Goddess Zhusheng

Zhusheng Niangniang is a goddess venerated in the folk religion of Fujian and Taiwan specifically as the patroness of fertility and childbirth. Legend holds that she presides over the Register of Births, recording and decreeing which families will welcome sons or daughters—and precisely when such births will occur—using her divine brush. Her cult originated from the 'Pojie' (midwife goddesses) tradition associated with Linshui Furen Chen Jinggu in Fujian, and spread to Taiwan with Han Chinese migration, where it flourished widely. In former times, women prayed before Zhusheng Niangniang after marriage to conceive, during pregnancy for safe delivery, and after childbirth for their infants’ health and protection—often seeking to wear a floral hairpin or flower ball blessed at her altar, believed to enhance fertility. At Kai-Long Temple in Tainan, Taiwan, the Qixi Festival (Chinese Valentine’s Day) hosts the 'Sixteen-Year-Old Thanksgiving Rite', expressing gratitude to Zhusheng Niangniang and the Seven Maidens (Qiniangma) for their protective care throughout a child’s first sixteen years—a ritual regarded as the most representative folk festival of its kind in Tainan.