The Sacrifice
Chen Jinggu (陈靖姑), also known as Linshui Furen (临水夫人, "Lady of the Waterside"), was born in 767 CE in Fujian province during the Tang dynasty. From childhood she showed shamanic abilities — communicating with spirits, healing the sick, and performing rain-making rituals.
When a terrible drought struck Fujian while she was pregnant, the people begged her to perform a rain ritual. She knew that performing the ritual while pregnant would cost her life — and the life of her unborn child. She did it anyway. The rain came. She died in childbirth, sacrificing herself so the land could live.
牺牲
陈靖姑（陈靖姑），又称临水夫人，公元767年生于福建。自幼显露巫术能力——通灵、治病、行祈雨法事。
当福建遭遇大旱而她已怀孕时，百姓恳求她行祈雨之法。她知道怀孕时行此法事将付出自己和腹中胎儿的生命。她毅然行之。雨来了。她死于分娩之中——以自己的牺牲换取大地的生机。
Protector of Childbirth
After her death, Chen Jinggu was deified as the supreme protector of pregnant women, childbirth, and children. She governs a court of thirty-six female attendants (三十六婆姐) who assist with every aspect of reproduction — from conception to breastfeeding. Women in Fujian, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia pray to her for safe delivery, healthy children, and protection during the dangerous months of pregnancy.
Her Linshui cult is one of the most important female-centered religious traditions in Chinese culture — a space where women's specific experiences (pregnancy, childbirth, nursing) are honored as sacred, not treated as mundane.
生育守护者
陈靖姑被神化为孕妇、分娩和儿童的最高守护者。她统领三十六婆姐——负责生育方方面面的侍女团队，从受孕到哺乳。福建、台湾和东南亚的妇女向她祈求平安分娩、健康的孩子和孕期保护。
她的临水信仰是中国文化中最重要的以女性为中心的宗教传统之一——一个将女性特殊经历（怀孕、分娩、哺乳）尊为神圣而非视为平凡的空间。
Legacy
Chen Jinggu's cult has spread from Fujian across Southeast Asia. Her temples (临水宫) are found in Fujian, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines. She represents the most embodied form of the feminine divine — the goddess who understands women's bodies because she lived and died in one.
影响
陈靖姑的信仰从福建扩展到东南亚。她的临水宫遍布福建、台湾、新加坡、马来西亚和菲律宾。她代表了阴性神圣最具身的形态——因为她活在、死在一个女人的身体里，所以她理解女人的身体。