Chapter 2 The Dutch Era Forts Zeelandia and Providencia
Compared
with the Ming Dynasty, the Dutch were more conscious of
the value of Taiwan: it was not only an ideal trading
base, the land was also fertile and abundant in products.
From the beginning, the Dutch had shown profound interest
in developing Taiwan as a colonial enterprise. During the
thirty-eight years of Dutch rule, the total number of
Dutch personnel assigned to Taiwan was less than two
thousands; half were soldiers. Right from the first day,
the Dutch Enlightenment and Oppression
The first
problem the Dutch faced upon landing, was how to deal
with the problem of aborigines. In those days, although
aborigines were not familiar with the concept of
"territorial rights", but they were conscious
that it was the land where they were born and grew up in.
Japanese and Chinese pirates, who invaded Taiwan and used
it as a "den", had never claimed
Soon
after the construction of Fort Providentia began, Rev.
Judinius was sent to Taiwan from Batavia in 1627, and
many other missionaries followed him in the endeavor of preaching to the aborigines. These missionaries not only
propagated Christian belief in Taiwan, The Greedy Dutch
The Dutch
East India Company gained great profits from
trans-shipping trade in Taiwan: Southeast Asian products
such as spices, tin, amber, cotton, opium, etc. were Since the Dutch took over Taiwan, the pirates infesting the island had greatly decreased, especially in the areas under Dutch control. However, the vessels on the open sea were often attacked by pirates. In order to ensure safe transportation on the sea, the Dutch concluded an agreement with the powerful pirate chief, Cheng Zhi-long. It is interesting to know that the secret of the Dutch's success in trans-shipping trade was by obtaining the cooperation from Chinese pirates. From the fact that deer skins and meats, and sugar were main export products from Taiwan, one can see that Taiwan in the old days was the habitat of deer and sugar canes. The Dutch encouraged aborigines and immigrants to hunt for deer, taxed hunting equipments, and obtained enormous profits from trading deer products. It was reckless plunder. Herds of deer became nearly extinct in Taiwan, mainly because of indiscriminate hunting by the Dutch. From the beginning, the Dutch rulers controlled and exploited Taiwan with the same political and economic systems which was colonialist pattern of seizing and ruling under the mercantilism. Not only heavy taxes were levied on all production and consumption, but head taxes were also collected from newly arrived Chinese immigrants. This only promoted resistance from aborigines and immigrants. "King's Field" and Agricultural Development Dutch East India Company gained exclusive rights to commercial ventures in Taiwan and ruled Taiwan as a colonial enterprise. The Company leased land and agricultural tools to the peasants and introduced oxen to till rice fields. The Dutch dug wells, conducted land surveys, introduced cash crops such as sugar, and romanized aboriginal languages. While the Dutch obtained excessive profits from trans-shipping merchandise, they also made considerable efforts in agricultural development. All lands were seized and owned by the Dutch monarch (hence the name "King's Field"), and were managed by Dutch West India Company. Lands were then leased to Han pioneer farmers from whom 5 to10% rent or taxes, called "king's field rent contributions," were collected. Incidentally, the land measuring unit of "jia" (9700 square meters), which was used in Dutch era, has been carried over to this date.
The development of the sugar industry is something worth mentioning. As climate in southern Taiwan was suitable for growing sugar canes, sugar was produced and exported even before the Dutch gained control of Taiwan. However, the Dutch, who realized the profitability, established sugar cane plantations in an endeavor to increase production and promote sugar as the major export industry. Since then and for about three centuries, the sugar industry has continued to hold an important position in Taiwan export. The Spanish Seized the North
The Dutch
were not the only western power which wanted Taiwan as a
base for trans-shipping trade. The Spanish, who already
controlled the Philippines, also intended to expand their
power to Taiwan to ensure the security of the Philippines
and to prevent the Dutch from monopolizing trade with
China and Japan. On May 5, 1626, a Spanish fleet,
detoured eastern Taiwan coast in order to avoid clashing
with the Dutch, reached the northeast tip of Taiwan and
named it the Cape of San Diego. Next day, Spanish forces
seized the
Although
the Spanish successfully controlled northern Taiwan,
neither trade with China and Japan, nor the propagation
of Catholicism in Japan went smoothly. Moreover, supplies
from Manila was often obstructed by typhoons and more
than half of the limited number of personnel succumbed to
either by aborigine attack or epidemics such as malaria.
