Siraya Concepts of Marriage in Seventeenth-Century Sincan: Impressions Gathered from the Letters of Two Dutch Missionaries

Abstract

In November 1633, the Reverend Robertus Junius informed the Dutch East India Company governor on Formosa (modern Taiwan) about the difficulties he was experiencing in his Sincan (Hsin-kang) benefice. He dejectedly reported that inhabitant Tackareij, whom he himself had taught the Christian principles, had yelled at him: ‘If the Dutch want to bring me back to my wife, so I will trample one of them and run away.’

This article is a revised version of: N.C. Everts, ‘Indigenous Concepts of Marriage in seventeenth-century Sincan (Hsin-kang): Impressions gathered from the Letters of the Dutch Ministers Georgius Candidius and Robertus Junius’, in: Yeh Chuen-rong (ed.), Li shih wên hua yû tsu ch’ün T’ai-wan yüan chu min kuo chi yen t’ao hui lun wên chi (History, Culture and Ethnicity, Selected Papers from the International Conference on the Formosan Indigenous Peoples) (Taipei: Shung Ye Museum of Formosan Aborigines, 2006), 89–104.

2.1 Introduction

In November 1633, the Reverend Robertus Junius informed the Dutch East India Company governor on Formosa (modern Taiwan) about the difficulties he was experiencing in his Sincan (Hsin-kang) benefice. He dejectedly reported that inhabitant Tackareij, whom he himself had taught the Christian principles, had yelled at him: ‘If the Dutch want to bring me back to my wife, so I will trample one of them and run away.’ ¹

Junius explained that Tackareij had left his lawfully wedded wife, whom he had recently married according to Christian rites in front of the Sincan community in the newly established village church. When the minister, in accordance with his duty as a missionary, had tried to correct Tackareijs’ behaviour by telling him that it was sinful for a Christian to break the sacred bonds of marriage just like that, Tackareij had answered him in what the minister could only consider to be a disrespectful way.

This telling example from the archival sources points to the existence of a difference of opinion between a missionary and an indigenous convert about how Christian principles should be practiced. It seems that the standard, as it was propagated by Junius and his fellow-missionaries in Sincan, did not fit in with the experience of their converts. Tackareij, being among those villagers who already had embraced Christianity in name, had been willing to get married in public in the Christian way, but he now indicated to Junius that with regard to his private life he insisted on making his own decisions. A case like this offers a rare view into the complex reality of the interaction of cultures on seventeenth-century Taiwan: the Formosan Encounter. ²

The personal correspondence between the Rev. Junius and governor Putmans, of which a few letters have been preserved in a private collection kept in the Dutch National Archives, reveals something of the conversion process at the micro level. This correspondence bears witness to a contradiction: on the one hand Junius writes about the increasing number of Sincan converts while, at the same time, he frequently complains about their sinful ways, particularly about what he regards as the sin of adultery.

This chapter merely aims to explore the transformations that occurred within the sphere of gender relations during the initial phase of contact of the Sincan people with Dutch missionary activities (1627–1640). At first, I will briefly sketch the cultural code of traditional Siraya society, the ethnolinguistic group to which the Sincan belonged, with regard to social relationships, marriage and moral principles. ³ This is followed by a discussion of some of the missionaries’ aspirations and how they propagated the ideal of Christian marriage as part of their effort at conversion. Finally, I will take a closer look at the cultural outcome of the interaction between the missionaries and their flock with the intention to learn in which way the Sincan did conform the new Christian standards to their own interests.

2.2 Traditional Gender Relations: A Subjective View

In his famous Discourse and brief Account of the Isle of Formosa, ⁴ written in 1628, Junius’ predecessor, Georgius Candidius, recorded various ethnographical aspects of the Sincan and some of their neighbouring Siraya communities, dwelling on the south-western coastal plain. Their villages clustered around the Bay of Tayouan, opposite to the peninsula on which Zeelandia Castle, the Dutch East India Company trade factory, was located (the site of modern Tainan). ⁵

Minister Candidius certainly provides us with much more than a random picture of traditional Siraya culture. In an attachment to the Discourse he observed the changes that already occurred within that society and continued to do so, notably in the field of religion:

I suspect that every sixty years their religion falls into decay, that now it is completely renewed and has been altered and I presume that in another sixty years, even without us Christians being around, it will again have changed completely and will have become different from the current one.

