Fort Zeelandia (Taiwan)
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Fort Zeelandia () was a fortress built over ten years from 1624 to 1634 by the
Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( ; VOC ), commonly known as the Dutch East India Company, was a chartered company, chartered trading company and one of the first joint-stock companies in the world. Established on 20 March 1602 by the States Ge ...
(VOC), in the town of Anping (now
Anping District Anping District is a District (Taiwan), district of Tainan, Taiwan. In March 2012, it was named one of the ''Top 10 Small Tourist Towns'' by the Tourism Bureau of Taiwan. It is home to 64,408 people according to the 2020 census. Name The ...
of
Tainan Tainan (), officially Tainan City, is a Special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality in southern Taiwan, facing the Taiwan Strait on its western coast. Tainan is the oldest city on the island and commonly called the "Taiwan Prefecture, ...
) on
Formosa Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The island of Taiwan, formerly known to Westerners as Formosa, has an area of and makes up 99% of the land under ROC control. It lies about across the Taiwan Strait f ...
, the former name of central island of Taiwan, during their 38-year rule over the western part of the island. The site had been renamed several times as Fort Orange (奧倫治城; ), Fort Anping (安平城; ), and Taiwan City (臺灣城; ); the current name of the site in Chinese is . During the seventeenth century, when Europeans from many countries sailed to Asia to develop trade, Formosa became one of East Asia's most important transit sites, and Fort Zeelandia an international business center. As trade at the time depended on "military force to control the markets", the value of Formosa to the Dutch was mainly in its strategic position. "From Formosa the Spanish commerce between Manila and China, and the Portuguese commerce between Macau and Japan could by constant attacks be made so precarious that much of it would be thrown into the hands of the Dutch, while the latter's dealings with China and Japan would be subject to no interruptions." On behalf of the VOC, ships departing from Formosa could head north to Japan, west to Fujian, or south to Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, India, Iran or Europe.


History


Arrival and settlement of the Hollanders

In August 1624, the Dutch were expelled from the Pescadores, having failed at their attempt to use military force to coerce
Ming China The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...
into trading with them. Led by Martinus Sonck, who was to be the first Dutch governor of Formosa, they decided to move to Formosa to continue carrying on with trade, and after a day's journey, arrived at the settlement of ''Taiwan'', or ''Tayouan''. Although there were already 25,000 Chinese in the island, and their number increasing due to the war, they did not oppose the large Dutch force. Initially, trade was not as forthcoming as they had expected until, after the departure of Cornelis Reijersen (Reyerszoon) and his succession by Sonck, the Dutch and Chinese came to agreement on trade. As their first priority was to strengthen defenses, the Dutch built a temporary fort on a raised sandy bank at the entrance to Taoyuan harbor, off the coast of modern-day
Anping District Anping District is a District (Taiwan), district of Tainan, Taiwan. In March 2012, it was named one of the ''Top 10 Small Tourist Towns'' by the Tourism Bureau of Taiwan. It is home to 64,408 people according to the 2020 census. Name The ...
,
Tainan Tainan (), officially Tainan City, is a Special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality in southern Taiwan, facing the Taiwan Strait on its western coast. Tainan is the oldest city on the island and commonly called the "Taiwan Prefecture, ...
. There existed a series of sandbars extended from south to north; the east side of such sandbars was known colloquially as the Tai-chiang inland sea. Four years later, the Dutch built a more permanent structure they named "Fort Zeelandia", probably after the name of the ship that Sonck arrived in. The new fort was sited on the largest sandbar to control the channel for entering the inner sea. This would allow direct access to the sea and with it, supplies and reinforcements from Batavia in event of a siege. Another smaller fort was built later, Fort Provintia, not far from Zeelandia. Both forts were at locally high elevations, which enabled the exchange of signals between them. While of solid construction, the fort and its siting were not so much for the purpose of defense against a major enemy as they were for defending against the islanders and for overseeing trade. In addition, the site lacked adequate supplies of fresh water, which had to be shipped from the Formosan mainland. This later proved to be a critical factor in the ousting of the Dutch by Koxinga.


