Light Station of Fisherman Island Introduction
The Yuanyang Island Lighthouse is situated on a high ground at the southwestern tip of Xiyu, belonging to Wai'an Village in Xiyu Township. The entire Xiyu Island covers an area of 17.8380 square kilometers, with an elevation of approximately 52 meters. It stands along with the main Penghu Island and Baisha Island as one of the three major islands in the Penghu archipelago. The name Yuanyang Island refers to Xiyu, distinguished by the Portuguese who first labeled it as "Isla de los Pescadores" on nautical maps. Subsequently, the Dutch and Japanese military maps translated it to Yuanyang Island. Historically, the ancestors referred to it as "Xiyu" or "Xiyutou." Through the Qing Dynasty and Japanese colonial administrative divisions, it maintained the name Xiyu, which is located to the west of the main Penghu Island, serving as a navigational landmark for seafarers from southern China. The lighthouse was initially built in 1778 as a seven-level stone tower known as "Xiyu Tower Light." It was reconstructed in 1875 into a Western-style structure and renamed "Yuanyang Island Lighthouse," the version we see today. When it was registered as a historic monument in recent years, it was officially renamed as "Xiyu Lighthouse" in response to local residents' suggestions. The lighthouse stands on a granite base, with a bottom diameter of approximately 2.5 meters, and the tower body slightly inward towards the top, with a height ratio of about 1:2 between the top and the body. Inside the tower, there is a spiral iron plate staircase leading to a round-arched cast iron lantern and a wind vane. At a height of 6.3 meters above the ground, there is a cast iron work platform surrounded by iron pipe railings. The tower stands 11 meters high, with the light at 60.7 meters. Adjacent to the lighthouse is a white-stone building, divided into two levels, featuring a gently sloped four-sided roof. The eaves protrude horizontally over a small entrance, complemented by French-style shutters, showcasing a robust European architectural style. The Yuanyang Island Lighthouse is equipped with a foghorn, three iron fog cannons from the Qing Dynasty, and retains the early stone gourd smokestack used. From the lighthouse park, one can overlook the sea and has the chance to witness the famous Xiyu tidal current, known as "Xiliu." Among the six major tidal currents in Penghu—"Yixiao, Erhou, Sanxiliu, Si'erdou, Wutanmen, and Liudongji"—the "Xiliu" is located in the southern waters beneath the Xiyu Lighthouse at Wai'an. Around low tide, 40 minutes before the tide begins to rise (commonly known as backflow), the sea surface shows a series of crescent waves approximately 100 to 200 meters long, persisting for 4 to 5 hours until about 2 hours before high tide. During the autumn equinox, this phenomenon becomes a spectacular sight. In the music video for Chen Sheng's "The Boy in the Tower," the white-shaped Yuanyang Island Lighthouse symbolizes the lonely memories of a boy watching over a girl standing silently. Time passes, yet memories linger as fleeting moments in life, just as the lyrics say, "it’s just a few autumns,” accompanied by the sea breeze and lighthouse, standing firm in solitude but shining brightly in life. When visiting Penghu, it's worthwhile to have a brief encounter with the lighthouse and reflect on whether there are people in your life that you wish to guard but can only cherish in your memories.
