| While the Spanish were in the Philippines, the Dutch had come to
Indonesia in the early 1600's and founded Batavia (Jakarta) in 1619. The
Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie (VOC) or United Dutch East India
Company, formed in 1602, managed their colonial businesses and trade. In
search of a mid-station for their Asian trade, the Dutch traders had
already been to the Penghu archipelago (Pescadores) located in the
Taiwan Strait in 1603. They had also made repeated attempts to dislodge
the Portuguese from Macau but were unsuccessful.
When the Dutch decided to settle in Penghu, their actions drew a
quick response from the Ming regime in China. The Ming government had
maintained its restrictions on travel abroad and saw this as a threat.
They attacked the Dutch on Penghu in 1624. After eight months both sides
signed a truce agreement. This agreement had three main points. The
Dutch would abandon Penghu; the Ming would not oppose the Dutch
occupation of Formosa ; and trade would be maintained between the Ming
and the Dutch. Since the Ming government did not claim sovereignty over
Formosa, this was an easy arrangement for them to make. Following the
treaty, the Dutch developed settlements at Anping near Tainan in
southwest Taiwan. Soon however they were conscious of the Spanish
presence on the north of the island. They also experienced Japanese
attempts to establish firm trading bases in Formosa. As a result of
this, the Dutch replaced the governor in Batavia and reassigned him as
governor of Formosa. From there he could consistently look after Dutch
trade activities and interests with both China and Japan.
The Dutch quickly established two forts in the Tainan area. One
located at Anping was first called Fort Orange and then Zeelandia. The
other, located nearby was called Provintia. Both were capable of
defense. Zeelandia housed their trading functions while Provintia housed
the administrative, sleeping and warehouse functions. From these solid
bases, the Dutch gradually expanded their influence on the island.
Both aborigines and Chinese dwelt near the area where the Dutch
settled but they offered little or no opposition. However as the Dutch
began to confiscate more land and levy taxes, resentment and resistance
slowly built up. In the meantime, the Dutch used missionaries to try to
convert the aborigines and using Roman characters translated the Bible
into their language. For those who refused to become Christians, the
Dutch resorted to military force to drive them from the area. The Dutch
also levied a 10% customs duty on all trading in Formosa whether import
or export. This 10% duty was opposed by Japanese traders who had been
used to trading with the Chinese on Formosa. In 1625, a Japanese sea
captain named Hamada Yahiyoue refused to pay these taxes and declared
himself exempt. This declaration would sour the trade between the Dutch
commercial firm in Hirato and the Japanese samurai government. In 1627 ,
Japanese traders brought aborigines leaders to be presented to the
Japanese Shogun, but hopes of an alliance were unsuccessful. Finally,
trade would temporarily break off when in 1628, Hamada led some
aborigines in a failed attempt to assassinate the Dutch governor. An
international conflict loomed between the Dutch and Japanese but it
dissipated when in 16 35 the Tokugawa shogun began a policy of
isolationism (sakoku). They forbade trade and then outlawed shipbuilding
of ocean going vessels and other ships from 1633-1636. In 1639 they
formally entered into a self-imposed isolation policy that would last
until 1853 when the " black ships" of Admiral Perry would force their
way into Tokyo Bay. With trade down to a trickle and with ship-building
hampered, even the Japanese pirate groups lost their influence in the
Taiwan Strait.
Dutch Colonial Profit
Using the labor of the aborigines and the Chinese immigrants, the
Dutch were quick to gain profit from Formosa. Trade increased. The Dutch
could get spices, amber, kapok and opium from Southeast Asia through
Batavia. They also got silver from Japan and silk, pottery, Chinese
medicine and gold from China. All this was exchanged for sugar, venison
and deer hides from Formosa. Formosa was proving valuable to them.
The pirates who surrounded Formosa still existed but the Dutch made a
treaty with Cheng Chih-lung a pirate leader, to guarantee the safety of
their vessels at sea. The Dutch could now spend time developing
agriculture in Formosa. Farmland belonging to the Dutch East India
Company was established and immigration encouraged. Immigrants had to
pay 10% of the profit they made in renting land from the company. The
Dutch successfully improved the spice crop and introduced several new
crops to the island such as cabbages, garden peas, tomatoes, mangos,
capsicum, rice and especially sugarcane. They also brought in the Indian
buffalo.
