Six books about the history of Kinmen County were released on Tuesday, as part of the county government’s efforts to promote the island as “a place of stories.”
It has long been the county’s goal to share its 1,700-year history with the public, Kinmen Cultural Affairs Bureau Director-Genreal Lu Kun-ho (呂坤和) said at the book launch.
It is hoped that Kinmen will become a place of stories, warmth and emotion that would appeal to people, he added.
Although Kinmen is a small island, it has 170 villages with diverse cultures and kinship systems worth documenting, Lu said, adding that the six-volume series, commissioned by the county government, is just the beginning, with more books expected.
The books tell stories from people living in Shanglin (上林), Houpu (后浦), Houshueitou (后水頭), Cingyu (青嶼), Guningtou (古寧頭) and Cyonglin (瓊林) townships.
The writers, who were selected through a year-long process, talked about how they approached the project.
Lin Ma-teng (林馬騰), author of the book about Shanglin, said he interviewed senior residents and tried to faithfully portray their descriptions of life in the village, telling “the big story of a small town.”
Kinmen — 2.3km off the coast of China — was the frontline during the Taiwan Strait crises in the 1950s.
During the Cold War, Kinmen was seen as the closest outpost of the democratic world to a communist regime.
From its battlefields, to its tunnels and museums, the island bears the scars of its history, which the local government has been promoting as a tourist attraction.
In related news, Premier Lin Chuan (林全) on Tuesday last week said that Kinmen and Matsu, two major battlefields during the Chinese Civil War, are now facing different challenges.
A good public transportation system and a robust healthcare system are particularly needed in regions, Lin said, adding that more should be done to meet residents basic needs.
He made the remarks at the inauguration of the Executive Yuan’s Kinmen-Matsu Joint Service Center in Kinmen.
He also said that center staff should make frequent grassroots-level visits to better attend to people’s needs.
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