Qi Niang Ma (Seven Mothers)

The main legend of Qi Niang Ma is that of seven fairy maidens who guard the children of the human world.

Legend says the Heavenly Emperor had seven daughters, all compassionate and skilled at weaving. The youngest, the seventh, is the Weaving Maiden everyone knows, famous for coming down to earth and falling in love with the Cowherd, while her six older sisters stayed at work in heaven.

One day the seven maidens learned how many infants in the human world were dying young and how many families were losing their little ones, so together they petitioned the Heavenly Emperor: let us go down and guard the world's children until they grow up safely. Moved by their compassion, he granted their request and allowed them to receive incense under the name Qi Niang Ma. From then on the seven each took on a stage, from birth, first steps, and first lessons to school age and adolescence, guarding the child all the way to adulthood at 16. This is the origin of Taiwan's "Coming of Age at Sixteen" custom.

Another account focuses on the Weaving Maiden herself: she protects not only children but also skill and needlework. Traditionally, women would "beg for skill" on Qixi, setting out offerings and threading needles to ask Qi Niang Ma for nimble hands. This custom has become rare on Taiwan's main island, but it still survives in Kinmen and Penghu.

Qi Niang Ma is traditionally worshipped mainly by women and children, and the offerings are full of childhood touches: oil rice and sesame-oil chicken (symbols of new life), seven kinds of flowers, seven kinds of fruit, and cotton thread in seven colors (one for each maiden), plus rouge, a mirror, scissors, and needle and thread (carried over from begging for skill on Qixi). The most distinctive is a small paper pavilion, the Qi Niang Ma pavilion.

If you have a child under 16, you can worship for them every Qixi: set out an offering table, burn a Qi Niang Ma pavilion, and hang a protective charm on the child (Qi Niang Ma coins strung on red thread, worn around the neck for safety). On Qixi of the year they turn 16, the charm is removed, announcing the end of childhood.

To see the full rite, go to Tainan Kailong Temple: crawl under the Qi Niang Ma pavilion three times, walk across the Qi Niang Ma bridge, and bow in thanks to Qi Niang Ma. Once it's done, the child has officially come of age.

Qixi (Qi Niang Ma's Birthday): the 7th day of the 7th lunar month. In Taiwanese tradition this is an important day for protecting children, and the coming-of-age day for 16-year-olds.

"Coming of Age at Sixteen" at Tainan Kailong Temple: held in grand style every year on the 7th day of the 7th lunar month at Kailong Temple in Tainan's West Central District, it is Taiwan's most representative traditional coming-of-age ceremony. The rite includes crawling under the Qi Niang Ma pavilion, crossing the Qi Niang Ma bridge, and parents giving thanks on the child's behalf. It draws large numbers of local families and visitors from elsewhere every year.

Begging for skill (Qiqiao Festival): Traditionally, women asked Qi Niang Ma (the Weaving Maiden) for skillful hands on Qixi. It is rarely seen in Taiwan today.

Pledging newborns: Many Taiwanese families take their babies to a Qi Niang Ma temple at one month or one year old for a pledging rite, entrusting the child to Qi Niang Ma's protection until the age of 16.