Candidius illustrated this by mentioning that he had spoken with some very old people ‘who told me things totally different from what is believed and honoured by them nowadays.’ ⁶ He was of the opinion that these ongoing transformations in the Sirayan religious convictions had to do with their oral culture, because they were not founded on any written regulations. The fact that this vital aspect of their society was liable to internal changes could however also serve us as an indication that the plains peoples—including the Sincan—were receptive to external influences and ideas.

Candidius did compile his account just at the moment when influences from the outside world were beginning to take effect and intensified the process of alterations, in which he himself played a crucial role. Although he affirmed his objectivity to his readers, by stating that he only informed them about those places of which the language, manners, customs and religion were known to him, we should keep in mind that he came to live in Sincan (in 1627) with the sole purpose of being a missionary. ⁷ Armed with these critical reservations regarding this somewhat controversial source we can proceed with Candidius’ picture of gender relations in traditional Sirayan culture.

With regard to marriage, he noticed that men were not allowed to marry until they had reached the age of about twenty but women could marry as soon as they were thought fit for it. When a young man wished to marry a maiden he sent his mother, sister, cousin or someone of his other female relatives to her house with presents consisting of adornments, textiles or Chinese import goods. Upon showing them the wedding gift, his intermediary asked the girl’s father, her mother or other elders of her family for permission on his behalf. If they approved the proposal, they could keep the presents and the marriage was considered to be settled without any ceremony or celebration. The following night the groom was allowed to sleep with the bride. Candidius reveals that newly weds continued to live in their respective family houses, instead of establishing their own conjugal household. The wife had occupations of her own such as cultivating the fields for the benefit of her kinfolk. The young husband kept on residing in the men’s quarter near to his parents’ house during the years he had to fulfil duties for his age grade as a hunter and a warrior. Only after having served out their term in this capacity, when they had reached the age of about fifty, a man finally was allowed to settle down and live together with his wife. ⁸

According to the minister, it was the rule that women were not allowed to give birth to children before having reached the mature age of about 36 years. Candidius noted that the influential local female shamans, the Inibs, saw to it that the foetus of every young woman, married or not, who got pregnant before the fixed age, was aborted. He explained that this practise, performed by the Inibs themselves by means of a drastic massage, was done out of strict religious belief. The women themselves, notwithstanding they suffered ‘more pains than giving birth to a living child,’ considered it a taboo to give birth before the mentioned age. By criticizing this mandatory abortion in detail in his discourse, Candidius seems to have provided himself with a pretext that was meant to legitimate his action against this custom. ⁹

Besides the rather loose marital bond that existed between partners, having no common household or children to rear, the minister witnessed fairly free sexual morals which he designated as fornication. Marriage itself could easily be annulled, whereas partners were not expected to stay together forever till the end of their lives, but could separate and remarry. If the only reason for such a separation was that a husband no longer loved his wife, then she could keep the wedding gift he had presented to her and her family. If his wife on the other hand had committed adultery, flirted with other men, had beaten her husband or had committed similar wrongdoings, then he could reclaim all the goods she once had received from him. Candidius affirmed that wives held the same rights in return, however. Much to his regret, he observed that people sometimes remarried several times in a row.

Though it was customary to have only one woman at a time, this did not keep Candidius from severely denouncing Sirayan sexual mores: “They are great whoremongers. Although having their own wives, they will not pass up a chance to commit adultery, but in secret, so that their own spouses (or the husbands of the adulteresses) will not find out. It is a very lascivious and libidinous nation indeed.” ¹⁰ He added that when he rightfully rebuked them for their fornication, they merely said that their own gods were pleased with it. Moreover, parents who knew about their children’s promiscuous behaviour were amused, instead of scolding them for their misconduct. Candidius concluded that adultery, as long as it was committed in secret, was not considered as a sin by the local inhabitants. Whenever someone discovered another man being involved too intimately with his wife, he could take revenge by taking away some pigs out of his rivals’ pigsty. In the meantime, while the adulterer himself went into hiding, his relatives negotiated with the husband’s family about the number of pigs, deerskins or other commodities that had to be offered in order to satisfy him. Once the ransom was paid the adulterer could freely return to his community. ¹¹

2.3 Minister’s Aspirations

Candidius’ account clearly was written from the point of view of a missionary. While describing Siraya customs in general, he also indicated which aspects of indigenous culture had to be altered. Indeed in his own words: “their religion, on account of which I was sent there with the purpose of changing it, and introducing the true Christian Faith.” ¹²

