Lost Colony: The Untold Story of Chinas First Great Victory over the West by Tonio Andrade

Lost Colony: The Untold Story of Chinas First Great Victory over the West Reviews

• 
  Andrew

  A fun and fast read with a compelling narrative. This book is an intervention in comparative military history. Rather than look at either the Dutch (as Europeans) or the Chinese (as East Asians) in isolation, Andrade compares how they fared in a direct confrontation in mid-17th century Taiwan. The conclusion is the Dutch nearly won because they had Renaissance-Style fort architecture, comprised of cross-firing bastions and thickly walled redoubts, as well as superior ships. They ultimately lost Zeelandia Castle in western Taiwan to the half-Chinese, half-Japanese Koxinga (Zheng Chenggong) because he was an exceptional strategist who drew from multiple traditions when creating, outfitting, and training his versatile armies. In comparison, the Dutch leader Coyet was a poor strategist who missed many opportunities to break the siege of his fort. Weapons technology - cannon and muskets - were much closer across parties than I would have expected. Indeed, one of Andrade's main arguments is that we can't look at Europe as simply breaking away from and superseding Asia in regards to military technology in the late 2nd millennium. There was much more diffusion and cross-learning. That being said, the superiority of the Dutch ships and forts was acknowledged by all sides even then. One lingering question for me was: why the Chinese didn't then start adapting the architectural technology in their coastal forts? That had the ruins of many examples. Is architecture an inherently more conservative technology? Could only a cosmopolitan like Koxinga pick it up? Andrade also makes an argument about global cooling in the 17th century driving warfare and ruining crops. For me this was a bit of a distraction, reading more like an effort to dip into climate change interest than really engage with the problem and its potential consequences. That is, it stimulated many more questions for me than it answered. Also, his climate related citations are all to military historians, and not to environmental historians.
• 
  Rob Hocking

  Lost Colony: The Untold Story of China's First Great Victory over the West
  
  This was one of the most entertaining and best-written books I've read in years. History, but reads like a fast-paced action novel. It tells the story of how Taiwan - originally a Dutch colony - was annexed in the 1660s by the Ming loyalist Koxinga ( 鄭成功 ). The story is eerily similar to that of Chiang Kai-shek in the 20th century - having lost the civil war between the existing Ming Dynasty and the invading Qing armies (whom would shortly set up the Qing dynasty - China's last dynasty), Koxinga's real goal was to use Taiwan as a base with which to regroup in order to counter-attack the mainland and restore the Ming dynasty. To do this he needed to first kick the Dutch out, but this was only ever supposed to be a stepping stone along the way to his real goal. However - like Chiang Kai-shek - Koxinga failed to retake the mainland (in fact, he died a year or so after defeating the Dutch, a process which itself took around a year), and roughly 20 years later the Qing dynasty conquered Taiwan, turning it first into a part of Fujian province and then later into a province in its own right (by contrast - it's been just over 70 years since Chiang Kai-shek's Republic of China fled to Taiwan, and they are still holding out against the People's Republic of China on the mainland).
  
  I was already vaguely familiar with this story because I've read about it in "Forbidden Nation: A History of Taiwan", and because I've been to the present-day ruins of Fort Zeelandia (the former Dutch fortress around which most of the story revolves) in present-day Tainan city in Southwest Taiwan. Fort Zeelandia is now called "Anping Old Fort", and contains a museum where you can read the story of Koxinga / 鄭成功 (there is also a gift shop where you can buy - among other things - 鄭成功 beer). However, neither of these sources told the story in anywhere near as much detail or in anywhere near as entertaining a fashion as this book.
  
  Aside from telling this story, this book is also interested in analyzing why it is that the West was able to dominate the world from roughly the 1600s onwards, instead of just after the industrial revolution. The author argues that the Sino-Dutch war described in his book gives us valuable insight into this question, as it is one of the few well-documented examples of a major battle between Eastern and Western armies in the period after 1600 but before the industrial revolution. The author believes that there are essentially two factors. The first is the superiority of European vessels, in particular in terms of their ability to sail into the wind. He argues that this technology developed out of necessity in Europe because wind patterns there are very complex. By contrast, in Asia wind patterns are simple - one direction for half the year, and the opposite from the other half, and hence advanced sail rigging was never developed. He explains how Koxinga's failure to understand the ability of European vessels to sail into the wind nearly cost him to lose the war - he timed his invasion so that when he arrived, winds would already be blowing from the South, which he thought would prevent word of his invasion from making it to the Dutch East Indies in present-day Indonesia. He was wrong about this - a ship managed to make the voyage against the wind - and he was taken totally by surprise when a Dutch war fleet arrived from the East Indies to save the besieged inhabitants of Fort Zeelandia.
  
