Festival attracts believers from both sides of Taiwan Strait

The 16th Baosheng Tzu Chi Cultural Festival kicked off on Sunday in Xiamen, eastern China's Fujian province, attracting believers of the folk religion from both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

Baosheng Dadi is a deity of medicine worshiped in Chinese folk religion. Its archetype was a physician born in Fujian in the Song Dynasty. The deity is very popular in Fujian, Taiwan and the Chinese communities in Southeast Asia.

The deity is the second-largest folk belief in Taiwan, with more than 500 temples and over 5 million followers.

More than 270 representatives from 23 temples in Taiwan, Kinmen and Hong Kong and more than 360 representatives from 73 temples on the mainland attended the event, which opened at the Qingjiao Tzu Chi Palace located in Haicang district of Xiamen, where the folk doctor practiced medicine.

Lin Junq-tzer, a former acting chairman of the Kuomintang, said at the opening ceremony that the folk belief has been brought to Taiwan by the migrants from southern Fujian in ancient time.

Both sides share the same language, culture and origin, as well as the same ancestry, he said.

The festival this year focuses on medicine communication and cross-Strait integration. Several exchange activities will be organized, including an academic seminar on Fujian and Taiwan herbal medicine culture.