The opening up of Kinmen can be traced back to the Yuan Dynasty (371 AD). At that time, there were rebellions in the central plains of mainland China. To escape the rebellions, the Su, Chen, Wu, Tsai, Lu and Yan families moved to Kinmen. So, Han Chinese immigration to Kinmen has a history of more than 1600 years. From the Tang Dynasty, Kinmen developed horse ranches and was brought into the Chinese social and economic systems.

During the Sung Dynasty (1068-1085), Kinmen was included in the map of Chinese territory. And, it was Kinmen, where the Sung emperor took refuge. Also, during the Sung Dynasty, Chu Hsi, a great scholar famous for his commentary on Confucian classics, built schools and libraries. Due to his efforts, Kinmen became known as a cultural center.

At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty (1287), what is now Old Jincheng was already developed. At the close of the Ming Dynasty, Koxinga arrived in Kinmen and built guard posts at all of the important coastal defense points.

During the reign of Chung Chen, the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty, forces loyal to what would be the Ching Dynasty invaded China's central plains. The surviving members of the imperial family and their supporters fled southward, first to Chekiang in Fujian Province, then to Kinmen and Xiamen. From Kinmen, Chou De Sing made plans to overthrow the Ching Dynasty and restore the Ming Dynasty, changing Kinmen's role from a place of refuge to a military stronghold.

Then, in 1949, the Kuomintang troops retreated from mainland China to Taiwan, Penghu and Kinmen. Guningtou was the turning point and a place of decisive victory for the Kuomintang troops. Thus, Kinmen became an outpost in the defense of free China.

Since 1949, when mainland China fell to the Communists, Kinmen has witnessed several important battles, including the Guningtou Battle, DaDan Battle, September 3rd Bombardment, August 23rd Bombardment and June 17th Bombardment, etc. Following the bombardment on August 23, 1958, Kinmen experienced frequent shelling for more than 20 years. Nearly one million artillery shells and bullets were used to bombard Kinmen Island and Little Kinmen Island during that time. The most well-known battles in Kinmen's history are the Guningtou Battle and the August 23rd Bombardment.

The Guningtou Battle took place on October 25, 1949. During this battle the Nationalist Kuomintang troops held back about 10,000 mainland Chinese troops and more than 200 mainland Chinese naval vessels. Thus, this event is also referred to as the Guningtou Victory. This battle was a turning point in the stabilization of cross-strait relations.

In the summer of 1958, Middle East tensions were rising. Mainland China took concrete action to show its support for the Arab countries. In addition, to respond to the worsening domestic situation and to test the limits of the U.S.-Taiwan defense treaty, mainland China planned to attack Kinmen and Matsu. Before the attack, mainland China actively took steps to fortify its military. However, the Taiwan defense ministry received news of mainland China's plans on July 17th, and also began to make defense preparations.

At 6:30 on August 23rd, Communist troops attacked Kinmen. Many of the soldiers stationed on Kinmen were in the mess hall at that time and were caught off guard resulting in more than 400 casualties, including Deputy Commanders Chi Hsing-wen, Chao Chia-hsiang and Chang Chieh who were eating in a restaurant at the time. Kinmen was bombarded for a total of 44 days from August 23rd to October 6th. The Communist troops fired 474,910 rounds of ammunition into the Kinmen area. The Nationalist Kuomintang troops fired 74,889 rounds of ammunition at the enemy. Kinmen continued to receive supplies even though it was under constant fire by the mainland Chinese troops. In addition, the Nationalist troops sank more than 20 of mainland China's torpedo boats and shot down 32 Mig 17s.

After the Kuomintang's August 23rd bombardment victory, mainland China did not launch another large-scale attack in the Taiwan Straits. However, during the next 20 years, the mainland would continue to occasionally fire on Kinmen. Thus, Kinmen became a stronghold to safeguard the security of Taiwan and the Penghu (Pescadores) Islands.