Page 75 - An Overview of Penghu

It seems that the Dutch still could not forget about Penghu, as a Dutch admiral named Kaisuerthun
made another attempt in 1623, leading 17 warships to invade Penghu from Magong Port (known as
Magong now). The Dutch recruited 600 fishing boats and Han people for the construction of a fortress
and artillery batteries along the coastline more than 1,091 m from Northeast Magong (where
Hongmucheng is now), as they planned to control the Island permanently. The fortress was guarded by
forts in the following locations: the Shetou Fort in Fengguiwei, the Jinguitou Fort in the Magong
Peninsula, a fort on Shili Hill of Shiliao, and another one in Sijiao Isle near the center of the Magong
Port. In addition to those, a fort was set up on Watonggang Hill on the old fortress built in the early Ming
dynasty to guard over the waterway between Penghu and Baisha Island. More forts were set up later in
Liaowangshan on the northwest side of Baisha Island and Wangan on Bazhao Island to defend the
waterway between Baisha Island and Fisherman Island.

With their fortress completed, the Dutch treated Penghu as a base for trade with China and
threatened the Portuguese's business in the East by that time. They even joined forces with Li Dan, a
Chinese pirate, and sent eight ships to attack Xiamen. Governor Nan Ju-yi of Fujian ordered Yu Zi-gao to
lead several naval brigades to attack the Dutch. In the meantime, the Ming army had also invaded Penghu
from Chenhai Bay behind the Watonggang Fort, and captured the Dutch naval general, Christian Francs,
and 12 other sailors. The combat continued for another eight months, showing no sign of an end. Finally,
the Ming government conceded and negotiated with the Dutch, offering to keep its eyes closed if the
Dutch took over Taiwan and allowing them to conduct trade with China, so long as they retreated from
Penghu. Hence, the Dutch left Penghu for good in August of the same year, in favor of developing
business in Taiwan.

Penghu under the rule of the Zheng Family

The Fujian Archive and the Taiwan Prefecture Archive have both recorded that Emperor Wen of the
Sui dynasty sent General Cheng Leng to conquer Penghu 1,300 years ago. However, under Item Daye
Year Seven of the Book of Sui (the official history of the dynasty), there was a record indicating that
Chen attacked Ryukyu Island and reached Gaohua Isle and Qubi Isle. Therefore, we can assume that
whoever left the records in the Fujian Archive and the Taiwan Prefecture Archive had mistaken Ryukyu
for Taiwan, and Gaohua and Qubi Isles for Penghu.

Another record in the same book under Item Daye Year Three described Emperor Yang of Sui
ordering General Zhu Kuan to explore the sea for valuables. Zhu went to Ryukyu with He Man. It will
also be wrong to assume the Ryukyu here is Taiwan. If we refer to the description of Zhu Kuan in the
Ryukyu Archive, we can see that the Ryukyu in the book does refer to the Ryukyu we know now. Some
people also alleged that a place referred to as Pishena (Pisheye) in the Tang and Song dynasties was
Taiwan, but these were false claims as well. A paragraph in Wenxian Tongkao, written by Ma Duan-lin in
the Song dynasty, described the following: Ryukyu is located on the east side of Quanzhou. It has an
island called Penghu, which is five days by boat from Quanzhou. Beside the Island is Pishena. Therefore,
it will be wrong to think Pishena is Taiwan because it is actually the Visayas of the Philippines. Another
suspicious record can also be found in the History of Yuan, which described Admiral Yang Xiang, who
led 6,000 sailors to invade the Ryukyu in 1292, and stayed in Penghu once. The Taiwan Prefecture
Archive also has it that the Yuan Government set up a military office in Penghu, which corresponds with a
record in the Zhangzhou Prefecture Archive that soldiers and vanguards were stationed in Penghu in
1593 and 1607 to prevent pirates from attacking. From the Essay Collection of Rongzhou and the Short
Proses about Taiwan, we assume that no one knew about Taiwan in the Song and Yuan dynasties. The first
Chinese to enter Taiwan should be the Japanese Kara Yan Si-qi. Taiwan first appeared as “Taiyuan” in the
Records of Dongfan Experience, which was composed at the end of the Ming dynasty. From this fact, we

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