Liuqiu

English

Alternative forms

• Liuchiu (Wade–Giles)
• Liouciou (Tongyong Pinyin)
• Loochoo, Loo Choo, Lewchew, Lew Chew, Luchu, Liqueo, Lequio, Liquea, Lieuchieu, Liukiu, Liu Kiu, Lekeyo, Leoo-keoo, Leookeoo, Lūchū

Etymology

From the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of Mandarin 琉球 (Liúqiú). Doublet of Ryukyu.

Proper noun

Liuqiu

1. Synonym of Ryukyu (“island chain”): the Mandarin Chinese-derived name. [from 20th c.]
   • [1663, The Voyages and Adventures of Ferdinand Mendez Pinto‎^[1], page 285:

     There is moreover in the woods marvelous ſtore of Braſil and Ebony, wherewith an hundred Juncks are every year laden to be tranſported to China, Hainan, the Lequios, Camboya and Camphaa ;]

   • 1981, China: A Country Study (Area Handbook Series)‎^[2], 3rd edition, Government Printing Office, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 21:

     Japan, emerging from its century-long seclusion, annexed the Liuqiu (Ryukus) Islands and, by defeating the Chinese in Korea (1894-95), began to exert control over that peninsula as well as the island of Taiwan.

   • 1996, D. R. Howland, “Encountering Japan”, in Borders of Chinese Civilization: Geography and History at Empire's End‎^[3], Duke University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 17:

     Relations between the Qing court and the king of the Liuqiu Islands were maintained regularly; as the Qing emperors welcomed ambassadors and tribute missions from the Liuqius, Chinese coastal trade with the Liuqiu Islands flourished.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:Liuqiu.
2. A rural township of Pingtung County, Taiwan, encompassing Liuqiu Island.
   • 2022 April 10, George Liao, “'First tuna fish’ caught in Pingtung this year sells for over NT$2 million in southern Taiwan auction”, in Taiwan News‎^[4], archived from the original on 10 April 2022:

     With the coming of the bluefin tuna fishing season, a Liuqiu Township-based fishing boat caught the county's first tuna fish of this year, CNA reported.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:Liuqiu.
3. The island in Liuqiu, Pingtung County, Taiwan.
   • 2021 January 13, “'Corals are being cooked': A third of Taiwan's reefs are dying”, in France 24‎^[5], archived from the original on 13 January 2021:

     Much of the ocean they surveyed last summer was above 30 degrees Celsius for three months. The worst area was in Little Liuqiu, a coral island off the southwest coast in the Taiwan Strait where 55 percent of corals have now been seriously bleached.

   • 2022 August 7, Chris Buckley, Amy Chang Chien, John Liu, “After China’s Military Spectacle, Options Narrow for Winning Over Taiwan”, in The New York Times‎^[6], →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-08-07‎^[7]:

     “Nothing is going to change after the military exercises, there’ll be one like this and then another,” said Li Wen-te, a 63-year-old retired fisherman in Liuqiu, an island off the southwestern coast of Taiwan, less than six miles from China’s drills. […]
     “I cherish our freedom of speech and don’t want to be unified by China,” said Huang Chiu-hong, 47, the owner of a shop that sells fried sticks of braided dough, a local snack, on Liuqiu, the Taiwanese island.

   • 2022 August 10, Ann Wang, I-Hwa Cheng, Aleksander Solum, Sarah Wu, Ben Blanchard, Yimou Lee, Farah Master, “Taiwan residents largely calm in the face of Chinese anger”, in Robert Birsel, editor, Reuters‎^[8], archived from the original on 10 August 2022, Asia Pacific:

     China said this week it would conduct more drills focusing on anti-submarine and sea assault operations - confirming the fears of some security analysts and diplomats that it would keep up the pressure on Taiwan's defences. read more
     But on Liuqiu island, a picturesque tourist spot near one of the areas where the Chinese military was conducting exercises last week, people were largely indifferent.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:Liuqiu.

Translations

Translations

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 琉球 (zh) (Liúqiú)

Further reading

• Liuqiu, Liuchiu, Loochoo, Loo Choo, Lewchew, Lew Chew, Luchu, Liqueo, Lequio, Liquea, Liukiu, Liu Kiu, Lekeyo, Leoo-keoo, Leookeoo, Lūchū at the Google Books Ngram Viewer.