1959, Sampson C. Shen, editor, China Yearbook 1958-1959[1], Taipei, Taiwan: China Publishing Co., page 99:
Matsu Islands Like the Kinmens, the Matsu Islands are part of Fukien Province. A political affairs commission is the administrative organ, supported by the Lienkiang Hsien Government. They form the northern anchor of the offshore defense line and seal the mouth of the Min River.
The nineteen rocky, treeless Matsus, covering twelve square miles, blocked the port of Foochow on the Chinese mainland, just ten miles away, while the Quemoys, covering sixty square miles of land which supported several thousand farmers and fishermen, blocked the port of Amoy, only two miles away.
1964 May 22, Ralph N. Clough, “Letter From the Charge to the Republic of China (Clough) to the Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs (Bundy)”, in Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State[3]:
The Chinese Communist shelling of Matsu on May 16, which clearly seems to have been a reaction to GRC artillery fire from Matsu covering a raiding party launched from Matsu against Lienchiang (FCT 8622), caused me to give consideration to repeating to the GRC the warning we gave them last spring that they should not assume the US would assist the GRC should the Chicoms attack the smaller offshore islands in retaliation for raids mounted by the GRC from such islands.
1982 October, Geoff Crowther, “Taiwan - Facts”, in Korea & Taiwan: A Travel Survival Kit (Lonely Planet)[4], →ISBN, →OCLC, page 119, column 1:
Taiwan lies about 160 km off the coast of south-eastern China between Japan and the Philippines with the Tropic of Cancer passing through the southern part of the island. Apart from the main island it includes the 64 wind-swept islands of the Penghu (Pescadores) group, 13 other scattered islands, the main ones of which are Lanyu and Lutao off the east coast, and the Kinmen (Quemoy) and Matsu group right up against the Chinese mainland.
'As best as we can figure without talking to President Lee,' Freeman said, 'Taiwan wanted to knock that carrier out of commission, then cripple Lang-Ch'i Army Base, which is the main staging point for China's invasion force for the Matsu Island chain.'
2015, Hu Meidong, Lin Shujuan, “Further options open for Straits travel”, in China Daily[6]:
A passenger ferry route between Huangqi in Fujian province and Matsu in Taiwan has allowed tourists and commuters a cheaper and faster choice for cross-Straits travel. Huangqi, a port under the administration of the capital Fuzhou, is the closest mainland port to Matsu, which has also been connected with Mawei port in Fuzhou since 2001. A direct passenger ferry trip along the latter route takes around 90 minutes. Each trip along the Huangqi-Matsu route, which crosses an 8-kilometer strip of sea, takes 25 minutes and costs 135 yuan ($21). "The Huangqi-Matsu route has made daily commuting between Lianjiang and Matsu much easier," said Yang Wenjian, head of Lianjiang-Matsu Cultural Research Society, an NGO dedicated to promoting civil exchanges between the two places.
2017 February 22, Guy Plopsky, Taiwan’s Cold War Fortresses[7], The Diplomat, archived from the original on 22 February 2017:
The Lienchiang County government (which administers Matsu’s 36 islands and islets) estimates that — excluding facilities still in use by Taiwan’s military — some 256 underground fortifications, tunnels, air raid shelters, and other related structures were constructed in Matsu’s four townships: Nangan, Beigan, Juguang, and Dongyin.
2019 June 9, George Liao, “Taiwan’s Matsu offers tourists free kayaking activities”, in Taiwan News[8], archived from the original on 2019-06-09, Travel & Cuisine[9]:
The athletic association is promoting the sport of kayaking in an effort to help Beigan Township develop coastal and maritime tourism by hiring Taiwan Kayak Association professionals to provide tourists free coaching on how to maneuver a kayak and enable themselves to enjoy the beautiful scenery of Matsu from the sea, according to Matsu Daily (馬祖日報).