Koxinga's conquering and the Dutch surrender

On 30 April 1661,
Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...
-loyalist
Koxinga Zheng Chenggong (; 27 August 1624 – 23 June 1662), born Zheng Sen () and better known internationally by his honorific title Koxinga (, from Taiwanese: ''kok sèⁿ iâ''), was a Southern Ming general who resisted the Qing conquest of Chin ...
laid siege to the fortress (defended by 2,000 Dutch soldiers) with 400 warships and 25,000 men. After nine months and the loss of 1,600 Dutch lives, the Dutch surrendered on 1 February 1662, when it became clear that no reinforcements were forthcoming from Batavia (present day
Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...
,
Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...
,
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
) and when the defenders ran short of fresh water. Under the Koxinga-Dutch Treaty (1662) signed on 1 February between Koxinga and
Frederick Coyett Frederick Coyett (), born in Stockholm c. 1615 or 1620, buried in Amsterdam on 17 October 1687, was a Swedish nobleman and the last colonial governor for the Dutch colony of Formosa. He was the first Swede to travel to Japan and China and became ...
, the Dutch governor, the Dutch surrendered the Fortress and left all goods and VOC property behind. In return, all officials, soldiers and civilians were free to leave with their personal belongings and supplies. On 9 February, Coyett officially surrendered the fort and led the remaining Dutch forces and civilians back to Batavia by sea, ending 38 years of Dutch colonial rule. After the siege, Koxinga took Antonius Hambroek's teenage daughter as a concubine. Other Dutch (or part Dutch) women were sold to Chinese soldiers to become their concubines.


Features


Design and layout

Fort Zeelandia included an "inner fort" and an "outer fort". The inner fort was a square, three-layer construction. The lowest was for storage of ammunition and food. The second features a blank wall. The middle part of each side has a semicircular protruding barrack to strengthen the defense. Above the third story was the administrative center, including offices, garrison and church, all of them independent structures. There were walls on the periphery, with a protruding bastion on each of the four corners, armed with cannons; a watch tower was set at the southwest bastion. The one-story outer fort was rectangular, with bastions on the northwest and southwest corners, armed with several cannons. Inside the outer fort were residences, a hospital and houses; the plaza was the commercial area.


Construction details

Bricks were brought from
Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...
and the mortar consisted of a mixture of sugar, sand, ground seashells and glutinous rice. The fort was designed to be surrounded by three concentric layers of walls and its four corners were built into protruding bastions for better defense. Its layout was typical of European forts of the 17th century. Inside was the military and administration center, church, garrisons, and jailhouse; outside was the downtown. Between the fort and downtown, there were market, slaughterhouse, gallows, execution ground and city weighing station. Dutch bond was used for laying bricks to build Fort Zeelandia. It is created by alternately laying headers and stretchers in a single course to avoid gaps. The next course is laid so that a header lies in the middle of the stretcher in the course below. The Dutch bricks should have a 10-days kilning, the texture is solid and compact, and its color is red.


Gallery

File:Zeelandia from Dutch.jpg, Overview of Fort Zeelandia; painting by J. Vingboons, circa 1635 File:Fort Zeelandia03.jpg, Color painting of the view of Fort Zeelandia File:Fort Zealandia Taiwan.jpg, 17th century print of Fort Zeelandia File:1644 熱蘭遮城 -- 臺灣城 (Formosa - Fort de Zeelande ou de Taiovang)TAIWAN.jpg, Drawing of Fort Zeelandia File:Fort Zeelandia01.jpg, Painting showing the environment of inner Fort Zeelandia File:Fort Zelandia.png, Plan of Fort Zeelandia in a 1707 letter


See also

* Fort Provintia *
List of museums in Taiwan This is a list of museums in Taiwan, including cultural centers and arts centres. Kinmen County * August 23 Artillery Battle Museum * Guningtou Battle Museum * Hujingtou Battle Museum * Kinmen Ceramics Museum * Landmine Museum * Lieyu T ...


References


Bibliography

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External links


Old print of Fort Zeelandia, Amsterdam 1675
(high resolution zoomable scan) * {{Authority control 1624 establishments in Dutch Formosa 1662 disestablishments 17th-century disestablishments in Dutch Formosa Buildings and structures associated with the Dutch East India Company Buildings and structures completed in 1634 Dutch Formosa Former properties of the Dutch East India Company Zeelandia National monuments of Taiwan Star forts