Orchid Island
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English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Calque of Chinese 蘭嶼 (Lányǔ, literally “orchid island[1]”)
Proper noun[edit]
- An island of Taitung County, Taiwan, in the Pacific Ocean (Philippine Sea), home of the Tao (Yami) indigenous people
- 1977 January 9, “Visitors drawn to Lanyu, Land forgotten by time”, in 自由中國週報 [Free China Weekly][2], volume XVIII, number 2, Taipei, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 2, column 4:
- Orchid Island is a rocky, mountainous bit of land thrown up from the sea by volcanic action eons ago. It has barely more than ten and a half square miles of area, with little arable or level land. Yet it is home to some 2,600 people.
There really are orchids on Orchid Island, although they are found at higher elevations not usually seen by visitors—also sizeable trees and numerous birds and butterflies. Almost everything is green from the combination of a tropical climate and heavy rainfall.
The people of Orchid Island are Yamis, members of the smallest of the Taiwan aborigine tribes. They are handsome people. with black hair, brown eyes and complexions deeply bronzed from exposure to sun and wind.
- 2020 November 4, Sally Jensen, “Indigenous Tao way of life under threat on Taiwan island”, in Reuters[3], archived from the original on 05 November 2020, Big Story 10:
- While 2020 will be remembered by many as a year of travel bans and cancelled vacations, the indigenous Tao people of Orchid Island will remember it as the year unprecedented numbers of visitors descended on their once tranquil home.
- 2022 April 26, Tyson Lu, Matthew Mazzetta, “Ship delivering supplies to Orchid Island sinks after collision”, in Focus Taiwan[4], archived from the original on 26 April 2022, Society:
- A ship transporting cargo from Taitung to Orchid Island sank early Tuesday after it was struck by a large merchant vessel off Green Island, but all nine crew members were safely rescued, according to the Coast Guard Administration (CGA).
- 2023 January 5, Amy Qin, Amy Chang Chien, “The Nuclear Dump That Created a Generation of Indigenous Activists”, in The New York Times[5], →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-01-05[6]:
- The waste site in Lanyu, also known as Orchid Island, or Ponso no Tao, has been among the highest-profile causes taken up by Indigenous Taiwanese, who were the main inhabitants of these islands until four centuries ago, when colonial settlers began arriving from mainland China, Europe and, later, imperial Japan.
- For more quotations using this term, see Citations:Orchid Island.
Synonyms[edit]
- (from Mandarin Chinese) Lanyu
Translations[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ Saul B. Cohen, editor (1998), “Lan Yü Island”, in The Columbia Gazetteer of the World[1], volume 2, New York: Columbia University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 1677: “[Chin.=orchid island]”