Revolts
During the Dutch rule of the island, there were revolts from the
aborigines and Chinese, but the Dutch were able to employ a policy of
divide and conquer. The aborigines rose up in the Mattau incident in
1635 and the Xiaolung incident in 1636. As these revolts were crushed,
the Dutch increased their hold on the island.
The Chinese whose immigration had been openly encouraged also became
dissatisfied. In 1652, Guo Huai-i a subordinate of the pirate Cheng Chih-lung
gathered the people together to resist the Dutch. Unfortunately Guo' s
brother leaked information of the planned revolt to the Dutch and the
Dutch with 2000 Christian aborigines met and defeated them.
Lacking appropriate weapons, Guo and 4,000 of his men were routed and
hunted down. But this and the other revolts indicated a growing tendency
of the various groups on the island to seek their own freedom. They did
not look to be united with either China or Japan but simply to be left
alone to make a living. In the meantime, the practice of the Dutch to
play one side against the other to maintain power, would become a
practice among each incoming regime.
Cheng Ch'eng-kung and the Ming Flight
In 1628, the Ming Dynasty found itself with far greater matters of
concern than what was happening on Formosa, which had been left to the
Dutch. The Manchus in the northeast were expanding their influence and
threatening the very existence of the Ming. Seeking both military and
capital support, the Ming regime called upon the pirate leader Cheng
Chih-lung for help. Chih-lung had been based in Hirato, Japan and had
taken a Japanese wife, Tagawa. Chih-lung, who operated both as an
opportunistic trader and pirate, was also a mercenary leader with a
strong army of followers . The Manchus began their conquest of China in
earnest in 1646. They sought to conquer both by using force and
enticement. The high officials of the Ming court who had fled south were
offered similar positions in the Ch'ing court if they ceased resistance.
Chih-lung who posed a military threat was also offered the opportunity
to switch sides for a court appointment. Chih-lung's family suspiciously
opposed this exchange, but Chih-lung decided to go for the bait and
received a comfortable place in Beijing. When Chih-lung later failed to
bring his forces along with him, the Manchus placed him under house
arrest. Chih- lung's wife Tagawa then committed suicide.
Ch'eng-kung , Chih-lung's son (b. 1624) by Tagawa was away pursuing
studies when news of this reached him. He abandoned his studies and
having inherited the pirate enterprise from his father he became a
scourge to the coastal cities on the east. Ch'eng-kung pledged himself
to try to re-establish the Ming rule in China, despite the fact that by
not joining his father Chih-lung, he would hasten Chih- lung's execution
in 1661.
In 1660, the Manchus ordered all inhabitants of China's east coastal
region to move inland 1.728 kilometers, in effect eliminating ports of
refuge and supplies for pirates or Ming loyalists. Soon, there were few
places on the mainland coast where Ch'eng-kung and his pirates could
take refuge except for Kinmen (Quemoy) and the Amoy Islands. It was
there that Ch'eng-kung met Ho-Bin a translator who had been working for
the Dutch East India Company. Ho-Bin told him of the advantages of the
island of Formosa.
Formosa, the Ming Invasion
Armed with maps of Formosa supplied by Ho-Bin, Ch'eng-kung set out
with a fleet of 400 ships and 25,000 men to take the island. Penghu (the
Pescadores) was their first stop. They quickly occupied Penghu and made
plans to invade Formosa where the Chinese immigrants who had just
suffered defeat in the rebellion of Guo Huai-i were sympathetic to a
savior.
Upon landing Ch'eng-kung first seized food supplies for his troops.
Then he attacked Fort Provintia because it had fewer defenses. Finally
he laid siege to Fort Zeelandia. The Dutch were put in a predicament.
They were outnumbered and supplies began to run low. They cried to the
governor in Batavia for assistance and to the aborigines, but the
distances were too great for sufficient help from Batavia and the
aborigines could not muster a strong enough force to break the siege.
Eventually after a siege of nine months, they surrendered in 1662. The
Dutch had ruled Formosa for 38 years. |
