Sailing From The China Coast To The Pescadores and Taiwan - A Comparative Study On The Resemblances in Chinese and Dutch Sailing Patterns - Berif

Bulletin de l'Ecole française
d'Extrême-Orient
Sailing from the China Coast to the Pescadores and Taiwan: A

Comparative Study on the Resemblances in Chinese and Dutch
Sailing Patterns
Weichung Cheng
Citer ce document / Cite this document :
Cheng Weichung. Sailing from the China Coast to the Pescadores and Taiwan: A Comparative Study on the
Resemblances in Chinese and Dutch Sailing Patterns. In: Bulletin de l'Ecole française d'Extrême-Orient. Tome 101,
2015. pp. 289-323;
doi : https://doi.org/10.3406/befeo.2015.6217
https://www.persee.fr/doc/befeo_0336-1519_2015_num_101_1_6217
Fichier pdf généré le 08/11/2019

Abstract
The Dutch East India Company (VOC) controlled the southwestern coast of Taiwan for thirty-eight
years as an entrepôt within its trans-Asian trading network. As a latecomer in East Asian waters,
the VOC usually looted Portuguese nautical documents through piracy on the high seas. However,
since Taiwan waters are located on the margin of Portuguese shipping routes, the Portuguese
documents did not contain sufficient nautical knowledge about this area. The VOC mariners thus
had to develop their sailing solutions with the assistance of Chinese mariners. These early sailing
instructions along the China coast, the Pescadores and Taiwan recorded in the VOC archives and
sea charts produced during the same period are comparable to Chinese sailing practices that were
pieced together from later sailing directions, travelogues and chorographies. By examining such
similar features, the author reveals the particular meteorological, oceanographic and topographical
contexts that Chinese and Dutch mariners confronted. Further, the author uses those common
sailing patterns to elucidate the spatial features of Chinese access to the Taiwan coast in the first
two decades of the 17th century, long before the arrival of the Dutch.
Résumé
La Compagnie des Indes Néerlandaises (VOC) a contrôlé la côte sud-ouest de Taïwan durant
trente huit années ; celle-ci fonctionnait comme un entrepôt au sein de son réseau marchand
transasiatique. Arrivée tardivement dans les eaux de l’Asie orientale, la VOC a en règle générale
utilisé les instructions nautiques des Portugais saisies lors de l’abordage de leurs navires en
pleine mer. Les côtes de Taïwan se trouvaient cependant à la périphérie des routes empruntées
par les marins portugais, et cette documentation ne proposait pas de détails suffisants sur cette
région. Les navigants de la VOC eurent donc à développer leurs propres solutions, ce qu’ils firent
avec l’assistance de marins chinois. Ces premières instructions nautiques pour la côte chinoise,
les Iles Pescadores et la côte de Taïwan – conservées dans les archives de la VOC, avec les
cartes marines produites à la même période – peuvent être comparées aux pratiques chinoises de
navigation, telles qu’on a pu les reconstituer à travers des instructions nautiques, des
chorographies et des récits de voyage plus tardifs. L’examen comparatif de ces documents
permettent à l’auteur de mettre au jour les particularités météorologiques, océanographiques et
topographiques auxquels étaient confrontés les marins chinois et néerlandais. L’auteur utilise les
solutions communes qu’ils ont adoptées pour mettre en évidence les caractéristiques des routes
suivies par les Chinois pendant les deux premières décennies du XVIIe siècle, bien avant l’arrivée
des Néerlandais.
Sailing from the China Coast to the Pescadores and Taiwan:
A Comparative Study of Chinese and Dutch Sailing Patterns
Cheng Weichung *
VOC nautical investigations and Chinese mariners
The entry of Dutch East India Company (VOC) into the China Seas can be traced
back to their establishment of a trading post in Hirado, Japan, in 1609. However, only
after a sea battle outside the Manila harbor in 1617 did the Dutch gain the upper hand
for the first time in the China Seas over their Iberian adversaries. Although the Dutch
did not win the battle, the Iberian fleet suffered a major loss in a storm and could no
longer escort their convoys into the China Seas. The Anglo-Dutch alliance in 1619
took this opportunity to intercept the Portuguese ships on the lucrative route between
Macau and Japan. Since their goal was to capture the Portuguese vessels and develop
a replacement trade between China and Japan, they followed the routes sailed by the
Portuguese vessels at the time. It was a common practice, since the Dutch had long been
educated as mariners on Iberian vessels. Governor General Jan Pieterzoon Coen had
complained about the risk they took when relying on out-of-date nautical information
provided by the Portuguese directions and charts in 1614, and the Batavian authori-
ties made a plan to renew a large scale chart covering the waters from Japan to Java
in 1620.1 From the journal of a famous sea captain, Willem IJsbrantzoon Bontekoe,
we know that even in 1622 such a renewal had not yet been fulfilled, because captain
Bontekoe was still sailing according to the nautical instructions published in Jan Huygen
van Linschoten’s Itinerario.2 This book, published at the end of the 16th century, com-
piled and translated into Dutch most of the useful sailing instructions for Asian waters
written down by Portuguese pilots. It was widely circulated amongst Dutch mariners.
* Research Center for Humanities and Social Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taiwan.
The author is grateful for the support received from the Franco-Taiwanese MOST-ANR Cooperation
Program “Maritime Knowledge for China Seas”, led by Chen Kuo-tung (Academia Sinica) and Paola
Calanca (EFEO).
1. Günter Schilder, “Organization and Evolution of the Dutch East India Company’s Hydrographic
Office in the Seventeenth Century,” Imago Mundi, 28 (1976), pp. 61-78 at 72. For a more general
description on the development of VOC’s hydrography see: Kees Zandvliet, Mapping for Money,
Amsterdam: Batavian Lion International, 2002, pp. 101-117 (Chapter 6, “The Company’s hydrographic
service in Asia”).
2. Jan Huygen van Linschoten, Itinerario voyage ofte schipvaert van Jan Huygen van Linschoten naer
oost ofte Portugaels Indien 1579-1592, J.C.M. Warnsinck (comp.), ’s-Gravenhage: Martinus Nijhoff,
1939. Willem IJsbrantszoon Bontekoe, Journael ofte gedenckwaerdige beschrijvinghe: de wonderlijke
avonturen van een schipper in de Oost 1618-1625, V. D. Roeper (comp.), Amsterdam: Terra Incognita,
1996, p. 87. The editor of this Journael points out that Bontekoe did possess one copy of Linschoten’s
Itinerario in his reading room.
Bulletin de l’École française d’Extrême-Orient, 101 (2015), p. 289-323

290 Cheng Weichung
Bontekoe had taken part in the Dutch expedition dispatched to attack Macau in 1622.
When they were rebuked, they turned to the Pescadores to seek other opportunities for
legal trade with China.
There were three routes to sail from Macau to Japan. The first was to sail along the
coast northward until Ningbo (寧波) at 30˚N, then turn northeast towards Japan. The
second was to sail northwards until reaching 25˚N at the Dinghai (定海) cape and turn
northeast towards the north tip of Taiwan, then sail along the Ryukyu islands to Japan.3
The third was to sail northeast from Macau to the Pescadores, and then continue to
sail along the coast of Taiwan to the north tip of it, then sail along the Ryukyu islands
to Japan.4 The sailing route between Xiamen (廈門) and the Pescadores was absent in
Linschoten’s Itinerario; the Dutch apparently proceeded to sail between the two shores
of the Taiwan Strait without using indications from Portuguese rutters. The Dutch sailing
activities were most frequent during prolonged negotiations from 1622 to about 1636.
Senior merchant Cornelis Reyerszoon, commander of the 1622 expedition, ordered his
captains to take notes to collect nautical knowledge of this region. He requested all the
steersmen to observe and collect nautical knowledge on their mission:
“[...] I ordered that all the captains in this flotilla should sound the depth of waters
in the river, bays, shallows and islets around where they arrived and mark it on a chart,
or at least record it in detail in a journal.”5
The first group of Dutch mariners led by Cornelis Neyenroode and Willem IJsbrantzoon
Bontekoe painfully discovered that they were not able to sail north and south freely under
the constraints of monsoons, when they were blown away by a typhoon and could not
reach the main fleet in the Pescadores easily. After being struck by the typhoon, they
also realized the necessity of going ashore for provisions, which required an accurate
understanding of the coastal area. The first nautical investigation was therefore made by
captain Bontekoe without full preparation, and as a side product of his efforts to seek
provisions under urgent conditions. Viewed retrospectively, such an accidental start of
nautical investigation greatly rose attention from the VOC authorities on the importance
of accurate and current information on the coast of China, in case any other vessel should
be blown to the same waters and coast. From this incident onwards, together with the
progress of the VOC and Chinese authorities trade negotiations, a series of nautical
investigations was conducted during 1622-1636, with the help of Chinese fishermen,
freebooters, pirates, and marine pilots. A brief table shows how different parts on the two
shores of the Taiwan Strait were investigated.
3. Chinese persons and place names in this article follow the Hanyu Pinyin spelling system; when
referring to correspondent Dutch spelling in historical sources, the word is set in italics, followed by D
in square brackets [D.] when appearing for the first time. The Chinese characters are appended when a
word appears for the first time.
4. Jan Huygen van Linschoten, Itinerario, pp. 195, 196, 212, 229.
5. Nationaal Archief, The Hague, VOC 1077, Instructie [van den commandeur Cornelis Reijerszoon]
voor Cornelis van Nieuroode ende den raedt van de vloot naer de cust van China ontrent de rivier van
Chinchiu vaerende, the Pescadores, 15 Oct. 1622, fol. 225v.
Sailing from the China Coast to the Pescadores and Taiwan 291
Leader of the
Date Investigated Area(s) Auxiliary Personnel
Expedition
Bay of Tayouan [D.] or
1622.7 Cornelis Reyerzoon Dayuan (大員)*, Gaoxiong Chinese fishermen
(高雄), Xiao Liuqiu (小琉球)
Willem IJsbrantzoon
1622.10 Gulei (古雷),
Bontekoe,
/1622.12 Zhangzou (漳州)
Cornelis Neyenroode
Pinghai (平海), Taxing
1622.12
The same (大星), Tianwei (田尾), Jiazi Chinese fishermen
/1623.5
(甲子)
1623/4 Moses Claeszoon Bay of Tayouan, Pescadores,
Chinese naval officers
1623/5 Comans Danshui (淡水), Jilong (雞籠)
1625/3 Jacob Noordeloos Jilong, circling around Taiwan Chinese crew in junks
1626/7 Jacob Noordeloos Jilong Chinese crew in a junk
Fuzhou (福州), Jilong,
1629/7 Jan Gerrebrantse
Songmen (松門), Ningbo Chinese crew in a junk
1629/10 Blacq
(寧波), Zhoushan (舟山)
Coast of Taiwan to the north
1630/4 Jan Gerrebrantse
of Tayouan bay, Lamay Chinese crew in junks
1630/6 Blacq
island, Fuzhou
Paulus Claesen, Thijs
1630/12 Wangang (魍港) Chinese crew in junks
Hendricxsen Quast
Nan’ao (南澳) Island, Daxing
Gedeon Bouwers, Jan
1631/5 island, Macau, Jinghai Chinese crew in junks
Gerrebrantse Blacq
(靖海) cape
Coast to the north of the
Thijs Hendricxsen
1632/2-? estuary of Jiulong River Chinese crew in junks
Quast
(九龍江)
Floris Janszoon,
Islands from Songmen to
1633/9 Pieter Onnissen
32˚ N
Table 1. Nautical investigations of VOC mariners along two shores of the Taiwan Strait
(Source: Cheng Weichung, “荷蘭東印度公司人員在台海兩岸的水文調查活動 (1622-1636) [VOC Mariners’
Nautical Investigations along Two Shores of the Taiwan Strait (1622-1636)]”, paper presented in the International
Conference of Maritime Studies, Sept. 18-19, 2014, Taipei, Academia Sinica, RCHSS, CAPAS).
* The place name “Tayouan” refers to a sandbank connected with the southwest coast of Taiwan during the 17th
century. Nowadays it is located around the remains of Anping castle at Tainan city in Taiwan. Chinese characters
大員 (Dayuan in Mandarin), if pronounced in Southern Fujian dialect, tally with the Dutch pronunciation and spelling
“Tayouan”. Hereafter the author will no longer italicize “Tayouan” but will treat it as a borrowed word in English.
All the above information was integrated and compiled into one report written in
about 1636 by Taiwan governor Hans Putmans, entitled: “A description of the west
coast of Taiwan, the coast of China, and the Pescadores, including their rivers, bays,
deeps, shallow reefs, sailing courses, latitude, and estuaries, all investigated and dis-
covered by particular experienced mariners who were commissioned by the honorable
292 Cheng Weichung
governor Hans Putmans”6 This report has a length of about 13,500 words in 17 folios,
and its range covers most of the abovementioned investigations. The brief contents are
shown in the following table:
Folio no. Subtitle Coverage Appendix

