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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 June 2011
The events of September 1652 on the island of Formosa were one of the bloodiest chapters in the history of Dutch management of the island, and could arguably be viewed as one of the most severe suppressions of a rebellious group in the seventeenth century. The unexpected, ill-prepared uprising of thousands of frustrated, angry and impoverished Chinese farmers and field hands against Dutch colonial management were successfully, yet in the most severe and savage way, suppressed through a military collaboration between the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and the local Aborigines of the island. In total some 3,000 Chinese residents of the island were killed, the ‘hacked-off’ head of the leader ‘displayed on a stake […] to frighten the Chinese as a sign of victory over those dastardly traitors’, while three of his lieutenants were tortured to death by Company officials in an effort to extract confessions and information from them. Indeed severe action towards a section of the Formosan colonial society that was primarily responsible for the economic success of the Dutch settlement enterprise.
1 Letter from Governor Nicolaes Verburgh to Batavia, 30 October 1652, Dutch National Archives The Hague- Dutch East India Company Archives (VOC) 1194, f. 121–127; Johannes Huber's translation in ‘Chinese Settlers against the Dutch East India Company: The Rebellion Led by Kuo Huai-I on Taiwan in 1652’ in: Vermeer, E.B. ed., Development and Decline of Fukien Province in the 17th and 18th Centuries (Leiden 1986) 283.Google Scholar
2 Ibid.
3 Heyns, Pol, ‘Economic Relations in Dutch Formosa, 1624–1662’ (MA thesis, National Taiwan University 2001).Google Scholar
4 Congsias refers to Chinese labourers.
5 The Portuguese, who referred to Taiwan as ‘Ilea Formosa’ or ‘Beautiful Island’, bestowed the name Formosa on Taiwan. The modern day name, Taiwan, was derived from the name of the bay, Tayouan.
6 For an excellent description of the VOC China expedition see Wills, John E. Jr, Pepper, Guns, and Parleys: The Dutch East India Company and China, 1622–1681 (Cambridge, MA 1974)Google Scholar. See also Israel, Jonathan I., Dutch Primacy in World Trade, 1585–1740 (Oxford 1989).Google Scholar
7 J.P. Coen, P. de Carpentier and W. van Antzen (Batavia 26 March 1622) in: Coolhaas, W.Ph., Generate Missiven der VOC (The Hague 1960) 118Google Scholar; VOC 1075, f. 100 and transcribed in Cheng Shaogan, ‘De VOC en Formosa 1624–1662: Een Vergeten Geschiedenis’ (PhD dissertation, Leiden University 1995) 12. For more information about the Dutch on the Pescadores, see Leonard Blussé ‘The Dutch Occupation of the Pescadores, 1622–1624’ in: Transactions of the International Conference of Orientalists in Japan, no. 18 (Tokyo 1973) 28–24.Google Scholar
8 P. de Charpentier, Frederick de Houtman, J. Dedel and J. Specx (Batavia 25 December 1623) in: Coolhaas, Generale Missiven, 129; VOC 1079, f. 124–126 and printed in Cheng, Vergeten Geschiedenis, 27.
9 Ibid.
10 Ibid.
11 At first glance this might seem surprising and innovative, but Formosa's strategic location and significance was already a point of discussion in the sixteenth century. The island is located only seven hundred kilometres north from the island of Luzon, the heart of the Spanish colony of the Philippines. When rumours reached Manila of a Japanese naval expedition, many Spaniards feared that the Japanese occupation of Formosa might be the first step of a conquest of the Philippines. This never materialised. A 1616 attempt by the rich Japanese merchant, Murayama Toan, to occupy the island failed.
12 According to the account of John Struys who visited Formosa in 1650, when the deer population on the island was already heavily depleted. See Campbell, William M., Formosa under the Dutch: Described from Contemporary Sources (Taipei 1992) 254.Google Scholar
13 See Darwin, John, ‘Imperialism and the Victorians: The Dynamics of Territorial Expansion’, English Historical Review 112/447 (1997) 614–642CrossRefGoogle Scholar; ‘The Ivy on the Wall: An Interview with John Darwin’, Itinerario 21/3 (1997) 11–17CrossRefGoogle Scholar and Galbraith, John, ‘The Turbulent Frontier as a Factor in British Expansion’, Comparative Studies in Society and History 2/2 (1959–1960) 150–168CrossRefGoogle Scholar for a discussion on the dynamics of colonial expansion.