When the Dutch governor Pieter Nuyts enquired if Christianity would ever be acceptable to the Formosan inhabitants, Candidius noted that it would be possible only when they would be really attracted to Christianity, not for the material benefits accompanying conversion but for the basic values upheld by the Christian faith. Only then a complete change of habits on the part of the inhabitants would become possible. ¹³

In order to get a better understanding of the ideas of both Candidius and Junius about conversion and the ideals that underlay their missionary fervour it is necessary to take a somewhat closer look at the doctrine of the church they belonged to. All ministers in service of the Dutch East India Company in Asia were enlisted on its payrolls but they were recruited and supervised by the Classis Amsterdam of the Dutch Reformed Church.

In the first part of the seventeenth century, the Protestant Reformed Church had become the principal denomination in the Netherlands. However, this did not mean that the greater majority of people belonged to this church. Besides those who remained Roman Catholic, many smaller protestant groups attracted followers, too. In addition, many people, though being religious at heart, chose to not become members of any church at all.

During that period the Reformed Church’s attitude vis-à-vis people of other denominations was permissive in certain ways. For the purpose of somehow including as many people as possible within the church community, people were welcomed whenever they wished to attend a service, get married or let their children be baptized. Regular visitors were addressed as ‘hearers’ as distinct from the real ‘members’ of a congregation, who were expected to live entirely according to the Protestant doctrine. Only members were allowed to communicate, that is to attend Holy Communion. The sacrament of baptism was however open to everyone, on condition that parents who let their children be baptized in the Reformed Church had to make the affirmation that the child would be raised in accordance with the Protestant teachings. ¹⁴

Marriage, though it was not considered as a sacrament, was esteemed by all Protestants to be of extraordinary importance because it was regarded as predestined by the Lord himself. Marital bonds were therefore considered as sacred and thus irrevocable. Nevertheless, the Dutch Reformed church was willing to perform the ceremony for everyone, be they committed Calvinists or not, if only the intending husband and wife both had been baptized. The assumption was that it was better to expose an individual to church influence for one moment of increased receptivity in this way, than not at all. ¹⁵

Seventeenth-century Calvinists distinguished between the opposites of an orderly, disciplined Christian life and what they regarded as a natural life. Christians were subjected to the law of God, whereas humans in their natural state lived to be sinners and slaves to the so-called sins of the flesh, like adultery, fornication, debauchery, idolatry, or discord etcetera. It was believed that committing these sins would arouse the wrath of God. Consequently, those converts who trespassed were censored by the ministers. ¹⁶

Each minister who was to perform duty as a missionary on Formosa (apart from learning the local languages, required if he wanted to communicate with his future converts), should bring out a wife with him. Candidius considered this the best way to resist the ‘snares of Satan’. Moreover, if the clergy man lived together with his wife and children, he could present the inhabitants with a true example of virtuous and proper family life, so that they, as a consequence, could regulate their lives accordingly. However, it would even be better if a young bachelor minister would choose an indigenous woman from among his converts for his wife. Though she could only marry him after having been properly educated in the Christian principles as well as being baptized first. ¹⁷

Considering the expanding activities of the Dutch East India Company in Asia, the matter of baptizing ‘heathens’ had already been discussed among the ministers and elders of the Dutch Reformed church. During the important general synod that was held in the town of Dordrecht (1618–1619) the assembled Dutch ecclesiastics had inserted a special clause that children of pagans could be baptized officially, if they had been sufficiently educated in the Protestant doctrine, and had been confirmed. ¹⁸

In August 1628, in his benefice in Sincan, Candidius however had to deal with the local reality. To his regret he had to admit that the implanting of the Christian faith in the minds of the inhabitants, as well as the eradication of their heathen superstition, idolatry and quite a few other irregularities did not make much progress. Although many of them already knew the creed and their prayers reasonably well, and were fit to be baptized as far as external knowledge was concerned, Candidius deemed the time not yet right to christen them. In his opinion, they not only had to promise in advance that they would do away with all idolatry, superstition and irregularities, but they also had to put this into practice for some time beforehand, so as to give the minister a proof of their proper manners. What bothered him, however, was that some of his pupils had openly confessed to him that though his preaching was true and their priestesses taught them to simply lie if they did not wish to put his teachings into practice. They assured him that the customs had been handed down to them from their ancestors, and that they could not do away with them just like that. ¹⁹

