Taiwans first inhabitants were the aborigines, who were joined later by fishermen, traders, and pirates from China and Japan. Nevertheless, it was the Dutch and the Spanish that first established formal political power on Taiwan. Occupation by these European powers marked the beginning of Taiwans transformation from an era of prehistoric obscurity into the modern new world that the Age of Exploration helped forge. Taiwan progressed rapidly to become one of the most advanced territories in East Asia. The Dutch and the Han Chinese worked together, each group complementing the other. The Dutch formulated policies while the Chinese implemented them, and thus built a new Taiwan. Their relationship was also competitive, however, and sometimes even confrontational, as sporadic Chinese uprisings and ultimately Jheng Cheng-gongs invasion of Taiwan evince.

European Occupation of Taiwan and Confrontation between Holland in the South and Spain in the North
In the middle of the 16th century, Portuguese ships frequently passed Taiwan to trade with Japan. Impressed by its beauty, Portuguese sailors referred to the island as Ilha Formosa, and Formosa thus became the name commonly used in the West. The Portuguese showed no great interest in occupying Taiwan, however, stopping only when compelled by weather or shipwreck, as happened for example in 1582. Some accounts indicate that Portuguese sailors set up a base in northern Taiwan, but later withdrew without establishing any formal administration.

Japan was the first country to show colonial ambitions in Taiwan. After unifying Japan, Toyotomi Hideyoshi undertook a policy of overseas expansion, invading Korea in the west and extending Japans influence southward. In 1592, Japan sought sovereignty over Taiwan (Takayama Koku in Japanese), but this effort proved inconclusive. In 1609, the Tokugawa Shogunate De Chuan Mu Fu sent feudal lord Arima Haruno You Ma Qing Xin on an exploratory mission to Taiwan. In 1616, the powerful Nagasaki official Murayama Toan Cun Shan Deng An led troops on what would ultimately be an unsuccessful invasion of Taiwan. In the end, it was the Dutch and Spanish who succeeded in establishing formal administrations on Taiwan.

The Dutch established their first Far East trading factory in Bantam Wan Dan , Indonesia in 1598. In 1600, Dutch vessels sailed to Japan to request the opening of trade. In 1602, the Dutch set up the Dutch East India Company (Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie; VOC), establishing their headquarters for East Asian trade in Batavia (present-day Jakarta). In order to open China trade, Dutch envoy Wijbrand van Waerwijck and his army were ordered to occupy Penghu in 1604. Ming general Shen You-rong demanded that the Dutch withdraw, however, and prevented the envoy from fulfilling his mission.

In 1609, the Dutch received permission to trade with Japan at Hirado Port in Nagasaki, setting up a trading factory there. China, with her great size and rich resources, was seen as an even more attractive trading partner, however. As the Spanish had already established themselves in the Philippines, thereby attracting numerous Chinese merchants to trade with Manila, the Dutch needed a base of operations closer to China if they were to gain the upper hand. In 1622, Dutch envoy Cornelis Reijerszoon attacked Macau but was defeated by the Portuguese. He then chose to occupy Penghu in a bid to persuade the Chinese to open trade. The Ming court rejected the proposal and, in 1624, sent regional commander Yu Zih-gao Yu Zi Gao to attack the Dutch at Penghu. The two parties eventually reached an agreement under which the Dutch moved to Taiwan and the Ming court allowed the Dutch to trade with China. Dutch official Maarten Sonk took up his new post at Dayuan (present-day Anping in Tainan County), and thus began the Dutch rule of Taiwan.

Dutch control of Dayuan severed the trading route between China and the Philippines, threatening Spanish interests. The Spanish had occupied northern Luzon Lu Song since 1571 and had built a fortress in Manila. Chinese merchants traded there and even established a Chinese community called Parian Jian Nei . Japanese traders also visited Manila, and the settlement enjoyed growing prosperity. The Spanish would not tolerate Dutch interference from a base on Taiwan and resolved to defend their interests. In 1626, a Spanish expedition traveled to Keelung, which the Spanish called Santsima Trinidad, and built Fort San Salvador. Between 1628 and 1629, they moved to occupy Danshuei, where they set up the settlement of Fort Santo Domingo in a bid to attract Chinese merchants.

