Donglin East Well Introduction
The "Donglin East Well" in Donglin Settlement, Lieyu Township, was excavated in the 4th year of the Jia Tai era (1204) during the Southern Song Dynasty, built by Lin Yanzhi. It has a history of over 800 years and is the largest ancient well in Kinmen, featuring a unique construction method. In 2004, due to rural redevelopment, stairs and granite pavement were installed around the ancient well, along with stainless steel railings and transparent glass above the well, making it a county-designated historic site. The well is constructed with stone slabs measuring 160 cm in length, 40 cm in width, and 11 to 13 cm in thickness, forming a square well body with each side measuring 130 cm. Each stone slab has a notch carved in the left bottom corner and the right top corner, measuring 15 cm in length and 20 cm in width. The construction method alternates between convex and concave arrangements. In the center of the well railing facing north, there are three lines of regular script inscribed, which read "Jia Tai Jia Zi Chun Lin Yan Zhi She" from right to left. In the center of the well railing facing south, there are two lines of regular script reading "Da De Yi Si Chong Xiu." Due to long-term exposure to sunlight, the granite surface has eroded significantly, making the inscriptions blur. The characters "De" and "Chong" are clearer since they are more centered, while the other four characters along the edges have eroded more and are not very clear.
