The History of China - #262 - Qing 7: Triple-Colonization

Episode Date: December 15, 2023

Though the Japanese bow out of the race for Taiwan with the establishment of the Sakoku "Closed Country" laws, the Spanish set up shot on the northern shore in an effort to stymie Dutch efforts at Ft. Zeelandia in the south. Of course you realize this means war. And surely the Chinese must be around here somewhere, right? Also, there will be rice... and sugar. Time Period Covered: ~1630-1643 CE Major Historical Figures: Dutch East India Co./ Ft. Zeelandia: Governor Hans Putmans Iberian Union/Santissama Trinidad /Manila: King Philip II Luis Perez Dasmariñas, Governor of Manila Hurtado de Corcuera, Governor-General of the Philippines Ming Dynasty: Zheng Zhilong Other: Yan Siqi Aboriginal Factions: Taparri Kimaurri Mattau Soulang Baccluan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You're listening to an Airwave Media Podcast. TD Direct Investing offers live support. So whether you're a newbie or a seasoned pro, you can make your investing steps count. And if you're like me and think a TFSA stands for Total Fund Savings Adventure, maybe reach out to the History of China. Episode 262, Triple Colonization.

We last left off on the contentious island of Taiwan in the 1630s, with the Dutch seemingly firmly ensconced on its southern coast within their Fort Zelandia. Though they'd continue to be forced to deal with the restless native villages and their own small-scale politics, what truly concerned them was far larger in scale. Namely, the great game ongoing all around the island and its surrounding sea passages? And who would ultimately control such a valuable trade hub? The Dutch, the Spanish, or the Japanese? Now, as you recall, that question had been somewhat simplified as of 1639, but with Japan's self-imposed withdrawal

into its period of closed-door isolationism that would last for the subsequent two centuries. That left the fate of the island a contest between the two interested European powers, and so that is where we will pick back up again today. Though the Dutch were the first to establish their trade colony on the island, the Spanish weren't very far behind. Already firmly established on the Philippines, the Spanish Empire was in many respects in a far better position to firm up its regional holdings in the East China Sea. They would establish their own new base on the far north of the island, which they termed La Isla Hermosa, meaning the Beautiful Island, and, in case it's not obvious enough, from which we derive the name Formosa. Even so, it seems that the Spanish officialdom, in spite of repeatedly

claiming that they viewed the island as one of the integral parts of the Philippine archipelago and a possession of the Crown of Castile, had by the turn of the 17th century decided that holding Taiwan was more expensive than it was proving to be worth. It was, ironically enough, only the evident expansion of the Dutch, and especially the Japanese, that spurred the Spanish to attempt to reassert its control over northern Taiwan in an effort to stave off la mala vecindad, or the evil approach of the Japanese. So wrote the interim governor of the Philippines, Luis Perez das Marinas, to King Philip II in 1597, quote, without a Spanish base in Hermosa, what has begun in the Philippines will be jeopardized, and as a consequence, so will the benefits and fruits of this service to your majesty and God.

End quote. Even then, the Spanish crown opted against further colonization of the island, and instead sent a warning letter to the main governors of Guangzhou and Quanzhou for them to, you know, deal with it instead. It would be some 20 more years before the Spanish made further plans for the development of Taiwan, and by that time, it was the Dutch that were their primary concern instead of Japan, especially after both the ports at Luzon and Macau, which was now a crown colony since the unification of the Spanish and Portuguese thrones in 1580. As such,

it was finally determined that La Isla Hermosa would be settled by the Spanish, if for no other reason than to protect the interests of its far more profitable colonial outposts. Since southern Taiwan was already controlled by the Dutch East India Company, it was determined that the next best area to settle would be the Bay of Jilong. As wrote by a cosmographer in 1597, quote, With three hundred critically, already a major port of call for the Chinese traders that frequented the island. Records show that 10 licenses per year were issued by Ming officials, five for Jilong and five for Danshui, another natural harbor some 50 kilometers west. In spite of the overall dominance of Fort Zealandia,

northern Taiwan still remained an important hub for trade, both legal and illegal, because it provided two resources southern Taiwan could not, gold and sulfur. Gold, though obviously attractive, was found only in small amounts, as it was collected by the aboriginals as river washout, and there were no mines on the island. Sulfur, on the other hand, was found in abundance, and was the primary export to China from the north. Why was sulfur such a desirable product? Largely because of its vital componency to many chemical processes, especially gunpowder. So it was that in 1626, the Crown of Castile officially took possession of Formosa,

renaming the Bay of Geelong as Santaisama Trinidad, or Holy Trinity, and erected a cross and a fort atop a 100-meter-high hill on one of the outlying islands, which they called San Salvador. Yet the new colony suffered. The locals fled inland and refused to sell rice and other necessities to the Spanish. It was a small Chinese settlement on the mainland where junks and sampans moored to trade, but the ships from China were slow to arrive. Moreover, the indigenous Tampari and Camori peoples tried to prevent the Spanish from trading with other aborigines. Worst of all, a relief expedition from Manila was blown off course by a rogue typhoon and never arrived. The new colonists, therefore, quickly found themselves in dire straits and forced to eat dogs and rats, also grubs and unknown herbs. Most became ill, and many died.