2019 November 19, “Jinmen county (to be unified)”, in Information Office of Quanzhou Municipal People's Government[10], archived from the original on 05 March 2023[11]:
From Jan 1, 2015, visitors from the Chinese mainland to Jinmen, Matsu and Penghu can go directly through Jinmen and Matsu with travel documents valid for more than 30 days, such as passports and travel permits to and from Taiwan (excluding an exit-entry permit for traveling to and from Hong Kong and Macao), and get the temporary entry notice when entering Jinmen, which will allow them to stay for 15 days.
2020 September 21, Ben Blanchard, Martin Quin Pollard, “Taiwan's race to save endangered plant species”, in ABC News[12]:
In the forests and on remote offshore islands of Taiwan, a group of conservationists are racing to collect as many rare plant species as they can before they are lost to climate change and human encroachment. Overseen by the Dr. Cecilia Koo Botanic Conservation Centre, the plant hunters are scouring sub-tropical Taiwan for as many rare plant samples as they can find, from the rugged eastern coast around Taitung to Dongyin, in the Matsu archipelago.
2022 February 11, Minnie Chen, “Was it Beijing testing Taiwan’s defences with unidentified Matsu island flyover?”, in South China Morning Post[13], archived from the original on 11 February 2022, China Military:
Residents of Tungyin, a frontline islet under Taiwan’s Matsu islands cluster, said they spotted an unidentified aircraft flying overhead at 2.45pm on February 5, while video footage from the watchtower monitor showed an aircraft crossing the skies and flying out towards the east.[…] “In 1996, Beijing included Tungyin as one of its 49 territorial island bases, and Taipei announced its territorial sea base points in 1999 to exclude the Quemoy and Matsu islands for the first time,” Lu explained.
2022 February 17, “Chinese anti-sub helicopter enters Taiwan ADIZ for first time”, in Radio Free Asia[14], archived from the original on 18 February 2022:
Dongyin is part of the Matsu archipelago, 50 kilometers (30 miles) east of China’s Fujian province. The Matsu islands have been under Taiwan’s control since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949.
2022 February 25, Huizhong Wu, “For Taiwan, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine feels far away”, in AP News[15], archived from the original on 25 February 2022:
On Matsu, a group of outlying Taiwanese islands whose closest point is just 10 kilometers (6 miles) from China, Taiwanese politician Wen Lii is not dismissive of a possible invasion. But he rejected simplistic comparisons to Ukraine. “Lazy comparisons often fuel an inevitable, triumphalist narrative for China, or weaken confidence in democracies, while ignoring different contexts for each region,” Wen, director of the Matsu chapter of the Democratic Progressive Party, wrote in an email. “People in Matsu always remain alert, but discussions about Chinese threats are usually based on concrete observation instead of a foreign crisis,” he said, saying there is no military buildup for now.
2022 March 24, Sarah Wu, “Ukraine war reverberates on Taiwan's 'frontline of democracy'”, in Gerry Doyle, editor, Reuters[16], archived from the original on 10 May 2022, 公司新闻(英文):
The Matsu islands were regularly bombarded by China at the height of the Cold War, and the history of conflict has focused minds on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and whether the same fate may befall them.[...] Held by Taiwan since the defeated Republic of China government fled to Taipei in 1949 after losing the Chinese civil war, Matsu would probably be an immediate target for Beijing in a conflict, especially Dongyin’s missile base.
2022 April 14, James Lo, “Lienchiang County touts success of inaugural Matsu Biennial”, in Focus Taiwan[17], archived from the original on 14 April 2022:
According to organizers, the projects spread over five of Matsu's islands and explored how to transform these sites into sustainable public spaces with a number of events and activities located in former army facilities.
2022 August 1, “No, this video does not show a Chinese military threat to Taiwan ahead of Pelosi’s visit”, in France 24[18], archived from the original on 01 August 2022[19]:
• Shortly before Pelosi embarked on her journey to Asia, a video showing an anti-aircraft exercise went viral on social media. Many claimed that it was a military operation that took place in the coastal area of Fujian Province, China, in order to deter Pelosi from landing in Taiwan. • In fact, it was an annual military exercise by Taiwan's military forces in the Matsu Islands of the Lienchiang Country[sic – meaning County] in 2020.