  The other factor he considers to be of great importance is the superiority of European fortress design - what he calls the "renaissance fortress". My understanding of what this means is just a fortress designed in such a way that the cannons on the walls have fewer blind spots - i.e. areas they can't reach - which in turn is accomplished by having a protrusion on each of the four corners of the Fortress. Koxinga initially expected he would be able to storm Fort Zeelandia in the same way he was used to storming city walls in China - and was shocked when his men were ripped to shreds. Koxinga expected to be able to take the fort in about a week - instead, it took over a year, and in the end, it seems he was only able to succeed because of a German officer who switched sides and explained to him how to penetrate the defences of the fort.
  
  This analysis was interesting, but it wasn't the most attractive aspect of the book to me. Mainly I just found it to be great story, and for that reason, I'd recommend it even to people who have no interest in Chinese/Taiwanese history, or who don't care about why Europeans were able to dominate the world in the period between 1600 and the industrial revolution.
• 
  I-Chen Tsai

  鄭成功，在我們這一代，是以民族英雄的角色出現的。但神奇的是，中華民國說他是民族英雄、中華人民共和國認定他為民族英雄，連日本人，也說他是民族英雄，天啊，國姓爺您還真吃得開。可見鄭成功的故事一定有相當多的面向，可供完全敵對的各種政權，自由提取，做政治使用。
  
  中華民國愛他，因為他與中國國民黨一樣，有著從中國被迫轉移到台灣，力圖中興的背景。中華人民共和國愛他，因為他正是明朝政權的延伸，跨海驅逐外國勢力（荷蘭人），收復台灣，在目前的中國論述中，台灣就是被美帝這個外國勢力帶壞的。日本愛他，因為他有一半的日本血統（媽媽），受過日本教育，是個增進台灣人認同日本的好圖騰，統治好用。
  
  如果你想給孩子更生動的完整補充，一個去政治化的鄭成功故事，該怎麼說？當然是根據「史實」來說，根據「人性」來說。這本《決戰熱蘭遮》，就是很棒的素材。
  
  《決戰熱蘭遮》曾在 2012 年由時報文化出版過，最近因為作者歐陽泰的《火藥時代》上市，《決戰熱蘭遮》一起再版，湊成套書，換上一個我個人更喜歡的漂亮封面。
  
  這本《決戰熱蘭遮》真的好，歐陽泰收集了許多台灣、中國與荷蘭的珍貴史料，尤其荷蘭東印度公司保存的各式文件與會議記錄，交叉比對，再旁及過去各派學者的論點，選擇他認為最合理的解釋（有���議的他還會明白跟你說），重建當年這場讓荷蘭東印度公司丟失最大殖民地的戰役。
  
  而且最酷的是，他是用「故事」的形式來寫，不是課本式的重點條列，不是吊書袋的學術語言。所以，你可以清楚看到每一個人栩栩如生的個性，他們的開心、他們個性的弱點、他們陷入絕境的反應。
  
  
  https://i-chentsai.innovarad.tw/2018/...
• 
  Justin

  A very detailed story about a chunk of history I was completely ignorant of. The author did a great job of explaining known events and relating them to the time period, without becoming dull or droning. I definitely recommend this read to history buffs, particularly military history buffs.
• 
  Joyce Bergvelt

  Uitstekend non-fictie werk over de in vergetelheid geraakte geschiedenis van de Nederlandse kolonisatie van Formosa, het vroegere Taiwan, tijdens de zeventiende eeuw. Op zeer leesbare wijze vertelt de Amerikaanse wereldhistoricus Tonio Andrade hoe het komt dat een superieure zeemacht zoals die van de VOC het kon verliezen tegen het leger van de Chinese krijgsheer Koxinga, de zoon van een piraat.
  Leest bijna als een roman. Aanrader voor iedereen die belangstelling heeft voor de koloniale geschiedenis van Nederland, ook voor een minder glorieuze periode zoals deze, waarin een kolonie verloren is gegaan.
  Goede Nederlandse vertaling door Tristan Mostert, en voorzien van prachtig historisch beeldmateriaal.
• 
  Vincent Li

