According to tradition, Greater Kinmen/Kinmen Island and Lesser Kinmen/Lieyu were originally one island. Lieyu was split-off (裂lie) from Kinmen Island, hence the name Lieyu.[3][4]
History
Xiamen City (bottom), Kinmen (left), Lesser Kinmen / Lieyu (center of photograph) and surrounding islandsView from the south shore of Lieyu (Lesser Kinmen): Center is Fuxing Islet; right side are Donggang Bay & Peninsula, Donglin Shore; left side are Nanshantou & Shaxi Capes; far left in background is Xiamen with Binlang and Shi Islets in betweenMap including Lesser Kinmen/Lieyu (1869)
The first people arrived from the Central Plains of China during the Tang dynasty and quickly developed the island. The population quickly multiplied. During the Tang dynasty, a horse pasture was set up on the island. During the Song dynasty, a salt works was constructed. During the Ming dynasty, a frontier command was constructed. During the Qing dynasty, a garrison was sent to protect against Japanese pirates.
WWII monument of 7 martyrs fending a fortress of Great Wall of China in 1933, built in 1966
On July 26, 1950, ROC forces on the Dadan Island (Tatan), in total 298 soldiers, repulsed an attack (大擔島戰役) from a People's Liberation Army force of 700 soldiers that landed on the island.[5][6]
In January 1985, eight Chinese fishermen from a stranded boat were executed on Shi Islet by military orders.[7][8]
Donggang Bay, Lieyu Island, was the site of 1987 Lieyu Massacre, where nineteen or more Vietnamese refugees were killed on March 7, 1987 by the ROC armed force.[9][10]
Geography
Map including Lieyu (Lesser Kinmen) (labelled as Lieh Hsü (Little Quemoy)) (AMS, 1954)
View from north shore of Lieyu: near mid-left is Binlang Islet on low tide; Xiamen City on the background
The island of Lesser Kinmen is situated outside the mouth of mainland China's Jiulong River and inside Xiamen's harbor[citation needed]. The distance from mainland China at the closest point is only about 5,000 m (16,000 ft) and is located in a very strategic position.
Lieyu Township includes numerous islands and islets.[11] Some of the larger among those islands and islets include:[12]
Lesser Kinmen (Hsiao Kinmen, Lieyu; 小金門, 烈嶼)
Dadan Island(大膽島) (5 km (3.1 mi) to the southwest of Lesser Kinmen)
Erdan Island (二膽島) (6 km (3.7 mi) to the southwest of Lesser Kinmen)
^行政面積. 金門縣政府民政處 Civil Affairs Department, Kinmen County Government (in Chinese (Taiwan)). 29 January 2019. Retrieved 5 September 2019. 行政區 面積（單位：平方公里）{...}烈嶼鄉 16.003{...}大膽 0.7900 二膽 0.2800{...}復興嶼 0.0500 猛虎嶼 0.0250 獅嶼 0.0070
^ ab"History". Lieyu Township Village Administration, Kinmen. 9 July 2019. Retrieved 9 August 2019. Also known as the "Little Kinmen," Lieyu is located southwest to Kinmen island and between Kinmen and Amoy.{...}Our township's districts include Linhu, Huangpu, Sikou, Shanglin, and Shangchi,
^歷史沿革. 金門縣烈嶼鄉公所 Lieyu Township Village Administration, Kinmen County (in Chinese (Taiwan)). 28 July 2017. Archived from the original on 25 August 2019. Retrieved 10 August 2019. 金門民間傳說烈嶼和大金門本是相連，沒有過海，和大金門的水頭有數公尺之土地相連帶。後有一仙人眼見船隻軍要轉來轉去才能轉進港，非常麻煩，就說：「這條港路上的半島，該讓她(離嶼)去，讓出這條港路，好交通船」。金口一開，烈嶼那塊島慢慢裂開，一直開離大金門所以叫「烈嶼」久而久之，就叫成了「烈嶼」。（金門民間傳說）
^Shi, Wen-jie (29 October 2013). "時論－一封永遠無法寄達的家書" [Commentary - A home letter never been delivered] (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Taipei: China Times. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
^Gao, Yong-cheng (13 July 2022). "111司調0025 調查報告" [2022 Justice Investigation Report No. 0025] (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Taipei: Control Yuan. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
^Guan, Ren-jian (1 September 2011). 你不知道的台灣 國軍故事 [The Taiwan you don't know: Stories of ROC Arm Forces] (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Taipei: Puomo Digital Publishing. ISBN9789576636493. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
^金門縣土地段名代碼表 (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Department of Land Administration. 5 September 2018. Retrieved 9 August 2019. 地政事務所名稱(代碼) 金門(WA) 鄉鎮市區名稱(代碼) 烈嶼鄉(05){...}段 小段 代碼 備註{...}大膽 0251 二擔 0252 更正 復興嶼 0253 猛虎嶼 0254 獅嶼 0255
^烈嶼行政村. 金門縣烈嶼鄉公所 Lieyu Township Village Administration, Kinmen County (in Chinese (Taiwan)). 12 June 2019. Retrieved 9 August 2019. 全鄉分為林湖村、上岐村、上林村、西口村、黃埔村，共五個行政村，
^"President Ma: Construction of Kinmen Bridge Signifies Kinmenese Hope" 馬總統：大橋興建代表金門人民希望 (in Chinese (Taiwan) and English). Translated by Wilson Chou. Kinmen Daily News. 24 January 2011. Retrieved 24 August 2019. President Ma explained the reason for building a bridge linking Kinmen and Lieyu (Little Kinmen) as follows: With the resident population of Lieyu Township being only between 2000-3000, transportation is not the primary reason. With what the central government most concerned is Kinmen's status in the overall cross-strait relation and its competition with Xiamen. He believed that with the completion of the construction, Kinmen Bridge will become a marvelous tourist landmark in Kinmem [sic]. 馬總統說，烈嶼鄉的常住人口不過兩、三千人，蓋橋除了考量大、小金門的交通，最主要是看重金門在整個兩岸關係的地位，以及未來面對廈門的競爭。他相信，金門大橋的興建，將成為金門觀光的絕佳地標。