The Spanish
Uprising of Kuo Huai-Yi Colonial rule by force undoubtedly would incur resistance from people who are subjected to it. During the Dutch's era, resistance and uprisings frequently happened; in which "Ma-tou Incident"(1635) and "Hsiao-long Incident" (1636) resulted in massacre of large numbers of aborigines. After these incidents, the Dutch forced aborigines to show their obedience by holding a "ceremony of obedience". A similar ceremony was later utilized by the Japanese as a scheme to deal with Taiwanese residents. The Dutch were in need of labor for developing Taiwan, so they imported great numbers of immigrants from China, not only enslaving them, but also taxing them heavily. The hatred and anger towards the Dutch by the immigrants multiplied year after year, and finally developed into an armed uprising headed by Kuo Huai-Yi. This incident was inevitable because there was a limit to the immigrants' tolerance under the hard-hearted rule of the Dutch. Legend says that Kuo Huai-Yi originally was a follower of Cheng Zhi-long, after the Dutch took over Taiwan he lived near Fort Providentia as a farmer, and was well-respected by the immigrants. On September 7, 1652, Kuo assembled his comrades and planned to revolt on the night of Autumn Festival. Unexpectedly, Kuo's younger brother leaked the secret information to Dutch authority. Hastily Kuo led 16,000 men, attacked Fort Providentia and succeeded in occupying it. The Dutch sent for reinforcement from Fort Zeelandia and with help from 2,000 aborigines recaptured Fort Providentia. Kuo and approximately 4,000 comrades were killed. Later, more than one thousand immigrants who were involved in the uprising were also executed. Although the uprising forces were superior in number, however, hoes, clubs, and bamboo spears were no match for the modern weapons in the hands of Dutch soldiers and aborigines. The fate of Kuo and his men was sealed. The uprising of Kuo Huai-Yi was a mass revolt against the tyrannical rule of the Dutch, which also represented immigrant's consciousness of human rights. The uprising failed mainly because aborigines and immigrants were divided and fought amongst themselves. After the Dutch left Taiwan, "divide and rule" became a controlling method commonly used by the new rulers. |
After
retreating from Penghu island, the Dutch fleet sailed
towards Taiwan, and on Aug. 26, 1624 landed in southern
Taiwan, near the present-day city of Tainan. Through
governor of Batavia, a Taiwan governor was appointed by
the Dutch East India Company.
Different from the heads of the Dutch trading houses, the
governor of Taiwan was not only the trading boss, but
also the administrator of the colony.
Immediately
after landing on Taiwan, the Dutch started to build Fort
Zeelandia at present-day An-ping, which took eight years
to complete. In 1625, construction of Fort Providentia
(present-day Chih-Kan-Lou) was also started. Both forts
were military fortresses, however, Fort Zeelandia was
used more for trading, and Fort Providentia was used as
living quarters and warehouse. 
had been prepared for resistance from
aborigines and Chinese immigrants
as well as attacks by the Portuguese, the Spanish and the
English. Cannons set up in the fortresses were not just
aimed at invaders from the sea, but also at local
residents. Surprisingly, the aborigines and the
immigrants did not resist the Dutch occupation, but
rather helped them build their fortresses. They did not
realize that these fortresses were later to be used as
means of their own oppression.
Taiwan as
their "territory", hence there was no
master-slave relationship. Now that the Dutch dominated this land, and
aborigines lost the freedom they had enjoyed before.
Certainly they would uprise and resist. In order to cope
this problem, the Dutch "enlightened" the
aborigines with Christian religion, and used force in
suppressing the stiff-necks. More than ten years passed
before the Dutch finally had full control of the
aborigines.
but also mitigated the resistance
of aborigines, and at the same time, provided an
opportunity for Taiwan to come in contact with European
civilization. In order to preach the gospel, the
missionaries romanized the languages of the aborigines to
print the Bible, thus leaving various traces of cultural
history behind. One example was the "Shin-kang
Document", a land contract exchanged between
immigrants and the Sirayas who lived in Shin-kang near Tainan. The Shin-kang Document which was written in
romanized aboriginal language has become valuable
historical material for studying the customs of the past.
transported from Batavia; silver was imported from Japan;
silk, fine chinas, herbal medicins and gold were
imported from China; sugar and deer skin were exported from Taiwan to Japan; and besides sugar and
jerked deer meat, Southeast Asian products were also
exported to China. In addition, silk, fine chinas and
gold were exported from Taiwan to Amsterdam through
Batavia. The profits obtained from the multilateral
trade were tremendously high.
The
Company leased agricultural land and tools to peasants
and introduced oxen to till rice fields, and at the same
time, dug wells, conducted land surveys, and protected
farmers from aborigines' attacks. However, the Dutch
provided protection and supports to immigrants not out of
charity, but simply in order to obtain higher profits for
the Company. The Dutch not only improved the breeding of
plants, but also introduced new crops such as cabbage,
bean, tomato, mango and chili pepper, which became popular
produce today. The Dutch opened two breeding farms,
raising oxen imported from India, and by replacing human labor, productivity was increased remarkably. As a
result of the agricultural developments, production of
rice was not only self-sufficient, but also had surplus
for export.
port of Keelung and established control down
the west coast a short distance from Tamsui. Forts San
Salvador and San Domingo were built in Keelung and Tamsui
respectively. In the following year the Dutch sent a
fleet to the north trying to drive the Spanish away, but
was defeated. At that time, the Dutch had devoted their
efforts in developing southern Taiwan, and was incapable
of stopping the Spanish from taking over northern Taiwan.
plan of controlling Taiwan was severely
hampered, and in 1638, the Spanish withdrew after destroying Fort San Domingo
in Tamsui. What they left in Taiwan was a small defensive
system and an advanced base for trade. Seeing the Spanish
forces in northern Taiwan weakened, the Dutch fleet moved
northward in the summer of 1642, and took Keelung,
putting an end to the Spanish control of northern Taiwan.
With the withdrawal of the Spanish forces, Dutch control
over Taiwan spread from south to the north.
The
period of Spanish rule in Taiwan was short, but they
brought new immigrants from China to work with aborigines
in pioneering projects, such as
mining of sulfur in Peitou. In the effort of propagating
Catholicism to residents, the Spanish edited a
"Tamsui Dictionary", and together with
missionary's medical service in treatment of malaria,
teaching of western medical science, etc. had left
significant impact in the cultural history of Taiwan,
just like the Dutch who propagated Christianity in the
south.
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