14 For an in-depth discussion on the significance and role of this ceremony see Andrade, Tonio, ‘Political Spectacle and Colonial Rule: The Landdag on Dutch Taiwan, 1629–1648’, Itinerario 21/3 (1997) 75–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
15 Instruction from Coen to Putmans (24 April 1629), VOC 1097, f. 146–154.
16 Letter from Governor Hans Putmans to Governor-General in Batavia (20 February 1635), VOC 1116, f. 319v.
17 Letter from Governor Hans Putmans to Heren XVII (28 October 1634), VOC 1114, f. 11v.
18 Letter from Governor Hans Putmans to Batavia (19 September 1635), VOC 1116, f. 372v.
19 Letter from Governor Johan van der Burch to Batavia (5 October 1636), VOC 1120, f. 307.
20 Shepherd, John, Statecraft and Political Economy on the Taiwan Frontier 1600–1800 (Stanford 1993) 50.Google Scholar
21 Tonio Andrade, ‘Commerce, Culture and Conflict, Taiwan under European Rule, 1624–1662’ (abstract, PhD thesis, Yale 2000).
22 See Table 5 of van Veen, Ernst, ‘How the Dutch Ran a Seventeenth-Century Colony: The Occupation and Loss of Formosa, 1624–1662’, Itinemrio 20/1 (1996) 72.Google Scholar
23 Letter from Governor Nicolaes Verburch to Batavia, VOC 1172, f. 472 as cited in Blussé, J.L. et al. eds, De Dagregisters van het Kasleel Zeelandia, Taiwan, 1629–1662, RGP 195 (The Hague 1986).Google Scholar
24 When Salvador Diaz spoke of the Chinese to Portuguese officials in Macao, he consistently divided them into three groups: fishermen (Pescadores), merchants (mercadores), and pirates (ladrōes).
25 ‘Round about this island are taken abundance of fish, especially harders, which are somewhat larger than a haddock. This fish the people salt like cod, and send to China, where it is held in great esteem. Its roe when pickled is also reckoned a choice delicacy among the Chinese […]’ according to the account of the visit of John Struys to Formosa in 1650 in Campbell, Formosa under the Dutch, 254.
26 Ibid.
27 See Shepherd, Statecraft and Political Economy; Leonard Blussé, ‘Dutch Protestant Missionaries as Protagonists of the Territorial Expansion of the VOC on Formosa’ in: Kooiman, Dick, van den Muizenberg, Otto and van der Veer, Peter, Conuersion, , Competition and Conflict: Essays on the Role of Religion in Asia (Amsterdam 1984) 77.Google Scholar
28 Letter from Pieter Jansz. Muijser to Pieter de Carpentier (4 November 1624), VOC 1083, f. 508.
29 Letter from Commander Comelis Reijersen to Governor-General Pieter de Carpentier (25 January 1624), VOC 1083, f. 252.
30 See Boxer, C.R., Christian Century in Japan (Berkeley 1951) 248–307Google Scholar; Totman, Conrad, Early Modem Japan (Berkeley 1993) 73–75.Google Scholar
31 Resolution of the Council of Formosa (10 July 1626), VOC 1093, f. 371–371v.
32 Report by Nicolaes Verburch to Governor General and Councillors (10 March 1654), VOC 1206, f. 233.
33 For examples, see Blussé et al., Kasteel Zeelandia, II, D: 32, D: 33, D: 34, G: 662, G: 672.
34 Letter to the Governor General and Councillors (31 October 1650), VOC 1176, f. 937v–938v.
35 Huber, ‘Rebellion Led by Kuo Huai-I’, 283.
36 The office of cabessa was a formal position, although it seems that the Company did not elect the cabessas. They were usually the richest and most powerful Chinese inhabitants of Formosa. Their wealth accumulation was partly due to their activities on Formosa and partly to their contacts with traders on Mainland China. In the VOC source material they are also frequently referred to as hoofden.
37 Blussé et al., Kasteel Zeelandia, 111, D: 318.
38 Royal Library The Hague (KB), manuscript 70 A 40, f. 135.
39 KB manuscript 70 A 40, f. 134.
40 Resolution of the Council of Formosa (18 May 1638), VOC 1128, f. 532.
41 KB manuscript 70 A 40, f. 134.
42 Blussé et al., Kasteel Zeelandia. II, F: 184.
43 Andrade, ‘Taiwan under European Rule’, 208.
44 Resolution of the Council of Formosa (18 December 1642), VOC 1146, f. 694.
45 Blussé et al., Kasteel Zeelandia, II, D: 27.
46 Resolution of the Council of Formosa (6 April 1650), VOC 1176, f. 799.
47 Resolution of the Council of Formosa (31 October 1644), VOC 1148, f. 246–250.
48 Resolution of the Council of Formosa (4 April 1648), VOC 1170, f. 521.
49 Resolution of the Council of Formosa (18 June 1648), VOC 1170, f. 525–529.
50 Batavia missive (5 Augustus 1649), VOC 873, f. 84–85.
51 Resolution of the Council of Formosa (6 April 1650), VOC 1176, f. 799–800; Blussé et al., Kasteel Zeelandia, III, B: 1013.
