Blockchain gets religion? Temple in Taiwan minting NFTs to local sea goddess – ConsciousCryptoNews.com

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The Chinese language language sea goddess Mazu is large enterprise in Taiwan and the blockchain may make it even bigger.

The Mazu deity, usually often known as a protector of seafarers and worshiped by Chinese language language communities world vast for lots of of years, may be very trendy in Taiwan. The Dajia Jenn Lann Temple in Taichung metropolis organizes an annual 300-kilometer nine-day pilgrimage with a statue of the goddess that draws a complete bunch of 1000’s of followers. 

The pilgrimages and related festivals have common what is called the “Mazu monetary system,” referring to donations and spending on Mazu-themed merchandise and enterprise options surrounding the religion. 

Dajia Jenn Lann Temple, which dates once more to the Qing Dynasty throughout the 1700s, has decided in order so as to add a Web 3.0 side to its actions. It’s minting and selling sea goddess non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that act as a priority cross for the pilgrimage that always happens throughout the Spring.

The MazuDAO NFTs went on sale in August at NT$ 18,880 (US$615) via the temple’s e-commerce platform MazuBuyBuy and elsewhere. To date, the temple has minted and supplied higher than 2,800 NFTs. 

“In step with estimates the nine-day pilgrimage can generate higher than NT$5 billion (US$163 million) in spending. On the day when Mazu returned to the home temple, we observed about 500,000 of us turning into a member of the pilgrimage,” Mingkun Cheng, vice chairman of the board of the Dajia Jenn Lann Temple, instructed Forkast.

Additional youthful people have gotten a member of the pilgrimage so the MazuDAO NFTs attraction to them, talked about Cheng. 

MazuDAO NFT
MazuDAO NFTs on OpenSea

On-line gods?

Many standard cultural actions are adapting to digital and technological innovation, Mao-Hsien Lin, an affiliate professor of Nationwide Taichung Faculty of Education’s Taiwanese languages and literature division, instructed Forkast

Nonetheless, Lin, who researches Mazu religion, talked about many elder followers won’t be so constructive regarding the developments.

“They just like the bodily contact and the direct contact with the statue of the deities,” Lin talked about. They don’t appear to be so constructive that within the occasion that they worship on-line that the deities are moreover on-line to hearken to their prayers.

Nonetheless, Lin talked about the pilgrimage priority perk for NFT holders received’t be too participating for standard believers. 

“Often as soon as we pray, the house between you and the statue doesn’t truly matter. It’s not resembling you’d get specific remedy while you’re nearer,” he added. “It’s turning into a bit too commercialized.”

To faucet into the market of standard believers, the NFT problem workforce organized offline promoting and advertising campaigns — an methodology fully totally different from most  NFT initiatives that prioritize on-line promoting and advertising channels.

Jerry Yan, problem lead of MazuDAO, instructed Forkast that many elder followers didn’t even have a smartphone and “very so much reside in a Web 0.0 world.”

“We wanted to rearrange promotional cubicles in entrance of the temple to introduce MazuDAO NFTs to those Web0 believers,” Yan talked about, together with moreover they wished a landline buyer assist workforce because of it was the one methodology to achieve older temple followers. 

“Usually on the cellphone, we’d ask them to call for his or her grandchildren to help out and organize crypto wallets on their behalf.”

MazuDAO 2
MazuDAO NFT problem workforce organize promotional cubicles on the Dajia Jenn Lann Temple in August.

Enterprise Mazu

Cheng talked about that the temple has accredited some on-line distributors to utilize its Mazu psychological property to make merchandise in the marketplace on its e-commerce platform MazuBuyBuy.

Lin the researcher talked about Mazu has develop to be a highly-commercialized psychological property in Taiwan, with Mazu-themed merchandise in consolation retailers and on primary on-line shopping for web sites.

“As soon as extra, I really feel a giant part of the essence of religion lies in offering that psychological comfort for believers. It’s not primarily an excellent issue if it’ll get too commercialized,” Lin talked about. “If we see the deity as a enterprise generator, it would lose a manner of divinity.”

Nonetheless, Cheng of the Dajia Jenn Lann Temple talked about the temple’s annual pilgrimages have attracted an rising number of youthful of us and loads of put up films of the pageant and the pilgrimage on social media platforms resembling Instagram and YouTube. 

A Korean YouTuber based totally in Taiwan (usually often known as Korean Kimchengu, truly “Korean enoki mushroom”) joined the pilgrimage remaining yr and made a video that has gained over 580,000 views.

Logan Beck, an American YouTuber based totally in Taiwan, moreover uploaded a video of the 2021 pilgrimage, which now has higher than 405,000 views.

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