With the Spanish in the north of Taiwan and Dutch in the south, confrontation between these two European adversaries was inevitable. The Dutch were not content to allow an expansion of Spanish power on Taiwan, and tried to expel the Spanish forces on several occasions. In 1642, the Dutch finally sent troops north to attack the Spanish fortresses. The Spanish were defeated and, after only 16 years, forced to withdraw from Taiwan. This left the Dutch as the sole ruling power on Taiwan until Jheng Cheng-gongs conquest of the island in 1661/62.

Both the Spanish and Dutch focused on trade and missionary work in Taiwan but, in the end, it was the Dutch who achieved more.

Beginning of Mercantilism and Complementary Roles Played by the Dutch and Han Chinese
The Dutch came to Taiwan to establish a base from which they could engage in international entrept trade. Their administration of Taiwan followed the dictates of mercantilism and gave rise to Taiwans tradition of trade and commerce. The Dutch also developed light industry to further increase their profits, leading Taiwan down the road towards greater economic development. These achievements were possible thanks to the cooperative and mutually beneficial relationship between the Dutch and the Han Chinese.

The most valuable goods in East Asian trade were Chinese silk, Japanese silver, and spices from Southeast Asia. Taiwans central location between these three points made it an ideal base for entrept trade. When the Dutch arrived in Taiwan in 1624, they established a trading factory in Anping, establishing the fortified city of Orange, which was renamed Zeelandia in 1627. Dutch merchants took advantage of seasonal winds to transport goods between the north and south by sea. In the summer, Dutch vessels rode the southern winds north from Southeast Asia. In April and May, traders left Batavia, sailing first to Siam and Kampuchea, and then on to Taiwan, where they unloaded goods to be distributed to China and Japan. When prevailing winds blew from the north in the winter, the Dutch sailed south, transporting Chinese and Japanese goods to Batavia, then further to Persia, Holland, and the rest of Europe. Silk from China, silver from Japan, spices from the Malay Peninsula and Indonesia, and deer hides from Taiwan made up most of this cargo.

Limited channels and the importance of Chinese goods meant that Chinese traders were both Hollands primary trading partners and her main competitors. Li Dan Li Dan , Syu Sin-su Xu Xin Su , and especially Jheng Jhih-long were all important Chinese partners/competitors. Around 1635, the Dutch were earning 100 percent profits thanks to relaxation of the Ming dynastys ban on maritime activity, safer sea passage, fruitful cooperation with trading partners, and increased trade on Taiwan. Trade reached a peak in 1640, but subsequently dropped off. War in China interrupted the steady supply of Chinese silk, and Jheng Jhih-long began to compete with the Dutch for the Japanese market. The Dutch reacted by exporting sugar and tea to Persia and Japan and increasing their taxation of Han Chinese activities in Taiwan. In spite of these circumstances, the Dutch achieved great commercial success. Between 1640 and 1653, net profits increased dramatically from 13,000 to 338,000 gulden, making Taiwan the second most profitable trading house in Asia behind Japan.

The Dutch also developed agriculture, discovering that Taiwans soil and climate were well suited to sugarcane plantations. At that time, sugar was a valuable commodity in the international market but, since Taiwans aborigines had never cultivated sugarcane, the Dutch turned to Han Chinese to establish this new industry. Through a division of labor, the Dutch and the Han were able to complement each others strengths. Dutch administrators provided a suitable environment, arranged ships to carry immigrants to Taiwan, provided land and capital, constructed irrigation systems, and maintained a garrison of soldiers for security. The Han Chinese undertook the actual work of cultivation and sugar production, provided labor, technology, and even capital. In order to open new land for cultivation, the Dutch adopted a feudal system of farming under which they employed Han Chinese to farm the land of the Dutch East India Company. The Dutch also allowed the Han to develop and hold private plots to accelerate the development of agriculture. Under this mutually beneficial division of labor, agricultural development proceeded smoothly, firstly with the cultivation of sugarcane and then with rice.

