On May 9, the 23rd day of the third lunar month, which coincided with Mazu's birthday, the revealing ceremony for the outstanding works of the "Mazu's Hometown · Youth Vision" Putian and Taiwan University Youth Meizhou Island Image Creation Camp was held at Tianfei Hometown Site Park on Meizhou Island. Zhang Zongxian, Vice Chairman of the Putian CPPCC; Chen Jiawei, Party Leadership Group Member and Vice Chairman of Fujian Radio Film and Television Group; Chen Zhijun, Deputy Director of the Meizhou Management Committee and Deputy Director of the Meizhou Tourism Zone Operations and Management Committee; Lin Jinzan, Chairman of the Board of the Meizhou Mazu Ancestral Temple; Zhang Huanzhong, President of the Taiwan Mazu Culture Research Association and professor at Taiwan's Zhongtai University of Science and Technology; and Lin Longqiang, Deputy Director of the Fujian Network Audiovisual Creation and Communication Research Center, attended the event.
This revealing ceremony marked, following the official launch of the camp at the Shengzhi Gate Square of the Meizhou Mazu Ancestral Temple on April 17, a concentrated showcase and review of the achievements of image creation by young people across the Strait. At the event, 12 outstanding works were unveiled in three batches. The works covered a wide range of themes and offered fresh perspectives. They focused not only on the millennia-long inheritance of Mazu culture and the inclusive depth of maritime civilization, but also conveyed deep affection for the local homeland and the profound bond of shared blood between people on both sides of the Strait.
At the award ceremony, Zhang Zongxian, Chen Jiawei, Lin Jinzan, and Zhang Huanzhong presented certificates to student representatives whose works were selected as outstanding.
Wu Jiaru, a student representative whose work was selected as an outstanding entry from a university in Taiwan, said she felt deeply honored and grateful to have taken part in this cross-strait youth student video exchange and to have received recognition. The event gave her a deeper understanding of how Mazu culture can be interpreted through video, and also helped her sense the shared cultural roots across the Taiwan Strait. Going forward, I will continue to use video to record, observe, and express the culture and stories I have seen and felt, and share them with more people.
Lin Jinzan said that young people from Putian and Taiwan use their lenses as pens to weave Mazu culture and shared cross-strait identity into their works, bringing youth and cultural heritage into rhythm together, and letting light and shadow grow alongside friendship. Young people are the main force in cross-strait exchanges and the inheritors of Mazu culture. He hopes that all the young participants will take this creative camp as a new starting point and continue using their cameras to tell the story of Mazu and the story of the two sides of the Strait, serving as communicators of culture and connectors of family ties, so that the shared cultural lineage can continue through youthful inheritance, and compatriots on both sides of the Strait can grow ever closer and more united as they move forward together.
Chen Jiawei said that this youth video creative camp, jointly organized with the board of directors of the Meizhou Mazu Temple, aims to build a cross-strait youth exchange platform through video and bring a contemporary glow to Mazu culture. The creative camp is not only a practical experience, but also a youthful dialogue across the Strait. It brings young people from both sides together through a shared cultural root, and serves as a cultural transmission for the future, conveying Mazu's spirit of "cultivating virtue, doing good, and great love" in a way that young people like.
It is reported that the "Hometown of Mazu, Youth Perspective" Meizhou Island Video Creative Camp for young people from universities in Putian and Taiwan was jointly planned by the board of directors of the Meizhou Mazu Temple and the TV Center of Fujian Radio and Film and Television Group. Young participants from both sides of the Strait created works around core themes such as "Ancestral Temple in Meizhou" and "Returning to Mother’s Home for the Third-Month Blessing Ritual." The outstanding works from this event will be included in a follow-up light-and-shadow screening program, allowing more audiences to see fresh, youthful Mazu stories through the eyes of young people from both sides of the Strait.