Malnutrition was itself only one cause. Another was the drinking water, which may have contained high concentrations of sulfur. According to a Chinese helmsman who'd visited several times, Jilong was very unhealthy. Quote, no one can stay there for one, two, or three months without becoming sick and having his belly grow as thick as a barrel. End quote. Despite this noxious water, conditions in the Spanish colony gradually improved. A few junks did bring rice from China, and some of the Tampari and Kimari returned and began exchanging food for things like porcelain and silver. Though the colonists lacked food and money, they did have powerful weapons. And just as the villages near the Bay of Dayuan had sought

alliances with the Dutch, so too did some villages in northern Taiwan seek such alliances with the Spanish. In late 1627, for instance, for, quote, reasons of state which are not wanting even among barbarians, end quote, a chief in a village of the Danshui area asked for help against an enemy. The Spanish dispatched 20 men to the region, hoping to find at least rice for the hungry garrison. The chief of Danshui feasted the soldiers, but refused to provide rice to take back to Jilong. Moreover, he then secretly made peace with his enemy and laid plans to betray his guests. Which is, I'm sure we can all agree, kind of a jerk move. He invited the

Spanish on a hunting trip outside of the village. When the party made its way into the bush, he and a group of other warriors suddenly attacked the Spanish. The Spanish fought back fiercely, killing the chief and several others, and then retreated to Geelong, leaving eight of their fellows dead in the field. Upon arriving, they were relieved to see a ship from Manila anchored in the bay. When the Spanish officials heard about the attack, they were incensed and sent a punishment expedition. A Spanish galley rode up the Danche River, which was, quote, beautiful and densely inhabited by the natives, end quote. The latter fled when they saw the Spanish vessel, which then landed and raided

the abandoned rice sheds of the Aborigines. The Spanish filled the entire galley with rice. Indeed, quote, they could have filled 50 if they had had them. So great is the abundance of that country, end quote. Around this time, circa late 1627, early 28, a Chinese official from Fujian visited the new outpost. His mission was, it appears, to determine why the Spaniards were there. The Spanish must have managed to ingratiate themselves, at least to some degree, with the Chinese officials, because in the following years, they were allowed to send a small delegation onto Fuzhou. This delegation was well received. Though the Spanish did not receive any official licenses for trade with China, unofficial trade to Formosa did pick up.

The Spanish encouraged it by excusing Chinese junks from tolls, taxes, and even inspections. And arrive they did, filled with silk, clothing, rice, and wheat, and the fortunes of the new colony concurrently improved. Exports of sulfur to China could be quite lucrative. Indeed, in 1631, some 5,000 peacles of sulfur were taken by Chinese traders to China for use in gunpowder. Depending on the price of sulfur in China, this cargo might have been worth about 20,000 tails or so of silver, which was a considerable sum. How much the Spanish made from the sulfur trade, however, is not entirely clear. Inhabitants of the Chinese settlement near Jielong were doubtless involved in commerce with China, but we can garner a few

facts about them. Many were from Manila. There was a Chinese headsman, or gobernador, who also served as translator, but we don't know how he was chosen or what his duties were. There were likely close financial relationships between the Chinese and Spanish, for one letter from a Spanish governor refers to, quote, thousands of debts and crimes that I have to deal with among the Sanglis, end quote. Such glimpses, though, offer little detail into the character of Sino-Spanish relations. There was also some possibility of turning the colony into a center for Japanese trade. In 1632, three Japanese sampans arrived in northern Formosa. Their captain said that they

no longer wished to trade with the Dutch and would prefer to do business with the Spanish, so long as they were treated well. They loaded their boats with deerskins, and the infusion of Japanese silver brought prosperity and hope to the colony. As one missionary observed, if the Spanish could attract Japanese junks every year, they could, perhaps, establish northern Taiwan as a center for Sino-Japanese trade, bringing wealth and prestige to the colony and providing revenues for proselytization. Indeed, if Japanese trade had continued, Jilong might have been turned into a thriving colony. The Shogun's Decree of 1635, however, removed this possibility,

and Jilong became dependent once more on solely Chinese traders and supplies from Manila. In any case, thanks to Chinese trade and twice-yearly relief missions from the Philippines, the colony was firmly established by the early 1630s. As the governor-general of Manila memorialized to the king of Spain, quote, there is little to fear from the Japanese or the Dutch, for the post-conformosa is strong enough that it cannot be taken except by hunger, end quote. Indeed, he wrote of extending Spanish domination over the entire island. Yet, even as it begun in earnest, the undermining of the Spanish presence on Taiwan likewise advanced. Andrade writes that, The colony failed because it did not achieve its non-spiritual goals at a time when Manila's economy was in the doldrums.