The Dutch sugar trade originally involved transporting sugar from southern China to Taiwan for export to Japan, the Middle East, and Europe. Production subsequently shifted to Taiwan. After 1630, the Dutch sent ships to China to bring immigrants to Taiwan, and both the islands population and sugar production grew quickly. Sugar production in the Tainan area rose from 1,244 piculs (136,900 pounds) in 1636 to 17,300 piculs (1,906,996 pounds) in 1658. Output exceeded even that of Java and replaced deer hides as the islands main export. Profits at the Dutch trading house on Taiwan came to depend on the export of sugar. As for rice, Taiwan initially relied on imports from Japan and Siam to sustain itself, but gradually achieved self-sufficiency as more immigrants arrived and cultivated rice. In 1642, Taiwan produced about 4,000 piculs (440,924 pounds) of rice. By 1656, the island was producing a surplus for export. For the next three centuries, rice and sugar would endure as the cornerstones of agriculture on the island, defining Taiwan economically until the 1960s.

Fishing and hunting also developed, and Dutch reliance on Han Chinese to do business carried over into these two activities. The most common method of formalizing this relationship was the farming system (bak Pu , adopted from the European pacht system) under which the Dutch auctioned rights. This system enabled the Dutch to minimize administrative costs while ensuring stable revenues. As for trade with aboriginal communities (fan she Fan She ), Han Chinese merchants bid under this system for the rights to handle all such trade through organizations called bak she Pu She .

In general, therefore, the complementary roles played by the Dutch and the Han Chinese brought a combination of Dutch political power and Han economic strength to bear on the development of Taiwans economy. Taiwan began a tradition of trade- and commerce-oriented development with rice and sugar emerging as the enduring backbone of the islands economy.

Dutch Administration and Missionary Works
The Dutch mainly came to Taiwan for commercial reasons and, therefore, their administration and military forces in Taiwan were streamlined to reduce costs. The number of the Dutch administrative personnel stationed in Taiwan was extremely limited, supported by a small force of about 1,000 soldiers.

The Dutch established a trading house under the Dutch East India Company in Zeelandia (later Anping), appointed a governor, and set up a management board. The trading house was the highest administrative organization in Taiwan, directing subordinate officials and serving as the government for the people. Four local assemblies (landdagh) were established in the south, north, Danshuei (in northern Taiwan), and Beinan in (eastern Taiwan) to rule the aboriginal peoples. Elderly chiefs were selected from each aboriginal tribe to take orders from the governor and carry out his policies. This was a modified form of the European manor system and provided a system of local self-governance that allowed the Dutch to maintain its administrative manpower at a minimum.

How such a small number of administrative staff and soldiers could rule Taiwan effectively needs further explanation, however. In addition to the above-mentioned system, the secret lay in the multiple roles of missionaries. The Dutch administration in Taiwan hired missionaries to undertake administrative work, as they were passionate in their missionary work and fulfilled their duties loyally. Furthermore, missionaries spoke local languages and could help the administration communicate with the local people. The other advantage of hiring missionaries lay in the great savings in administrative expenses.

The Dutch administration attached great importance to the combined effect of religious and educational work carried out by missionaries with the aborigines and provided them with financial support. By 1630, Christian churches and schools could be seen along the coastal plains of western Taiwan. Missionaries even hired aboriginal assistants to carry out Christian education.

