Green Island en · PROPN · etymology 1
Pronunciation
- /ˈɡɹiːn ˈaɪ̯.lənd/
Etymology
Calque from Chinese 綠島／绿岛 (Lǜdǎo)
Meanings
-
A small volcanic island of the Republic of China (Taiwan), located southeast of the main island, primarily noted for its prison colonies.
Q. Your novel is named after Green Island, where the Kuomintang held political prisoners including native Taiwanese, similar to South Africa’s Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was held. Why that title?
2016 January 22, Didi Kirsten Tatlow, “Q. and A.: Shawna Yang Ryan on the 1947 Incident That Shaped Taiwan’s Identity”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 26 Jan 2016, Sinosphere:The prison is now the Green Island Human Rights Memorial Park.
2004, Phil Macdonald, National Geographic Traveler: Taiwan, National Geographic Society, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 153:SEC. 7075. None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to create, procure, or display any map that depicts Taiwan, Kinmen, Matsu, Penghu, Wuciou, Green Island, or Orchid Island as part of the territory of the People’s Republic of China.
2021 July 6, Barbara Lee, “H.R.4373 - Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2022”, in Congress.gov, archived from the original on 30 Jul 2021:Green Island, a small islet of 1,000 people off Taitung on the southeastern coast, is popularly regarded as a major center for political punishment and "thought reform."[...]According to one of the students, "Gangsters are imprisoned on another island south of Green Island because Chiang is afraid they are a source of support for anti-KMT politicians, as he himself had relied on Shanghai gangs in his youth.[...]Once I was guided to a "political reform" camp near Taitung, but not allowed to speak to any prisoners. "It would be useless for you to take the rough trip over to Green Island," said the guide, "because they're even stricter with foreign visitors there than on Formosa. Moreover, important political offenders are kept in Taipei."
1970, Douglas Mendel, The Politics of Formosan Nationalism, University of California Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, pages 120–121:Many deer farms also are located on Green Island in the Pacific, off Taiwan's east coast.
1975 December 7, “Deer help to prosperity”, in Free China Weekly, volume XVI, number 48, Taipei, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 2:He lends his works to exhibitions but does not sell them -- currently some are on display in a former dissidents' prison on remote outlying Green Island, which has been converted to a human rights centre.
2017 July 14, Amber Wang, “Pain runs deep for Taiwan artists 30 years after 'White Terror'”, in France 24, archived from the original on 14 Jul 2017:
Synonyms
Low Island · Samasana · Bonfire Island
Translations (5)
nan-hbl 綠島 /绿岛 (island east of Taiwan) · cmn 火燒島 /火烧岛 (island east of Taiwan) · cmn 綠島 /绿岛 (island east of Taiwan) · ja 緑島 (island east of Taiwan) · cmn 火燒嶼 /火烧屿 (island east of Taiwan)