Taiwan (Formosa)

Lettres Edifiantes - Father de Mailla S.J.

1781

Set of three maps and plans of Taiwan

1. Carte de ce qui appartient a L'Empereur de la Chine dans L'Isle de Formose faite par ordre de l'Empereur Kamhi

2. Carte des Isles de PONGHOU suivant le point sur lequel on ete faites les Cartes de la Chine et de la Tartarie par L'Ordre et aux frais de L'Empereur

3. Plan du Fort de Zelande a L'Ile Formose. Les Chinois appellent ce Fort Ngangping-tching, tire par ordre de LEmpereur de la Chine

Important set of maps of Taiwan extracted from Vol XVIII (1781) of the Lettres Ediifiantes, a composite collection of Jesuit letters originally published at the beginning of the 18th Century. The account of Formosa which these maps illustrate is by the Jesuit Father de Mailla and was first issued in 1721. The first map is a general map of Taiwan, showing the extent of Chinese Imperial control over the western regions of the Island and including the western coastlines of Taiwan and the adjacent Chinese mainland coasts of Fujien province. The second map shows the Ponghou or Pescadore Islands, lying in the Straits of Taiwan, and includes details of the environs of the Dutch settlement of Fort Zeelandia on the south west coast. The final map is a simple ground plan of this former Dutch VOC trading outpost at Fort Zeelandia, an important settlement originally founded in 1629 but lost to the Chinese Coxinga after a long and protracted siege in 1662.