269-271 The coast of Taiwan 24˚ 10’ N Sailing directions from Erlin (二林) to
22˚ 21’ N Wuqiu (烏坵)
271-281 The Chinese Coast 22˚ 22’ N 1. Sailing directions from Weitou (圍頭)
from Wuqiu island to 25˚ 0’ N Bay to Jinmen (金門)
Pinghai Bay 2. Sailing directions from Lieyu (烈嶼) to
the roadstead of Anhai (安海)
281-284 Pescadores Islands 23˚ 0’ N
24˚ 0’ N
Table 2. Contents of “A description of the west coast of Taiwan, the coast of China, and the Pescadores”
(Sources: see note 6).
Apart from those three sailing directions, there were four other sailing directions
attached to the report on folios following the folio 284, as the following table shows:
Folio no. Title

284 Sailing directions from Nan’ao island to the Pescadores or Bay of Tayouan during
the south monsoon season.
284 Sailing directions from the estuary of Jiulong River to Tayouan during the south
monsoon season.
284 Sailing directions from Tayouan to China or the estuary of Jiulong River during the
south monsoon season.
284-285 Sailing directions from the estuary of Jiulong River to the Pescadores during the
north monsoon season.
285 Sailing directions from the Pescadores to the Bay of Tayouan during the north
monsoon season.
Table 3. Appended sailing directions in the “Description” (Source: see note 6).
All above descriptions are also presented in a chart entitled “the Coast of China from
Nan’ao (南澳) island to the Bay of Meichou (湄州)” as shown below (fig. 1). In com-
parison with a modern map (fig. 2) marked with all the routes followed during nautical
investigations during this period, the reader can see how the results accumulated through
those expeditions were synthesized as one single chart. The “Descriptions of the coast”,
“Sailing directions” and “Chart” made up a comprehensive whole , the parts of which
complemented one another.
6. Collectie Aanwinsten 119 (1866 A XII), Beschrijvinge van de westcust van Formosa, de cust van
China en Pehu ofte Pescadores, met haere riveren, baijen, diepten, droochten clippen, droogten segge
coursen, hoochten ende inhammen, alles door verscheijden ervaren stuerluijden daertoe expresselijck
gecommitteert, gedurende het gouvernement van E Hans Putmans ondersocht en bevonden, fos. 269-
284. Hereafter “Description”.
Sailing from the China Coast to the Pescadores and Taiwan
Fig. 1. The Coast of China from Nan’ao island to the Bay of Meizhou
(Courtesy Österreichische Nationalbibliothek (Vienna, Van der Hem 41:12, Johannes Vingboons, Afteeckeninghe van de custe Chinae beginnende van ’t
Eijlandt Lame, tot de Storm Baij noordtwaerts [Chart of the Chinese coast from the island Nan’ao to the Bay of Meizhou], 1665-1668).
293
294 Cheng Weichung
Fig. 2. Routes followed during VOC mariners’ nautical investigations in 1622-1636

(Map by Liao Xuanming, GIS center, Academia Sinica)
The nautical investigations of the VOC on the two shores of the Taiwan Straits usually
proceeded under the command of the governors of Taiwan, as the results were to serve
military and trading expeditions initiated from Taiwan. The intrusion of VOC vessels
in the Pescadores and along the coast of Fujian from 1622 to 1624 stirred up quite a lot
of fear along the Chinese coast, while, at the same time, a group of Chinese pirates also
desired to take part in the Sino-Japanese trade, whether legally or illegally. Later, this
triangular relationship amongst the Dutch, the Chinese authorities and the Chinese pirates
and adventurers caused from time to time a series of conflicts that interrupted the trade in
Taiwan (where the VOC had set up a trading post after 1624). The VOC swung between
trading with the Chinese authorities and with outlaws, depending on who they judged
to be the better providers of Chinese commodities at the moment. The Dutch East India
Company’s position in Taiwan was also weakened by the Japanese traders, who seriously
challenged the VOC’s administration over the bay of Tayouan, because the VOC was not
only levying tax from the Japanese, but also barring them from the shores of China. Only
after Zheng Zhilong (鄭芝龍) – a pirate turned navy commander – took charge of the
navy of Fujian and soon defeated a Dutch fleet led by Hans Putmans in Amoy, and after
the Japanese shogun gradually undertook a policy of enclosure that banned all Japanese
traders from sailing abroad, did the Dutch feel secure and content to receive goods on the
shore of Taiwan shipped by Chinese junks.7 When the trade between the Taiwan factory
7. For details about the entangled relationship between the VOC and Chinese pirates, see: Leonard
Blussé, De Chinese nachtmerrie: een terugtocht en twee nederlagen [The Chinese nightmare: a with-
drawal and two defeats] in Gerrit J. Knaap, Gerke Teitler (eds.), De Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie:
and China was stabilized, the activities of nautical investigations were also gradually
slackened in the 1640s. Furthermore, because the Chinese authorities in Fujian had never
gained formal permission from the Emperor in Beijing regarding this trade, the legitimacy
of this channel was always questionable, although different authorities of Fujian connived
in this business. In order to avoid agitating the Fujianese authorities, the VOC authorities
gave up their original plan to directly engage with Chinese traders on the Chinese shore,
and also deliberately avoided a presence on the Chinese shore.8
In the 1640s, directions were given to all the VOC sea captains for new sailing routes
that avoided entering Fujianese waters, and thus the nautical investigations accordingly
declined (details will be discussed below). Before the VOC reached this point, all nautical
investigations were aimed at potential trading opportunities with the Chinese, especially
plans to trade with them in the vicinity of Xiamen (a major Chinese port for trading junks),
Anhai (安海) (Zheng Zhilong’s base harbor) and Fuzhou (provincial capital of Fujian).
Along with the above-mentioned report, charts and sailing directions were therefore also
produced to serve the needs of navigation.
As we shall see below, these documents must have been produced during the period
of intensive nautical investigations when the Chinese mariners were never absent. I shall
examine the sailing instructions and their relationship with charts so that the earlier sailing
routes and the ways to pilot the vessels can be reconstructed through Dutch documents.
Further analysis will follow to clarify which Chinese sailing practices were matched by the
reconstructed sailing instructions, even though their piloting scheme followed a tradition
very different from that of the Dutch mariners, in an age of great geographical discoveries.
Sailing between the two shores of the Taiwan Strait
As mentioned above, the VOC after 1624 was forced to leave the Pescadores, and
established a post on the Bay of Tayouan. The most practical need of the nautical inves-
tigation was to collect reliable hydrographical information about the Bay of Tayouan and
to prepare sailing directions to help the pilot approach the port securely. The first result
of this investigation was accomplished by a pilot named Moses Claeszoon Comans. As
recorded by Reyerszoon on 15 April 1623, this expedition was associated with members
of a Chinese navy squad:
“[...] a Chinese junk arrived [in the Pescadores] this afternoon which came from
Jiu-long River. Fan Yu’s brother-in-law was on board. After he returned from an
expedition to catch marauders and confiscate goods together with Fan Yu, he set sail
to the Bay of Tayouan. He was going to join a yacht, the Victoria, to proceed with a
nautical investigation along the shore of Formosa [Taiwan] in order to discover and
examine a proper harbor. A Dutch captain and ten to twelve Dutch crew were with
tussen oorlog en diplomatie, Leiden: KITLV, 2002, pp. 209-237; Tonio Andrade, “The Company’s
Chinese Pirates: How the Dutch East India Company Tried to Lead a Coalition of Pirates to War against
China, 1621-1662”, Journal of World History 15(4), 2004, pp. 415-444. See also the relevant chapters
in this same author’s Lost Colony: The Untold Story of China’s First Great Victory over the West, Prin-
ceton University Press, 2013.
8. The establishment of the Sino-Dutch trade in Taiwan was a result of multilateral interactions. For details
about this practice, see: Cheng Weichung, War, Trade and Piracy in the China Seas, 1622-1683, Leiden:
Brill, 2013, pp. 63-76 (Chapter Four: “The Establishment of the Anhai Trading Emporium 1630-1633”).
296 Cheng Weichung
him. They may be expected to eliminate the marauders occupying a part of the same
island further north [...].”9
A yacht, the Victoria, anchored in the Bay of Tayouan and waited for the above-men-
tioned Chinese squad. The Dutch pilot mentioned here was Moses Claeszoon Comans.10 In
November 1624, after the Dutch had settled down on the sand bank of Tayouan, Governor
Martinus Sonck sent the first batch of charts to Batavia, so that later Dutch captains could
utilize this information.11 The chart drawn by Comans based on this expedition remains in
the National Archive in The Hague.12 The title of this chart is ”Chart (Paskaart), which shows
the situation of Tayouan lying at 22˚ 56’ N, the sands and shallow reefs that people should
watch for when sailing in and out, and how the mountain shapes emerge”.13 As the title tells,
this chart bears information of how to use the mountain shapes and other landscape features
to assist pilots when sailing their ships towards a good anchorage. In order to explain how
the chart can be applied to this sailing-in procedure, the sailing directions are written on the
margin of the chart. By reading these attached sailing directions, we are able to know how the
peaks of mountains became an auxiliary mark for the pilots. This sailing style was consist-
ent with the Dutch charting tradition of “coast profiles”, which is a distinct feature of Dutch
mariners.14 On the other hand, this kind of mark had also been employed by the Chinese
mariners in these waters for a long time. These sailing directions give instructions as below:
“Sailing along the reef, we bring the black dune (marked in letter D) to our EbyN
side, then turn to ESE and sail to the harbor. On the SSW side of the reef, there is a sand-
bank where the depth is less than 15 feet at low tide. The factory (marked with the letter
G) is located on the E side of the sandbank. Sailing along the sandbank, we keep the fort
on our ESE side and go through the middle between the reef and sandbank, maintaining
the course until we arrive at the harbor. If you drop the anchor outside the harbor, bring
the factory to your E, and do not sail further to where the water is shallower than 5 to 6
fathoms. Near the reef you have the deepest point, but it is not advisable to approach it
further than where the depth is shallower than 5 to 6 fathoms.”15
9. W. P. Groeneveldt, De Nederlanders in China: eerste stuk: de eerste bemoeiingen om den handel in China
en de vestiging in de Pescadores (1601-1624), ’s-Gravenhage: Nijhoff, 1898, p. 391. About the identity of Fang
Yu, see: Cheng Weichung, War, Trade and Piracy in the China Seas (1622-1683), Leiden: Brill, 2013, p. 33.
10. Nationaal Archief, The Hague, VOC 1081, Copie uyt journael van Adam Verhult van de voijagie naer
Tayouan, Tayouan, 26 Mar. 1623-1626 Apr. 1623, fol. 66v. The merchant Verhult transferred to the other
yacht De Haen, and stayed anchored in the bay of Tayouan. On a general overview of Chinese mariners’
assistance in those expeditions, see: Kees Zandvliet, Mapping for Money, pp. 106-110.
11. Jiang Shusheng (comp.), De missiven van de VOC-gouverneur in Taiwan aan de Gouveneur-
generaal te Batavia I (1622-1626), Nantau: Taiwan Historica, 2010, p. 141: Letter from governor
Sonck to Governor General Captentier, 5 Nov. 1624, in Tayouan factory (Hereafter: De missiven van
de VOC-gouverneur in Taiwan).
12. Nationaal Archief, The Hague, 4.VEL.inv.nr. 300, Moses Claeszoon Comans, Afteyckeninghe van
Chincheo, de Piscadores enz.
13. Nationaal Archief, The Hague, 4.VEL.inv.nr. 302, Heyndrick Ariensen Lootsman, Pascaert,
waerin verthoont wort de gelegentheit van Tayouan enz. On the chart and the Dutch transcription of the
attached sailing directions, see: Jos Gommans, Grote Atlas van de Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie,
Voorburg, The Netherlands: Atlas Maior, 2010, Vol. 7, p. 223.
14. Leo Bagrow, History of Cartography, New Brunswick/London: Transaction Publishers, 2010, p. 119.
15. Nationaal Archief, The Hague, 4.VEL.inv.nr. 302, Heyndrick Ariensen Lootsman, Pascaert,
waerin verthoont wort de gelegentheit van Tayouan enz. The standard for one ‘fathom’ varied at the
Fig. 3. Detail of Chart (Paskaart), which shows the situation of Tayouan