Well-known missionaries include Rev. Georgius Candidius and Rev. Robertus Junius who came to Taiwan sometime after 1627 and worked mainly with the Pingpu aborigines in southern Taiwan, especially those of the Singang community Xin Gang She . Missionaries used the Latin alphabet to develop a system for writing the Siraya language spoken by the Singang community, and then used this system to translate prayers, catechisms, the Ten Commandments, and the New Testament. In 1641, Junius accompanied the Dutch trading house governor on an inspection tour of the island. The governor was stunned to see that aboriginal people had been converted to Christianity, were going to church, and even paying their respect to the Dutch. At that time, an estimated 4,000 to 5,000 people had been baptized islandwide. Clearly, missionary work was a success in Taiwan. The written form of the Singang Siraya language developed by the missionaries continued to be used even after the Dutch left Taiwan. Even as late as the 19th century, during the reign of the Ching Emperor Jiacing Jia Qing , aborigines were still using the language to sign contracts with Han Chinese, which are known as Singang Language Agreements Xin Gang Wen Shu , or fanya contracts Fan Zi Qi , with the Han Chinese.

Spanish Development of Northern Taiwan (1626-1642)
The Spanish occupied northern Taiwan in 1626 and immediately began to promote trade and missionary work. Trade ties with Japan had broken down in 1625, however, and although Danshuei Port was opened, only a limited number of merchant ships sailed from China to Taiwan. The Spanish were, therefore, unable to achieve their goal of defeating the Dutch in southern Taiwan.

Regarding religion, records show that by 1630, only about 300 local people had been converted to Christianity by the Spanish missionaries. By 1634, this number had risen to a mere 320. As with the Dutch, Father Jacinto Esquivel also created a writing system for local language based on the Latin alphabet and compiled books such as Glossary of the Danshuei Language Used on Taiwan Island Tai Wan Dao Dan Shui Yu Ci Hui and Christian Doctrines in the Danshuei Language of Taiwan Island Tai Wan Dao Dan Shui Yu Ji Du Jiao Li Shu as aids for his preaching. He did not achieve the success that he had hoped for, however. Moreover, the priests dream of preaching in Japan was also shattered when Japan began prohibiting Christianity in 1633.

Most worrying for the Spanish in Taiwan was the great imbalance between revenues and expenditures. The Spanish trading house was not profitable and, on the contrary, required subsidies from the Spanish authority in Manila to support its operations. From 1635, therefore, Spanish adopted a much less aggressive policy toward Taiwan. Another problem was resistance by aboriginal people. In 1636, aborigines attacked Fort Santo Domingo in Danshuei, resulting in the death of more than 30 Spaniards. In order to cut down on manpower and expenses, the Spanish authority in Manila withdrew the Spanish army from Danshuei in 1638 and only maintained a garrison in Keelung.

The Dutch stationed in southern Taiwan had been very uncomfortable with the Spanish occupation of northern Taiwan and had been waiting for an opportunity to drive them off from the island. In 1642, Dutch troops went north, captured Danshuei and Keelung, defeating the Spanish and expelling them from Taiwan. The Dutch built a new Fort Santo Domingo in the vicinity of the old Spanish fort in Danshuei, which still stands today and is known as the Red-haired Fort Hong Mao Cheng . Another trading house was set up in Danshuei for the purpose of trading with Japan and Fuzhou. Business did not flourish, however, and southern Taiwan remained the center of trade.

Conflict Between the Dutch and Han Chinese, and Jheng Cheng-gongs Victory over the Dutch
The Han Chinese and Dutch shared a love-hate relationship. They depended on yet disliked each other. The Dutch relied on Han Chinese to develop agricultural and fishing industries for them, and the Han could not have immigrated to Taiwan in such large numbers and made a living without assistance from the Dutch. They shared a mutually beneficial but sometimes tense relationship. Han Chinese had a highly developed cultural identity and a strong sense of national dignity, and were not content being ruled by the Dutch. Various heavy taxes and levies imposed by the Dutch made the situation all the more untenable. By 1650, the Han Chinese population in Taiwan exceeded 30,000, far surpassing the Dutch who numbered slightly more than 1,000. Under these circumstances, conflict between the two peoples was inevitable. In 1652, the Guo Huai-yi Guo Huai Yi incident finally ignited hostilities between the two sides.