  Really enjoyed this book, which is well written without much jargon. The author deserves serious props for not bogging down such a fascinating episode of history. I was looking for a discussion of the fascinating Koxinga, the son of Chinese pirate-turned-admiral and a samurai daughter, who was a Ming loyalist during the Qing invasion of China. Koxinga was pushed out of the mainland, and fought the Dutch VOC in Taiwan, taking it over as a base. The power changes in that area are quite complex and interesting. Koxinga's father got his start likely working for the Dutch VOC and likely originally recommended building their operations in Taiwan. When the Qing were taking over the mainland, Koxinga's father (who at that point was an admiral for the Ming rump state) went where the power seemed to be, but Koxinga decided to stay loyal to the Ming pretender. Despite Qing threats to execute his father, Koxinga never betrayed the Ming pretender, and his father was eventually executed (perhaps an interesting side effect of Koxinga's childhood in Japan, which might have empathized loyalty to a lord instead of the typical chinese stress on familial connections). The author is mostly focused on how Koxinga triumphed over the Dutch. The Dutch had more guns, and better ships (at least in deep waters), but Koxinga's junks were better in shallow waters and made better use of strategy (in particular the strategy of feigning retreats). Particularly interesting was the fact that it appears the historical evidence indicated that both the Ming troops and the Dutch had independently developed the volley. Because of failures to reinforce in Taiwan the Dutch eventually lost, but not before prolonging the siege significantly through the use of renaissance forts that had multiple sides on corners to make it difficult for invaders to win using brute force. In fact, it was not until there was a defector who taught Koxinga how to build the necessary counter forts that Koxinga was able to finally take the fort. Koxinga went on to establish an independent kingdom in the area that lasted until his grandson. Highly recommend for anyone with an interest in Chinese history, early colonialism, or just a good story.
• 
  Jim Rimmer

  After sitting on my shelf for years this title received only the occasional glance, the time never seeming quite right to make a start. The clamour of recent sabre rattling changed all that as I eagerly decided I should learn more of Taiwan's history.
  
  Lost Colony catalogues a complex period of historical exchange between European and Asian powers, colonialist, pirates, and merchant capitalists. While being a keen student of Asian history I admit to having known nothing of the Sino-Dutch War, Europe's first war with China. The amount of research that has gone into this work is obvious, yet Andrade has done a great job of weaving the many threads into a highly readable book.
  
  With the exception of a sweary Swiss bloke who kept flashing his bum I found not one other character I cared for so this was perhaps a slower read for me than most. Other may of course have an entirely different take on the various personalities involved.
  
  As a final note, I found it a bit of a shame that there wasn't more exploration in the epilogue of how the impact of these events have rippled through history right up to the present day.
• 
  Joshua Lim

  Lost Colony is a smooth, entertaining read on how Zheng Chenggong (aka Koxinga) conquered the Dutch colony on Taiwan in 1661. The book places this narrative in the context of broader discussions of European preeminence in military affairs over that of Asian societies. The Sino-Dutch War provides an example of how tenuous this preeminence was. In the case of the battle for Taiwan, the Dutch possessed superiority over Koxinga's forces in ships and fortifications. Andrade asserts that it was good leadership on Koxinga's side, and the weather mattered more in the end.
• 
  Mathijs Loo

  Wereldgeschiedenis weet me steeds beteri als onderwerp te boeien. Dit boek behandelt de wereldgeschiedenis op een redelijk microniveau dan ik gewend ben. De Val van Formosa behandelt een episode in de Europese-Chinese geschiedenis en de Militaire Revolutie. Tonio Andrade heeft vele bronnen geraadpleegd voor dit boek, zowel Chinese als Europese en daarmee weet hij een zeer volledig beeld van de belegering van Fort Zeelandia te geven.
• 
  Tyler Wolanin

  I thought that this book very dramatic war story with broader (and well-analyzed) implications for military history. It had medieval tyranny, it had court politics, it had age of sail naval and musketeer battles, it had dramatic escapes through choppy waters, it had climate change. How could you go wrong?
  
  Full blog post here:
  tylerwolanin.com/blog/2021/2/21/what-...
• 
  Jeffrey Powanda

  This is the third book I've read about Koxinga and the Sino-Dutch War (1661-1662) this year. It's impressively researched, and it offers wonderful insights about Koxinga, the Ming loyalist, and Frederic Coyet, the leader of Dutch troops at Fort Zeelandia. The book really excels in Andrade's coverage of military techniques, weaponry, and logistical problems, although stormy weather was often the deciding factor in the war to control the island of Taiwan.
• 
  Ross

  Fun and fast read about the Sino Dutch War of the mid 17th century. The author pulls together sources and tells the story in a colloquial engaging manner. The historical theory that loops in an around the story is also interesting. Highly recommended.
• 
  Christian Stahl

  Well written and well illustrated including detailed maps. The tone of this writing is on the lighter side, but it has an extremely critical take on internal Chinese policy during the Sino Dutch war, a good read nevertheless.
• 
  David Billow

  This book focused on the Koxinga-Coyet military standoff, but the side stories -- the deserters from each side, the Dutch envoy to enlist the help of the Qing -- were so much more interesting.
• 
  Daneel Lynn

  要說這場仗是近代東方戰勝西方的代表性戰役，恐怕也不甚公允。雙方戰力差太多，過程又是你蠢我更蠢的「交鋒」。鄭森的能力果然在傳統洗腦宣傳中誇大甚多。
• 
  Huub

  Leest als een spannend boek.