Xiyin

Xi·yin
X8I1Y4I1N1

proper noun

An island of Dongyin, Lienchiang County, Taiwan, in the Matsu Islands.

Scrabble 15

Meanings

proper noun

alternative Hsiyin

  1. An island of Dongyin, Lienchiang County, Taiwan, in the Matsu Islands.

    Shortly afterward at 8am, four China Coast Guard vessels were found entering the waters around Lienchiang County’s Siyin Island (西引) and Wuciou Township (烏坵).

    [2025 April 1, Wu Cheng-ting, Hollie Younger, “Chinese man in dinghy apprehended in Kinmen”, in Taipei Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 01 Apr 2025, Taiwan News, page 2
    5 more examples

    One of the four fishermen from Lianjiang County of east China’s Fujian Province was shot dead by soldiers of the Taiwan authorities stationed on the Xiyin Island when the fishermen were looking for fishing tackle near the island that day. The Taiwan soldiers continued shooting as the fishermen were sailing to the Xiyin Island to rescue the wounded.[…] At about 0110 on 6 August, four crew members of the "Minlianyu 0210" fishing boat of Nan Village of Lianjiang County’s Tailu Town were looking for fishing tackle near the Latou Reef south of the Xiyin Island, when troops of the Taiwan authorities on Xiyin Island fired at them and 28-year old^([sic – meaning year-old]) captain Chen Yingtong of the fishing boat was wounded twice in the left side of his chest.

    1995 August 10 [1995 August 9], “ARATS Condemns Killing of Mainland Fisherman”, in Daily Report: China, number 95-154, Foreign Broadcast Information Service, sourced from Beijing XINHUA, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 68

    Dongyin is connected with the neighboring island of Xiyin (西引) by a causeway, and while this sister islet is less visited, it has several natural and militaristic sights of great interest.

    2017 September 22, Richard Saunders, “Off the Beaten Track: Dongyin Island: The Northern Frontier”, in Taipei Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 21 Sep 2017, Features, page 13

    Dongyin Island and Siyin Island have been linked together by an embankment. Dongyin Island is 3.22 square kilometers, while Siyin Island is 1.13 square kilometers. Including the uninhabited subordinate islands and reefs, the total are of the Dongyin Islet is 4.35 square kilometers.

    [2020s, “Introduction of Dongyin”, in Dongyin Township Administration, Matsu, archived from the original on 19 Oct 2021

    On the second day of massive live-fire drills being held by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) around Taiwan, Taiwan's Army also conducted live-fire exercises in Lienchiang County's Dongyin Township from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. However, during the exercises, witnesses gave differing accounts of either tracer fire or flares landing on a hill behind Sanjia Village on Xiyin Island and starting a fire, reported UDN.

    2022 August 5, Keoni Everington, “Fire breaks out on outer Taiwan island during artillery drill”, in Taiwan News, archived from the original on 05 Aug 2022, Society

    Dongyin Island originally was not an isolated island. It consists of two islands, Dongyin and Xiyin Island. There was a reef island between the two islands called Zhongzhu Island in the past. During high tide, Zhongzhu Island became an isolated reef island, located approximately two hundred meters from Xiyin Island.

    (Can we date this quote?), “Zhongzhu Island”, in Matsu eTravel, archived from the original on 27 Sep 2025

Origin

  1. Mandarin西引
  2. EnglishXiyin

From the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of the Mandarin 西引 (Xīyǐn).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Cantonese 西引
  • 西引island
Chinese Mandarin 西引
  • 西引 (Xīyǐn)island

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

Xiyin. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Xiyin

MLA

“Xiyin.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Xiyin. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Xiyin,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Xiyin.

Source: Xiyin on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.