Courtesy Nationaal Archief, The Hague (4.VEL.inv.nr. 302, Heyndrick Ariensen Lootsman,
Pascaert, waerin verthoont wort de gelegentheit van Tayouan enz., 1625).
On the chart, both the landscape features and the depths along the course are marked
accordingly:
“The southern sandbank extends very far. Therefore if we throw the sounding lead
to check the depth, we will know whether we are heading in or out of the harbor, until
we sail out of the range of the sandbank. When we are heading out, we sail from the
anchorage at one goteling shot’s distance from the reef, toward the latter, and the depths
are 3, 4, 5, and 6 fathoms. Thereafter come 10, 11, 12, and 13 fathoms. They extend
for half a Dutch mile. Thereafter come 9, 8, and 7 fathoms, together about a distance of
time; for general reference, an Amsterdam fathom equals 1.69 meters; 1 foot equals 0.28 meters. See:
Pieter van Dam, Beschrijvinge van de Oostindische Compagnie 1639-1701, ’s-Gravenhage: Martinus
Nijhoff, 1927, Vol. I, Book I, p. 741.
298 Cheng Weichung
one goteling shot, too. Then we come to water with a depth of 20 fathoms and we are
free from all the sandbanks.”16
In this initial stage of this Dutch enterprise on the bay of Tayouan, the fort is nothing more
than a square protected by undersized walls. The Bay of Tayouan is situated on the shore
of the southwest flat land of Taiwan Island, which extends eastward for about 40 km until
hills rise about 400 m high, after which one comes to the Central Mountain Range, where
many peaks reach above 3000 m. For sailors who sailed from the Pescadores to the west
shore of Taiwan, the broad sandy shores offered limited distinguishing features to identify
the position of the port from afar. It was not only very risky to sail along the coast near
enough for their telescopes to find the openings between the sandbanks, but it was also very
inefficient if they had to proceed with the same search every time. On this chart, Comans
also followed the tradition of drawing coastal profiles to mark the position in reference to
the mountain profiles nearby, as the following directions show:
“When we reach the open sea and the land comes into sight, we take notice of the
high mountain marked by the letter H. When it is located on your E side, the harbor is
located on your E side as well. On the south there is a big mountain with the shape of
a saddle, followed by one in the shape of a ship. Thereafter you will find a mountain
with three peaks, which is located on the southeast by east side of the factory. You must
identify those landscapes on this place. All of them are located on the SE side of the
Pescadores. C is Peak Mountain, which lies on the ESE side of the factory.”
Fig. 4. Coastal profile of “Chart, which shows the situation of Tayouan.”

Courtesy Nationaal Archief, The Hague (4.VEL.inv.nr. 302, Heyndrick Ariensen Lootsman,
Pascaert, waerin verthoont wort de gelegentheit van Tayouan enz., 1625)
16. Here the sandbank refers to the underwater shoals. “Goteling” refers to a kind of iron cannon. Its
shooting range is estimated about 2 km. See: Anne Doedens, Henk Looijesteijn comp., Op jacht naar
Spaans Zilver: Het Scheepsjournaal van Willem van Brederode, kaptein der mariners in de Nassause
vloot (1623-1626), Hilversum: Verloren, 2008, p. 124, note 202; Jan Parmentier, Karel Davids, John
Everaert comp., Peper, Plancius en Porselein: De reis van het schip Swarte leeuw naar Atjeh en Bantam,
1601-1603, Zutphen: Walburg Pers: 2003, p. 117, note 72. A Dutch mile is equal to 7.4 km.
Fig. 5. Coastal profiles corresponding to Map 4 (Source: www.peakfinder.org).
The view point in the Peakfinder application is set at the point where the chart is
marked with 20 fathoms depth. This should be the point where the pilot sets his course
into the Bay of Tayouan harbor. Assuming this author has correctly identified the actual
landscape corresponding to the illustrations on the Dutch chart, the Peakfinder application
reveals the modern names of those peaks (fig. 5). The letter H, indicating a “mountain
with rectangle”, marks the south peak of Beinan (卑南) Mountain, which is located at
23˚2’ N. The peak of Beinan is 3,295 m above sea level and at the compass point of 89.3˚.
The ‘Peak Mountain’ is Damumu (大母母) Mountain, at the compass point of 108˚. It
is 2,423 m high. The peak of Damumu Mountain from this Peakfinder viewpoint stands
at the compass point of ESE (106.88˚-118.12˚), which tallies with the above directions.
Looking towards SEbyE, Dawu (大武) Mountain fits the description of “the mountain
with three peaks”, which from this Peakfinder viewpoint is located on the compass point
between 122.7˚ and 126.6˚, with a height of 3,092 m. An Iberian mestizo Chinese inhab-
itant of Macau, named Salvador Diaz, who had been captured by the Dutch and served
in the Dutch fort in the same period, ran over to Macau in 1626. A drawing was made
following his detailed report to the authorities of Macau.17 On this illustration, the most
important landscape mentioned above, the “peak mountain” which indicate the location
of the harbor and the “black dune” which served as a crucial mark for the anchorage,
were all depicted clearly, as shown in fig. 6:
17. The report written according to Salvador Diaz’s information was published and translated into
English, see: Spaniards in Taiwan: documents, 2 vols, ed. José Eugenio Mateo Borao; Pol Heyns, Carlos
Gómez, Anna Maria Zandueta Nisce (Taipei: SMC Publisher, 2002), vol. 1, pp. 62-69. Prof. Borao also
attributes the map Descripción del pverto de los olandeses en ysla hermosa to Pedro de Vera, who used
the information given by Salvador Diaz to draw the map.
300 Cheng Weichung
Fig. 6. A Spanish map that shows similar landmarks

