong Kong" have also been inscribed into the national-level intangible cultural heritage list.
So, who exactly was Tin Hau? How did she, as a mortal, cultivate her way to immortality and ultimately transform into the widely revered "Mazu"?
1 baby girl who never cried
According to the Chinese Temples Committee (華人廟宇委員會), Tin Hau (天后, Empress of Heaven) was originally a mortal, who was born in the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127 AD).
With the surname "Lin" (林), or "Lam" in Cantonese, she was the daughter of a local official in Putian (莆田), Fujian. Since she had not cried for a full month after birth, she was given the name "Mo" (默, meaning silent), and known as "Lin Mo Niang" (林默娘).
At the age of 13, Lin Mo Niang began studying Taoist from a Taoist priest; and at 16, she obtained a magical talisman while looking into a well. This granted her the abilities to foresee the future and project her spirit out of her body to rescue people in peril at sea.
She once saved her father and brother from a shipwreck and was widely known as a filial daughter.
At the age of 28, Lin Mo Niang ascended to heaven and became a goddess. It is said that the famed Ming Dynasty admiral Zheng He (鄭和) also received the protection and assistance of Tin Hau during his seven legendary maritime expeditions.
2 great guardian generals
When worshipping Tin Hau, her two guardian generals usually stand in front of her throne──"Thousand-Mile Eye" (千里眼) and "With-the-Wind Ear" (順風耳).
According to legend, they were originally demons who caused trouble among the people, but were later subdued by the Goddess Tin Hau, who used their abilities to see a thousand miles and hear sounds from all directions to assist her in protecting the world.
23rd of the third lunar month: Tin Hau's Birthday
Hong Kong was once a fishing village, and as the patron goddess of the sea, Tin Hau was deeply revered and worshipped by fishermen. Traces of Tin Hau temples can be found in various villages and bays across Hong Kong.
Every year, the 23rd day of the third lunar month is the Tin Hau Festival. As one of Hong Kong's grandest divine festivals, communities hold Tin Hau Festival celebrations of various scales.
4 major ceremonies to celebrate the Tin Hau Festival
On the 23rd day of the third lunar month, Tin Hau's Birthday, worshippers can go to Tin Hau temples to pay homage, but besides that, the Tin Hau Festival also has four major ceremonies, including the "Deity Reception" (接神), "Cantonese Opera Performances for Deities" (神功戲), "Fa Pau" (花炮) and "Parades".
The "Deity Reception Ceremony" usually takes place in the open space in front of the Tin Hau temple.
The so-called "Deity Reception" is the moving of Tin Hau's "travelling statue" (i.e. a small statuette) from the Tin Hau temple to the celebration venue. Then the festival's organising committee will carry the sedan chair enshrining the "travelling statue" of Tin Hau and parade through the community, led by a qilin or lion dance, to bring peace and blessings to the residents.
In addition, the organisers will also invite the "travelling statues" of deities from other temples in the district to the temporary opera shed to celebrate the Tin Hau Festival together.
"Cantonese Opera Performances for Deities", as the name suggests, are dramas performed for the deities. It is generally believed that entertaining Tin Hau is also a form of "merit", thus the performances have the meaning of "accumulating merit for the deities".
The opera performances for the Tin Hau Festival are mainly Cantonese opera, usually running for three to four days, entertaining both gods and people to achieve a state of communal joy between the divine and the human.
The "Fa Pau" (paper floral tributes) is a highlight of the Tin Hau Festival. According to The Hong Kong Intangible Cultural Heritage Series: The Tin Hau Festival in Hong Kong, "Fa pau can be likened to a small, mobile, temporary shrine, which houses a small statuette representing the deity."
Traditional Fa Pau are constructed from bamboo strips and paper, standing about 8 to 9 feet tall. In the centre of the flower cannon is placed a wooden statue or a drawing of Tin Hau, representing the incarnation of the deity, and it is decorated with items symbolising good fortune and auspiciousness.
In Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta region, it is popular to distribute the Fa Pau representing Tin Hau to worshippers, allowing them to take them home to worship in order to receive Tin Hau's blessings.
