Dutch Occupation of Penghu in the Late Ming: Surviving Records

The Surviving Archives on the Dutch Occupation of Penghu in the Late Ming is a valuable collection of historical documents. Its author is unknown, and it is not a literary work in the conventional sense, but rather a collection of Ming-era coastal defense records reconstructed around primary sources. The Institute of History and Philology at Academia Sinica compiled it from documents in volumes B and W of Historical Materials of the Ming and Qing Dynasties concerning the Red-Haired Barbarians' occupation of Penghu, the contemporary term for the Dutch, as well as relevant records in the Veritable Records of Emperor Xizong of the Ming. The book comprises about sixty-four pages, containing eighteen major archival documents and several appendices. It primarily details first-hand historical records of how the Dutch East India Company took advantage of circumstances to invade Penghu in the late Ming Dynasty, which was often written as "Penghu" in contemporary sources, reports submitted to the Ming court, the responses of the Fujian governor and military commanders, and the Battle of Penghu.

The first fourteen documents focus on detailed memorials and battle reports from the Tianqi era, the 1620s, describing how the Ming court organized Fujian's navy and dispatched Governor Nan Juyi and military commanders to counter the Dutch naval invasion of Penghu. They present the strategic decisions and coastal defense pressures from the official perspective. The final four documents supplement these with records of Dutch attacks on the coastal areas of Zhangzhou and Quanzhou during the Chongzhen era. The book also includes excerpts from works such as the History of Ming, Account of Holland, Red-Haired Barbarians, and A Study of Tax Eunuchs, allowing readers to compare sources and gain a broader understanding of the events.

For history enthusiasts studying Ming coastal defense, early exchanges and conflicts between China and the West, and the balance of maritime power in East Asia, these "surviving archives" preserve precious fragments of original documents. Their careful compilation also provides important clues to major historical events, including the Ming-Dutch War and the Battle of Penghu. They are an invaluable first-hand source for understanding the challenges facing Ming coastal defenses in the early seventeenth century.