Erhtan
Language: English
Part of speech: name
Etymology: From Mandarin 二膽 (Èrdǎn) Wade–Giles romanization: Êrh⁴-tan³, and/or 二擔,.
Senses: examples: text: The Nationalist Chinese Defense Ministry reported that Communists on Chingyu Islet fired 37 shells at Erhtan Islet, 2½ miles south of Amoy, but without effect.
ref: 1956 October 10, “37 Shells Fired”, in The Lincoln Star, volume 55, number 8, Lincoln, Nebraska, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 14, column 3:
text: Little Quemoy is a mountain of tunneled rock between the larger island and the mainland. Chief among the outer defenses of these two are the tiny Tan Islands—Tatan, Erhtan and a still-smaller islet. Control of the Tans, which may be the Chinese Reds first objective, would give them a means of tightening the blockade of the Quemoys still further.
ref: 1958 September 12, “War in Asia: Reds to Push to Edge”, in U.S. News & World Report, volume XLV, number 11, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 34, column 2:
text: Tatan and Erhtan, two rocky outposts of Kinmen, are some nine miles southwest of Kinmen and within yelling distance of the Communist-held mainland.[…]
The story is at once thrilling and heart warming. Organized into teams of three men each, the unsung heroes would launch their supply-ladden small motorboat in the darkness of night and sail stealthily to the brink of the death trap, the surrounding waters of Tatan and Erhtan.
ref: 1958 December 1, “Theirs Is Not To Ask Why”, in Taiwan Today, archived from the original on 17 Apr 2023:
text: On Erhtan island, two hundred feet above the dark waters of Amoy's outer bay, Company Commander Captain Chun Hua Tang stood listening to the same sound that had stopped the fisherman Go-sze Yuan in his escape attempt.
ref: 1962, DeWitt S. Copp, “The Mudcats”, in The Odd Day, William Morrow and Company, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 18:
text: Tatan and Erhtan are two small islands in the sea southwest of Kinmen.[…]A contingent of some 30 Communist troops tried to land at Erhtan, but were disarmed by Government defenders.
ref: 1981, A Pictorial History of the Republic of China: Its Founding and Development, volume II, Taipei: Modern China Press, →OCLC, page 303, column 1:
text: Since 1979, the paper says, PLA units in Fujian Province have completely stopped their shelling of Dajinmen and Xiaojinmen (Greater and Lesser Quemoy), Dadan (Tatan), Erdan (Erhtan) and other islands where Kuomintang troops are stationed. The KMT have also decreased their shelling of the mainland, it adds.
ref: 1984 January 30 [1984 January 27], “PLA Paper Sees 'Relaxing' Situation in Taiwan Strait”, in Daily Report: China, volume I, number 020, Foreign Broadcast Information Service, sourced from Beijing XINHUA Domestic Service, →ISSN, →OCLC, China: PRC Media on Taiwan Affairs, page U 1:
text: The six islands in the Kinmen group include Tatan, Erhtan, Menghuyu, Tungting, Peiting and Shihyu, which are scheduled to be demilitarized and opened for tourism early next year.
ref: 2003 October 4, Brian Hsu, “Coast guard not ready to take over Kinmen islands”, in Taipei Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 13 Oct 2003, Taiwan News, page 4:
text: Not to crow, but I have been on Dongyin, Erhtan and Tatan islands; the U.S. signal intelligence antenna farm at Pingtun Li; and inside the underground airbase in Chiashan Mountain in Hualien.
ref: 2019 March 19, Wendell Minnick, “How to Save Taiwan from Itself”, in The National Interest, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 20 Mar 2019:
text: The islands inside the baseline, including Tungyin Island, Kaoteng Island, the Matsu Islands, the Paichuan Islands, Wuchiu Island, the Greater and Lesser Quemoy Islands, Tatan Island, Erhtan Island and Tungting Island, are islands of the Chinese inland waters.
ref: 2021, Keyuan Zou, “China and the Law of the Sea: Historical Aspects”, in Dai Tamada, Keyuan Zou, editors, Implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea: State Practice of China and Japan, →DOI, →ISBN, →ISSN, →OCLC, pages 8–9:
glosses: Alternative form of Erdan.