Five years later, in 1633, over a two hundred people in Sincan had been baptized, while a large number of them seemed to be reasonably well taught so that they as a consequence soon would be ready to be baptized, too. ²⁰ Candidius, however, still was by no means convinced that the new faith would take root into the peoples’ hearts. Indeed, in 1636, the Reverend Junius, who had succeeded him as a preacher of the faith among the Sincan, still faced about the same situation. In rather philosophical words he expressed his doubts about the true effects of his work. Educated by experience he raised the rhetorical question: ‘How many perils attend the effort to make of carnal men, spiritual [men] and of [the] heathen, Christians?’ ²¹

2.4 Cultural Outcome: Tacareij and Friends

In October 1640, Junius reported governor-general Anthonio van Diemen, the supreme company administrator stationed in Batavia (modern Jakarta) on Java, that among the Sincan young people could be seen who not only had married according to Christian rites and cultivated land together, but who even lived and raised their children as a couple. He confirmed that formerly, in Candidius’ time, it had appeared to be almost impossible to bring this about. Then, “they would rather have died than live in this fashion” but at that moment things were changing. He noticed that the inhabitants’ former reprehensible customs were gradually disappearing. To Junius, this demonstrated that conversion required both time and proper instruction. The priestesses who had formed such an obstacle to Candidius’ labour, had lost all their former power. ²²

On 30 October 1641, the Dutch governor on Taiwan, Paulus Traudenius, sent a letter to the board of East India Company directors in Amsterdam. He reported that the propagation of the gospel to the Formosan youth, as well as their Christian education continued to progress. Many young people had been baptized, after having solemnly professed their faith and a number of them had even got married in the Dutch manner. Nevertheless, the elder generation of inhabitants would never renounce their “superstition”, which they still were practicing in secret. The governor was of the opinion that the only solution would be to exercise patience. ²³

In his standard work about Taiwan frontier society on the longue durée, John Shepherd, examines the impact of the presence of the East India Company on Formosa’s indigenous southwestern plains cultures during the Dutch era (1624–1661). Shepherd points out that the conversion of the Sincan took off very rapidly in the 1630s. He explains that both “missionary efforts and Dutch rule had profound effects on the native way of life, especially on the Siraya systems of marriage and age grades.” However, Shepherd does also mention that soon: “the nominal character of the initial conversions became obvious. Deepening the hold of religion over the natives required a much greater investment of resources in religious education and the reform of native customs […].” ²⁴

Tackareij’s case illustrated this controversial character of the conversions. Although he must have been one of the about 200 Sincan villagers who already had been baptized by 1633, and thus had been considered ready to get married according to the Christian rites, he did act contrary to the way a convert was expected to, and really disappointed Junius.

Tackareij’s threats to run away meant that, although being a Christian in name, with regard to his private affairs he was prepared to act in defiance of his teachers’ admonition. In the same letter in which Junius mentioned Tackareij’s disobedience, he complained about other Sincan villagers who acted in the same way. One of them left his wife and three children for another woman. Though Junius had persuaded him to return to his family, by pleading with the adulterer, he was aware that the issue could not be solved that easily. Soon after, the minister was told that the man had left his wife and children again, and ran away with the same woman. A deed, designated by angry Junius, to be in stark contrast with ‘our’ customs. ²⁵

Three years later, Junius still struggled with similar problems. In a letter he reminded Governor Putmans of the topic that Sincan converts, over and over again, violated Christian rules by committing adultery. He regretted that these sins of the flesh were not only perpetrated by the adults, but also by the young ones. Therefore, he urgently requested Putmans to let him know how he should proceed in order to discourage prospective malefactors, and prevent them from committing such besetting sins. Junius was convinced that if nothing would be done about it, the Sincan simply would start to believe that he condoned their behaviour. In order to explain to Putmans the problems with which he was dealing, Junius presented the governor with two cases of people who had violated the Christian rules regarding holy matrimony. ²⁶

