Important Historical Moments - Taiwan Part ③ / 1662: Koxinga's Conquest of Taiwan and Dutch Surrender, First Han Chinese Rule

In April 1661, Koxinga led 25,000 soldiers and sailors, setting sail from Liaoluo Bay in Xiamen and crossing the Taiwan Strait. He entered the Taijiang Inland Sea via the Luermen channel during high tide and landed in Taiwan. This move aimed to resolve the food and supply shortages at his Xiamen base and to expel the Dutch East India Company, which had occupied Taiwan for thirty-eight years. Koxinga's forces quickly captured Fort Provintia (modern-day Chihkan Tower), which had weaker defenses, and then concentrated their firepower on Fort Zeelandia, where Governor-General Frederick Coyet held out. This siege lasted for nine months. Fort Zeelandia, with its high walls and European cannons, was formidable, but Koxinga adopted a strategy of prolonged encirclement, cutting off supplies and external contact. The Dutch had hoped for reinforcements from Batavia, but only received news that their fleet had turned back due to storms and poor command. The garrison inside the fort numbered just over a thousand, and their morale collapsed amidst starvation and disease. On February 1, 1662, Coyet finally signed the surrender treaty, leading his remaining troops to withdraw from Taiwan. The treaty, comprising eighteen articles, stipulated details such as property transfer, troop withdrawal, and prisoner exchange, marking the first time in Taiwan's history that foreign rule ended through a formal treaty. However, this 'expulsion of the Dutch' was not a simple confrontation between Han Chinese and the Dutch. The situation for the various indigenous tribes in southern Taiwan at the time was quite complex. Some villages had cooperated with the Dutch, while others revolted during the chaos. Tribes like the Sinkan (Xingang) submitted after Koxinga's army arrived. After entering Taiwan, Koxinga ordered land reclamation, promoted Han Chinese farming techniques, and established a county-magistracy system, incorporating Taiwan into the administrative framework of the Ming-Zheng regime. However, the demand for military provisions and the pressure of land reclamation brought by Koxinga's army also began to alter the living space of the indigenous peoples.