The Starting Point of Tainan’s City—The Fort and City of Zeelandia in the 17th-century Dutch Formosa

In 1624, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) set up a trading post in Tayouan (now Anping, Tainan), initiating Taiwan’s participation in global trade. With the Fort and City of Zeelandia being planned and constructed, attracting an exodus of Chinese immigrants, Tainan saw the starting point of its development. In this work, we present our research findings on the reconstruction of the Fort and City of Zeelandia in the 1640s; as well as invite you on a journey through our 1643 Zeelandia VR, which, besides highlighting Zeelandia’s spatial layout, alludes to the dual roles played by waters — as both a connection and a boundary. These two characteristics, rooted in the ancient traditions of the Low Countries, were brought to Taiwan and Asia by the Dutch VOC, making water a vital component in the early development of Tainan’s urban landscape.

In terms of “connection,” the Dutch established relationships with port cities across Asia by travelling through maritime trade routes, thus marking Taiwan as a hub for the exchange of people, goods, and material cultures. Meanwhile, the Taijiang Lagoon and the Dao-feng Inland Sea enabled the connection between Zeelandia City in Tayouan and Provintia City in Saccam, as well as the surrounding indigenous and Chinese settlements. Regarding “boundaries,” the Fort and City of Zeelandia were situated at the northern end of the Tayouan sandbar, surrounded by waters and connected to Formosa only via a narrow sandbar. The boundaries of the Fort and City were defined by the coastline and, together with the placement of Fort Zeelandia, Fort Utrecht, and Fort Zeeburgh in Baxemboy, formed a formidable defense system that secured this vital stronghold in East Asia.

Director| HUANG En-yu

Research Team|HUANG Zhui-ri, CHENG Szu-wen, HU Shao-han, LEE Ching, HUANG Ze-wei, WANG Ta-wei, CHIU Chiung-yi, LIN Yu-Ting, TSENG Min, YUANG Chieh-yun, HUANG I-chun, LIN Meng-hsuan, YAO Yi-shan

VR Producer| Barking Dog Technology Inc.

Specializes in architectural history and theory. His recent research focuses on the forts and cities of Zeelandia and Provintia, the Dutch East India Company’s colonial cities and fortresses in Asia, and European urban planning and fortification design theories. Curated “Settling on the Sandbar: The Fort and City of Zeelandia in the 17th-Century Dutch Formosa” (National Cheng Kung University Museum, 2022), “1643 Zeelandia VR: Fort, City and Citizens” (National Cheng Kung University Museum, 2023), and “The Starting Point of Tainan’s History – The Fort and City of Zeelandia in the 17th-Century Dutch Formosa” (Silks Place Tainan, 2023). Executed the “17th-Century Zeelandia Fort AR Project” (Cultural Affairs Bureau, Tainan City Government, 2023).