Courtesy Museo Naval de Madrid (Colección Fernández Navarrete, Ms 27, f. 434, Descripción del pverto
de los olandeses en ysla hermosa [A description of the Dutch port on Hermosa island])
When we see this figure as a perspective drawing and take the peak mountain as the
vanishing point, we can conclude the draftsman’s position is similar to the viewpoint
we take for the Dutch chart, i.e. a position where the water is about 20 fathoms deep.
Reading the map in this way, the line linking the black dune and the Peak Mountain
is apparently from WNW to ESE. After this axis is fixed, we can understand why the
draftsman placed the Dutch factory on the north side of the sandbank rather than on
the southeast corner. It is because when you are sailing from the north to the south
along the “black sand dune”, at a certain position you will find the factory on the inner
side, while the “black sand dune” sits on the outer range of the sandbank. The content
of two maps is thus in agreement. These two maps are made for different purposes by
independent authors, yet they all emphasize the same landscape features. It proves
this identification of the landscape features is common sense, no matter who seeks his
way to the bay of Tayouan. These features were probably already known by Chinese
pilots associated with the Ming navy. In later days, although such coastal profiles were
no longer practical, they remained in some later charts, as in the “L’Ile de Formosa”
published by Pieter van der Aa in 1719 (fig. 7).
Fig. 7. Detail of The island Formosa with the coastal profile of the Peak Mountain
Pieter van der Aa (ed.), Voyages célèbres & remarquables, faits de Perse aux Indes orientales,
par le Sr Jean-Albert de Mandelslo, Leiden: Pieter van der Aa, 1719, pp. 528-529.
The coastal profiles were soon replaced by other, more prominent marks. In 1629
Governor Putmans built a redoubt named Zeeburg on the opposite side to the anchorage
outside the harbor. With its high standing pole and flag, it advantageously replaced the
“black sand dune” as a landmark. The Dutch Fort was renamed Zeelandia in 1634 and
expanded speedily. During the late 1630s it had already become the target most easily
found by sea, and became the piloting landmark, even continuing to exercise this function
into the middle of the 19th century. It is visible from eight or nine English miles away
from the deck of a vessel.18 However, the whole coast shape differed from what it had
been in the 17th century. When in 1855 the British navy surveyed the anchorage outside
the ruins of Fort Zeelandia, the latter stood about 1.5 km away from the seashore. They
had to sail into a channel through an entrance located southwest of the Fort and reach the
18. Charles J. Bullock, The China Sea directory, London: Hydrographic Office, Admiralty, 1874,
vol. 3, p. 238 (hereafter The China Sea directory).
302 Cheng Weichung
anchorage within the same channel.19 The coastal profiles assisted their navigation on
the northeast side when they were entering the channel, and on the northwest side when
locating the position of anchorage. This piloting pattern replaced the out-of-date 17th
century instructions.20
The sailing directions from the Pescadores to the Bay of Tayouan, as mentioned
before, were appended to Hans Putmans’ A description on the west coast of Taiwan, the
coast of China, and the Pescadores. Sailing directions from the Pescadores to the Bay of
Tayouan are different in the north and south monsoon seasons. Below are the directions
to sail in the north monsoon season:
“Sailing directions from the Pescadores to the Bay of Tayouan during the north
monsoon season: You can begin to sail at midnight or a little later, setting your course
to SEbyE and ESE when you are usually driven by the south current. One hour or two
before dawn, the forest of Soulang appears, which is a long forest with a low foreshore,
and meanwhile you see, on the NE or NNE side, two small hills which lie alongside
each other, which is called the Farmer’s Barn. The lighter color of water warns you well
that the shore of Taiwan is approaching and you can get grounded from then on. You
drop the sounding lead and sail to the direction S and SE, then turn along the shore,
with depths of 8, 9, and 10 fathoms. You will follow this course until you encounter the
northern reef. There is a small islet named the Whale’s Bone, which is located at a very
inner place aside the sandbank at the outermost fringe. You may get stranded easily here,
therefore you must drop the sounding lead first and should not sail near the reef with the
depths of 5 or 6 fathoms and even less than 7 fathoms. When you get depths of 10 or
12 fathoms, you will sail towards Fort Zeelandia, which lies on the SE side. From here,
with the above depths, you must sail to SE and gradually turn to the E in order to avoid
the small sand bank which has only 2 or 3 fathoms of water above it. When approaching
the reef, first go no closer than to the depths of 5 or 6 fathoms, and after passing it, go
no closer than to the depths of 4 or 5 fathoms. When you have the redoubt Zeeburg on
your ENE at a distance of one cartouw shot and get 4 to 5 fathoms of water, you can
drop anchor there in the north monsoon season.”21
19. John Richards, ”Harbours of Kok-si-kon and Taku-kon at the South-West End of Tai-wan or
Formosa”, The Nautical Magazine and Naval Chronicle, 1855, pp 372-374. For a general overview of
19th century hydrographic activities of British Royal navy around Taiwan, see: Douglas Fix, “Charting
Formosan Waters: British Surveys of Taiwan’s Ports and Seas, 1817-1867”, Hanxue Yanjiu [Chinese
Studies], 32(2), 2014, pp 7-48.
20. For a coastal profile made by the British Royal Navy around Fort Zeelandia, see: “Entrance for
Tai-wan-fu, views of the South West coast of Formosa”, in British Admiralty Map No. 1968: Formosa
Id. and Strait, London: Admiralty, 1867.
21. Table 3. On the Dutch term “cartouw” (kartouw), which means a heavy cannon shooting cannon-
balls weighing 48 Dutch pounds (about 24 kg), see: F.A. Hoefer, “De artillerie in de rekeningen der stad
Nij megen”, Gelre, 24, 1921, pp. 77-100 (p. 95). A 17th century author estimated the shooting range of
“whole culvering”, which is identical with “kartouw”, at 3703 paces. Because 1 pace was 5 feet in 17th
century England, the distance can be estimated as 5.5 km. See: Robert Norton, The Gunner: Shewing
The Whole Practise of Artillery, London: Humphrey Robinson, 1628, pp. 43, 47.
Fig. 8. Detail of Outline of the west side of Formosa island…

Courtesy Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Vienna (Van der
Hem 41:08, Pieter Janssen van Middelburg, Afbeeldinge van
de westzijde vant Eijlandt Formosa, streckende van ‘t Canael
Taiouan om de Noort, tot de Rivier Ponckan, met alle zijn
Riveren, Droochten en ondiepten [Outline of the west side of
the Formosa island, stretching from the channel Tayouan to
the north at the River of Bengang, with all rivers, shallows,
shoals], 1636).
The landscapes mentioned above are “Farmer’s barn”, “Forest of Soulang” and the
“Whale’s bone”. A clear drawing of the ‘Farmer’s barn’, shown below, has been preserved
in Dutch archives:
Fig. 9. The coastal profile of “Farmer’s barn”

Nationaal Archief, The Hague, VOC 4867, Coursen, droochten, baijen ende inhammen vande cust des Eijlants
Formosa, beginner vant Goudeleeuws Eijlandt tot Gierim benoorden Taijouan [Courses, reefs, bays and estuaries
of the coast of Formosa island that beginning from Xiaoliuqio to Erlin at the north of Tayouan], no author,
no location, not foliated.
304 Cheng Weichung
As mentioned earlier, the shore is located far from the hill zone, so these two hills are
apparently taller sand dunes. Recent geological surveys confirm that several waves of sand
dunes are to be found in the vicinity of what should be the ‘Farmer’s barn’. They form as the
SW and NE winds blow back and forth; however, human exploitation of the sand and fields
around the dunes has reduced this natural development after the 1980s. These specific sand
dunes may have still been visible in the early 18th century, a point which we will discuss later.
The journey from the Chinese coast to the Pescadores during the north monsoon season
did not need coastal profiles; instead, it used information about the sea bottom, currents
and tides in the Taiwan Strait, which had long been experienced by the Chinese mariners.
Below are the Dutch sailing directions for this journey:
“Sailing directions from the estuary of the Jiulong River to the Pescadores during
the north monsoon season: You have to pay close attention so as to use a current and be
carried by it; make good use of it. In the afternoon or before the evening, you sail with an
ebb tide, setting the course to SE with a breeze which you usually have here [Tayouan],
you sail no further counter clockwise on the compass than ESE in very peaceful weather.
You should pay attention to the strong current toward the N and use it to sail out to sea.
When the tide rises again and there is no wind to sail by the top-sails, it is better that you
wait until the flow returns again than to proceed. When you are under the SW shore of
Lieyu, you can find a good roadstead; the depths of water are from 22 to 35 fathoms with
black sand bottom. When Xiyu (西嶼) appears, it looks long and flat on the top and rough
on the surface. You will sail to its south, to the south hook. On the hook, you usually find
a terrifying turbulence of currents, as if reefs lay all over below, but they are nothing but
turbulence of currents. Near the hook you will have depths of 5 or 7 fathoms, and further
inside from 20 to 25 or 30 fathoms with a sometimes muddy and sometimes clear ground.
Once you enter, you can find a place at your will to drop anchor, either in the two bays
on the inner side of Xiyu which appears immediately, or in the bay of Penghu under the
temple, or the Bay of Shishan (蒔上) in order to get ready for sailing across to Tayouan.”
The above directions give extensive details on how to sail away from the Jiulong (九龍)
River mouth against the north monsoon. In this case, the current and tide are more crucial
than the direction of wind. The journey to sail from the Chinese shore to Tayouan dur-
ing the south monsoon season is less complex than the above journey during the north
monsoon season, as seen below:
“Sailing directions from the estuary of Jiulong River to Tayouan during the south
monsoon season: You will first sail 5 or 6 Dutch miles along the coast of China until
the Jinwei (井尾) Bay, so you will be able to sail southward of the Pescadores. To sail
there, it is best that you sail by the flow of tide at the depths of 9 or 10 fathoms until you
arrive in the above-mentioned bay, and await adequate weather and sail with the tide
again across the Strait. You will set your course to SE or SEbyS, sailing as high as pos-
sible in order to keep west of the Pescadores. The sea bottom between the coast of the
archipelagos is all rough sand at depths of 18, 19, 20 or 22 fathoms. If you are misled by
the current and Qimei (七美) island appears on the SE side at a distance of 5 to 6 Dutch
miles, you should have depths of 33 or 34 fathoms. Sail towards the above-mentioned
island by using the current flow to the northern side of Qimei island, which is low and
long. There are no other anchorages for the south wind at other southern islands. You
wait there for the ebb, and sail then again to the southward of all islands, and set your
course to SE or SEbyE. The landmark, which you usually notice first, looks a little like
an island. You sail right toward the abovementioned hook, until you see that a long, flat,
low mountain, which is called “Table Mountain” (Dagang 大崗 Mountain), of which
the north and south ends are sunk a little, appears on your east. You turn your course
to the east on the same mountain until you get the sea bottom. You will then see Fort
Zeelandia, which is very high and white on your ENE side. You get there depths of 9 or
10 fathoms and good sand sea bottom. You can leave all the time from this anchorage
in bad weather and be able to sail to the Pescadores.”22
After cross-checking with other sailing directions, we know the landmark here refers
to Shou (壽) Hill (Shoushan), at Gaoxiong today.23 It appears on the Dutch coastal profile
drawing below:
Fig. 10. The coastal profile of Shou Hill (Source: See fig. 9).
Fig. 11. Coastal profile of Shou Hill (Source: www.peakfinder.org).
In order to obtain the above simulated image, this author input the coordinates off shore
of Taiwan at the latitude of Dagang Mountain, and the author assumes this is where the
instructions tell the pilot he should keep Shou Hill in sight for a period of time before he
saw Dagang Mountain precisely on his east side. Some Dutch maps did draw the coastal
profile of Dagang Mountain as in fig.12:
22. See Table 3. In the original Dutch text it is usually stated: “sail to A and B direction”. I suppose this is
an imperative telling the pilot to steer in the direction between A and B, as the circumstances allowed. Such
sentences are all translated here as “sail to A or B”. The distance of a musket shot is about 120 fathoms or
about 200 m. See: Lowis de Gaya, A Treatise of the Arms and Engines, London: Robert Harfortd, 1978, p. 16.
23. Nationaal Archief, The Hague, VOC 4867, Coursen, droochten, baijen ende inhammen vande cust
des Eijlants Formosa, beginner vant Goudeleeuws Eijlandt tot Gierim benoorden Taijouan, not foliated.
306 Cheng Weichung
Fig. 12. Coastal profile of Map of the west coast of Formosa

