Is blockchain getting religion? Taiwan Temple Coins NFTs

The Chinese sea goddess Mazu is big business in Taiwan and blockchain can make it even bigger.

The Mazu god, known as a patron of seafarers and worshiped by Chinese communities around the world for centuries, is particularly popular in Taiwan. The Dajia Jenn Lann Temple in Taichung City organizes an annual 300-kilometer nine-day pilgrimage with a statue of the goddess that draws hundreds of thousands of followers.

The pilgrimages and related festivals have formed what is known as the “Mazu economy”, referring to donations and spending on Mazu-themed goods and business opportunities surrounding the religion.

Dajia Jenn Lann Temple, which dates back to the Qing Dynasty in the 18th century, has decided to add a Web 3.0 element to its activities. It is the minting and sale of sea goddess non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that act as a priority pass for the pilgrimage that usually occurs in the spring.

The MazuDAO NFTs were sold in August for NT$18,880 (US$615) through the temple’s e-commerce platform MazuBuyBuy and elsewhere. So far, the temple has minted and sold more than 2,800 NFTs.

“According to estimates, the nine-day pilgrimage could generate more than NT$5 billion (US$163 million) in spending. On the day Mazu returned to his home temple, we saw around 500,000 people join the pilgrimage,” Mingkun Cheng, vice chairman. of the board of the Dajia Jenn Lann temple, Forkast told.

More younger people are joining the pilgrimage, so MazuDAO NFTs appeal to them, Cheng said.

Facebook banner of Mazudao 媽祖NFT

Many traditional cultural activities are adapting to digital and technological innovation, said Mao-Hsien Lin, an associate professor at the National Taichung University of Education’s Taiwanese language and literature department.

However, Lin, who researches the Mazu religion, said many older followers are not so sure about the development.

“They prefer the physical touch and the direct contact with the statue of the gods,” Lin said. They are not so sure that if they worship online that the gods are also online to hear their prayers.

However, Lin said the pilgrimage benefit for NFT holders may not be too attractive to traditional believers.

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“Usually when we pray, the distance between you and the statue doesn’t matter. It’s not like you’ll get special treatment if you’re closer,” he added. “It’s getting a little too commercialized.”

To tap into the market of traditional believers, the NFT project team organized offline marketing campaigns – an approach different from most NFT projects that prioritize online marketing channels.

Jerry Yan, MazuDAO project manager, said many older followers didn’t even have a smartphone and “very much live in a Web 0.0 world”.

“We had to set up promotional booths in front of the temple to introduce MazuDAO NFTs to the Web0 faithful,” Yan said, adding that they also needed a landline customer service team because it was the only way to reach older temple followers.

“Often on the phone we ask them to call their grandchildren to help and set up crypto wallets on their behalf.”

The MazuDAO NFT project team set up promotional booths at the Dajia Jenn Lann Temple in August.

Cheng said the temple has authorized some online vendors to use Mazu intellectual property to create items for sale on its MazuBuyBuy e-commerce platform.

Researcher Lin said Mazu has become a highly commercialized intellectual property in Taiwan, with Mazu-themed merchandise in convenience stores and on major online stores.

“Again, I think a big part of the essence of religion is to offer the mental comfort for believers. It’s not necessarily a good thing if it becomes too commercialized,” Lin said. “If we see the deity as a business generator, it will lose a sense of divinity.”

Still, Cheng of the Dajia Jenn Lann Temple said the temple’s annual pilgrimage has attracted an increasing number of younger people and many are posting videos of the festival and pilgrimage on social media platforms such as Instagram and YouTube.

Taoists pray in the inner hall of Yimin Temple in Pingchen, northern Taoyuan city, December 15, 2022. (Photo: AFP)