2022 August 4, Keoni Everington, “Taiwan fires flares at 1st Chinese drones seen over Kinmen”, in Taiwan News[20], archived from the original on 04 August 2022:
Last week, on July 28, Taiwan's military fired flares at a Chinese drone to warn it away as it flew over the outer island of Dongyin, which is part of the Matsu Islands that comprise Lienchiang County.
2022 August 31, TAIPEIBy and Taiwan, “Taiwan forces fire at drones flying over island near China”, in ABC News[21], archived from the original on 31 August 2022[22]:
Taiwan maintains control over a range of islands in the Kinmen and Matsu groups in the Taiwan Strait, a relic of the effort by Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists to maintain a foothold on the mainland after being driven out by Mao Zedong's Communists amid civil war in 1949.
1875 January 21, “Summary of News”, in North-China Herald and Supreme Court & Consular Gazette[23], volume XIV, number 402, Shanghai, →OCLC, page 47, column 2; republished as “SHANGHAI”, in London and China Telegraph[24], volume XVII, number 601, 1875 March 8, →OCLC, page 186, columns 1, 2:
The steamer Lee Yuen, when about 30 miles from Foochow, abreast of Fuhyan, on her passage from this port to Foochow, carried away the lignum vitæ bush in the stern tube. She was beached for one tide under the lee of Matsu Island, for temporary repairs, and then proceeded to Foochow, where she has gone into dock.
1890 February 28, W. S. Wetmore, “RECOLLECTIONS OF LIFE IN CHINA IN THE FIFTIES.”, in North-China Herald and Supreme Court & Consular Gazette[25], volume XLIV, number 1178, Shanghai, →OCLC, page 256, column 1; republished as Recollections of Life in the Far East[26], 1894, →OCLC, page 32:
In the spring of 1857, I, with several friends, left Hongkong for Shanghai, viâ Foochow, in the small coasting steamer Antelope. No noteworthy incident occurred until after leaving Foochow when, as we were enjoying our after dinner coffee and cigars, and by chance discussing the question of thirteen sitting down at table that had occurred at a dinner at which one of the party had shortly before been present, a violent thump and tremulous motion of the vessel announced the unpleasant fact that we had struck upon something. We rushed on deck and found the steamer hard and fast on a reef near Matsu Island. Fortunately the day was fine and there was no sea on.
1900 September 26, North-China Herald and Supreme Court & Consular Gazette[27], volume LXV, number 1729, Shanghai, →OCLC, page 646, column 1:
THE L.C.S. Lienshing arrived here on Thursday from Swatow. She reports moderate S.E, wind and heavy S.E. swell to Ockseu and had to anchor in the Haitan Straits on the 14th inst. on account of a typhoon, the barometer rating 29.28. The weather moderating, she proceeded with a strong north wind and heavy sea, and continuous rain. She sighted the steamers Shanghai and Glenesk and the German steamer Preussen anchored behind Matsu Island, and the troopship St. Andrew was anchored in the Haitan Straits.
About seven o'clock I sighted land right ahead, and as we got closer I made this out to be Spider Island. This relieved me greatly, for I knew then that my compass was fairly correct and we were on exactly the right course for Matsu Island, whither I inteded to go to get a Foochow pilot, as I had not a chart of the bar, and had never been over it before.[…] Upon leaving the steamer I set all the sail I possibly could, and made the best of my way before a very strong breeze towards Matsu Island.
1904 August 26, North-China Herald and Supreme Court & Consular Gazette[29], volume LXXIII, number 1933, Shanghai, →OCLC, page 455, column 3:
THE C. M. S. Kwangtah, which arrived here last Friday from Hongkong reports: Left Hongkong at 7 p.m. on the 15th instant. Anchored in Amoy Harbour for shelter 13 hours. Anchored again at Matsu Island for 10 hours and arrived at Woosung on the 18th instant. Experienced light, variable winds and fine weather to Chapel Island, when a strong N.E. wind and heavy sea was mot ; this continued until the morning of the 17th instant. Thence we had variable winds and fine weather until arrival in port. The strs. Whampoa and Lyeemoon were also at anchor under Matsu Island.