It failed as a bulwark against the Dutch, who could easily enforce blockades of Manila even after the Spanish established their post on Taiwan. And it failed to help the Manila trade. Instead of using Formosa as a transshipment point for the China-Manila trade, it was cheaper to let Chinese traders come to Manila directly. Even when Dutch blockades prevented this, Macau made an equally good transshipment point. Therefore, little money was sent to Formosa to buy Chinese goods. It was, in short, a money pit. And when the economic boom times of the 1620s and early 1630s transitioned into the economic slump and then crisis on a hemispheric scale

in the mid and late 1630s and 40s. The fortress atop Hermosa was a prime candidate for imperial downsizing. The deterioration of Manila's economy in the 1630s had several causes. One was Dutch economic warfare. Dutch blockades prevented Chinese junks from docking in Manila and increased the prices the Spanish paid for their silk. Another was competition from the Dutch colony at Dayuan, which drew some of the trade that usually went to Manila. A third cause was related to the Union of the Crowns of Castile and Portugal in 1580, a development that made it possible for merchants from Macau to trade in the Philippines. On the one hand, this was a blessing, for Macau served as a useful transship it possible for merchants from Macau to trade in the Philippines.

On the one hand, this was a blessing, for Macau served as a useful transshipment point for Chinese goods when the Dutch were blockading Manila. On the other hand, this essentially rendered the Spanish holding at Geelong redundant. But dislocations in trade from China were only part of the problem. Manila was also suffering from an economic downturn of its own that affected all the Spanish Empire during the mid-17th century. According to tax receipts in Manila and Acapulco, the 1630s saw drastically lower silver flows across the Pacific. Now, to be sure, smuggling was a huge part of this, which has led many scholars to argue that, for the 17th century as a whole, it's entirely possible that silver and silk flows across the Pacific remained overall steady.

Still, evidence does suggest that in the 1630s and 40s at least, the amount of silver arriving in Manila were indeed overall lower. And as we've seen from our forays so far into China's ongoing situation in the 1630s and 40s, it does really pass the smell test. But dislocations in trade from China were only part of the problem. The dearth of silver hurt the Manilan economy, and a wealth of anecdotal evidence indicates that the citizens of Manila were much less wealthy in the 30s and 40s than earlier that century. More importantly, the government of Manila lost revenue, a situation that the Viceroy of New Spain, who was in charge of the annual relief to the Philippines, found difficult to remedy. He simply could not send the amount of money, men, or supplies requested

by the Governors General of Manila. Worse yet, at the same time that revenues fell, defense costs rose. Vast resources were devoted to fighting the Dutch, and Manila had to worry about protecting far more than just the Philippines and Taiwan. Because the King of Castile now wore the Portuguese crown, the Governor General of the Philippines was also responsible for protecting the Portuguese colonies, a huge swath of territory throughout maritime East and Southeast Asia. This was precisely the area that the Dutch East India Company was targeting in its bid to monopolize the East Indian spice trade. The Dutch concentrated

ships in the Strait of Malacca to disrupt Portuguese trade to India. They moved aggressively in the Spice Islands, attacking Spanish garrisons that protected the Iberian clove trade and established fortresses in the Maluccas. They threatened Macau and, as we've duly noted, even established a post on Taiwan. The Governor General was charged with responding to this onslaught. Even when the times were good, it was a formidable task. Nor were the Dutch the only enemies that Manila faced. There were also the powerful Islamic Sultanates of Johor and Mindanao in the southern Philippines. The Governor-General of the Philippines thus had a nearly impossible task, to coordinate a huge defense project with attenuated forces and a shrinking income. As wrote the Governor-General of Manila in 1635 to King Philip

IV, quote, that the enemy maintains a post in Formosa does not at all embarrass or hinder the crown of Castile, for the Chinese do not fail to come in 24 hours to the forts of your majesty Without waiting to hear the king's response, Governor Cocorera convened a war council to the participants to which he proposed the abandonment of Formosa, or at least the withdrawal of some of its forces. Of the 20 or so members of the council, composed primarily of officials and military men, 13 gave their opinion on the matter, and most of them agreed with Cocorera. As one member put it, quote, Having experienced little or no fruit that has been drawn from the island in the eleven years we have been on it, and the great expenses that His Majesty has had to expend and conserve it, and considering that there is a great dearth of money and soldiers here, it is imperative that the proposed withdrawal be carried out. End quote.

Four disagreed, arguing that Spanish forces should remain in Formosa to protect the fragile Christian aboriginal communities. Nearly all members agreed, however, that whatever the decision, the king should be advised before any action was taken. But just days later, Coquera wrote out an order to the government of Formosa. First, he wrote, the governor must send a force of Spanish soldiers to punish the natives who had attacked the fortress of Danse two years ago, without pardoning anyone save women and children. Once this punishment had succeeded in making the Aborigines aware that the abandonment of Danse did not come from fear or any lack of manpower on the part of the

Spaniards, the government was to remove all artillery and soldiers from the Dantre Fortress and dismantle it entirely, taking all men and munitions to the main fortress back in Geelong. He was likewise to withdraw forces from other, smaller forts and send them back to Manila, leaving in Geelong only 125 Spanish soldiers and some native Philippine soldiers. The governor of Geelong was reluctant to carry out Cocoera's orders, because he had just redone the Dantre Fortress in stone, whereas previously it had been made of wood. Therefore, he appears to not have dismantled the Dantre Fortress as instructed. Cocoera angrily appointed a new governor. He repeated his orders, and this time the new governor complied, except for following missionaries' advice to preserve a small redoubt that guarded the entrance to Geelong.

Coquera sent another letter, ordering that still more forces be withdrawn from Formosa. He also reduced the number of relief expeditions that went from Manila to Formosa from two per year to one. With the troops withdrawn, the fortresses dismantled, and the remaining forces retrenched in Geelong, Spain's authority in Formosa collapsed. The aborigines around Danshui believed that the Spanish had left out of fear, because those who had until then lived in a fortress of cane and wood now did not even dare to be in one of stone. Fewer and fewer merchants came from China, and those who did found that the Spanish had no

money to buy their wares. Hi everyone, this is Scott. If you want to learn about the world's oldest civilizations, find out how they were rediscovered, follow the story of Mark Antony and Cleopatra's descendants over ten generations, or take a deep dive into the Iron Age or the Hellenistic era, then check out the Ancient World Podcast. Available on all podcasting platforms, or go to ancientworldpodcast.com. That's the Ancient World Podcast. Meanwhile, as the Spanish presence in northern Taiwan was actively collapsing, Chinese traders were dutifully trading that very information with their Dutch counterparts over in Fort Zelandia. The Dutch, having also heard of the gold and sulfur deposits to the north of the island,

were quite interested in such news indeed. Hoping to gain more information about this intriguing development, in April 1641, they allowed a Chinese merchant called Peko to send two junks from the Bay of Dayuan to Danshui to buy sulfur. The Dutch placed soldiers and a company of officials on the junks to make contact with the aborigines around Danshui. At the same time, a small group of Dutch soldiers reconned the east coast of Taiwan and arrived within four Dutch miles, which is apparently 25 to 30 kilometers, of Jilong. In both cases, the Aborigines apparently welcomed the Dutch with open arms. In August 1641, a Dutch expedition

sailed to the Bay of Jilong to study the Spaniard situation and, if possible, capture the fortress. Warned by an aboriginal friend, the Spanish prepared for an attack. The Dutch had clearly profited from their earlier negotiations with the northern aborigines because it was apparent that they had managed to garner allies. Accompanied by some 500 northern aboriginals, they entered Kimari territory without opposition. There, they spent the night. The next morning, some of the inhabitants of Kimari agreed to deliver the Spanish government a letter from the Dutch governor in Taiwan. The letter demanded that the Spanish turn the fortress over immediately in order to avoid bloodshed. The Spanish governor responded with a defiant letter. Quote, I am used to seeing armies of greater power,

and I have fought against them at various times in Flanders and elsewhere, so your excellency need not bother with sending more such letters. Let each of us defend himself as he is able. We are Christian Spaniards, and God is our protector. End quote. The Dutch soldiers, numbering at about 205, outnumbered the Spanish and had the support of hundreds of additional aborigines. But the Dutch commander realized that he did not have enough cannons to mount a proper siege. As such, the Dutch wound up leaving, but not before burning the Camari on the way, and making fun of the Spanish, seeing as nobody came out to face them directly. Though the Spanish made a show of celebrating this withdrawal

of the Dutch, in truth they'd already been dealt a major blow to their morale and authority in the region as a whole. By making peace with the natives of Danse, the Dutch had turned an area that had once been a central part of the so-called Pax Hispanica into an enemy territory for the Spanish. Moreover, by burning Camari and mocking the Spanish beneath their very fortress walls, the Dutch had denigrated the Spaniards' military reputation, an attribute most necessary in the warlike world of 17th century Taiwan. The governor dispatched a special messenger to Manila to request reinforcements, but Governor Coquera sent a piddling response, just two small vessels carrying 12 sailors and 20 soldiers.

The few men I had, wrote the Spanish governor, lost their courage, seeing such a small relief. The governor prepared for the inevitable Dutch attack. Against Coquera's instructions, he ordered that a redoubt be built on the hill above the main fortress, knowing that if the Dutch were to fortify themselves there, they could then fire directly into the Spanish main fort. This redoubt, called La Retirada, was in turn defended by a fortification called La Mira, or Lookout Point, which occupied the highest point on Geelong Island. If these fortifications could be manned, Geelong was eminently defensible, but the Spanish only had 60 soldiers and no prospect of further help.

One evening in early August 1642, a sampan landed in front of the Spanish fort. Its passengers hurried ashore to deliver a letter to a Chinese man there. The letter said that the Dutch had readied a large expedition against the Spanish fort. It advised the man to, quote, The Spanish prepared for a siege. Several days later, the Dutch arrived with four large ships, several smaller ones, and 369 soldiers. Knowing that the Dutch would try to land a force on Geelong Island in an effort to capture the hilltop positions, the Spanish attempted to attack the Dutch landing party.

Twelve Spanish soldiers, eight Pampangers, and 30 or 40 Aboriginal archers inflicted heavy damage on the landing soldiers, as, quote, Our men fired their guns at the crowd, and some used three balls at one shot. And the Indian bowmen, who were very skillful, also inflicted much damage on the Dutch, all the more as they came boldly on, end quote. The Dutch, however, maintained their discipline and forced the small defensive force to retreat. They climbed the hill and captured the Mira. Then they trained their guns on La Retirada. The Spanish soldiers who defended it were few and lacked supplies, but they fought hard because they knew that if the Dutch captured the redoubt, the Spanish were lost. The Dutch, however, were better equipped. For every 10 balls we shot, wrote one Spaniard later,

they'd responded with 200 or more, end quote. Another wrote that the Dutch fired their guns so incessantly that it seemed to be the judgment day, and they gave no respite to our men who were few in number and worn out with fatigue. It took four days of hard fighting to root them out, but at last the Dutch breached the Spanish fortifications and stormed the hill. Having made themselves masters of La Retirada, the invaders aimed their cannon against the main fortress below and then sent a messenger with a white flag and a letter in Latin demanding surrender. The governor offered his. After just six days, the Spanish were marching out of their fortress, their drums beating and flags held high.

The Dutch confiscated the Spanish arms and flags and ferried the Spanish troops first to Dayuan and then to Batavia, where the Dutch governor-general, by all accounts, treated them well. Most eventually made their way back to Manila, bringing along their Formosan wives and children. When the Dutch had arrived in 1623, perhaps about 1,500 Chinese or so lived or at least sojourned in southwestern Taiwan. Most were there but temporarily, seasonal fishers, hunters, traders, and the like, and the Chinese population of Taiwan probably fluctuated throughout the year, peaking each winter with the arrival of the fishing junks from Fujian.

An early Dutch source reports that the Chinese had, quote, planted some of their crops, such as large Chinese apples, oranges, bananas, and watermelons, end quote. Such planting was rare, however, and was certainly meant for subsistence, not for market. Taiwan's soils are fertile and well-watered, whereas Fujian was filled with poor peasants eager for good land. So, it begs the question, why had Ming China not established an agricultural colony before this Dutch period? It must be kept in mind that agricultural colonization is laborious and difficult in even the best of times. Pioneers face hunger and illness as they toil to clear land and dig irrigation channels. Rice paddies and sugar plantations are especially labor-intensive. These settlers must

also be aware of native peoples, who rarely cede their lands willingly. The colonies of the New World were rather exceptional in this fact because Old World diseases famously devastated the American Indians in both North and South America. But the aborigines of Taiwan had already long been exposed to such Eurasian pathogens. The first Chinese homesteaders on Taiwan, therefore, would be impinging on lands defended by healthy and very warlike peoples. This uphill struggle of any effort at colonization is almost inevitably helped considerably by powerful organizations providing much-needed stability and security. After all, such settlers will only take the risk to their own lives and livelihoods on such an uncertain adventure if they feel that their

capital and time will be well invested, and of course that they'll still be alive come the harvest. The Ming government, however, was famously unwilling to help pioneers settle Taiwan. Though the infamous Maritime Prohibition had been lifted in 1567, the Ming government still only tolerated overseas adventurism. They did not support it. Now, there are certain versions of Taiwanese history that assert, and sometimes overtly so, of the specifically Chinese nature of Taiwan and its settlement. One such mainland historian is Yang Yanzhi, who argues that the pirates Yan Siqi and Zheng Zilong established quote-unquote political authority on Taiwan on behalf of the ahistorical concept of China even before the arrival of the Dutch. As Andrade puts

it in refutation, quote, his aim is to show that Chinese claims to Taiwan predate the Dutch, and he overstates his case. He also, perhaps intentionally, conflates Taiwan with the Penghu Islands using the anachronistic term Taipeng, end quote. Even so, Yang does make the important note that Chinese pirate merchant organizations may have contributed to the overall signification of Taiwan. Still, such claims are based on scant and indirect evidence and oversimplification of the various mixed bloodlines of such organizations. For just one instance, the famous hero of Taiwan and Zheng Zilong's son, Koxinga, and his Japanese mother, Tagawa Matsu, along with the overt revisionism of mainland Chinese historical narratives to assert its own modern political objectives, ensures that it remains difficult to determine the extent of colonial involvement

that these piratical organizations had on Taiwan. For example, we know next to nothing about Yan Siqi, even up to his actual historicity. We do know far more about Zheng Zhaolong, who, as we have seen, cruised the Taiwan Straits under the Dutch flag. He likely had contacts with Chinese travelers in the Bay of Dayuan, but more interesting evidence for his role in Taiwan's colonization comes after he became a Chinese official in 1628. Chinese sources indicate that during a severe drought in Fujian, he had a conversation with its officials and suggested moving drought victims to Taiwan, providing, quote, for each person three tails of silver and for each three people one ox, end quote. This was a very interesting idea, but there does not seem to be any evidence that this plan was ever actually carried out. In any case, would-be

settlers needed more stability and security than any pirates probably could or would provide. Enter, therefore, the Dutch East India Company. Recognizing that Taiwan was bountiful, company officials at first considered importing laborers from Europe. But having determined that it would simply cost too much, they instead decided to invite Chinese colonists. Company officials worked systematically to help Chinese colonists establish rice and sugar agriculture in Taiwan, providing not just stability and security, but also more concrete incentives, such as free land, freedom from taxation, the use of company oxen, and other such incentives. By making the jump across the Taiwan Strait a significantly safer and more lucrative bet, both economically and physically, the Dutch East India Company must

be given due credit for at least a significant portion of the Chinese colonization of Taiwan in the 17th century. In this way, a Dutch military and administrative structure co-evolved with a much larger Chinese agricultural and commercial colony in a process of co-colonization. Without the company, Chinese colonization would not have occurred when and how it did. Without Chinese labor, entrepreneurship, and social organization, the Dutch would not have been able to create a prosperous land colony. To be sure, not all of the settlers were Chinese. The Dutch created a system in which all colonial entrepreneurs could take advantage. It merely happened that most of them were from Fujian. At the same time, Chinese immigrants participated only indirectly in the colony's

government. There were no Chinese members in the highest deliberative body, the Council of Formosa, and the Board of Aldermen had only two Chinese members. As such, in spite of the term co-colonization, it should not be inferred that the Dutch and Chinese were equal partners in this colony. Indeed, the system was based on coercion as well as on mutual interest. Company authorities acted against organizations they believed to be competitors, specifically Chinese pirates and smugglers, Japanese traders, and, of course, the hostile natives. Those who followed the company's rules could make profits, but had to pay a share of them to the company. Those who broke the rules kept more for themselves, but were liable to suffer Dutch punishments. Once again, coercion

was a vital part of this arrangement we must nevertheless conclude that the colonization of taiwan was both a joint affair and one for both sides born out of business rather than national interests that is to say profit motive over patriotism co-colonization emerged out of this close cooperation between the company and the chinese entrepreneurs who were in fact business partners of the dutch east ind Company. They'd got their start by participating in the company's foreign trade, which was, it must be remembered, the main point of the Taiwan colony before the 1630s. They and the company worked together on a variety of enterprises, from helping the company hire Chinese laborers to load and unload ships, pack trade goods,

and make barrels and other shipping containers, to helping the company hire Chinese laborers to load and unload ships, pack trade goods, and make barrels and other shipping containers, to helping the company hire the thousands of Chinese masons, carpenters, and workers who built the company's fortresses, warehouses, docks, and domiciles. Construction, in turn, sparked building-related industries such as brickmaking, mortar making, and woodcutting. But the most important industry on Taiwan was always agriculture, the straightforwardly necessary basis of any self-sustaining colony. Thus, the establishment of Chinese agriculture was the company's most significant contribution to the Chinese colonization of Taiwan. Company encouragement of Chinese settlement on the island really kicked off

after 1632, after it became clear that the government of the Netherlands was not going to allow the requested 20,000 to 30,000 Dutch farmers to just be sent to Taiwan. The requester, the colonial governor, Hans Puttmans, was instead encouraged, as of 1632, to entice Chinese to come and plant sugarcane in Sakam, which was the area around the township of Provincia, which is modern Tainan. Quote, providing them to this end small sums of money and company cattle to plow the land, end quote. The first results, which came in 1634, were positive, and he wrote, quote, the sugar here will be just as white as that of China, and perhaps better, end quote. Indeed, he said, not just sugar, but also rice, wheat, ginger,

tobacco, indigo, and many other crops could be grown on Taiwan so that through the copious immigration of Chinese, this place can in a few years be made into a small bread box for the company's holdings in all the Indies, end quote. He complained, however, that Chinese farmers could not focus on their fields because people from the aboriginal villages of Matau, Solong, and Bakulan harassed them and hindered their work. He again urged his superiors to send troops to protect them. In the meantime, he and his advisors tried other means to protect Chinese farmers and field workers. In 1634, the Council of Formosa resolved to issue passes allowing Chinese to conduct their businesses without hindrance, and containing a clause in Chinese to the effect that, should those of Matau and Solong molest the Chinese anymore,

they must expect bitter consequences in the future. Such measures did help. By February 1635, prospects for sugar harvests were good enough for the Chinese entrepreneurs to begin preparing larger plantations. They made plans to employ 300 new laborers by the spring. The following September, the sugar cane stood high in the fields, and the entrepreneurs estimated that the following May, they would be able to produce 2,000 to 3,000 pickles, which is to say 125 to 190 kilograms of sugar. The company continued to provide support, lending money and oxen for plowing. Indeed, the number of oxen grew rapidly during the 1630s, from 38 head in the 1620s to 360 head by 1635. Chinese farmers also began experimenting with new crops, such as hemp and

cotton, and Putmans had high hopes for indigo and even tobacco. He continued to stress in his letters to Amsterdam and Batavia that he needed reinforcements to protect Chinese farmers. If it should happen, which we fear since we've already seen many incidents, in which they have cut and stolen sugarc cane and harassed Chinese, that the Matawas become jealous and set the fields on fire. These poor Chinese would be greatly hurt, and would become so afraid that they would not dare to try planting anything again in the future. End quote.

It was vital, he concluded, that the Matawa be punished, quote, which would greatly increase the number of Chinese farmers who daily suffer harassment from these barbaric people, end quote. In 1635, his request for reinforcements was granted. The Council of the Indies decided to send soldiers against Matau, and they stated explicitly that they were doing so to protect Chinese agriculture and bring Chinese settlers to Formosa. Quote, we believe that it is a necessary and useful matter to attract many poor Chinese and foster their agriculture, which should be done the sooner the better. And we have therefore resolved to send you the 400 men you sought so that this can be undertaken with full freedom.

End quote. In 1636, the Council of Mosa resolved to put up signs calling all Chinese who are so inclined to come to us here in China and settle in Sackham to plant rice, with the promise that they will pay no tolls or residence taxes for the first four years, and, in addition, that they will be paid a guaranteed price of 40 pieces of eight for every last, or 1,250 kilograms, of rice produced, end quote. Similar grace periods applied to other products as well, such as sugar, hemp, cotton, ginger, indigo, and even Chinese radish, or bai luo bo. The governor was not concerned that the Chinese settlers would leave after the four years had passed. Once established, he wrote, the immigrants would not depart since, quote, a Chinese who senses profit will not leave, end quote. The company even established a hospital for the relief of the Chinese who labor on sugarcane and other products because many of them get sick.

This will better motivate them as well as attract others here from China. Putmans and his colleagues also gave their new colonists property rights, so long as they agreed to the company's production quotas. This was one of the most important Dutch policies on Taiwan altogether. A case involving one such plot of land illustrates the evolution of these property rights, as well as the difficulty in understanding them clearly. In 1633, a Chinese businessman known as Lampak received 55 morgan, or about 136 acres, of land to grow sugarcane. When he died, his younger brother, Sinqua, inherited the land and continued the family's business of working it.

But in 1644, a newly arrived governor decided to give that land to a missionary under the pretext that it was too near the aboriginal lands. Sinqua, however, had a legitimate right to the land, so the new governor could not proceed with impunity. He was forced to return the land to Xinhua, though he did force the Chinese businessmen to pay a sum to the missionary each year for the next five years. As a follow-up, though, as of 1651, company officials recognized that Xinhua should not have had to pay that sum and compensated him by giving him five years' exemption from taxes. In 1646, property rights were further elaborated, because in that year, Batavia ordered Formosan officials to formalize property rights, in order to provide further motivation towards cultivation.

Indeed, it's possible that Chinese entrepreneurs did better under the Dutch legal system, which upheld their personal property rights, than they may have done under Chinese law, which allowed the government to redistribute family property essentially at its will. In general, the company gave Chinese colonists property rights only to the areas that were not part of aboriginal lands. This is because it considered the Chinese as citizens, or burghers, and the aborigines as vassals. In the company's peace treaties, such as those signed with the Metau, aboriginal villages agreed to accept the States General of the Netherlands as their feudal lord. The company, standing as proxy for the States General, was therefore obliged to protect its aboriginal vassals, who themselves were obliged to come to the company's aid during times of war. The company was also obliged to protect its vassals' land rights. Thus, according to Dutch law, the company

could not give aboriginal lands to Chinese settlers or to company employees. Thanks to property rights and other incentives, agriculture flourished. In early 1636, officials in Batavia tasted the first sugar from Taiwan, and they were nothing if not impressed. They urged the new governor of Taiwan, Johann von der Burke, to encourage Chinese immigration and increase sugar production. The following year, Sackham Fields produced some 3,000 pequels, or about 187,000 kilograms, of sugar, and according to Governor Vandenberg, would have produced far more if it had not been

for wild boars. Another problem was that hundreds of Chinese had arrived in Dayuan, coinciding with an acute scarcity of rice. Desperate for food, they began eating unprocessed sugar, which of of course, decreased the amount of processed sugar available for export. Given the extremity of the situation, company officials had little choice but to look the other way as farmers sold the common man's sugar cane in the place of rice, since, quote, the poor man can hardly find any other food, end quote. The Council of Formosa resolved, however, that in the future, farmers would be forbidden to sell or eat sugarcane, but would rather be required to turn it into white sugar. By the mid-1640s, sugar plantations were firmly established, and the lands near Sako were producing upwards of 10,000 picols, or 625,000 kilograms of sugar per year.

The sugar was obviously exported, especially to Japan and to Persia. But of course, I know you well enough to know that you are wondering not about sugar, but about rice. And I'm here to tell you a little bit more about that. Rice would prove to be rather more difficult than sugar. The company began stimulating rice production in 1634, but with mixed results. As of 1637, the new Chinese colonists began pouring into Taiwan even as rice imports from China decreased. Prices, therefore, went up, which should have prompted farmers to increase production. But perhaps because sugar plantations brought greater profit to the company and to the entrepreneurs, rice cultivation near Daiyuan did not keep pace with the area's rapidly increasing population. Indeed, the company itself was forced to decrease the rice

ration it paid to its employees. There were also other troubles with rice. In 1638, at a point when the rice stood tall in the field, a drought struck Taiwan. From mid-August to October 25th, no rain fell, and the rice was, quote, Another problem? Irrigation. As Governor Johann Van der Bergh put it, quote, These lands lie too high, or to put it better, the Chinese cannot manage to conduct the fresh water from the valleys into the rice fields as is easily done in China, end quote. In addition, wild boars and deer ate the plants, even when the fields were surrounded by ditches and earthen dikes half a man's height high. All these problems, and the great costs of preparing the land,

paying for labor, and buying tools, made rice farming a rather risky business. By the early 1640s, however, producers began to overcome these problems, and the rice fields began to turn a profit. In 1643, some sugar planters even switched to rice. This prompted company employees to conclude that rice agriculture had been established, and that they could therefore begin levying taxes on it. Thus, whereas in 1624 the area around the Bay of Daiyuan knew no intensive agriculture, by the early 1640s Chinese settlers were producing large and increasing amounts of rice and especially sugar for export. They also experimented with other crops, including cotton, indigo, tobacco, ginger,

hemp, wheat, silk, and again, bai luobuo, all of which the company went to great lengths to support, although none proved quite as successful as rice and sugar. No surprise there. Once the company had brought the aborigines under its authority and began stimulating agriculture, it started kind of a chain reaction. More and more, Chinese colonists arrived from Fujian to exploit the benefits of this new colony. Agriculture was by far the most important industry for the new Taiwanese colony, but it was certainly not the only one. A full complement of enterprises emerged. Some colonists brewed rice wine for Dutch and Chinese colonists. Others became butchers, blacksmiths, coopers, carpenters, couriers, cobblers, masons, and tailors, among others. All took advantage of a legal and administrative

system that provided safety and basic property rights. Those who wished to buy or sell homes could count on the company to guarantee those rights, although for each transaction they did have to pay taxes, which some did try to avoid, and the company had to repeatedly investigate housing tax fraud. Company policies protected public safety by stipulating, for instance, that houses had to be built of stone instead of bamboo, and that they had to be decked with tile instead of straw so as to prevent fires such as the one that had ravaged Provincia in 1626. The company regulated markets and placed restrictions on alcohol use, guns, and even gambling. It instituted a justice system, a council of justice at the top, a board of aldermen beneath, and a Chinese court at the

bottom. It installed an elementary police bureau. It even acted to prevent unpleasant smells from overwhelming the city. The Dutch created, in short, a realm of safety and calculability that nurtured commerce and industry. In this way, a Chinese colony was established on Taiwan, and in the 1640s, the Dutch began to reap the benefits in the form of taxes and tolls. Yet there were organizations, Chinese smugglers and their aboriginal allies, who did not wish to collaborate with the Dutch and worked to undermine the co-colonial system. The resulting conflict would threaten that entire enterprise. And that is where we will pick up next time, as we continue to catch up to our main narrative here

in this Taiwanese side story. Happy December to everyone, and as always, thanks for listening. 400 years ago, a trio of tiny kingdoms were perched on some damp islands off the coast of Europe. Within three short centuries, these islands would become the centre of an empire which ruled a quarter of the globe and on which the sun never set. I'm Samuel Hume, a historian of the British Empire, and my podcast Pax Britannica follows the people and events that built that

empire into a global superpower. Learn the history of the British Empire by listening to Pax Britannica everywhere you find your podcasts, or go to pod.link slash pax.