{"id":398238,"date":"2017-07-05T12:13:00","date_gmt":"2017-07-05T12:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ghana-mma.com\/2017\/07\/05\/chinese-deities-flown-on-business-class-to-malaysia\/"},"modified":"2017-07-05T12:13:00","modified_gmt":"2017-07-05T12:13:00","slug":"chinese-deities-flown-on-business-class-to-malaysia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2017\/07\/05\/chinese-deities-flown-on-business-class-to-malaysia\/","title":{"rendered":"Chinese deities flown on business class to Malaysia"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"td-post-featured-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"660\" height=\"371\" class=\"entry-thumb td-modal-image\" src=\"https:\/\/ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Chinese-Diety.jpg.pagespeed.ce.e6mE0wAPmy.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"Chinese-Diety\" data-pagespeed-url-hash=\"1644900616\" onload=\"pagespeed.CriticalImages.checkImageForCriticality(this);\"\/><\/div>\n<p class=\"story-body__introduction\">Images of three revered Chinese deity statues went viral on social media after they were seen travelling in business class on a flight from China\u2019s port city of Xiamen to the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur. But what is the story behind it?<\/p>\n<p>The first was the Chinese sea goddess Mazu (also known as Matsu), widely worshipped in southern China as well as countries with large Taoist and Chinese Buddhist communities such as Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan.<\/p>\n<p>She is a patroness of the sea and is believed to protect fishermen and sailors.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media-landscape no-caption full-width\"><span class=\"image-and-copyright-container\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"responsive-image__img js-image-replace alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/_96808346_19657263_786313108214137_6399797008082461360_n.jpg\" alt=\"Mazu\" width=\"976\" height=\"549\" data-highest-encountered-width=\"624\" data-pagespeed-url-hash=\"414243679\" onload=\"pagespeed.CriticalImages.checkImageForCriticality(this);\"\/><span class=\"off-screen\">Image copyright<\/span><span class=\"story-image-copyright\">THEAN HOU\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/figure>\n<p>The other two statues are Qianliyan and Shunfeng\u2019er, heavenly guardians of the goddess.<\/p>\n<p>Qianliyan is known for his powers of far-sightedness while the demon Shunfeng\u2019er possesses the incredible ability to hear all sounds carried by the wind, a role believed to aid sailors and passing ships from advancing storms.<\/p>\n<p>The three statues were sent to Malaysia and Singapore as part of an inaugural cultural exchange tour to pay tribute to the sea goddess and celebrate a festival in her name. It was organised by the Meizhou Mazu Ancestor Temple in China.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"responsive-image__img js-image-replace\" src=\"https:\/\/ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/_96795970_6.jpg\" alt=\"Mazu\" width=\"976\" height=\"650\" data-highest-encountered-width=\"624\" data-pagespeed-url-hash=\"3087137141\" onload=\"pagespeed.CriticalImages.checkImageForCriticality(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Photos being widely circulated on Chinese social media showed the statues leaving their coastal temple home and \u201cchecking in\u201d at Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow did she get through security checks?\u201d asked amused user Tong Huichun on the popular WeChat messaging app.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s normal for Mazu to give a tour. It\u2019s too far away so she\u2019s taking a flight. Taking a boat will take too long,\u201d said another WeChat user Gong Chang.<\/p>\n<p>Temple staff told BBC News that the religious statues were escorted by \u201ca delegation of more than 130 people\u201d and brought onto a Xiamen Airlines flight heading to Kuala Lumpur International Airport.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"responsive-image__img js-image-replace\" src=\"https:\/\/ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/_96793802_2.jpg\" alt=\"Mazu\" width=\"624\" height=\"450\" data-highest-encountered-width=\"624\" data-pagespeed-url-hash=\"2083951249\" onload=\"pagespeed.CriticalImages.checkImageForCriticality(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<p>They flew in comfort in business class, on tickets costing 2,091 yuan (\u00a3237) each.<\/p>\n<p>With assistance from airline staff, devotees fastened the sacred statues into first row seats and \u201cwidened\u201d them to allow more space.<\/p>\n<p>Taking turbulence into consideration, the statues\u2019 feet were firmly fixed onto the seats with special harnesses.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is basic respect we have for the culture of Goddess Mazu,\u201d said a spokesperson who received the statues in Malaysia. \u201cThey were also more than 6ft high, so they had to fly business class.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>They even had special passports, which staff from the temple said were a \u201cspecial courtesy\u201d provided by the airline.<\/p>\n<p>The statues came from a sacred sea temple located off the shores of Fujian province, known to its worshippers as being the birthplace of goddess Mazu.<\/p>\n<p>They travelled more than 2,800km to another temple, the Thean Hou Chinese Temple in Malaysia.<\/p>\n<p>Temple staff highlighted the importance of their voyage.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is the body of our divine goddess, a symbol of Chinese folk culture,\u201d a representative told BBC News, adding that processions were held to celebrate the statues\u2019 safe arrivals.<\/p>\n<p>All three statues have made their way to neighbouring Malacca city and are on their way to Singapore. They will then return to their home in China.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a style=\"display:none\" rel=\"follow\" href=\"http:\/\/megatheme.ir\/\" title=\"\u0642\u0627\u0644\u0628 \u0648\u0631\u062f\u067e\u0631\u0633\">\u0642\u0627\u0644\u0628 \u0648\u0631\u062f\u067e\u0631\u0633<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Images of three revered Chinese deity statues went viral on social media after they were seen travelling in business class on a flight from China\u2019s port city of Xiamen to the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur. But what is the story behind it? The first was the Chinese sea goddess Mazu (also known as Matsu), widely [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":398239,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-398238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Chinese deities flown on business class to Malaysia - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2017\/07\/05\/chinese-deities-flown-on-business-class-to-malaysia\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Chinese deities flown on business class to Malaysia - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Images of three revered Chinese deity statues went viral on social media after they were seen travelling in business class on a flight from China\u2019s port city of Xiamen to the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur. 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