妈祖文化在我国沿海地区已经诞生了一千多年了。但是妈祖这个民间渔女，为何被奉为天后圣母？海外华人挥之不去的那份故土情结，为何用妈祖来表达？这种人与海洋之间在生与死、爱与恨的交织中逐渐形成的灾难文化——妈祖信仰，已经成为生活在海边的人们的精神寄托，成为社会大家庭中人与人之间和睦相处、相互关爱的美好化身。

Ma Zu culture has been going around the coastal areas in China for more than one thousand years. Nevertheless, why was Ma Zu who was a common folk fisherwoman divinized as a goddess? Why do the Chinese overseas use her name to express their feelings about their motherland? The belief of Ma Zu derived from the catastrophic culture which gradually formed in the life and death between men and oceans, between love and hatred, has become the meat and drink to people living near seas as well as the nice incarnation of the harmony and love among people in the society.