解析《福爾摩沙島圖》：荷蘭東印度公司經營下臺灣西南部河流與人群的互動

Abstract

1636年首次出現了在臺灣島上繪有高山與河流的地圖《Caerte van ’t Eilandt Formosa ende / Eilandt van de Piscadoris》（福爾摩沙島圖），也是後來許多繪圖師繪製臺灣地圖的參考底圖，在十七世紀臺灣史上具有重要意義。本研究專注於地圖上繪製的河流，以大員為核心，探討河流的重要性與繪圖的時代背景，並透過人群（原住民、荷蘭人、唐人）在臺灣島上與河流的互動，理解「河流」在十七世紀臺灣的角色與意義，以及河流在地圖中的呈現隨荷蘭東印度公司的經營發展之變化。 荷蘭東印度公司在1620至1630年代，繪製臺灣西南部地圖的背景與知識來源之發展從海上探索逐步轉向陸地測繪，最終形成對臺灣島內陸河流與地理空間的認識。1620年代中期繪製的《澎湖群島與福爾摩沙島西海岸》與《北港島圖》詮釋了時下荷蘭人在此海域上對福爾摩沙島「海洋—沿岸」的過渡視角，經過了公司近十年的島上經營與地理探勘，《福爾摩沙島圖》的誕生，象徵著觀看與態度歷經「沿岸—內陸」的轉變，此圖可謂荷蘭東印度公司在福爾摩沙島與人群、文化、自然互動十多年的經驗結晶，呈現1630年代荷蘭東印度公司對於福爾摩沙島的認識、探勘與企圖。 荷蘭人在1630至1660年代的河流利用與治理，經歷了探索與適應、航運與治理、戰略與工程等階段。1630年代，河流被公司視為日常生活的資源與交通貿易的通道，在臺灣西南部形成一個水上交通網絡；1640年代，河流被納入租稅體制下進行經濟管理，以「贌港」制度規範漁業與通航，1650年代以後，因應農業與貿易的發展，著手水道改造工程的計畫。此等進程不僅顯示了荷蘭人對於臺灣島自然環境的態度從「順應」轉變為「治理」之過程，亦有助於理解在荷蘭人經營臺灣的四十年間，河流在其繪製的不同時期的地圖中之表現。 河流在荷蘭統治下不僅是自然地景，更是殖民經濟與人群互動的重要空間。其角色隨公司經營之需求變遷，舉凡生活用水、往來運輸、水產資源、軍事行動與行政管理等，並反映於不同時期的地圖上。本研究透過《熱蘭遮城日誌》、《邂逅福爾摩沙：臺灣原住民社會紀實，荷蘭檔案摘要》、帳目紀錄與地圖等史料，揭示荷蘭經營模式的動態演變，不僅重新詮釋河流在殖民治理中的角色，亦嘗試拓展荷蘭東亞地圖學的研究視角與深化臺灣水域社會的歷史研究，更為荷蘭東印度公司在殖民地水文治理策略的比較研究提供了新的視角。

In 1636, the Caerte van ’t Eilandt Formosa ende / Eilandt van de Piscadoris (the Map of Formosa), the first known map to depict both mountains and rivers on the island of Taiwan, was produced. This map subsequently served as a reference base for numerous cartographers and holds considerable significance in the history of seventeenth-century Taiwan. This study examines the representation of rivers in the map, with Tayouan as the focal point, in order to explore their historical importance and the cartographic context in which they were depicted. By analyzing the interactions between Indigenous peoples, the Dutch, and Chinese communities with the island’s rivers, the research seeks to illuminate the role and significance of rivers in seventeenth-century Taiwan, as well as the ways in which their portrayal evolved in response to the Dutch East India Company’s (VOC) colonial development. Between the 1620s and 1630s, the VOC’s cartographic practice in mapping southwestern Taiwan shifted from maritime exploration to terrestrial surveying, ultimately producing a more comprehensive understanding of the island’s inland rivers and geographical space. Mid-1620s maps such as The Map of the Pescadores and the West Coast of Formosa and the Map of the Island of Packan illustrate a transitional “ocean–coast” perspective on Formosa. After nearly a decade of settlement and geographic investigation, the creation of the Map of Formosa symbolized a shift from a “coastal” to an “inland” perspective, representing the culmination of over ten years of interaction between the VOC and Formosa’s peoples, cultures, and natural environment, as well as the Company’s knowledge, exploration, and ambitions in the 1630s. From the 1630s to the 1660s, the VOC’s use and management of rivers progressed through distinct stages: exploration and adaptation, navigation and administration, and, finally, strategy and construction. In the 1630s, rivers functioned as essential resources for daily life and as waterways for trade and transportation, forming a waterborne transport network in the southwest. By the 1640s, rivers had been incorporated into the economic management system under the tax regime, exemplified by the franchise system regulating fisheries and navigation. After the 1650s, in response to the expansion of agriculture and trade, the Company initiated waterway modification projects. This trajectory demonstrates a shift in Dutch colonial environmental attitude from “adaptation” to “management”, and it also explains the changing representation of rivers on maps produced during different stages of VOC governance. Under Dutch colonial administration, rivers were not merely elements of the natural landscape but also crucial spaces for the colonial economy and intercultural interaction. Their functions shifted according to the Company’s operational needs: encompassing domestic water supply, transportation, aquatic resources, military operations, and administrative control, and these changes were reflected in contemporary cartography. Drawing upon sources such as the Dagregisters van het Kasteel Zeelandia (The Journals of Fort Zeelandia), The Formosan Encounter: Notes on Formosa's Aboriginal Society, A Selection of Documents from Dutch Archival Sources, accounting records, and maps, this study reveals the dynamic evolution of Dutch governance in Taiwan. It not only reinterprets the role of rivers in colonial administration but also seeks to broaden the research perspective on Dutch cartography in East Asia, deepen the historical study of Taiwan’s aquatic landscapes, and provide a comparative framework for understanding the VOC’s hydrological governance strategies in its colonies.