Definition of "Matsu"

Matsu IslandsLike 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.

1959, Sampson C. Shen, editor, China Yearbook 1958-1959‎, Taipei, Taiwan: China Publishing Co., page 99

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.

1963, Dwight Eisenhower, Mandate for Change 1953-1956‎, Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, page 461

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.

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, archived from the original on 12 October 2020

'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.'

1997, Dale Brown, Fatal Terrain‎ (Fiction), HarperCollinsPublishers, page 348

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.

2015, Hu Meidong, Lin Shujuan, “Further options open for Straits travel”, in China Daily‎

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, George Liao, “Taiwan’s Matsu offers tourists free kayaking activities”, in Taiwan News‎

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.

2020 September 21, Ben Blanchard, Martin Quin Pollard, “Taiwan's race to save endangered plant species”, in ABC News‎

Wang Chung Ming, the head of Lienchiang County, as the Matsu islands are officially called, said he and the legislator from Matsu went to Taipei shortly after the internet broke down to ask for help, and was told they would get priority in any future internet backup plans.

2023 March 8, Huizhong Wu, Johnson Lai, “Taiwan suspects Chinese ships cut islands’ internet cables”, in The Washington Post‎, archived from the original on 11 March 2023, Business

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.

1875 January 21, “Summary of News”, in North-China Herald and Supreme Court & Consular Gazette‎, volume XIV, number 402, Shanghai, page 47, column 2; republished as “SHANGHAI”, in London and China Telegraph‎, volume XVII, number 601, 1875 March 8, page 186, columns 1, 2

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.

1951 June 22, “Chinese Communist Military Activities, East China”, in CIA‎, page 3

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.

1960, 55:49 from the start, in OCTOBER 7, 1960 Presidential Candidates Debate‎, US Vice President Richard M. Nixon (actor), C-SPAN

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.

1977 December 18, “Record crab catch for Matsu fisherman”, in Free China Weekly‎, volume XVIII, number 50, Taipei, page 4

I also hammered hard on Kennedy's shortsighted unwillingness to defend the offshore islands of Quemoy and Matsu, occupied by Chiang Kai-shek's forces.

1978, Richard Nixon, RN: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon‎, Simon & Schuster, page 271

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.

1996, Patrick Tyler, “China Warns U.S. to Keep Away From Taiwan Strait”, in New York Times‎

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?"

2012, 42:09 from the start, in Listening In: JFK's Secret Tapes‎, Thomas Oliphant (actor), John F. Kennedy Library Foundation

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.

2019 May 18, “New passenger route links Mawei in Fujian with Matsu island”, in Mu Xuequan, editor, Xinhua News Agency‎, archived from the original on 05 October 2020

Others living on Matsu, one of Taiwan’s outlying islands closer to neighboring China, had to struggle with paying electricity bills, making a doctor’s appointment or receiving a package.

2023 March 8, Huizhong Wu, Johnson Lai, “Taiwan suspects Chinese ships cut islands’ internet cables”, in The Washington Post‎, archived from the original on 11 March 2023, Business

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.

1962, DeWitt S. Copp, “The Mudcats”, in The Odd Day‎, William Morrow and Company, page 60

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.

1982 April 18, “Old festivals endure amid modern progress”, in Free China Weekly‎, volume XXII, number 15, Taipei, page 2

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."

1996 March 15, Jonathan Mirsky, “Taiwan President visits islanders to bolster morale”, in The Times‎, number 65,528, Overseas News, page 15, column 1

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."

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, Taiwan Publishing Co., Ltd., page 40

Matsu's temple in Miaoli[...]Dong saw a statue of the fishermen’s deity Matsu as 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.

2008 February 29, Jianwei He, “An etude to the island coast”, in Beijing Today‎, number 352, Travel China, page 21, columns 1, 2

One of the most popular religious figures in Taiwan is Matsu, the Goddess of the Sea. The many temples dedicated in her honor will host massive pilgrimages every year in the spring. But one temple – located Tung-hsiao Township, Miaoli County -- has no set schedule or destination for its Matsu procession. In other words, organizers use divination to decide where Matsu wants to go and how long she wants to stay each year.

2018 December 31, Paula Chao, “God of Earth welcomes the Matsu pilgrimage in person?”, in Radio Taiwan International‎, archived from the original on 23 September 2023‎

People in flowing robes and dressed up as guards worship a statue of the goddess Matsu, known as the protector of fishermen, in a ceremony in Nangan Township in the Matsu Islands on Sunday celebrating the anniversary of Matsu's ascension to heaven.

2020 October 25, “Matsu worship ceremony”, in Focus Taiwan‎, archived from the original on 28 September 2022, Photos of the Day‎