Ma-tsu

See also: Mat-Su

English

Map including MA-TSU (ISLAND) 馬祖, MA-TSU HAI-HSIA 馬祖海峽 and MA-TSU AO 馬祖澳 (AMS, 1954)

Etymology 1

From the Wade–Giles romanization of Mandarin 馬祖 (Ma³-tsu³).

Pronunciation

• enPR: mäʹtso͞oʹ

Proper noun

Ma-tsu

1. Alternative form of Matsu (island).
   • 1980, Russell Warren Howe, “Orders of Battle, Balances of Power”, in Weapons: The International Game of Arms, Money and Diplomacy‎^[1], Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 177:

     The armed forces of 470,000 include about 330,000 soldiers. There is also a militia of 100,000. The Army has Hawk and Nike-Hercules missiles. Eighty thousand troops are deployed on Quemoy and Ma-tsu islands, within swimming distance of China's Amoy harbor. Army reserves total about 1 million.

   • 1992, Gregory W. Pedlow, Donald E. Welzenbach, The Central Intelligence Agency and Overhead Reconnaissance: The U-2 and Oxcart Programs, 1954–1974‎^[2], Washington, D.C., →ISBN, →OCLC, page 229‎^[3]:

     The Nationalist Government reported a massive buildup of PRC troops and aircraft in Fukien Province opposite the Nationalist-held Quemoy and Ma-tsu Islands.

   • 1992, Richard Louis Edmonds, “The Changing Geography of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau”, in Graham P. Chapman, Kathleen M. Baker, editors, The Changing Geography of Asia‎^[4], Routledge, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 160:

     Since 1949, Taiwan has remained under Nationalist (Kuomintang) control along with the off-shore islands of Chin-men (Kinmen) and Ma-tsu (Lien-chiang County) in Fujian Province. Chin-men and Lien-chiang County are to end their period of direct military rule and to elect their first country magistrates in 1993.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:Ma-tsu.

Translations

Matsu — see Matsu

Further reading

• “Ma-tsu” in TheFreeDictionary.com, Huntingdon Valley, Pa.: Farlex, Inc., 2003–2024.

Etymology 2

From the Wade-Giles romanization of Mandarin 媽祖／妈祖 (Māzǔ).

Proper noun

Ma-tsu

1. Alternative form of Matsu (goddess)
   • 1996, Arvind Sharma, Katherine K. Young, The Annual Review of Women in World Religions: Volume IV, page 165:

     Early settlers of Taiwan in the 17th century came from coastal communities in China, and through the process of "incense division" [fen-hsiang]. brought images of Ma-tsu with them from mainland "mother" temples.

   • 2000, Billy Kee Long So, Jilang Su, Prosperity, Region, and Institutions in Maritime China, page 269:

     The effect of religious beliefs on the merchant's behavior may also be explored by examining the local cult of the Heavenly Consort (Ma-tsu or T'ien-hou).

   • 2001, Chün-fang Yü, Kuan-yin: The Chinese Transformation of Avalokitesvara, page 413:

     The worship of important goddesses such as Ma-tsu (familiarly known as “Granny”), Pi- hsia Yüan-chün (Niang-niang or “Nanny”), and the Unborn Mother flourished after Kuan-yin became feminine during the Sung and came to serve some of the needs of Chinese people that had gone unfulfilled by the territorial and bureaucratic male gods.

   • 2008, Shirley Fong-Torres, The Woman Who Ate Chinatown: A San Francisco Odyssey, page 100:

     On the side street between Pacific and Jackson, this Taoist and Buddhist temple houses the Goddess Ma-Tsu, who looks after travelers and visitors.

Anagrams

• Maust, musta, sumat