Lieyu Township (Liehyu) (;

pinyin Hanyu Pinyin, or simply pinyin, officially the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet, is the most common romanization system for Standard Chinese. ''Hanyu'' () literally means 'Han Chinese, Han language'—that is, the Chinese language—while ''pinyin' ...

: ''Lièyǔ Xiāng'';

Hokkien Hokkien ( , ) is a Varieties of Chinese, variety of the Southern Min group of Chinese language, Chinese languages. Native to and originating from the Minnan region in the southeastern part of Fujian in southeastern China, it is also referred ...

POJ: ''Lia̍t-sū-hiong'') is a rural township in Kinmen County (Quemoy), Fujian Province,

Republic of China (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 ...

. It consists mainly of three

islands This is a list of the lists of islands in the world grouped by country, by continent, by body of water, and by other classifications. For rank-order lists, see the #Other lists of islands, other lists of islands below. Lists of islands by count ...

located to the west of Greater Kinmen and immediately to the east of Xiamen (Amoy) of the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

: Lesser Kinmen (; Pīnyīn: ''Xiǎojīnmén''), Dadan, and Erdan.

Name

According to tradition, Greater Kinmen/Kinmen Island and Lesser Kinmen/Lieyu were originally one island. Lieyu was split-off ( ''lie'') from Kinmen Island, hence the name Lieyu.

History

The first people arrived from the Central Plains of China during the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

and quickly developed the island. The population quickly multiplied. During the Tang dynasty, a horse

pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Types of pasture Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, c ...

was set up on the island. During the

Song dynasty The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...

, a salt works was constructed. During the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

, a frontier command was constructed. During the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

, a garrison was sent to protect against Japanese pirates. Badalouzi 20150103

On July 26, 1950, ROC forces on the Dadan Island (Tatan), in total 298 soldiers, repulsed an attack ( 大擔島戰役) from a

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the military of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Republic of China (PRC). It consists of four Military branch, services—People's Liberation Army Ground Force, Ground Force, People's ...

force of 700 soldiers that landed on the island. In January 1985, eight Chinese fishermen from a stranded boat were executed on Shi Islet by military orders. Donggang Bay, Lieyu Island, was the site of 1987 Lieyu Massacre, where nineteen or more Vietnamese refugees were killed on March 7, 1987 by the ROC armed force.

Geography

The island of Lesser Kinmen is situated outside the mouth of mainland China's Jiulong River and . The distance from mainland China at the closest point is only about and is located in a very strategic position. Lieyu Township includes numerous islands and islets. Some of the larger among those islands and islets include: *Lesser Kinmen (Hsiao Kinmen, Lieyu; ) * Dadan Island ( to the southwest of Lesser Kinmen) * Erdan Island ( 二膽島) ( to the southwest of Lesser Kinmen) *Sandan, Sidan, and Wudan * Fuxing Islet (Fuhsing Islet; Phaktia) () * Menghu Islet (Tiger Island) () *Shi Islet (Lion Islet) () * Binlang Islet (' Areca Nut Islet') ()

Administrative divisions

Lieyu Township is divided into five rural villages: * Linhu Village () * Shangqi/Shangchi Village () * Xikou/Sikou Village () * Huangpu Village () * Shanglin Village ()

Politics

The

government of the People's Republic of China The government of the People's Republic of China is based on a system of people's congress within the parameters of a Unitary state, unitary communist state, in which the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) enacts its policies through people's ...

claims Kinmen County (Jinmen County in ''

'') as part of

Quanzhou Quanzhou is a prefecture-level city, prefecture-level port city on the north bank of the Jin River, beside the Taiwan Strait in southern Fujian, China, People's Republic of China. It is Fujian's largest most populous metropolitan region, wi ...

City in its own

Fujian Fujian is a provinces of China, province in East China, southeastern China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capital is Fuzhou and its largest prefe ...

province.

Infrastructure

* Xihu Reservoir

Tourist attractions

* Bada Tower * Dadan Island * Erdan Island * Hujingtou Battle Museum * Jiugong Tunnel * Landmine Museum *

Lieyu Township Culture Museum The Lieyu Township Culture Museum () is a museum in Lieyu Township, Kinmen 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 ''Formo ...

* Lingshui Lake

Transportation

Water

The township houses one ferry pier named Jiugong Pier which sails to

Shuitou Pier The Shuitou Pier () is a pier in Jincheng, Kinmen, Jincheng Township, Kinmen County, Fujian Province, Republic of China, Fujian Province, Republic of China. History The pier area was originally a fishing harbor. On 30 October 2008, an inaugurati ...

in Jincheng Township, Greater Kinmen Island.

Road

Since 2022, Lieyu Township is connected to

Jinning Township Jinning District () is one of seven districts of the prefecture-level city of Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province, Southwest China. The formation of the district was approved on November 24, 2016, after the dissolution of the former ''Jinni ...

in Greater Kinmen Island by Kinmen Bridge.

References

External links

Kinmen County Government official website
{{Territorial disputes in East, South, and Southeast Asia