Courtesy Nationaal Archief, Den Haag (4.VELH, inv. nr.112, Kaart van de westkust van Formosa, 1664;
Aanwinsten, inv.nr. 112 (1866 A, IV), Journaal gehouden door de opperstuurman Mchiel Gerritszoon Boos van de
schepen Maarseveen, Naarden, Vlaardingen, Nieuwenhoven, Durgerdam, Diemermeer en Nusenborch 1662-1669).
This fits the description in the sailing directions, which point out the “north and
south ends of it sink a little.” It also appears to fit the image provided by the Peakfinder
application (fig. 5):
Fig. 13. The simulated image of Dagang Mountain (Source: www.peakfinder.org)
As mentioned before, the VOC ships hardly took this route after the 1640s, so the
importance of the coastal profile of Dagang Mountain also decreased (this will be dis-
cussed later).
When reading this chart, we should bear in mind that it incorrectly placed the coastal
profile of “Damumu (Peak) Mountain” as aligned with the Bay of Tayouan, but it placed
“Dagang Mountain” and ”Shou Hill” in the correct position in regard to the sailing
directions from the Pescadores to Taiwan, aiming at Shou Hill. The “Peak Mountain”
and “Table Mountain” are however correctly aligned (although not accurately). The
interval between the latitudes of the Bay of Tayouan and Dagang Mountain is about 30
kilometers. This is because the draftsman of this chart did not know the true distance
between the Pescadores and Taiwan: the actual position of the Pescadores is far more
west than this chart shows. If the draftsman had been able to put the Pescadores in the
correct position, the right interval would have also been given between the latitudes
of the bay of Tayouan and Dagang Mountain. The draftsman also misunderstood the
sailing instructions. When the navigator turns to the east and approaches the waters
with a depth of 9-10 fathoms, he must have the castle in sight. From this point onward
the castle is a mark by which he can pilot his vessel to the southern anchorage to the
distance of 30 km north, and locate the southern anchorage. This final maneuver is
self-evident for the experienced pilots and not mentioned in the sailing instructions.
The draftsman apparently did not consult with anyone who had actually sailed on this
route. On the other hand, we should also bear in mind that there was still no technology
to measure the real distance between the Pescadores and Taiwan at the time, so that
such mistakes were rather common.
Fig. 14. Detail of The island Formosa with the coastal profile
of the Dagang Mountain (see fig. 7).
We now turn to the sailing directions guiding sailors from the Bay of Tayouan to the
estuary of the Jiulong River:
“Sailing directions from Tayouan to China or the estuary of the Jiulong River during
the south monsoon season: When you sail out from the roadstead, you set your course
as far counter-clockwise as possible on the point of the compass to the direction of
WbyS or WSW in order to sail around the Pescadores from the south. If you sailed to
the north side of them, you would not be able to sail from their south side. Arriving in
waters aside or near Qimei island, you will find a rough and shell-rich anchorage; you
should not be afraid to sail too close to this Qimei island until a distance of a musket
shot. The further you are apart from it to the north, the better for you to set sail for the
following journey. After you pass by it and set your course on NW, you are in waters
with good sea bottoms with a depth of 34, 33, 30, 28, 20 or 25 fathoms. By this course,
you usually will reach the waters south of the Jiulong River at a distance of 2 or 3, or
sometimes 6 Dutch miles. From there you will see the south corner of the river, where
you can see a high and massive mountain, and on the north side is Plinth (Taiwu 太武)
Mountain. You sail further along the shore until you encounter an island with a port.
You sail between it and the mainland, and you will gradually start to see an island with
a pagoda on it (Wuyu, 浯嶼). You sail into the river on the north side of it. Then you
308 Cheng Weichung
sail to the roadstead at your will, either at the inner side of the island with the pagoda
or further into the river as broadly explained in the texts above.”24
The above sailing directions emphasize two marks to facilitate navigation. The first is a
zone of clear sea bottom, and the second is the landmark near the estuary of the Jiulong River.
The sea bottom mentioned above should refer to a zone on the north ring of an underwater
region where the sea bottom is a little shallower than 20 m (13-16 fathoms) and named “Taiwan
Banks (Formosa Shoals)”. According to modern hydrographic surveys, there are more than
30 sub-aqueous sand dunes shallower than 15 m, and over 150 wave-like sand dunes, usually
extending for several kilometers (fig. 16).25 When a pilot became aware of the shallower depths,
although they were not so shallow as to strand ships in those times, he would know he had
drifted southward. The existence of Taiwan Banks is also recorded on later Dutch charts, as in
the chart published by Johannes van Keulen in the 1750s, entitled Pas-kaart van de Chineesche
Kust, langs de Provincien Quantung en Fokien, also ook het Eijland Formosa [Chart of the
Chinese coast along the Guangdong and Fujian province and also the Island Formosa].26
Fig. 15. Detail of Chart of the

Chinese coast along Guangdong and
Fujian provinces and also the Island
Formosa (Jan de Marre, Johannes
van Keulen, De Nieuwe Groote
LichtendeZee-Fakkel, ‘t Amsterdam:
Boek-en-Kaaartverkoperaan de
NieuweBrug in de KroondeLootsman,
1753, Vol. 6, p. 61). (Photo National
Museum of Taiwan History).
The second coast profile that would have received a pilot’s attention was “Plinth
Mountain”. It was marked on a chart published by Isaac Commelin in 1645 as the table
below shows at the letter “L”. His original legend contained a note: “Taiwu Mountain, a
very useful mark for the Jiulong River, where there stands a rectangular stone that seems
like a tower”.27 This landmark had long served Chinese mariners for the same purpose.
We will discuss this aspect in a later section.
24. See table 3. Here “the texts above” refers to the main text in Putmans’ Description.
25. Ming-da Chiou, Hwa Chien, Luca R. Centurioni, and Chia-Chuen Kao, “On the Simulation of
Shallow Water Tides in the Vicinity of the Taiwan Banks”, Terrestrial, Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences
21, 2010, pp. 45-69 (p. 46).
26. Claes Jansz Vooght, Gerard van Keulen, Jan de Marre, De nieuwegrootelichtende zee-fakkel, van de
geheelewereld … Amsterdam: Theatrum Orbis Terrarum; New York: Da Capo Press, 1969-1970, vol. 5, p.61.
27. See source of fig. 18.
Fig. 16. Bathymetric chart of the

Taiwan Strait (Source: Sen Jan, Joe
Wang, Ching-Sheng Chern, Shenn-
Yu Chao, “Seasonal variation of the
circulation in the Taiwan Strait”,
Journal of Marine Systems 35(3-4),
2002, pp. 249-68 [p. 250, fig. 1]).
Fig. 17. Mout van der Rivier

Chincheo in China [The
Estuary of Jiulong River in
China]” (Isaac Commelinus,
Begin ende voortgangh van
de Vereenighde Nederlantsche
Geoctroyeerde Oost-Indische
Compagnie: vervatende
de voornaemste reysen
by de inwoonderen derselver
provincien derwaerts
gedaen, Amsterdam: Joannes
Janssonius, 1645-46, Vol. 2,
pp. 44-45).
On a chart published by Pieter van der Aa in 1714, the coastal profile of “(South) Taiwu
Mountain” is also drawn (fig. 18). The coastal profile given by “Peakfinder” is consistent
with the Dutch instructions. It shows the mountain is indeed a cone with a flatter top.
There is no mention of directions to sail from Tayouan to China during the north
monsoon season in Governor Putmans’ Description. Therefore we have to refer to other
documents which did preserve such directions, such as Courses, reefs, bays and estuaries
310 Cheng Weichung
Fig. 18.The coastal profile of Islands around China Courtesy Bibliothèque nationale de France, département
Cartes et plans CPL GE DD-2987 (7213), Pieter van der Aa, Iles aux environs de la Chine où se tenoient autrefois
les fameux pirates Yquen et Koxinga, suivant les mémoires d’un fidèle voyageur [Islands around China which
were once occupied by the famous pirates, Yquen and Koxinga, according to the memoirs of a traveler], 1714).
Fig. 19. The coastal profile of North Taiwu Mountain, as shown above (Source: www.peakfinder.org).
of the coast of Formosa island.28 Comparison with other sailing directions recorded in
this document show only some trivial differences. It seems the two documents belong to
or at least preserved the texts created during a very short period of time. It was entitled
To sail from Xiyu across to the coast of China and to sail in the Jiulong River during
the north monsoon season (as we focus here on the journey across the Taiwan Strait, the
descriptions for sailing in the estuary of the Jiulong River are skipped):
“You will sail with a rising tide and set your course to NNW and NWbyN or as
close to north as you can sail. Once you begin to reach the coast of China, you will get
a wind blowing to the east. You will turn rapidly to the NNE; while you make this turn
you have depths of 36, 34, 30 or 25 fathoms with sandy and shell-rich sea bottom. In
clear weather you can see the coast when at a depth of 24 fathoms. You will maintain
this course to sail in the above mentioned river and see Jinmen [金門] Island lying on
28. The same source as fig. 9.

