Xīnghuà

The Xinghua, or Putian people, are the Han Chinese of the Xinghua plain on the central Fujian coast, speaking Pu-Xian, a Coastal Min tongue midway between the Eastern Min of Fuzhou and the Southern Min of Quanzhou.

Putian county was first set up under the Chen dynasty in 568; in 979 the Song created the separate Xinghua military prefecture, after which its dialect developed on its own, taking in Eastern Min features while keeping a Southern Min core.

Lin Moniang, a shamaness of Meizhou Island born in 960, was worshipped after her death in 987 as Mazu, goddess of the sea. Song emperors recognised her temple from 1123, Zheng He earned her a new title in 1409, and after the Qing campaign against Taiwan in 1683 she was promoted to Heavenly Empress.