Three generations of ancestors

The ancestor of Qingshui is also called "Master Mazhang", and it is often called "Ancestor" in southern Fujian, "Ancestor Gong" and "Grandfather" in Taiwan. Among the nearly 100 Qingshui ancestral temples in the province, the ancestors are divided into three generations, Penglai, Mingying, Caring, Huiying and Pu 'an.

According to legend, Shimizu was born in Xiaogu Township, Yongchun County, Fujian Province on the sixth day of the first month of the fourth year in Li Qing, Song Renzong. Chen Ying became a monk in Dayunyuan since childhood. Because he couldn't stand the abuse of temples, he went to Gaotai Mountain to build a monastery and closed his door. After receiving the guidance of Song Ming, the Zen master of Dajingshan Mountain, he studied Buddhist scriptures for three years and finally realized the Tao. The Zen master Song Ming gave him a vestment and warned him: "The greatest merit of my Buddha is compassion, so it is my duty to give up all karma and benefit the world." So Chen Ying gave medicine in Mazhang to save the poor and the sick, and Mazhang people respectfully called him "Master Mazhang".

In the sixth year of Yuanfeng in Song Shenzong, there was a drought in Qingxi Yongchun (Anxi, Fujian). The villagers asked him to pray for rain, and it rained immediately, so he was honored as "the founder of Qingshui". Qingxi people built a fine house on Penglai Mountain and invited Mazhang people to live here, which is called "clear water strictness". Master Mazhang practiced here for 19 years, and raised funds by himself to build bridges and pave the way for everyone's convenience. People in Zhangzhou and Tingzhou believe him very much. Song Huizong died in a sermon on May 13th, at the age of sixty-five. The local people were grateful for his virtue and reported it to the court, giving him the title of "Master Zhao Ying".

According to the records of the Three Gorges Ancestral Temple in Taiwan Province Province, Masataka Shimizu was a native of Xiangfu County (now Kaifeng, Henan Province), Kaifeng Prefecture, Kyoto in the Northern Song Dynasty. He followed Wen Tianxiang, the prime minister of the Song Dynasty, bravely resisted the Yuan soldiers and moved to the north and south of the great river. He was a national hero who resisted Yuan and saved Song Dynasty. The founder of Qingshui lived in seclusion in Qingshuiyan, Fujian. After his death, Ming Taizu remembered his contribution to the country, named him "lord protector" and ordered the construction of an ancestral temple in Qingshuiyan, Anxi County, Fujian Province. Therefore, Anxi County, Fujian Province called him "Grandfather" and his temple was called "Ancestral Temple".

Minnan folk belief is an organic part of Minnan culture and an important part of Fujian folk belief. Yang Jun, a scholar in the late Qing Dynasty, listed the four major gods in Fujian in Si Nian Chu as Mazu (the "Mother of Heaven"), Guangze Wang Zun, Qingshui Zushi and Baosheng Emperor, which are the main representatives of folk belief in southern Fujian. With the overseas Chinese in southern Fujian going abroad, the folk beliefs in southern Fujian have also spread overseas.

According to the study of Minnan culture, the founder of Qingshui (1037-11year) is commonly known as the "founder", and his real name is Puzu. He was born in Yongchun, Chu Xiao, and became a monk at an early age. He only suffered from rain and drought, sent doctors and medicines, built bridges and roads, and was deeply admired by the people. Later, Zhang Yan (now Penglai), who was stationed in Qingxi (Anxi), renamed Zhang Yan Qingshui Rock because he saw that the clear spring around the rock was inexhaustible in all seasons. He is also known as "the founder of Qingshui". After his death, he was regarded as a god by the people, hoping that he would always protect everyone's health. As a result, overseas Chinese in southern Fujian also spread the belief in Qingshui overseas. In A.D. 1574 (the second year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty), overseas Chinese built a temple in Pattani, Thailand, which was called the "ancestral temple". Later, because Miss Lin was added to the temple, it was renamed "Lingci Palace". ⑤ This ancestral temple is one of the earlier overseas Chinese temples and the earliest Qingshui ancestral temple in Southeast Asia. From then on until the middle of Qing Dynasty, there was no conclusive historical data about whether there was a Qingshui ancestral temple overseas. However, since 1930s, many temples dedicated to the founder of Shimizu have been built in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam. In Singapore alone, there are Jinlan Temple, Penglai Temple, Zhennan Temple and Tiangong dedicated to or attached to Qingshui, and the "Snake Temple" dedicated to Qingshui in Malaysia is even more famous. It can be seen that Shimizu belief is very popular among overseas Chinese.