-
As one source said, these islands exist as they are because of the military
-
Matsu served as the frontline during war with China
-
Martial law ended in 1987 in Taiwan; didn’t end until 1992 on Matsu
-
During that time, couldn’t take photos; couldn’t move after curfew; needed permission to leave and return to the islands, etc.
-
-
But military presence also brought money from stationed soldiers and attention from the Taiwanese government leading to schools
-
Nearly 30 years after end of military occupation, the landscape is still shaped by the military, with strongholds and tunnels everywhere
Battlefield Culture
Just off a road cutting through the center of Matsu’s Nangan island is a doorless concrete structure nearly totally consumed by mountain vegetation—moss-carpeted stairs, vines completely curtaining the walls, and wild grasses and tree branches draping from its rooftop. Walking to the end of a dim corridor, a partially detached metal grating cautions against further exploration. On these islands, these deteriorating concrete shells are ubiquitous, military relics of a time not too long ago when residents here lived was under rigid martial law in tensions with mainland China, just kilometers to the west.
Tunnels and concrete structures like this one along Nangan's Wenhua Road are a frequent reminder of Matsu's history as a strategic military point.
Chen Shang-Mao remembers that period very well. The retired high school principal was born in 1946, three years before Chiang Kai-shek’s Kuomingtang (KMT) party would retreat from mainland China to Taiwan at the end of the Chinese Civil War. Forming their first line of defense were the Matsu and more famous Kinmen (or Quemoy) islands, just off the coast of Xiamen in mainland China’s Fujian province. From 1949 until 1992, Matsu would remain under tight martial law with a permanent military presence on the islands.
In his sunny top floor apartment study, Mr. Chen lists of the numerous “inconveniences” of the era, “After 7pm there was a curfew until 5am the next day." Residents who tried to visit other villages during curfew would be asked for a password by soldiers. "If you didn't get it right, you would be either taken in or shot."
Life was restricted. There were no candles, no radios and no cameras. All photos from the era came from two sources, the Matsu Daily Newspaper and the Nationalist army of Chiang Kai-Shek's Republic of China (ROC) government, which claimed sovereignty over Taiwan. Residents had to apply for permission to travel between islands. Kids toys could not escape scrutiny, either.
“Even the basketballs at our school, anything that could float was monitored.” Mr. Chen describes the extent to which the ROC army feared locals fleeing to Communist-controlled China with valuable intelligence. “If the school gave you four, at night you had to return four.”
A display case in the Story House (故事館) in Nangan's Ren'ai Village displays items some banned and controlled items during Matsu's period of martial law.
But although martial law curbed many freedoms, Mr. Chen also acknowledges the benefits Matsu's strategic location brought and feels gratitude for the military presence. “If they hadn't come, I probably wouldn't have received a graduate degree and then become a principal.”
The first middle school and only high school were built in 1957. Before then, students had to leave for Kinmen, another group of ROC-controlled islands that also served as a military front line, to continue their studies. “Mazu is a wasteland. They're fishing islands. If the army hadn't come, there would have been nothing today.”
Matsu, or Lienchiang County as the 36 islands are formally known, indeed did not exist until 1956 when the separate regions were brought together under Nationalist army management. Before then, the archipelago was a collection of disparate fishing villages belonging to three different counties.
Former principal Chen Shang-Mao in his apartment on Nangan Island.
According to Mr. Chen and other locals, at the height of tensions, soldiers outnumbered locals by a ratio of five to one, shifting Matsu’s fishing-based economy to one focused on supporting the conscripts—mending clothes, cooking food, cutting hair, whatever soldiers needed. Since soldiers had very few opportunities to leave the islands for the two or three years they served, much of the money they earned was spent on the islands, further benefiting families equipped to provide services.
Today, soldiers have dwindled to just a few thousand, and the economy has shifted to a focus on tourism. But the so-called “battlefield culture” is an important part of Matsu’s tourism industry. Camouflage can be seen all over the island and names of restaurants like the “Battlefield Hot Pot” allude lightly to more fraught times. Former strongholds like the Iron Fort on Nangan island or the Andong tunnel on Dongyin are open for the public to experience the military heritage.
And you enjoy it knowing that you don't have to serve for three years before you can go home.