Thomas' travel log: September 2006

Fort Provintia's Well

The well located at the intersection of Min-Chuan and Yung-Fu Rd. in Tainan, is said to have been an important factor in the surrendering of Fort Provintia to Koxinga. At that time, the well was inside the walls of the fort. Due to Koxinga's surprise attack, Provintia had been isolated from the main fort Zeelandia. Not only was the fort running out of ammunition (allegedly illegally sold before to the local Chinese, for hunting deer), but there was only water left in the well for another 8 days. Coyett writes in 't Verwaerloosde Formosa about the envoys visiting Provintia: "Alwaer dan binnen komende, vonden de Gecommitteerden gemelde Fortje in een seer soberen stant, water om te drincken wasser voor geen acht dagen ghenoegh [...]." Provintia was lost. The envoys allowed the commander to make his own bargain with the enemy, to save himself.

Koxinga

Koxinga died in 1662 (only a few months after expelling the Dutch!), and a temple has been built to commemorate his rule.

Unfortunately, the orginal (Fukien style) building has been demolished recently, and rebuilt in Northern style. The adjacent Koxinga museum houses a lot of interesting paintings, costumes, etc.

In the afternoon I visited the Confucian temple. Built in 1665, it is the oldest Confucian temple in Taiwan.

The Dutch on Formosa

The Dutch occupied Formosa from 1623/24 till 1661, when they were expelled by the Chinese Zheng Chenggong (commonly called Koxinga).

Fort Zeelandia was built between 1624 and 1634, and was the center of administration during the Dutch period. The bricks to build this fort were brought in from Java, the mortar was a mix of glutinous rice, sugar, sand, and ground sea shells.

Not much is left of Zeelandia, other than a few remains of the walls. The other structures have been (re)built later by the Japanese and Chinese.

Fort Provintia, built in 1653, is located in Tainan city, and is much smaller than Zeelandia. It is also called Chih-Kan Lou, or Red-Haired Tower. The original fort has been destroyed by wars and earthquakes, and again all that is left are remains of some walls.

The above picture shows the statue of Frederick Coyett surrendering to Koxinga, with in the background Provintia (the structure on top has been built recently).