Siege of Fort Zeelandia
Fort Zeelandia, Anping, Tainan, Taiwan
What happened
Ming loyalist forces under Koxinga (Zheng Chenggong) besieged the Dutch East India Company's Fort Zeelandia, defended by Governor Frederick Coyett. Koxinga, still loyal to the fallen Ming dynasty of China, sailed to Taiwan, where the Dutch had a trading colony. His army captured a smaller Dutch fort and then surrounded Fort Zeelandia. After a Dutch relief fleet failed to break the blockade, the hungry garrison surrendered in February 1662.
Why it matters
Why it matters: It ended 38 years of Dutch rule in Taiwan. Koxinga's family founded the Kingdom of Tungning on the island.
What came next
Koxinga died a few months later, in June 1662. The Dutch left Taiwan completely in 1668.
Did you know?
Koxinga was born in Japan to a Chinese father and a Japanese mother, and is honoured as a hero in Taiwan, mainland China and Japan.
Timeline
- 27 August 1624Koxinga is born in Hirado, Japan.
- 30 March 1661The siege of Fort Zeelandia begins.
- 1 February 1662Governor Coyett surrenders the fort.
- 23 June 1662Koxinga dies.
- 1668The Dutch leave Taiwan entirely.