the north side of the estuary. To identify it, you should pay attention to a long and high
mountain; the rest of the land is mostly flat….”29
These sailing directions therefore rely only on the coastal profile of Jinmen mountain
to check positions. This mountain is North Taiwu Mountain.
This is a coastal profile that was made on the SE side of Jinmen Island at a distance
of about 4 to 5 Dutch miles (28 to 35 km).
Fig. 20. The coastal profile of North Taiwu Mountain (Source: see fig. 9).
The Resemblances of Sino-Dutch Sailing Patterns
The VOC authorities designed the new shipping routes to avoid sailing along the
China coast and the risky routes crossing the strait via the Pescadores. In the summer
of 1640, directions were given to all the VOC captains that included these new sailing
routes. When sailing from Batavia towards Taiwan, the pilot should sail along Hainan
(海南) island to the estuary of the Pearl River, and turn east when the Dangan (擔杆)
islands appear. They should thus head towards the southwest coast of Taiwan and aim at
either Xiao Liuquo Island or Shou Hill of Gaoxiong (which was named the hook of Takao
at the time). Once they found themselves in the seas near Taiwan, they could easily find
their way to the bay of Tayouan. Sailing in this way, the pilots could avoid the complex
currents around the Pescadores for safer sailing. Also, Dutch presence along the coast of
China would be minimized, as the nearest point they sailed to it would be located at the
outer ring of the estuary of the Pearl River, at a distance of more than 20 kilometers. The
whole Fujian coast would thus be avoided. The new directions also stipulated that when
the captain departed from Mejima Island (女島) outside the Nagasaki port, he should set
his course to Southwest until the Baiquan Islands was in sight (白犬, named ”Baboxin”
or “Crocodile” by the Dutch). He should then turn south, and go on sailing until the coast
of Taiwan was in sight. He should see a highland landscape at the coast of Erlin.30 From
this point he should proceed with caution along the coast of Taiwan and sail to the Bay of
Tayouan. Sailing in this way, the closest point the Dutch vessels would sail to the Chinese
coast would be off the Baiquan Islands, which is 23 kilometers from the shore. It also
stated that only in an emergency would the Dutch vessels be allowed to sail to the shore
near the estuary of the Jiulong River. Therefore the presence of the Dutch vessels along
29. Ibidem.
30. Nationaal Archief, The Hague, VOC 663, Resolutie van het Kasteel Batavia, Batavia, 5 June
1640, not foliated.
312 Cheng Weichung
the Chinese coast was also greatly reduced after these sailing directions were put into
practice. As mentioned before, the Dutch nautical investigations mostly accompanied other
military or commercial missions. Since these sailing routes actually avoided approaching
within sight of Chinese lookouts on shore, the nautical investigations into Chinese coastal
waters accordingly declined. These routes were taken also because they were considered
more secure than the shipping routes established during the 1630s. If the Dutch mariners
had become confident enough to set up the new shipping routes, it probably implies that
the early shipping directions were built up under strong Chinese influence.
The Chinese navigators rarely wrote down their sailing experiences; we thus have to
rely on a very few official documents and travel accounts written by non-professionals
rather than by mariners. As mentioned above, a Dutch vessel arriving in the Pescadores
from the China shore should wait until midnight to sail with the ebb toward the Taiwan
shore. As we know presently, full and new moon spring tides (the strongest ebbs each
month) in the Pescadores usually occur around midnight.31 It is self-evident that bigger
vessels and large fleets should seek the best chance of successfully crossing over during
the spring tides. The epic cross-over action of 12,000 Chinese troops aboard 200 junks
led by Chinese warlord Zheng Chenggong (鄭成功) commenced this voyage from the
Pescadores after midnight on the 30th of March of 1661 (lunar calendar). In this case, he
definitely utilized the spring tide.32 In 1683, when the Qing admiral Shi Lang (施琅) led
a fleet of 200 junks departing from the Pescadores to accept the official surrender of the
Zheng authorities in Taiwan with 10,000 soldiers, he undertook this journey on the 12th
of August (lunar calendar). This juncture is also near to the spring tide.33 The same sailing
pattern can be found in similar expeditions like that of Shi Shipiao (施世驃), who led 400
junks with about 10,000 soldiers to pacify a rebellion in Taiwan in 1721, undertaking the
cross-over on 15th June (lunar calendar).34
In the summer of 1708, another traveler, Wu Zhenchen (吳桭臣), made a record of
his voyage from Xiamen to the Bay of Tayouan. In his Minyou Ouji (閩遊偶記) [A brief
travelogue in Fujian], he mentioned his experience when carried across the sea from the
Pescadores to the port of Luermen (鹿耳門) (or “the Gate of Deer’s Ear”), which became a
major entrance to the Bay of Taiwan instead of the silted-up entrance used by 17th century
vessels. His steersman first attempted to sail to Luermen from the Pescadores despite the
tides on 23 July (lunar calendar), but was prevented by the currents from approaching the
southwest coast of Taiwan. When the junk turned back to the Pescadores, the strong current
again prevented her from sailing in the harbor there. She had to sail between Taiwan and the
Pescadores for about two days and to wait for a better situation in the Pescadores until the
middle of the night on 29 July, and eventually sailed into the port of Luermen at noon on
31. As can be verified in the Tide Tables 2015. Taipei: Central Weather Bureau, 2014, pp. 55-58),
which tallies with the Dutch sailing directions.
32. Yang Ying 楊英, Congzheng shilu [Veritable records of Coxinga] 從征實錄, Taiwan wenxian
congkan No. 32, Taipei: Taiwan yinghang jingji yanjiushi [The economic research department of the
Bank of Taiwan], 1958, p. 186. Hereafter the source series of ‘Taiwan wenxian congkan’ is written as
‘TW’, with the serial number.
33. Shi Lang 施琅, Jinghai jishi [A record on a naval expedition] 靖海記事, TW, No. 13, p. 51; Zhang
Xiurong 張秀蓉, Anthony Farrington, Huang Fusan 黃富三, Cao Yonghe 曹永和, Wu Micha 吳密
察, Zheng Xifu 鄭喜夫, Ang Kaim 翁佳音 (eds.), The English Factory in Taiwan: 1670-1685, Taipei:
National Taiwan University, 1995, p. 553.
34. Shi Shipiao 施世驃, Pingtai jilue[A brief account on pacification on Taiwan]平台記略, TW,
No.14, p. 11-13.
the 30th, taking advantage of the spring tide.35 His steersman’s attempt to use the neap tide
on the 23rd may not have been a reckless deed, but a test of his luck if the circumstances
allowed. Another record, eight years earlier, actually proved it was possible to cross over
by using the neap tide. According to the journal (Beihai Jiyou 稗海記遊) of Yu Yonghe
(郁永河), who visited Taiwan in 1697 on 23rd of February (lunar calendar), the steersman
set off from the Pescadores, but moored outside the bay the whole night without setting sail.
The next morning, the neap tide began to ebb, and the junk carried him toward the Taiwan
shore. After he woke up, the Pescadores soon disappeared from the horizon and the water
changed from green to black. Furthermore, when he noticed the color of sea water changed
from light blue to clear, the mountain range of Taiwan was in sight.36
In some very rare cases, the navigational skills of Chinese mariners were passed down
in written form and survived. They did point out that the ebb can be very helpful when
carrying out this crossing. A Chinese sailing directory, the Zhinan Zhengfa (指南正法)
[True art of pointing south] is known to have been made before 1711. In one of its rutters
(From Shili (蒔裡) Bay [The Pescadores] to the Bay of Tayouan), it gave detailed sailing
instructions related to sailing with the flood or ebb tide:
“Sail from Shili Bay to the Bay of Tayouan: If you depart during the full ebb [spring
tide], set your course to 135˚ (Xun 巽) and sail straight for the Bay of Tayouan. If you
depart during the half ebb [neap tide], set your course to 135˚ (Xun 巽) and prepare to
adjust your course again near Dongji (東吉) islet. When the water begins to flood, you
set your course to 135˚- 165˚ (Xun, Si, Bing 巽，巳，丙) from there and sail toward
the Bay of Tayouan. If Fort Zeelandia appears to your 60˚ (Yin 寅), you can furl your
sail and moor [waiting for the sea breeze to bring you to the harbor]. If Fort Zeelandia
appears to your 75˚ (Jia 甲), you can sail directly toward it and enter the harbor. If Fort
Zeelandia appears to your 90˚ (Mao 卯), do not furl your sail, for you will strand.”37
In the above rutter, even when the tide floods, there is still a way to sail to the bay of
Tayouan by turning the bow more toward due south. This might be applicable to a small,
simple and strong vessel under a strong north wind, but with a limited chance of success.
This Chinese sailing rutter seems applicable to both north and south monsoon seasons
as well. The Chinese pilots, whoever they were, did not worry about missing the bay of
Tayouan because the Dutch Fort Zeelandia had become a very good landmark during this
35. Editorial commitee of The Economic Research Department of the Bank of Taiwan (comp.), Taiwan
Yudi Huichao [Compilation of the geographical descriptions on Taiwan] 臺灣輿地彙鈔, TW, No. 216,
pp. 11-27 (at p. 15). It is the night of the 29th on the lunar calendar. On this day the new moon spring
tide ebbs starting about midnight. The author will explain the importance of this timing below.
36. Yu Yonghe, Baihai Jiyou, TW, No. 44, pp. 7-8.
37. Xiangda 向達, Liangzhong Haidao Zhenjing [Two Chinese manuscript rutters] 兩種海道針
經, Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1982, pp. 133-134. The Zhinan Zhengfa and the Shunfeng Xiangsong
manuscripts are kept in the Bodleian Library in Oxford. A full facsimile of the two texts was recently
published in Mapping Ming China’s Maritime World. Hong Kong: Hong Kong Maritime Museum, 2015,
vol. II. Vol. I of this recent publication includes a facsimile and a number of studies on the Selden Map,
also kept at the Bodleian and studies on the above-mentioned Chinese texts. On the Selden map which
does not deal with the West coast of Taiwan and other such matters, see also: Stephen Davies, «The
Construction of the Selden Map: Some Conjectures», Imago Mundi, 65(1), 2013, pp. 97–105 ; Robert
Batchelor, «The Selden Map Rediscovered: A Chinese Map of East Asian Shipping Routes, c.1619»,
Imago Mundi, 65(1), 2013, pp. 37–63 ; Timothy Brook, Mr Selden’s Map of China. The Spice trade, a
Lost Chart & the South China Sea. London : Profile, 2013.
314 Cheng Weichung
time. According to British surveyors’ testimony in the 19th century, the Dutch Fort could be
seen at a distance of eight to nine English miles (12.8-14.4 km).38 Without this prominent
landscape (when construction on the fort was in its initial stage at the time) the Dutch pilots
who used the above-mentioned sailing directions still needed to worry about missing the Bay
of Tayouan, and took a different way to approach it from somewhat farther places. Therefore
we can see that these Chinese directions apparently aimed at the southern anchorage outside
the harbor, because they pointed out clearly that if the pilot found his junk situated too far
north of the southern anchorage, resulting in seeing the Fort on his due east, his junk might
not be far from the Southern Shoal as marked on the Dutch chart above.
Another official gazette of the Pescadores, Penghu Jilue (澎湖紀略) [A brief description
of the Pescadores]” written in 1769, although not pointing out this manner of sailing, implied
that a journey from the Pescadores to Taiwan was usually done during the night. It stated:
“All the junks which sail from Xiamen to Taiwan must stop at the Pescadores. They
should arrive at Xiyu (西嶼) and moor for a while…then depart again to Taiwan. Pilots
make use of the Pole Star or of a compass when no stars can be seen during the night to
set the axis of North-South. Accordingly, they sail SE [to Taiwan].”39
Geographical features instructed the sailing vessels which intended to sail SE to stay
in the Pescadores and wait for the ebb tide. In the 19th century, several English vessels
noticed that the tide movement in the Taiwan Strait can temporarily “slacken” the con-
stant northward oceanic Kuroshio Current. This was recorded and published in the The
China Sea directory:
“[...] the current will slacken a little at particular times of the tide, but during the
survey of this coast in 1843 it was seldom found to run to the southward in the southerly
monsoon or to the northward in the NE monsoon. At, and eastward of, the Pescadores
islands, in the month of August, a current was sometimes experienced of 4 knots per
hour, running to the north, whilst with the ebb it slackened for two or three hours, but
seldom ceased entirely. The same has been observed in May.”40
The reason why all sailing vessels should stay in the Pescadores before sailing towards
the Bay of Tayouan is because they would have to sail against the northerly Kuroshio and
may not be able to reach the harbor easily. The only natural force to ease this current is
the strong tides within the Taiwan Strait. The Kuroshio is weaker during the winter but
very strong during the summer. Even in the 19th century, British sailors had to use this
skill in the summer:
“[...] after passing which [the Pescadores] it has taken from 10 to 14 days to beat
down to Takau [Gaoxiong] against the strong current which sweeps up the Formosa
coast, at a short distance from the shore. Under such circumstances it will be better to
keep as close in as possible, so as to take advantage of the tides.”41
38. The China Sea directory, p. 238.

