Dutch Formosa

The rule of the Dutch East India Company over Formosa (today's Taiwan) lasted from 1624 to 1662 and was the only extended period of rule of a European colonial power on the island of Taiwan. Although the Dutch presence of relatively short duration and the area actually controlled by them at the time of the greatest extension covered only about one-third of the island, the epoch was still a major turning point in the entire Taiwanese history. The name derives from the Portuguese " Ilha Formosa " ( beautiful island).

History

In 1622 Cornelis Reyerszoon kidnapped by order of the Batavian Governor-General Jan Pieterszoon Coen, a number of Chinese on the coast of Fujian and attacked the Portuguese Macau on. The Portuguese repulsed the attack, Reyerszoon moved to the Pescadores Islands (Chinese: Penghu ) and left there in July, erect August of that year using Chinese forced laborers Fort. He remained as commander of the fort until 1624, when the Chinese government demanded back control of Penghu. The fort was demolished, and the Dutch started to build a base on Formosa at bay Taiwan, the island was the name later. In the area there were villages by Taiwanese native inhabitants, but also Chinese and Japanese traders, pirates and fishermen. The Dutch colony consisted 1624-1662. As a main base for the Fort Zeelandia served at the bay Taiwan.

1626, the Spaniards put firmly in the northwest of the said of them Isla Hermosa island and erected a fort called San Domingo, but were expelled by the Dutch. On the orders of the new governor of the Philippines, the Spaniards moved in 1642 finally back from Taiwan. The Japanese showed the meantime strong interest in the island, but were in the course of their isolation policy during the thirties of their plans again.

Colonization by Chinese immigrants

Despite the proximity of Taiwan to mainland China suspended the immigration of Chinese settlers to Taiwan on a larger scale only during the Dutch rule, and indeed, because the Dutch actively promoted itself to Chinese settlers. The Dutch took the Chinese as an intermediary for trade with the natives on the one hand and with the Chinese mainland on the other. For both the Dutch could benefit through the collection of taxes and customs duties. Also, they used Chinese farmers to clear the land. The benefits of Chinese immigrants for the Dutch described the Governor Nicholas Verburg with the words, the Chinese are " the only bees on Formosa that give honey ".

Control and riots

After the Dutch had secured control of the Native American tribes to their dominion, they kept upright this control by an elder appointed in every village to village leaders, they were characterized with a kind of government staff as a sign of dignity. Once a year a parliament was held, on which all the village chiefs were entertained by the Dutch, and was confirmed the chieftainship or transferred to other chiefs.

After the pacification of the Native American tribes at the beginning of Dutch rule there was on the part of the natives no significant revolts against the Dutch. Well but there were tensions between the natives and the Chinese on the one hand and between the Chinese and Dutch on the other. The Chinese were the main agents of trade between the natives and the Dutch and the Dutch and the Chinese mainland. For this activity, they earned pay by the Dutch licenses and had taxes. In some places, there were cases of cheating and exploitation of indigenous people by the Chinese, so that among the natives of resentment against the latter was that sometimes erupted into violent attacks against the Chinese. As protector of the Dutch walked mostly on the part of the Chinese and choked the unrest, but also cases are known in which Chinese traders were punished for their misbehavior.

The amount of tax ultimately led to rebellions of the Chinese against the Dutch. The surveys were defeated, but a state of mutual mistrust remained, especially as the Chinese on Taiwan were in constant contact with the mainland and operating in southern China Chinese generals Zheng Chenggong, which was for the Dutch to a growing threat.

Chinese invasion and end of the reign

Zheng Chenggong, a loyalist of the Ming Dynasty in the fight against the newly established Qing dynasty, had to retreat after a long resistance from the Chinese mainland in 1661 and landed on Taiwan to make the island his new base of operations. After his attack on Fort Zeelandia and a nine-month siege, the numerically far inferior Dutch capitulated under Governor Frederick Coyett in 1662 and had to leave Formosa.

Importance

The rule of the Dutch in Taiwan took less than four decades, and at the time of their greatest display of power one-third of the whole island was only estimated in fact been under their control. Nevertheless, their presence in Taiwan had far-reaching consequences:

1 With the Dutch for the first time on a large scale Chinese settlers came to Taiwan. Thus the Dutch rule also marks the beginning of continuous Chinese immigration to Taiwan in the next two hundred years.

The knowledge of Europeans over Taiwan and the South China coast has been extended 2 through the reports and records of the Dutch.

3 The Dutch brought Protestant Christianity to Taiwan and translated the New Testament into the language of the Siraya natives, for which they developed a system based on the Latin alphabet writing system for this language. These written documents are still valuable material for the study of the now extinct Siraya language.

To date, few architectural reminders of Dutch rule on Taiwan have received. Best known are the Fort Zeelandia in Anping ( Tainan ), and the Fort the redhead called Fort San Domingo in Tamsui.