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Tongpan Island () is an island in Tongpan Village (), 
File:Penghu Tongpan Caizhai Block.JPG, Caizhai Block
File:Penghu.jpg, Basalt columns
File:Columnar Igneous Rocks on Tongpan island in Taiwan.jpg, Basalt columns
File:澎湖縣文化資產14.jpg, Basalt columns
Magong City
Magong (Pe̍h-ōe-jī, POJ: ''Má-keng'') is a county-administered city and county seat, seat of Penghu County, Taiwan. Magong City is located on Penghu's main island.
Name
The settlement's Mazu temples, temple honoring the Chinese folk r ...
, Penghu County
The Penghu (, Hokkien POJ: ''Phîⁿ-ô͘'' or ''Phêⁿ-ô͘'' ) or Pescadores Islands are an archipelago of 90 islands and islets in the Taiwan Strait, located approximately west from the main island of Taiwan, covering an area ...
(the Pescadores), Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
. Tongpan Island is about from the main island of Penghu. A ferry runs between Tongpan Island and Penghu Main Island twice a day and more often at some times. The island has also been known as ''Xiao'anshan'' ().
The island is a basalt mesa
A mesa is an isolated, flat-topped elevation, ridge or hill, which is bounded from all sides by steep escarpments and stands distinctly above a surrounding plain. Mesas characteristically consist of flat-lying soft sedimentary rocks capped by ...
landform with a shoreline of cliffs made of basalt columns. These geological formations make it "The Yellowstone Park of the Penghu". The columns can be seen in a path around the island. The southwest side of the island has a stepped basin known as "Lotus Terrace" (). There is a beehive-shaped basalt formation on the island called "Cat Rock" (). There are coral reef
A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups.
Co ...
s on the nearby seabed which can be seen by snorkelling.
The village is known for the ornate Fuhai Temple (福海宮), a Taoist
Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the ''Tao'' ...
temple which attracts worshippers who live off the island. The temple is dedicated to Wang Ye worship
Wang Ye worship () is a Fujianese and Taiwanese folk religion, frequently considered an aspect of the Taoist belief system. Wang Ye is particularly worshipped in Southern Taiwan and also among Minnan speaking communities worldwide.
The customary ...
(''Wen Fu Wang Ye'' (溫府王爺)) and was built in 1896/1906 and renovated in 1934 and 1982. On the 3rd day of the 3rd month of the Chinese lunar calendar
The traditional Chinese calendar (also known as the Agricultural Calendar 曆; 农历; ''Nónglì''; 'farming calendar' Former Calendar 曆; 旧历; ''Jiùlì'' Traditional Calendar 曆; 老历; ''Lǎolì'', is a lunisolar calendar ...
, the birthday of Xuanwu (god)
Xuanwu () or Xuandi (), also known as Zhenwu (, ) or Zhenwudadi (, ), is a powerful deity in Chinese religion, one of the higher-ranking deities in Taoism. He is revered as a powerful god, able to control the elements and capable of great magic ...
("Dark (or Mysterious) Heavenly Highest Deity" (玄天上帝; Xuántiān Shàngdì)) is celebrated and 300 to 400 persons who have family on the island return for the ceremonies.
On July 12, 1683, Qing Empire
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...
naval forces took Hujing Island
Hujing Island / Huching Island / Hujing Islet () is an islet in Hujing Village (), Magong City, Penghu County (the Pescadores), Taiwan. The island has also been known as ''Da'anshan'' () and the nearby Tongpan Island as ''Xiao'anshan'' (). The s ...
and Tongpan Island in the early stages of the Battle of Penghu
The Battle of Penghu () was a naval battle fought in 1683 between the Qing dynasty and the Kingdom of Tungning. The Qing admiral Shi Lang led a fleet to attack the Tungning forces in Penghu. Each side possessed more than 200 warships. The Tungn ...
.
On the afternoon of July 20, 2002, Vice President Annette Lu
Annette Lu Hsiu-lien (; born 7 June 1944) is a Taiwanese politician. A feminist active in the tangwai movement, she joined the Democratic Progressive Party in 1990, and was elected to the Legislative Yuan in 1992. Subsequently, she served as Ta ...
visited Tongpan Island where she took note of freshwater supply issues, visited the art village's museum, and offered incense at Fuhai Temple.
In January 2008, the Tongpan Geology Park (桶盤嶼玄武岩地質公園) was established focused around the basalt columns of the island.
Starting from September 26, 2019, the seawater desalination
Desalination is a process that takes away mineral components from saline water. More generally, desalination refers to the removal of salts and minerals from a target substance, as in Soil salinity control, soil desalination, which is an issue f ...
plant on Tongpan Island was out of operation for several weeks.
Gallery
See also
*List of islands of Taiwan
The islands comprising the Taiwan Area under the jurisdiction of the Taiwan, Republic of China (ROC) are classified into various island groups. The Geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as Formosa, is the largest island and the main c ...
References
External links
{{commons category-inline Islands of Taiwan Landforms of Penghu County Geoparks in Taiwan