Foochow is a crowded town with a population estimated at half a million. It collects the commerce of the Min drainage basin, which is brought largely by junks, but it is difficult to approach and not a first-class port. Vessels anchor outside the estuary while waiting to enter the roadstead off Matsu, a hilly, well-populated and cultivated island, Tongki island or the Paikuen islands.
Chinese Communist attempts to land on two islands of Nationalist retreat off the mainland have been smashed, Government reports said today. The most determined Red attempt was against Matsu Island off China's east coast, about 100 miles northwest of the Nationalist island stronghold of Formosa, the official Central News Agency said.[…] Central News said several thousand Communist troops landed on Matsu Christmas night from a nearby island and were repulsed with heavy casualties. Nationalist military sources said Matsu is being reinforced against another Red attack expected at any moment.
1951 June 22, “Chinese Communist Military Activities, East China”, in CIA[36], page 3:
19. On the evening of 11 June, Nationalist warships YUNG CH'UN (永春) and CHENG AN (正安) and the Nationalist gunboat HAI LI (海利) engaged in battle with 2 Chinese Communist converted 200-ton gunboats, and a 1,400-ton armored motor junk in the Huangch'iwan (黄岐湾) area, approximately 10 miles northwest of Matsu Island. The Nationalist warships had pursued the Chinese Communist vessels from the mouth of the Min River. The HAI LI joined the battle in the Huangch'iwan area. The Chinese Communist motor junk was destroyed and the gunboats were damaged. The coastal defense positions of the Chinese Communist Seacoast Defense Battalion (sic) with a total of 7 guns along Huangch'iwan were partially destroyed by the HAI LI when the battalion's guns fired on Nationalist vessels during the battle.
1960, 55:49 from the start, in OCTOBER 7, 1960 Presidential Candidates Debate[37], US Vice President Richard M. Nixon (actor), C-SPAN:
Now I think as far as Quemoy and Matsu are concerned, that the question is not these two little pieces of real estate- they are unimportant. It isn't the few people who live on them- they are not too important. It's the principle involved. These two islands are in the area of freedom. The Nationalists have these two islands. We should not force our Nationalist allies to get off of them and give them to the Communists. If we do that, we start a chain reaction, because the Communists aren't after Quemoy and Matsu, they're after Formosa. In my opinion, this is the same kind of woolly thinking that lead to disaster for America in Korea, I'm against it, I would never tolerate it as President of the United States, and I will hope that Senator Kennedy will change his mind if he should be elected.
1977 December 18, “Record crab catch for Matsu fisherman”, in Free China Weekly[38], volume XVIII, number 50, Taipei, page 4:
A fisherman on the offshore island of Matsu caught more than 35,000 kilograms of sea crabs Dec. 13, breaking a record for one day which has stood for 10 years, military sources said. . . . Crabs are currently in season at Matsu, a few miles off shore from the Chinese Communist-held mainland and were previously being sold at NT$10 (about US$0.26) per kilogram. A spokesman for the Matsu Defense Command said Wang's surprise catch helped to bring the price down to NT$8 per kilogram. Even so, Wang made some NT$28,000 (US$778) on his boatload.
Soldiers outnumber the civilian population on these islands. Matsu is still under martial law, but Kinmen was returned to civilian law in 1993. Evening curfews are observed and lights cannot be used at night unless the windows are shuttered. For 40 years, Kinmen, Matsu and Wuchiu even had their own currency to prevent capital flight, but these days standard NT$ are acceptable.
1996 March 15, Michael Evans, “China offensive cannot be ruled out, experts say”, in The Times[41], number 65,528, →ISSN, →OCLC, Overseas News, page 14, column 3:
The sources said the Chinese would not risk attempting an amphibious landing on one of the heavily fortified islands, in particular Quemoy, which is guarded by 40,000 Taiwanese troops, or Matsu, which has a defence force of 9,000. Two other islands, however, Wuchiu and Tungyin, are less heavily defended and may pose an easier target, the sources said.
For the new round of Chinese war games beginning on Monday, China has declared a large part of the Taiwan Strait as a military exercise area and has warned international shipping and aviation to stay away. The prospect of the exercises prompted about 300 Taiwan citizens to leave small islands around Matsu, the strategic bastion off the Chinese port of Fuzhou that was to serve as the Nationalists' staging area to retake the mainland. "We are leaving for Taiwan to escape disaster," said a schoolgirl from the island of Tong Chu, near Matsu and just 10 nautical miles away from the area of the Chinese war games. Taiwan television stations carried film of the mini-evacuation, but also noted that a number of residents were choosing to stay in their homes.
They had even ritualized military conflict. Ho Ping Hsien, a freshly minted second lieutenant in Taiwan’s army, could see that. Ho, a small man with a raspy voice and an enormous smile, had easy duty in 1973, being responsible for just a few soldiers. He would travel the island of Matsu by vehicle or by foot, inspecting his charges in their forward positions. He was just one of the trip wires in the Cold War. If hostilities erupted, he had virtually no hope of surviving. Matsu is only three miles from the Mainland’s Fujian Province, so close that Mainland loudspeakers blared propaganda across the water for years. Yet Ho could see that there would be no chance of war during his tour of duty because the Mainland and Taiwan had obviously come to an agreement. On the odd-numbered days of the month, Matsu would shell Fujian for a couple of hours. On the other days, Ho and his troops would head to their concrete bunkers and pass the two hours from seven to nine in the evening eating and gambling while Mainland gunners fired on his positions.
Located outside the mouth of the Min River 閩江 off the coast of China, the Matsu Islands form the northern anchor of the ROC's offshore defense chain. Nankan 南竿, the main island of the group, is more commonly known as Matsu馬祖, which is also the name of the island's largest port.
I should add a story, you know in the South at that time, Governor Barnett was sort of known as a bit of a dim bulb. And two years before, during the presidential campaign, one of the flashpoints in the debates that fall involved two Nationalist Chinese islands just off the coast of China: Quemoy and Matsu. And right after this argument erupted in the campaign, Ross Barnett was out politicking one day and the reporters asked him, "Governor, what about Quemoy and Matsu?" And he looked around sort of lost and said to one of his aides, "Them those two fellers I put on the Fishing and Game Commission last year?"
2019 May 18, “New passenger route links Mawei in Fujian with Matsu island”, in Mu Xuequan, editor, Xinhua News Agency[48], archived from the original on 05 October 2020:
The new port on the Chinese mainland side, which is located in Langqi island, Mawei District, is 23 nautical miles off Matsu island, reducing the original journey by 40 minutes.
2022 February 23, Flo Wang, Chang Hsiung-feng, “吳德榮：晚間低溫探10度 大範圍降雨24日結束 [Weather improving, rain expected to end Thursday]”, in Focus Taiwan[49], archived from the original on 23 February 2022:
As of 8:00 a.m., the lowest temperature in low-lying areas had been detected on Matsu Island at 5.1 degrees, while the lowest temperature in low-lying areas on Taiwan proper had been recorded in Yangmei in Taoyuan, Dajia District in Taichung, and Shihmen District in New Taipei, where the mercury dropped to 10.8 degrees, CWB data showed. The bureau reminded the public to be aware of gusty northeasterly winds along coastal areas north of Tainan, Hengchun Peninsula, and the offshore islands of Kinmen, Matsu, and Penghu.
The one landing strip in the Matsus, and good for light aircraft only, was on the second largest island, Peikan. Between Nankan and Peikan lay the Matsu Straits, a twisted riptide-torn channel, boasting freak winds and bouldered shores.
1982 April 18, “Old festivals endure amid modern progress”, in Free China Weekly[52], volume XXII, number 15, Taipei, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 2:
Groups of schoolboys neatly dressed in white shorts and yellow cravats, a truck load of maidens in pink and green, another long silk banner and another carriage...it seems as if there are dozens of Matsus, each one accompanied by her retinue of standard bearers, musicians and heralds.