Guo Huai-yi was a local Chinese leader in the area that is todays Yongkang Yong Kang Township, Tainan County. On September 7, 1652, Guo and a group of comrades devised a plot to invite the Dutch authorities to a banquet on the September 17 Moon Festival, and then rise in rebellion. The plot was exposed, however, forcing Guo to assemble a force of some 16,000 people to take immediate action. The Dutch, meanwhile, marshaled their troops and recruited aborigines to suppress the Han Chinese. Guo Huai-yi was killed in battle, and the rest of his forces retreated south of Ercenghang Er Ceng Xing Creek. Within half a month, the Han Chinese were defeated with loss of more than 4,000 lives. After the war, the power of the Han Chinese greatly dwindled, but the problem of ethnic antagonism worsened, setting the stage for Jheng Cheng-gongs attack on Taiwan in the 1660s.

It was Jheng Cheng-gong (known to the Dutch then, and to many Westerners still, as Koxinga) who eventually ended Dutch rule in Taiwan. Jheng undertook his eastern expedition to Taiwan for two reasons. Firstly, the Jhengs were seafarers who could not allow an island so near China to remain under Dutch rule for long. Secondly, the Jheng family had long-established connections with Taiwan. Jheng Cheng-gongs father, Jheng Jhih-long, was active in Taiwan between 1624 and 1628. After the Ming dynasty on the Chinese mainland was overthrown, some of Jheng Jhih-longs subordinates remained in Taiwan. These loyalists were originally from Fujian and resented the rule of the Dutch. Although Guo Huai-yis rebellion in 1652 was suppressed, suspicion between the Han Chinese and Dutch deepened, culminating in Jhengs expedition to Taiwan.

The short-term reason that brought Jheng Cheng-gong to Taiwan was the setback he suffered during his resistance to Ching dynasty rule on the Chinese mainland. In 1659, Jheng went on a northern expedition to Jinling Jin Ling (present-day Nanjing) but was defeated and trapped on the Chinese coast in the region of Xiamen and Kinmen Jin Men . Having suffered heavy losses and running low on supplies, Jhengs army needed an escape route. Around this time, He Bin He Bin , an interpreter for the Dutch in Taiwan who had served as a tax agent for Jheng in the past, embezzled more than 200,000 taels (liang Liang ) of silver from Dutch public funds. Worried that his theft might be found out, in 1659 He Bin secretly made a map of the Luermen Lu Er Men waterways, presenting it to Jheng Cheng-gong and persuading him to attack Taiwan.

In April 1661, Jheng Cheng-gong led an army of 25,000 soldiers from Kinmen to occupy Penghu. On the dawn of April 30, Jhengs army invaded Taiwan through Luermen. It occupied Fort Provintia (present-day Chihkanlou Chi Kan Lou ), where the majority of residents was Han Chinese, and then surrounded the Dutch at Fort Zeelandia. After nine months of pitched battles and sieges, the Dutch surrendered to Jheng on February 1, 1662, finally leaving Taiwan after four decades of governance.

Although the Dutch and Spanish did not rule Taiwan for long periods, they had great significance in Taiwans history. Politically, they ended Taiwans status as a territory without national identity and began the colonial rule of Taiwan by foreign powers. Economically, the Dutch and Spanish brought the island out of isolation and into the global market, setting the stage for Taiwans future as an island of commerce and trade. Foreign rule also brought great numbers of Han Chinese immigrants to Taiwan, and the social impact of this migration was the eventual replacement of the aborigines by the Han Chinese. These changes transformed the island from a closed society to an open one, from an isolated island in East Asia to an island known to the world, and from an inland culture to a maritime culture.

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