While Taiwan continues to be in the news due to its geopolitical ambiguities, a lesser-known aspect of its short recorded history is the establishment of a Dutch colony in its southern part in the 17th century. A Tale of Three Tribes in Dutch Formosa describes this Dutch settlement and its interactions with local indigenous people and its heroic but futile resistance against invading Chinese loyalist warlord Koxinga.
The title’s three tribes are the Dutch, the Chinese and the indigenous people who had been in Taiwan the longest, for at least two thousand years before the Dutch came in the early 17th century. The novel alternates between the views of different characters, beginning with the family of a Dutch pastor who moved to Taiwan in 1646, then the inhabitants of an indigenous Siraya village near the Dutch fort, and a Chinese naval officer, with more characters introduced later. While the fledgling Dutch settlement on Taiwan takes shape amid tense but stable relations with indigenous people, on mainland China, a devastating war is coming to an end. Invading Manchus have captured most of imperial Ming China, with Ming loyalist admiral Zheng Chenggong, known as Koxinga, fighting a desperate rearguard action in southeastern Fujian, which faces Taiwan across the Taiwan Strait.
However, while the novel’s title describes the three peoples in Taiwan at that time, the book actually establishes how Taiwan became Chinese, both sociologically and formally. The former happens as Chinese immigrants arrive from Fujian during the Dutch colonial period and soon begin to outnumber the local indigenous people and Dutch colonists, while Koxinga establishes a Chinese kingdom after defeating the Dutch. This kingdom was soon conquered by the Manchus who ruled China as the Qing Dynasty and would incorporate Taiwan into the empire, a situation which would exist for over 250 years until 1895 when Japan would annex the island.
The inclusion of indigenous characters, such as Uma, a Siraya tribal elder’s daughter, who converts to Christianity and learns Dutch, differentiates the book from other novels of the Dutch in Taiwan such as Lord of Formosa, written by Dutch author Joyce Bergvelt, which focused on Koxinga.
Somewhat disappointingly, the role of the indigenous characters gradually lessens through the story though it does hint at their future issues over control of their land and hunting grounds with the growing number of Chinese, both under the Dutch and with Koxinga’s army. Some of the key Dutch and Chinese characters, however, are compelling, especially the nuanced portrayal of Koxinga as he first fends off the Manchus (who killed his father and brothers) in Fujian, and then moves to capture the Dutch settlement in southern Taiwan.
The novel includes considerable detail and background information, some of which isn’t entirely necessary although it enables readers to gain a more in-depth understanding of Taiwan during that period. As the situation becomes more critical for the Dutch with Koxinga approaching with a large fleet and army, the narrative becomes more fast-paced and gripping. There is naval and land combat, artillery bombardments and a siege which lasts for nine months until the Dutch surrender in January 1662.
Even though the Dutch were always heavily outnumbered, their defeat at sea by Koxinga’s fleet was remarkable because the Netherlands was at that time one of the strongest naval powers. This was also perhaps the first time a European fleet had been bested by Asian foes.
While A Tale of Three Tribes in Dutch Formosa may not entirely live up to its title in telling the story of “three tribes”, it provides a lively and colourful narrative of the Dutch in southern Taiwan and their defeat by Koxinga.