A special exhibit at the National Museum of Prehistory in Taitung details a search for gold that Dutch explorers launched in 1638 off the east coast of Taiwan, though they returned empty-handed.
The exhibition, titled “Voyage to the Oriental Treasure Island: Dutch meet Formosa Eastern Indigenous,” is aimed at shining more light on the nation’s role in the age of European maritime exploration.
The exhibition is a joint collaboration between 12 groups, including the Netherlands Trade and Investment Office.
Photo: Huang Ming-tang, Taipei Times
Office Representative Guy Wittich said Dutch sailors disembarked in Hualien 378 years ago to find gold, but they returned to their ships empty-handed.
Citing historical records provided by Dutch government archives, Wittich said that as opposed to the ease of travel of today, the Dutch expedition had to fight their way past numerous Aboriginal villages.
“They didn’t know, however, that the gold had originated in what is present-day New Taipei City’s Jiufen District [九份],” Wittich said.
Photo: Huang Ming-tang, Taipei Times
The exhibition shows how global trade involved Aboriginal villages on the east coast, the museum said.
The museum has made a one-to-five ratio replica of a Dutch ship as the exhibit’s main attraction, while it features hand-drawn maps from the 17th century.
The exhibition also has drawings of how the Dutch explorers saw the original residents of Isla Formosa, the Portuguese name for Taiwan, a screen covered in beaten gold sheets and a silver coin.
The exhibition is considered an important one for the museum and has been in the planning for two years, it said, adding that the exhibition is to run through December.
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