Black Dwarf Cave
[.] is a
cave
Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's Planetary surface, surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance undergrou ...
and
tourist attraction
A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement.
Types
Places of natural beaut ...
in Tianfu Village on
Liuqiu Island
Liuqiu ( zh, t=琉球嶼; also known by other names) is a coral island in the Taiwan Strait about southwest of the main island of Taiwan. It has an area of and approximately 12,200 residents, the vast majority of whom share only 10 surnam ...
, off
Pingtung County
Pingtung () is a County (Taiwan), county located in southern Taiwan. It has a warm tropical monsoon climate and is known for its agriculture and tourism. Kenting National Park, Taiwan's oldest national park, is located in the county. The county ...
,
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
. Its scenic area includes paths around the surrounding coasts and its ticket includes access to some other nearby attractions such as
Mountain Pig Ditch and
Beauty Cave.
Name
The Chinese name of the cave does not involve dwarves but
devil
A devil is the mythical personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conce ...
s,
[ ]ghost
In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...
s,[.] or spirits.[ Carved on the entrance of the cave is this story:
The township website reports that black slaves "abandoned the Dutch" and "were found" in the cave, but doesn't credit their discovery to aggrieved British.][ Instead, it says that the local Taiwanese and Filipino fishermen and traders often anchored in Geban Bay and the slaves became pirates who would cut holes in the bottoms of the boats by night and then raid their wrecks.][ At some point, crews who had experienced this before investigated the area, discovered the cave, and massacred the pirates with a large fire.][
Both legends were later fabrications. The actual "Negroes" were the members of the local Siraya tribe, who were slaughtered by the ]Dutch
Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
** Dutch people as an ethnic group ()
** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship ()
** Dutch language ()
* In specific terms, i ...
in the old cave during the Liuqiu Island Massacre
The Lamey or Liuqiu Island Massacre was the slaughter of aboriginal inhabitants of Liuqiu Island (then known as "Lamey" or "Golden Lion Island") off the coast of Taiwan by Dutch soldiers in 1636. The killings were part of a punitive campaign in r ...
.[.][
]
History
At some point after the Qing Dynasty, the roof of the cave's entrance and main cavern collapsed. It wasn't reopened until 1975, when the township government turned it into a tourist attraction.[.]
Geology
The cave is a solutional cave.[
]
See also
* Geology of Taiwan
* Beauty Cave, Beauty & Lobster Caves
References
{{commons category
Caves of Taiwan
Landforms of Pingtung County