A common belief in the goddess of Mazu is bringing people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits together, said a top official in charge of Taiwan affairs.

Zhang Zhijun, chief of the Taiwan Affairs Office at the State Council, made the remarks at the opening ceremony of Mazu Cultural Week on June 12 in Meizhou, an island in Putian city, Fujian province.

Putian is the hometown of Lin Moniang, a woman in the Song Dynasty (960-1279) known for her benevolence in helping others, especially fishermen. Lin was later deified as Mazu, the Goddess of the Sea.

Over the next millennium, Mazu has continued to be worshipped in China's coastal regions, especially in Fujian, Taiwan and Guangdong provinces.

In that time, groups of Fujian people left their home province for Taiwan, becoming the ancestors of today's Taiwanese. They also brought their native religion to the neighboring island.

Today, there are thousands of Mazu temples and more than 10 million believers in Taiwan, according to Zhang.

"We share the same language and the same beliefs. We are a family on the same boat for the same voyage," he told participants at the ceremony.

Zhang recalled a landmark event in 1987 when the first group of worshippers from Taiwan visited the ancestral temple of Mazu in Meizhou Island after decades of separation.

"Since then, the exchange between Mazu believers across the Straits has become frequent," he said.

Zhang gave special praised to the efforts made by the Taiwan Mazu Fellowship in strengthening cross-Straits ties.

The association organized delegates representing more than 400 Mazu temples in Taiwan to attend the cultural week this year.

Some 13,000 people participated in the opening ceremony and the following sacrifice offering to Mazu, including 8,660 participants directly from Taiwan and more than 2,000 Taiwanese living on the Chinese mainland.

According to Lin Jinbang, board chairman of the Mazu Ancestral Temple in Meizhou, there are more than 17 million believers in Taiwan.

And he said the ancestral temple is visited by more than 200,000 Taiwanese every year.

"Mazu is now the most influential facilitator of cross-Straits exchanges, bringing people on the two sides of the Straits ever closer in recent years," Lin said.

Zhang Zhijun of the Taiwan Affairs Office said he greatly values the cultural exchange focusing on Mazu worship because the goddess represents a spirit of "cherishing peace, helping the needy, advocating universal love and unselfish giving".

"All these represent the traditional values of the Chinese people - both on the mainland and in Taiwan," he said.

"We should actively promote the Mazu culture to build a common spiritual home for people on both sides of the Straits," Zhang added.

He noted that as cross-Straits ties grow steadily, more opportunities await.

"There are also challenges and difficulties ahead," Zhang said. "But we are bothers and sisters with the same blood and the same belief. We can overcome the challenges with concerted efforts and the blessing of Mazu," he added.

The Mazu Cultural Week, which ended on June 15, is an important part of the ongoing Straits Forum that opened on June 14 in Xiamen, Fujian province.

zhuanti@chinadaily.com.cn