A special exhibition on Fort Zeelandia showcasing the reconstruction of the Dutch fortified town opened at National Cheng Kung University Museum in Tainan on Tuesday.
Lead researcher Huang En-yu (黃恩宇), who is an associate professor of architecture at the university, said the five-year investigation is part of a broader academic project to mark the 400th year of Zeelandia’s founding in 2024.
The present-day historical site in Tainan’s Anping District (安平) was only a part of the fortress and township established by the Dutch East India Company in 1624, bringing Taiwan into the international trade system, he said.
Photo: Liu Wan-chun, Taipei Times
The research team used a wide array of documents and records to recreate the layout of Fort Zealandia with a fidelity of more than 80 percent, he said.
Historical documents used in the reconstruction include the 1643 Estate Registers of Zeelandia, which was discovered in manuscript form by Dutch researcher Menno Leenstra; Diary of Fort Zealandia; The East India Report; Resolutions of the Council of Tayouan; and Correspondences of the Governor of Formosa and the Governor-General of Batavia.
The material was cross-referenced with cadastral and topographical maps of the region compiled by the later Japanese colonial authorities, he said.
The works on city planning and military engineering by 17th-century Dutch polymath Simon Stevin provided valuable insights for imagining parts of the fort that lacked documentation in the archives, he said.
The multimedia exhibit showcases a scale model of the fort, video presentation and copies of primary source documents that were utilized by the research team, in addition to other materials that contextualize Fort Zeelandia’s role in global commerce at the time, he said.
The exhibit is to run until Sept. 30 next year.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
Taiwan is to have nine extended holidays next year, led by a nine-day Lunar New Year break, the Cabinet announced yesterday. The nine-day Lunar New Year holiday next year matches the length of this year’s holiday, which featured six extended holidays. The increase in extended holidays is due to the Act on the Implementation of Commemorative and Festival Holidays (紀念日及節日實施條例), which was passed early last month with support from the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party. Under the new act, the day before Lunar New Year’s Eve is also a national holiday, and Labor Day would no longer be limited
COMMITMENTS: The company had a relatively low renewable ratio at 56 percent and did not have any goal to achieve 100 percent renewable energy, the report said Pegatron Corp ranked the lowest among five major final assembly suppliers in progressing toward Apple Inc’s commitment to be 100 percent carbon neutral by 2030, a Greenpeace East Asia report said yesterday. While Apple has set the goal of using 100 percent renewable energy across its entire business, supply chain and product lifecycle by 2030, carbon emissions from electronics manufacturing are rising globally due to increased energy consumption, it said. Given that carbon emissions from its supply chain accounted for more than half of its total emissions last year, Greenpeace East Asia evaluated the green transition performance of Apple’s five largest final
Taiwan is to extend its visa-waiver program for Philippine passport holders for another year, starting on Aug. 1, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said on Friday. Lin made the announcement during a reception in Taipei marking the 127th anniversary of Philippine independence and the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) in Taiwan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The decision reflected Taiwan’s commitment to deepening exchanges with the Philippines, the statement cited Lin as saying, adding that it was a key partner under the New Southbound Policy launched in 2016. Lin also expressed hope
RSS