Before the 1970s, "Fa Pau Snatching" (搶花炮) was popular, but what was scrambled for was not the 8-to-9-foot-tall Fa Pau itself, but small bamboo sticks that represented the flower cannon.
The "Fa Pau Snatching" tradition involves placing bamboo sticks into firecrackers and launching them into the sky. Whoever successfully catches the falling bamboo sticks may take them home to worship for one year.
The following year, on Tin Hau's Birthday, devotees must return the bamboo sticks—a practice known as "returning the Fa Pau" (還炮).
When returning the Fa Pau, a new Fa Pau must be made, with the deity's statuette placed back inside, and returned to the temple for redistribution. This process repeats endlessly.
Nowadays, to avoid physical contact, the Fa Pau Snatching event has mostly been replaced by a lottery draw, with only a few areas like Po Toi Island (蒲台島), still preserve the traditional practice of snatching the Fa Pau.
Finally, there is the "Tin Hau Festival Parade". The parades in different districts each have their own characteristics. Some are held on land, and some at sea.
For example, in places like Shap Pat Heung (十八鄉) in Yuen Long, Tai Po, and Cha Kwo Ling, the ceremony of returning the Fa Pau has developed into a parade, which weaves through the community to celebrate the festival, led by dragon dance, lion dance, unicorn dance, and pixiu dance (舞貔貅).
They are usually accompanied by performances such as Piu Sik (飄色, floating colours), floral floats, singing and dancing, as well as both Chinese and Western musical bands.
And in High Island (糧船灣), Sai Kung, a maritime "ghost worship" (祭幽, worshipping wandering souls) ceremony is held during the Tin Hau Festival.
The portable statue of the Tin Hau deity is first invited out from the temple, moved to the main boat in a sacred sedan chair, and then symbolically towed by two other vessels at the front for a maritime parade, praying for smooth sailing, bountiful catches, and peace on both land and sea.
Read more: Why is the Tin Hau Temple in Sai Kung called the "Big Temple"?
The 5th batch of national Intangible Cultural Heritage
The Tin Hau Festival in Hong Kong was inscribed on the fifth batch of Representative List of State-Level Intangible Cultural Heritage Items in 2021. On the first Intangible Cultural Heritage Inventory of Hong Kong, 26 Tin Hau Festival events with unique local characteristics are included, such as the Tin Hau Festival of the Shap Pat Heung in Yuen Long, and the Tin Hau Festival of Tai Po Old Market.
Each of these celebrations features unique cultural customs and different dates for honouring the festival.
The largest parade starting in the 1960s
The Yuen Long Shap Pat Heung Tin Hau Festival Fa Pau Procession is the largest Tin Hau Festival parade in Hong Kong. This grand celebratory event can be traced back to 1963.
In the past, the returning of the Fa Pau was handled by individual Fa Pau associations. But in the early 1960s, there were more than 50 Fa Pau associations in Shap Pat Heung in Yuen Long.
On the morning of the Tin Hau Festival, they would proceed from different places towards the Tai Shue Ha Tin Hau Temple (大樹下天后廟) to return the Fa Pau, accompanied by lion dance and dragon dance troupes to add to the festivities. This tradition has continued to this day.
According to media reports, this year's (2025) Yuen Long Shap Pat Heung Tin Hau Festival Fa Pau group has as many as 37 Fa Pau teams and performance troupes from various villages participating. Many overseas tourists make a special trip to Yuen Long to enjoy this celebration that is rich in local Hong Kong characteristics.
An ancient Tin Hau Temple with over 700 years of history
Hong Kong is home to a large number of Tin Hau Temples. According to the book A Study of Tin Hau Temples in Hong Kong (by Tse Wing-cheong), it is estimated there are around 350 such temple.
Among them, the one with the longest history is the Tin Hau Temple at Fat Tong Mun (佛堂門) in Sai Kung. It was first built in 1266 and has a history of over 700 years to date, hence it is also known as the "Great Temple" (大廟).
As the Tin Hau Temple at Fat Tong Mun was built on a bay where the sea is as calm as a mirror, it gives people a sense of peace and security as if stepping into a Buddhist hall. When fishing boats sail in from the left and right sides, it looks like an opening door from a distance, therefore, this area is also known as "Fat Tong Mun" (Buddhist Hall Gate).