39. Hu Jianwei 胡建偉, Penghu Jilue [A brief account of Pescadores] 澎湖紀略, TW, No. 109, p. 15.
40. The China Sea directory, p. 19.
41. The China Sea directory. p. 43.
A similar case can be found on another famous earlier Chinese map of Taiwan, the
Kangxi Taiwan Yutu (康熙臺灣輿圖) [Map of Taiwan under the Emperor Kangxi]. This
map was drawn in about 1704. A landmark labeled as “Niutoushan [Bullhead Mountain]”
was placed at the shore of Wangang and tallies with the position of “Farmer’s barn” on
earlier Dutch charts as mentioned above.
Although it was denoted as a “mountain”, it probably referred to a larger coastal sand
dune, as no mountain lies at the southwest coast of Taiwan. However, usually at the south
side of an estuary, a sand dune can develop when the sand washed down by the rivers has
piled up along the coast under the back and forth interaction between monsoons and land
and sea breezes. Although these dunes usually develop close to the river estuary along the
coast, the shapes and numbers change over time. This may explain why there was hardly
any trace of the sand dunes referred to by mariners in the rich Chinese pictorial sources.
In 1993, at the coastal area of Santiaolun (三條崙) at the south of the estuary of the old
Huwei (虎尾) River, lay two to three sand dunes that extended 4 km on both south and
north sides and at a height of 6-7 m to 12 m.42 These testimonies recorded in early 18th
century Chinese sources prove that sailing routines similar to those of the Dutch in the
1630s were still being practiced by Chinese sailors to sail from the Pescadores to the Bay
of Tayouan during the north monsoon season. The local context of oceanology and topog-
raphy must have imposed similar constraints on both Dutch and Chinese sailors. Bearing
this in mind, we can utilize these sailing patterns to understand those early Chinese sailing
directions leading the routes around Taiwan. For example, another landmark, Shoushan,
or the “Hook of Takao” in 17th century Dutch records, had also appeared in another
Chinese sailing directory, the Shunfeng Xiangsong (順風相送) [Fair winds for escort].
However, it was to be used not as a landmark to guide sailing to the Bay of Tayouan, but
as a signal telling the steersman to be aware of the approaching Taiwan shore, and to turn
their bow to the southeast cape of Taiwan. Following this guide, the steersman would
reach Luzon Island and eventually arrive at the harbor of Manila.43 In this text, which must
have been in use the first decades of the 17th century, Shou Hill was named Huzhishan
(虎仔山) or the Tiger Hill. In the Zhinan Zhengfa (指南正法) of 1711, it served the same
function as a landmark on the way from Xiamen or Jinmen to Luzon Island.44 The same
directions could also be found in a Chinese geographical guidance book on Southeast
Asia, Dongxi Yangkao 東西洋考 [True knowledge of the Eastern and Western Oceans],
which was published in 1617.45 This sufficiently proves that Chinese had used Shoushan
as a navigational landmark long before the Dutch arrival, because Shoushan may have
been the most prominent landmark that indicated the position of the southwestern coast
of Taiwan. The British naval surveyors reported that it could be spotted from a distance
of 30 English miles (48.3 km) in good weather.46 The spreading landscape of the south-
west flatland made it difficult to distinguish the shore and the sea, so this landmark was
a heaven-sent object to prevent vessels from going aground when passing by.
42. Tsaitien Shih 石再添, Juichin Chang 張瑞津, Chengliang Chang 張政亮, Hsuehmei Lin 林雪美
and Cheinchin Lien 連偵欽, “Taiwan xibu haian shaqiu zhi dixingxue yanjiu 臺灣西部海岸沙丘之
地形學研究 [A Geomorphological Study of Sand Dunes in Western Coast of Taiwan]”, Geographical
Research 19, 1993, pp. 121-122.
43. Xiang Da, ibid., p. 88.
44. Xiang Da, ibid., pp. 140, 165.
45. Zhang Xie 張燮, Dongxi Yangkao 東西洋考, Beijing: Zhonghua bookstore, [1617] 2000, p. 182.
46. The China Sea Directory, p. 42. The author assumes it could be spotted by the naked eye.
316 Cheng Weichung
Fig. 21. Sand dunes on the Map of Taiwan under the Emperor Kangxi Courtesy National Taiwan Museum
(AH001624, anonymous, Kangxi Taiwan Yutu [Map of Taiwan under the Emperor Kangxi], 1699-1704)
Fig. 22. Sand dunes in Outline of the west side of Formosa island… (Source: see fig. 8).
Such environmental constraints, as revealed by Dutch texts, would of course also

affect Chinese navigators. Their nautical texts are not as explicit, however, regarding
such difficulties, and it is by revealing such commonalities in sailing patterns that the
latter can be explained. A Chinese travelogue written by Chen Di 陳第 in 1603 provides
us with a first indication. Chen Di took part in a cross-strait policing action of the Ming
coast-guards against Japanese pirates in Taiwan in January 1603.47 As one of the witnesses
to this expedition, he faithfully recorded his adventurous experience on this voyage. The
commander of this mission, Shen Yourong 沈有容, was a resolute and deliberate person.
He dispatched fishermen to detect the pirates and gather geographical information about
the coast of Taiwan.48 Chendi’s record must have been based on information offered by
these anonymous fishermen. He described the west coast of Taiwan in this way:
“The inhabitants of Dongfan (東番) (Taiwan) have dwelled on an island offshore of

the Pescadores since uncountable years. The first places are Wangang (魍港), Jialaowan
(加老灣). Thereafter Dayuan (大員), Yaogang (堯港), Dagouyu (打狗嶼) , Xiao Danshui
(小淡水), Shuangqikou (雙溪口), Jialilin (加哩林), Shabali (沙八里), and Dabangkeng
(大幫坑). They all lived above places located along the coast for about a thousand li
respectively, with different cultures.”49
If we pronounce the above-mentioned places names in the southern Fujian dialect, most
of them tally with the results of Dutch nautical investigations along the coast of Taiwan.
Chinese Mandarin Southern Fujian dialecta Dutch recordsb

1 Wangang Bóngkáng Wancan
2 Jialaowan Kaláuoan Kalowanc
3 Dayuan Tāioan Taijouan
4 Yaogang Giâukáng Jokan
5 Dagou Táⁿkáu Tancoija
6 Xiao danshui Sió Tāmtsúi Tampsuij
7 Shuangqi kou Siangkhe kháu
8 Jialilin Kalilîm Girim
9 Shabali Sapatli Taparrid
10 Dabangkeng Tāipngkheng
Table 4: The place (harbor) names in Taiwan recorded by Chendi in 1603
a. W. Campbell, A Dictionary of the Amoy Vernacular, Yokohama: Fukuin Printing Co., 1913.
b. Hans Putmans, Description.
c. Nationaal Archief, Den Haag, VEL306, Jacob Noordeloos, “Affteyckeninghe van de Baye van Tayuwan enz.
[Chart of the Bay of Tayouan]”, 1624-25.
d. José Eugenio Borao Mateo, The Spanish Experience in Taiwan 1626-1642: The Baroque Ending of a Renais-
sance Endeavour, Hongkong: Hongkong University Press, 2009, pp. 217, 219.
47. For a very detailed study about Chendi and this expedition, see: Chou Wanyao周婉窈, “Chen Di:
‘dong fanji’-Shiqi shijichu taiwan xinan pingyuan de shidi diaocha baogao [Chen Di’s story of Dongfan:
a fieldwork report about Taiwan’s southwest plain in the first decade of the seventeenth century]陳第
〈東番記〉十七世紀初臺灣西南平原的實地調查報告”, in id., Haiyang yu zhimindi taiwan lunji
[essays on maritime and colonial Taiwan]海洋與殖民地臺灣論集, Taipei: Linking, 2012, pp. 107-150.
48. Chen Di, Minhai zengyan [Greetings from Fujian’s waters] 閩海贈言, TW, No. 56, p. 29.
49. Chen Di, ibid., p. 24. The li, a Chinese unit for measuring distances, is usually equivalent to 0.5 km.
The length of Taiwan from north to south is 395 km. “Dagou” here refers to a “yu”, which is not an
“island” away from the shore, but a “hill” sheltering a bay encircled by a peninsula. This was pointed
out in the late 17th century by imperial commissioner Du Zhen, see: Du Zhen 杜臻, Penghu Taiwan
jilue [A brief account of Pescadores and Taiwan] 澎湖臺灣記略, TW, No. 104, p. 13.
318 Cheng Weichung
In the ten place names, six tally with Putmans’ A description of the southwest coast
of Taiwan. One agrees with a single early Dutch chart of the same area (Kalowan), and
another matches the Spanish records which were made during 1626-1642, when they
occupied the northern part of Taiwan (Taparri). Only two place names lack corresponding
Dutch versions. The corresponding place names for no. 1 to no. 6, as shown on the Dutch
charts, follow a north to south sequence. On the other hand, the place names for no. 7 to
no. 10 cannot be located further south than the location of no. 6 (Tampsuij). Although
there was no corresponding place for no. 6, the place no. 8 (Girim) was clearly located
to the north of Wangang. The following place name, no. 9 (Taparri), is also confirmed
by scholars to have been located at the far north of Taiwan, probably at the estuary of
the Danshui River.50 In other words, the sequence of place names from no. 1 to no. 6 is
arranged from the north to the south, while the following place names from no. 7 to no.
10 are arranged from the south to the north. It seems odd that Chen Di did not follow the
usual north to south sequence consistently, and also skipped a very long section of coast
between “Girim” and “Taparri”, as if no inhabitants or villages were located within the
interval. However, once we examine this sequence from the angle of nautical knowledge,
this pattern makes sense.
In his Description, Putmans mentioned that “Girim “(Erlin in Mandarin Chinese)
indicated a length of shore along which the Dutch yacht was able to safely sail to the
northernmost point. Further north than that, the coast became too shallow, with underwater
sand banks extending to the sea for several miles:
“On the north of the abovementioned River [of Wankang], a reef stretches out to the
NW for 2 Dutch miles on the seaward, and after ebb it emerges to the sea level. You can
sail around the reef at a depth of 5 fathoms, but do not sail nearer in shallower water.
There is a low and submerged land, therefore very little information or drawing can
be done by observation. It stretches with many small reefs that stick out to the seaward
with many small underwater banks. Therefore if you sail to that strip of shore on the
north of Wangang, do not sail too close in the water shallower than 15 or 16 fathoms.
You should continuously drop lead to sound the depths.
From the reef at the north, you set course to NbyE and NNE for 7 1/2 Dutch miles.
This is a low and submerged land, for which very little information and few drawings are
available. Many small reefs stick out to the seaward along this, and many small under-
water banks. Therefore if you sail along this length of shore on the north of Wangang,
you should not sail too close in the water shallower than 15 or 16 fathoms. You should
continuously drop lead to sound the depths.
You will encounter seven bold sand dunes after sailing for 3 Dutch miles in the
direction of NE and NEbyE. They are called Erlin, and lie at 23˚ 58’ N. We have little
knowledge of the shore between Wangang and Erlin. At the north of the sand dunes, a
reef in the shape of a half-moon extends from north to south. You must not sail near it
in waters shallower than 5 fathoms.
50. José Borao, op. cit., pp. 109-110.

When you intend to sail from these sand dunes to the islet Wuqiu 烏坵 near the
coast of China, across a distance of about 18 Dutch miles, you should set your course
to the NW. All the way the sea bottom is mostly hard, at depths of 5, 10, 20, 25, 30 or
36 fathoms.”51
Therefore, the coast north of Wangang usually had a skirt of banks and reefs extend-
ing from the shore to the sea for two Dutch miles (15 km), so it was hard to approach in
deep draft vessels. Erlin was marked not because it was a harbor that could be used, but
because it was a landmark that told the steersman that the turning point to set their course
to China was near. It seems the Dutch sailors rarely proceeded further north along the coast
of Taiwan. On 5 July 1629, Governor Hans Putmans gave an order to the yachts Diemen,
Slooten and Domburch and to the junk Goede Fortuijn, and asked them to cruise between
Fuzhou and Jilong, as well as to proceed with nautical investigations.52 During their journey,
they approached Jilong, which is at the north tip of Taiwan, not by sailing along the coast
of Taiwan, but by traveling first along the coast of China, then turning east at Pingtan (平
潭) on the Fujian coast.53 They must have avoided the above coast of Taiwan on purpose.
According to a 19th century hydrographical survey by British sailors, the coast of Taiwan
between Wangang and Danshui mostly featured several miles of sand banks or reefs, both
submerged and emerging at sea level depending on the tides, which were very treacherous
to sailing vessels with deep draft.54 A vessel that intended to sail to Danshui and Jilong at
the north end of Taiwan thus needed to first set course to the coast of China, and then turn
to the north of Taiwan at the proper place. Chen Di’s information source must have fol-
lowed the same sailing pattern, which is why the place names in his narrative had to follow
a sequence that was divided by Erlin (which is noted as “Jialilin” in his text). This also
explains why the next place name after Erlin was Shabali, which is located at the north end
of Taiwan. This is because all the vessels had to sail from Erlin to the shore of China, and
then proceed with the next leg of the journey across the strait again to the north of Taiwan.
Contemporary studies in oceanography also confirm the unique features of the Taiwan
Strait that helped the wind-driven vessels to sail across the Taiwan Strait from the waters off
Erlin. As discussed above, the Kuroshio branch current flowed from the south to the north
between the Pescadores and the west coast of Taiwan, significantly preventing vessels from
sailing steadily towards the south, and the best way to counterbalance this oceanic current
was to await the ebb, which flowed south. The Kuroshio branch current flowed strongly
toward the north, easing at about 24˚ N, which happened to be where the sand dunes of
Erlin lay. The reason was that when the Kuroshio was weak during the winter and spring,
the blocking effect of the bottom configurations became effective. The average depth of the
Taiwan Strait is 60 m. At the southwest of the strait, there was a shallow bottom, Taiwan
51. Description, folios 270-271.