52 Resolution of the Council of Formosa (27 May 1650), VOC 1176, f. 822–826.
53 Reniers, Maetsuycker, Demmer, Hartsinck, Van Oudtshoom et al. (19 December 1651) in: Blussé et al., Kasteel Zeelandia, IV, 538.
54 Resolution of the Council of Formosa (27 May 1650), VOC 1176, f. 826.
55 Resolution of the Council of Formosa (2 November 1651), VOC 1182, f. 189.
56 Cheng, Vergeten Geschiedenis, 307–315; Governor Nicolaes Verburgh and the Council of Formosa to the Governor-General and Councillors of India in Batavia (30 October 1652), VOC 1194, f. 121–127r. See also Blussé et al., Kasteel Zeelandia, II, 609–611.
57 Heyns, Economics Relations in Dutch Formosa.
58 Cheng, Vergeten Geschiedenis, 307–315; Governor Nicolaes Verburgh and the Council of Formosa to the Governor-General and Councillors of India in Batavia (30 October 1652), VOC 1194, f. 121–127r. See also Blusse et al., Kasteel Zeelandia, II, 609–611.
59 Olfert Dapper, Gedenkuiaerdig Bedryf der Nederlandsche Oost-lndische Maetschappye, op de Kusten en in het Keizerrijk van Taising of Sina (Amsterdam 1670) 38.
60 Cheng, Vergeten Geschiedenis, 307–315; Governor Nicolaes Verburgh and the Council of Formosa to the Governor-General and Councillors of India in Batavia (30 October 1652), VOC 1194, f. 121–12r. See also Blusse et al., Kasteel Zeelandia, II, 609–611.
61 Verstegen and Council, Letter to the Governor General and Councillors, 26 February 1652, VOC 1194, f. 61.
62 Huber, ‘Rebellion Led by Kuo Huai-I’, 284.
63 Heyns, Economic Relations in Dutch Formosa, 97.
64 Cheng, Vergeten Geschiedenis, 307–315; Governor Nicolaes Verburgh and the Council of Formosa to the Governor-General and Councillors of India in Batavia (30 October 1652), VOC 1194, f. 121–127r.
65 Cheng, Vergeten Geschiedenis, 308.
66 Blussé et al., Kasteel Zeelandia, II, E: 343.
67 Willem Verstegen's daily register (18 September 1651), VOC 1182, f. 296.
68 Hans Putmans to the VOC Chamber of Amsterdam (23 October 1635), VOC 1116, f. 252–261.
69 Cheng, Vergeten Geschiedenis, 307–315; Governor Nicolaes Verburgh and the Council of Formosa to the Governor-General and Councillors of India in Batavia (30 October 1652), VOC 1194, f. 121–127r.
70 According to Dutch sources in 1648 the number of Chinese in Formosa was more than 20,000, including more than 500 women and 1,000 children. Around 15,000 of them were living in the country.
71 Cheng, Vergeten Geschiedenis, 307–315; Governor Nicolaes Verburgh and the Council of Formosa to the Governor-General and Councillors of India in Batavia (30 October 1652), VOC 1194, f. 164.
72 Thompson, Laurence G., ‘The Earliest Chinese Eyewitness accounts of the Formosan Aborigines’, Monumenta Serica Journal of Oriental Studies 23 (1964) 170–171.Google Scholar
73 Campbell, Formosa under the Dutch, 13.
74 Ibid.
75 See the letter of the Missionary Robert Junius to the Amsterdam Chamber of the VOC (5 September 1636) in ibid. 116–144.
76 Junius to the Amsterdam Chamber of the VOC (5 September 1636), ibid. 119.
77 Junius to Governor Hans Putmans (15 May 1635), Teding van Berkhout Archives, National Archives, The Hague.
78 Andrade, ‘Taiwan under European Rule’, 13.
79 Blussé et al., Kasteel Zeelandia, E: 284.
80 Ibid., E: 286.
81 Jan van der Burch to the Governor-General (14 November 1636), VOC 1120, f. 334–364.
82 Andrade, ‘Taiwan under European Rule’, 236.
83 KB manuscript 71 B 30 f. 145r.
84 Governor Nicolaes Verburgh to Batavia (30 October 1652), VOC 1194, f. 132.
85 Huber, ‘Rebellion Led by Kuo Huai-I’, 290.