Mr Lee descended on Penghu, one of the Pescadores, with a population of 90,000, in the afternoon, immediately after military jets had buzzed the airstrip to ensure his safety. Penghu lies in the middle of the Taiwan Strait. Addressing a large rally, he compared himself to the native goddess Matsu, who gave her life for others. "Your President should love and protect the people like her," he said. "Matsu will not abandon Penghu, and I will not either."
2000, Shui-Bian Chen, “Learning and Transformation”, in David J. Toman, transl., The Son of Taiwan: The Life of Chen Shui-Bian and His Dreams for Taiwan[54], Taiwan Publishing Co., Ltd., →ISBN, →OCLC, page 40:
I often think of Matsu, a figure in Taiwanese folk religions, who it is said guided the first Chinese settlers of Taiwan through the brutal seas at night and came to their rescue. With a benevolent heart, Matsu is like a mother. The two gods who accompany Matsu, one with eyes that can see 1000 li⁶ and the other with ears that can hear far over the horizon, represent empathy, observation, and feeling. Government should be like Matsu, equipped with acute powers of observation; see clearly to the bottom of issues, and know how to respond. There is a hierarchy among Matsu and her attendant gods, but they divide labor according to their strengths and work together in a truly perfect "partnership."
2002 January 14, Ting-I Tsai, “Newsmakers: Elected from jail, Yen thanks Matsu”, in Taipei Times[55], archived from the original on 05 January 2003[56]:
His attempts to lead Matsu followers on a pilgrimage to China via Kinmen to worship the goddess Matsu in June 2000 made him more popular than ever.
2007 April, Julie Grundvig, “TAIWAN”, in The Asia Book: A Journey Through Every Country in the Continent[57], →ISBN, →OCLC, page 104, columns 1, 2:
Matsu, goddess of the sea, is the most revered deity of Taiwan. Legend has it that Matsu was once a real person named Lin Mo, born to fisherfolk on Meizhou Island in Fujian, China. It is said that Lin Mo loved the sea and would often stand on the seashore and guide ships safely to shore. On a stormy night, Lin Mo drowned while saving a sailor and her body washed up on the shores of Nankan Island, Matsu, where she was buried by the villagers. Temples were built to honour the young woman and her popularity eventually spread as far as Japan and Southeast Asia. Today there are over 500 temples dedicated to her around Taiwan.
Matsu's temple in Miaoli [...]Dong saw a statue of the fishermen’s deityMatsuas it makes an annual pilgrimage through the western seaboard counties. Matsu, goddess of the sea, protector of seafarers, and Taiwan’s preeminent folk deity, will be going on tour at the end of the third Chinese lunar month, as she does every year. Peishatun Matsu, who resides at the Gungtien Temple in Tunghsiao, Miaoli County, has the longest pilgrimage route. According to one version of the legend, Matsu saved her father, brother and a number of fishermen from drowning while she physically remained at home.
2019 April 17, “'Sea goddess' backs Foxconn chief's bid for Taiwan president”, in France 24[59], archived from the original on 17 April 2019:
While visiting a temple of the sea goddess Matsu in New Taipei city, Gou said the goddess "told me to step forward ... to help the people." "The 2020 election is very important. Should I step forward or not? Matsu spoke to me in dreams a few days ago and today that ... (I) should look after people who are suffering, give young people hope and maintain cross-strait peace," Gou, head of major Apple supplier Foxconn, told reporters.
2022 April 19, “Annual Matsu pilgrimage ends after nine-day trip”, in Taipei Times[60], archived from the original on 18 April 2022:
The Dajia Matsu Pilgrimage, the largest annual religious procession in the nation, concluded on Sunday with the return of sea goddess Matsu to Jenn Lann Temple in Taichung’s Dajia District (大甲).[…] A large number of worshipers followed the palanquin carrying Matsu when the procession returned to Taichung on the last leg of its journey.