52. De VOC en Formosa, p. 91; Antonio van Diemen, Een Indisch verslag uit 1631 van de hand van
Antonio van Diemen, W. P. Coolhaas (comp.), Utrecht: Kemink en Zoon N.V. (Bijdragen en Mededelin-
gen van het Historisch Genootschap, vol. 65), 1947, p. 38; Nationaal Archief, The Hague, VOC 1098,
Originele missive van gouverneur Hans Putmans naer Amsterdam aen de Kamer Amsterdam, Tayouan,
15 Sept. 1629, fol. 34r.
53. Nationaal Archief, The Hague, VOC 1101, Journael ofte dachrgister van het gepasserde op het
jacht Dombucht in het onderdeken van Spaensche fort Quelang gelegen opt noort eijnde van het Eijlandt
Formosa als het cruijssen daar omtrent, mitsgaders het aensoucke vande cust van China om de noort,
uijt Taijouan geseijlt den 19 Julij anno 1629, 19 July 1629-5 Oct 1629, fols. 376r-382r.
54. The China Sea Directory, pp. 244-246.
320 Cheng Weichung
Fig. 23. Detail of The Coast of China

from Nan’ao island to the Bay of
Meizhou (Source: the same as fig. 1).
Banks, with depths from 20 to 40 m. The Kuroshio branch current was first blocked by these
banks and was guided to the Penghu Channel, which has depths from 70 to 80 m. However,
at the north terminal point of the Penghu Channel, an underwater ridge rose and blocked
the current again. This underwater ridge is called “Zhangyun Rise”.
In summer time, the southwest monsoon and the strong Kuroshio current worked
together. Thus, although blocked by the Zhangyun Rise, the current did not change its
direction but was lifted up and became a stronger and faster current over the ridge along
the coast of Taiwan. However, during the winter and spring, the Kuroshio branch current
was weak and the northeast monsoon also moved against its direction. The Kuroshio
branch current was therefore guided by the Zhangyun Rise and turned most of its flow
to the west.55
55. Sen Jan, Joe Wang, Ching-Sheng Chern, Shenn-Yu Chao, “Seasonal variation of the circulation
in the Taiwan Strait”, Journal of Marine Systems, 35(3–4), 2002, pp. 249-68.
Fig. 24. Maps showing the currents in the Taiwan Strait (source: as in fig. 16, p. 265 fig.14).
The above figures (a) and (b) show clearly how during the winter and spring the
strong Kuroshio branch current was blocked at the sea near Erlin and how it turned west.
The current’s turn to the westward could even bring vessels to the coast of China. Figure
(b) shows exactly when in the spring the China coast current became weaker, and the
Kuroshio branch current could bring vessels first towards the shore of China, then push
them towards the northern end of Taiwan. In this way, a vessel could use the NE monsoon
as side wind to sail across Taiwan Strait easily (starboard tack). The rest of the journey
required the pilot to sail his junk beating the NE wind towards the north along the Chinese
coast until reaching a certain point that allowed it to sail across the strait, using the NE
monsoon as a side wind again (port tack). When it sailed to the north end of Taiwan, the
Kuroshio was astern.56 In March 1625, a Dutch pilot, Jacob Noordeloos, actually sailed
56. The author is not able to figure out how exactly the Chinese pilots needed to sail on each leg of this
route. However Prof. Steven Davies in the Hongkong Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences thinks
322 Cheng Weichung
from the Bay of Tayouan on a Chinese junk with Chinese crew to investigate the bay of
Jilong. They presumably also followed a similar sailing pattern.57 In summer, the south-
west monsoon and the Kuroshio are always favorable, so the pilot needed only focus on
avoiding the west coast of Taiwan.
It appears that, in 1603, the Chinese mariners were aware of this unique hydrographical
feature, which facilitated a secure sailing from Erlin to Danshui. The same narrative pat-
tern can be found in another Chinese record predating Dutch arrival, the Dongxi Yangkao.
In this book, the sea routes to approach several harbors in Taiwan were described in this
manner:
“Dongfan [Taiwan]: [...] Should you depart from the Pescadores, you reach Wangang
after one day and night. Should you depart from the Pescadores, you reach Gaoxiong after
one day and night; you set your course to 127 1/2˚(Chen-xun 辰巽) and sail for a distance
of 15 geng 更 while taking Erlin [as a mark], then you reach Jilong and Danshui.”58
As mentioned above, the Dongxi Yangkao was published in 1617, and was considered
a reliable account by scholars past and present. The sailing route from the Pescadores to
Jilong and Danshui seems at first sight contrary to common sense, because there is no
way to meet Jilong and Danshui on the SE of the Pescadores. If the earlier Chinese sailing
pattern tallies with Dutch sailing directions, then this contradiction can be solved. When
you departed from the Pescadores toward the SE you would probably meet Wangang on
the Taiwan coast. From Wangang you would change direction toward north and take the
seven sand dunes named Erlin as a mark to change your direction again. The journey
to Jilong and Danshui thus started when you saw Erlin and turned your bow toward the
Chinese coast in order to gain a more favorable position to sail back to the north tip of
Taiwan. The Dongxi Yangkao thus faithfully reflected the early Chinese assessments on
navigation along certain parts of the Taiwan coast, with the constraints brought about by
its specific maritime environment.
Conclusion
The Bay of Tayouan developed into a well-recognized harbor only after the Dutch East
India Company used it as a gateway to link to the trans-Asian trading routes and further
to its European motherland. Before this watershed development, it cannot be expected
that Chinese junk traders would take Taiwan seriously in their written sailing guidance
books (given that the fishermen were mostly illiterate and reluctant to be detached
from their tradition of orality). The surviving Dutch archives, on the other hand, were
in general limited in content, as they mostly comprised administrative and commercial
this route is achievable according to his own knowledge of Chinese junk sailing skills. He pointed out,
that Chinese junks sailing on this route must have used certain ways of tacking in order to sail further
north with the help of tides along the Chinese coast. The author appreciates his sharing of a great deal
of his professional opinions in his correspondence during July and August of 2015.
57. Cheng Shaogang, De VOC en Formosa 1624-1662: een vergeten geschiedenis, Ph.D. dissertation,
Leiden University, 1995, Vol. II, p. 21.
58. Zhang Xie, Dongxi Yangkao, p.185. Geng is a rough measure on the distance of a voyage. Ten geng
is the distance reached by a junk sailing before the wind for one day and night. Ibid., p. 170.
correspondence. They rarely touched upon down-to-earth technical problems. However,

records of the unique coastal, hydrographical and bathymetrical features which form the
basic environment for wind-driven vessels sailing across the Taiwan Strait do disclose
numerous commonalities between the sailing patterns of Chinese and Dutch mariners.
In examining the Chinese and Dutch sailing instructions, we cannot help but reflect
on how much wider the knowledge gap would be if graphical documents had not been
recorded and preserved to visually help us restore the context of those sailing instructions.
Only through cross-checking the charts and their corresponding sailing instructions can
we understand their meaning in a comprehensive way. Had the corresponding Dutch
Chart of the Chinese coast beginning from the island Nanao to the Bay of Meizhou not
explained that “Erlin [Girilim]” was taken as a landmark, which no Chinese sources ever
mentioned, the author may never have found out that it was actually the key that pointed
out a sailing pattern. And if the Dutch chart had not clearly marked the southern shoal due
west of Fort Zeelandia, the author may never have figured out why the Chinese sailing
directions warned about the risk of stranding when the fort showed up to the sailors’ due
east. Numerous similar cases would have been found if this study had expanded to other
areas around the China Seas.
Finally, the information given by 19th century nautical investigations and by current
oceanography needs to be taken into account, in this and in further similar studies. The
physical features of currents, tides, monsoons and sea breezes must have remained largely
constant during the period under consideration, even though some variations may have
taken place over time. This knowledge becomes most useful when we try to understand
the behavior of the mariners sailing in the 17th century. From this perspective, an inter-
disciplinary angle must be taken, and an open-minded synthesis will improve further
studies on the history of indigenous nautical practices.
The historical sailing patterns reconstructed here are still far from comprehensive. This
article only offers a broad review on the commonalities of the historical sailing patterns
of the Dutch and the Chinese in the Taiwan Strait. Only by reenacting such navigations
during scientifically controlled, experimental voyages will one be able to fill in the miss-
ing details. The author hopes that, in the future, experience gained by sailors and scholars
when sailing a replica junk could accurately reveal all aspects of these sailing patterns.

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Bulletin de l'Ecole française

Sailing from the China Coast to the Pescadores and Taiwan: A

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Fichier pdf généré le 08/11/2019

VOC nautical investigations and Chinese mariners

Bulletin de l’École française d’Extrême-Orient, 101 (2015), p. 289-323

Folio no. Subtitle Coverage Appendix

Folio no. Title

Fig. 2. Routes followed during VOC mariners’ nautical investigations in 1622-1636

Sailing between the two shores of the Taiwan Strait

Fig. 3. Detail of Chart (Paskaart), which shows the situation of Tayouan

Fig. 4. Coastal profile of “Chart, which shows the situation of Tayouan.”

Fig. 5. Coastal profiles corresponding to Map 4 (Source: www.peakfinder.org).

Fig. 6. A Spanish map that shows similar landmarks

Fig. 8. Detail of Outline of the west side of Formosa island…

Fig. 9. The coastal profile of “Farmer’s barn”

Fig. 11. Coastal profile of Shou Hill (Source: www.peakfinder.org).

Fig. 12. Coastal profile of Map of the west coast of Formosa

Fig. 13. The simulated image of Dagang Mountain (Source: www.peakfinder.org)

Fig. 15. Detail of Chart of the

Fig. 16. Bathymetric chart of the

Fig. 17. Mout van der Rivier

28. The same source as fig. 9.

The Resemblances of Sino-Dutch Sailing Patterns

38. The China Sea directory, p. 238.

Such environmental constraints, as revealed by Dutch texts, would of course also

“The inhabitants of Dongfan (東番) (Taiwan) have dwelled on an island offshore of

Chinese Mandarin Southern Fujian dialecta Dutch recordsb

Table 4: The place (harbor) names in Taiwan recorded by Chendi in 1603

50. José Borao, op. cit., pp. 109-110.

51. Description, folios 270-271.

Fig. 23. Detail of The Coast of China

correspondence. They rarely touched upon down-to-earth technical problems. However,

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