Soldiers stood piously in front of a temple, their hands together as they offered prayers in a plea for safety. They were not sure if they would survive to see the next sunrise.
Such a scene was common on Dadan (大膽) and Erdan (二膽) islets for three decades during the Cold War era as Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) forces in Taiwan and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) forces in China bombarded each other with shells up until 1979.
The once tense and forbidding atmosphere of war has since given way to quiet serenity, but dozens of temples and statues of deities still dot the small islets, only 4km from the Chinese coast, giving a sense of solace to soldiers today guarding the front line of the nation’s defenses.
Photo: CNA
“These temples offer important spiritual support for the soldiers, who go to them to burn incense and pray when they encounter frustrations or problems in life,” said Lieutenant Colonel Lin Chia-ju, head of the Dadan garrison.
Some of the temples date back to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) and were built by fishermen who took shelter on the islands, while others were built later by KMT troops, said Chiang Bo-wei (江柏煒), a professor at National Taiwan Normal University’s Department of East Asian Studies.
Many of the statues on the islands were given as gifts by private groups, but most were picked up by the soldiers themselves from along the shore during China’s Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), when communist leaders encouraged people to do away with religious paraphernalia to destroy the “four olds” — old ideas, old cultures, old customs and old habits.
“The folk beliefs on the islands are rich and diverse,” Chiang said, with soldiers worshiping traditional deities ranging from Matsu, a sea goddess, and Tu Di Gong, an earth god, to Wang Ye, the prince of the gods, according to Taoist belief systems.
Chiang’s research team has identified more than 20 temples on the two islands, which occupy a combined area of about 1km2.
Many temples remain off-limits in military strongholds, or have been destroyed and buried by shelling, said Chiang, who was last year commissioned by the Ministry of Culture to conduct a survey of the islands’ cultural assets before they open to tourism.
Lin estimated that there are more than 30 temples on the 0.79km2 of Dadan alone, while some sources put the number at more than 100 for both islets.
In addition to traditional deities, a prescient red hen was said to have protected the troops from shelling during the war with China.
“Legend says that the hen would crow to warn the soldiers before the CCP fired shells,” Chiang said.
The hen died in 1960 and the military erected a tomb on Dadan the following year to commemorate the bird, now popularly referred to as Shen Ji, literally chicken god.
Shen Ji is not the only shrine built for an animal. Another tomb on the island was erected for Qian Lu (茜露), a German shepherd that served with the military on Dadan from 1954 until its death in 1970.
The rigorously trained Qian Lu, an honorary lieutenant, guarded cliffs and rock crevices on the island and even killed two CCP soldiers and injured another who all sneaked onto the island in 1955, the epitaph on its tomb says.
“Qian Lu lived for 19 years. It had a long life,” Lin said.
Another story told about Dadan is the legend of the well of the gods (Shen Quan Jing, 神泉井), the only freshwater well on the island.
It is said fresh water began flowing from a small pool after Ming Dynasty loyalist Cheng Chen-kung (鄭成功), better known as Koxinga, thrust his sword into it, miraculously making the pool provide enough fresh water for his troops.
“After that, pirates came to the island and the well stopped producing water,” Lin said. “It was named Shen Quan Jing because people believed it could tell good from evil.”
Today, it is largely obscured by concrete and piping, but the legend persists.
In 1991, a teahouse was built next to the well for soldiers to relax in during their free time.
When Dadan opens to restricted tourism next summer, civilians will get a chance to visit the sites and perhaps some military facilities for the first time.
Visitors to Dadan and Erdan will also be able to learn what life is like on a remote island without the conveniences of urban life, Chiang said.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard