Book series on Kinmen history launched

Taipei--Six books about the history of Kinmen County were released Tuesday, as part of the local government's efforts to promote the island county as "a place of stories."

Lu Kun-ho (???), chief of Kinmen's Cultural Affairs Bureau, said at the book launch that it has long been the county's goal to share its 1,700-year history with the public.

Through the books, it is hoped that Kinmen will become a place of stories, warmth and emotion that would appeal to people, he said.

Although Kinmen is a small island, it has 170 villages, with diverse cultures and kinships worth documenting, Lu said.

He said the six-volume series, commissioned by the county government, was just a start and more books on the subject could be expected.

The six books released Tuesday document stories from the townships of Shangling (??), Houpu (??), Houshueitou (???), Chingyu (??), Guningtou (???) and Chunglin (??).

The writers, who were selected in a process that lasted a year, talked about how they approached the project.

Lin Ma-teng (???), 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, which lies just 2.3 kilometers off the coast of mainland China, was a military frontline during the period of conflict between Taiwan and China in the 1950s.

During the Cold War years (1947-1991), Kinmen was seen as the closest outpost of the democratic world to a communist regime.

From its scarred battlefields, to its tunnels and museums, the island bears unmistakable marks of its history, which the local government has been promoting as a tourist attraction.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel