How Taiwan became Chinese: Dutch, Spanish, and Han colonization in the seventeenth century

A Chinese Merchant Between 1642 and 1652, German soldier Caspar Schmalkalden journeyed throughout the world in the service of the Dutch West India Company and the Dutch East India Company. After he returned home, he recorded his experiences in a delightful manuscript, Die Wundersamen Reisen des Caspar Schmalkalden nach West- und Ostindien, 1642–1652. He spent two years on Taiwan, where he served as a surveyor. One of his drawings depicts a Chinese merchant in robes, with folded fan and parasol. Source: Gotha, Forschungsbibliothek, Chart. B 533, fo. 255.

A Formosan, c. 1652 This drawing, by German traveller and sometime VOC employee Caspar Schmalkalden, depicts a Formosan aborigine running. In his hands he holds what appear to be noisemakers, which the accompanying poem refers to as his “Clink and Clank.” Source: Gotha, Forschungsbibliothek, Chart. B 533, fo. 284.

Hunting Deer (捕鹿), 1746 This painting shows hunting techniques used by Austronesian peoples who lived in the western plains of Taiwan before Sinification. The inscription indicates that the scene describes “cooked aborigines” (熟番, that is to say pacified aborigines) from the central plains area: “Toward the end of fall and beginning of winter, each tribe gathers a group together to hunt deer. This is called ‘going into the grass’ (出草).” For many villages, hunting dogs were an important part of traditional hunting. Image is from the Fan she cai feng tu (番社采風圖 Genre Paintings of Taiwan Aborigines), used by permission of the Academia Sinica Institute of History and Phililogy. Source: Academia Sinica Institute of History and Philology Credit: From 六十七, 番社采風圖; published in 1998 by 杜正勝 for the Academia Sinica; more online at:

Defending the Pass (守隘), 1746 Although this painting dates from a century after the Dutch period, it illustrates an important aspect of traditional Formosan Austronesian society: the prevalence of intervillage warfare. In the forefround is a fortified aboriginal village whose entrance is guarded by three warriors. Behind the village stand four more warriors, who point at a group of aborigines from a different village, peering back over a hill. The inscription notes that aboriginal villages located near “raw aborigines” (生番, unpacified aborigines) make stockades out of wood and bamboo, and every day aboriginal warriors (番丁) are sent out, “each carrying spears and bows, to watch for the arrival of raw aborigines.” Image is from the Fan she cai feng tu (番社采風圖 Genre Paintings of Taiwan Aborigines), used by permission of the Academia Sinica Institute of History and Phililogy. Source: Academia Sinica Institute of History and Philology Credit: From 六十七, 番社采風圖; published in 1998 by 杜正勝 for the Academia Sinica; more online at:

Raising the Roof (乘屋), 1746 In this painting, inhabitants of the village of Sinkan (新港) work together to put up the roof of a house (乘屋起盖). The house is elevated above the ground, a hallmark of Austronesian traditional architecture. In this case, the base appears to be made of earth, but in other areas the houses were built on wooden stilts. Image is from the Fan she cai feng tu (番社采風圖 Genre Paintings of Taiwan Aborigines), used by permission of the Academia Sinica Institute of History and Phililogy. Source: Academia Sinica Institute of History and Philology Credit: From 六十七, 番社采風圖; published in 1998 by 杜正勝 for the Academia Sinica; more online at:

Husking Rice (舂米), 1746 This painting from 1746 nicely illustrates the sexual division of labor in traditional aboriginal villages. On the left two men return from the hunt. To the right a group of women husks rice (舂米) with wooden mortar and pestle (以大木為臼、直木為杵). Women also grew the rice, thereby contributing the largest share of calories to the village's sustenance. Note the house is on stilts, a hallmark of traditional Austronesian architecture throughout Southeast Asia and the Pacific. Image is from the Fan she cai feng tu (番社采風圖 Genre Paintings of Taiwan Aborigines), used by permission of the Academia Sinica Institute of History and Phililogy.

Catching Fish (捕魚), 1746 Most aborigines gained the lion's share of protein from the deer hunt, but for some villages, fishing was also important. This painting shows three different methods aborigines used to catch fish. In the foreground, one aborigine aims a bow, while his companion uses a spear. The two in the background use wicker baskets as nets. Image is from the Fan she cai feng tu (番社采風圖 Genre Paintings of Taiwan Aborigines), used by permission of the Academia Sinica Institute of History and Phililogy. Source: Academia Sinica Institute of History and Philology

Old Anping View of old Chinese city, Anping, not far from Fort Zeelandia (安平古堡), Tainan, Taiwan.

Old Archway in Anping An old arched doorway in Anping (安平), in the old Chinese city, not far from Fort Zeelandia (安平古堡), Tainan, Taiwan. This archway has now been demolished, along with the house to which it belonged. It is sad that so much of Tainan's traditional architecture is being destroyed. Photograph by Andrea Artuso Andrade, 2002.

View from the Fortress at Danshui View to the ocean from the Fortress (紅毛城) at Danshui. The Spanish were the first to build a fortress here. Later, the Dutch built one on the same spot. In the nineteenth century, it was used as a British consulate. Photograph by Andrea Artuso Andrade, 2002.

Fortress at Danshui Front view of the Danshui Fortress (紅毛城). Photograph by Andrea Artuso Andrade, 2002.

Cell at the Fortress at Danshui Looking into a cell at the Danshui Fortress (紅毛城). Photograph by Andrea Artuso Andrade, 2002.

Sugar Mill (糖), 1746 This painting from the eighteenth century shows aborigines milling and processing sugar. During the Dutch period, aborigines were not generally involved in sugar processing, but this print is important because it shows production techniques. On the left is a hut where two oxen drive a mill into which laborers feed raw sugar cane. Behind them is a small building in which the cane juice is processed into sugar. It is interesting to compare this mill to very similar mills on the other side of the world, in Brasil. Image is from the Fan she cai feng tu (番社采風圖 Genre Paintings of Taiwan Aborigines), used by permission of the Academia Sinica Institute of History and Phililogy. Source: Academia Sinica Institute of History and Philology Credit: From 六十七, 番社采風圖; published in 1998 by 杜正勝 for the Academia Sinica; more online at:

Gotha, Forschungsbibliothek, Chart. B 533 This Brazilian sugar press, drawn around 1652 by German traveller Caspar Schmalkalden, is similar to presses used to process sugar in Taiwan. Used by permission of the Gotha Research Library (Gotha Forschungsbibliotek) (finding aid: Chart. B 533, fs. 82r). Source: Sugar Press, Brasil – 1, Mid-1600s

Sugar Press, Brasil – 2, Mid-1600s Source: Gotha, Forschungsbibliothek, Chart. B 533

Company Soldiers with Hunting Dog, c. 1652 Many Dutchmen kept dogs to help in the hunt. Detail from “Landdag Ceremony on Taiwan,” drawing by Caspar Schmalkalden. Used by permission of the Gotha Research Library (Gotha Forschungsbibliotek) (finding aid: Chart. B 533, fos. 288v–299).

Total Gross Income in Dutch Taiwan, 1631–1661, in Florins The data used to generate this graph can be found in Appendix C: Income and Outlays in Dutch Taiwan.

Income Versus Expenditures in Dutch Taiwan, 1633–1661, in Florins The data used to generate this graph can be found in Appendix C: Income and Outlays in Dutch Taiwan.

Smoking Buddha, Anping, Taiwan Image of smoking Buddha in sacred tree in old Chinese city, Anping, not far from Fort Zeelandia (安平古堡), Tainan, Taiwan.

Eighteenth-Century Aboriginal Land Deed in Roman Characters This land deed was written in the eighteenth century by aborigines from the village of Mattau (麻豆), using Roman characters that Dutch missionaries taught to their ancestors in the 1600s. There are numerous examples of such land deeds, some of which date into the nineteenth century. Photograph by the author. The original is found in the museum of the Koxinga Ancestral Shrine in Tainan City (民族文物館, 延平君王祠).