The first case concerned a certain Sincan woman, named Vacca, who, shortly before at the general meeting, had been confirmed in the state of holy matrimony with Tidiris. Soon afterwards, Junius was informed that a dispute had arisen between the spouses. According to the wife, the husband caused the disagreement and should have been blamed because the wedding present he donated to her was too poor. Junius had tried to obtain more information from questioning both parties, but as far as he could see they were living in harmony again. A few days later, however, the truth about the conflict came about, when Junius found out that Vacca had committed adultery with another man, named Gavail, who was also married himself. Vacca had confessed to this herself by saying to some other person that she loved Gavail, and no longer wanted to live with Tideris. Therefore, Tidiris could freely come to recollect the goods he had given her, and take them back to his own home. Vacca confirmed that she had fallen in love with Gavail and that she had already slept with him. As far as the Dutch were concerned, she did not fear them at all because they only meted out mild punishments. She would sent her father to the clergyman to negotiate about the proper punishment with him, or how many pieces of cloth she should be fined to make amends for her unfaithfulness to her ex-husband. To Junius’s indignation, both Vacca and her partner in crime, Gavail, had gone into hiding immediately afterwards. If he had been able to find them, he assured that he would have ordered them to be put in chains right away—the only punishment he thought fit for those sinners.

In addition, Junius had to deal with what he called Joost’s case. It was rumoured that Tagutel, the wife of junior Dutch company official Joost van Bergen, secretly had a rendezvous with one of the pupils of the village school, named Packoy. This time, Junius saw to it that he had carefully investigated the crime. He had seized the malefactor at once, and had put him in chains. In the presence of one of the Sincan elders, Packoy did confess that he indeed had sexual intercourse with Joost’s wife, Tagutel, for at least five times. All this had happened while Joost had been sent off on a company mission to the south-eastern indigenous village of Lonckjouw. It even came to light that the secret lovers had committed their crime twice on Joost’s own berth. Having been informed about everything by Packoy, Junius immediately called in Tagutel, whom he ordered to be brought into his house. He interrogated her on the spot about what Packoy confessed and if this corresponded with the truth. At first she denied, but later on she did confess that Packoy had spoken the truth. ²⁷

Taking stock of the situation, Junius expressed his concern that if these sinners, as well as several other adulterers he knew about, did not receive a just punishment, soon more and more men and women were to follow Vacca’s example. If it would come to that, everyone who no longer felt attracted to one’s wedding partner and wished to get a divorce, only had to tell it to the Dutch. In the minister’s eyes, the sins of fornication committed by Joost’s spouse Tagutel, as well as her lover Packoy, were even more serious because it was a Company official who happened to be the betrayed husband. Joost was Tagutel’s lawful husband who, as the whole of Sincan knew, had spent a tidy sum on her and bought her everything she could possibly wish for. In addition, it was common knowledge that back in happier days, Tagutel once had declared to Joost: “If I [ever] would be unfaithful, you may freely have me killed as I am aware of Dutch customs.” ²⁸

The words with which Tagutel addressed Joost, as well as the way in which she tried to keep secret about her adultery case, revealed the double moral standards she employed. On the one hand she was the wedded Christian wife of a Company official. Having received some instruction in catechism preceding her baptism, she must have been aware of the importance attached to marriage by Protestant Christians. Notably their belief in the irrevocability of marital bonds, and that those ties were believed to be predestined by God. As appears from Tagutel’s own utterances, she understood something of this viewpoint as she connected unfaithfulness with death. ²⁹ At the same time, this knowledge did not prevent her from having a sexual relationship with a man other than her husband, something which according to her ancestral customs was not considered to be wrong at all, if only it did not happen in public. Tagutel’s initial attempt to deny her affair with Packoy then could be seen as an effort to keep it under cover, so that her formal relationship with Joost did not have to be dissolved.

About Vacca, it was clear that she wished her marriage with Tidiris to be terminated in order to continue her relationship with her lover Gavail. To reach her goal she went into hiding for some time with her partner, a course of action perfectly in line with customary law. In addition, she had sent somebody of her own kin, in this case her father, to negotiate with the offended party about the amount of the compensation necessary to dissolve her marriage and satisfy her aggrieved ex-husband.

2.5 Epilogue

In this chapter, attention was given to some of the profound transformations that occurred within the sphere of gender relations in traditional Sincan society, following upon the introduction of Christianity. We have taken a look at indigenous Siraya culture with regard to marriage and sexual morals and learned how the inhabitants dwelling on Formosa’s south western plains were deeply influenced by the teachings of the two pioneer missionaries Candidius and Junius. Their converts proved to be willing to take over the Christian concept of marriage to the extent of living together as wedding partners in a conjugal household while raising children. This change in opinion about the role of marital ties in the community side tracked the once powerful Inibs, the priestesses who guided the villagers through their cycle of life before.

In addition, we came to understand that the Sincan did not simply accept all the new religious rules, principles and strict precepts that were enforced on them. Consequently, minister Candidius’s ideal to instill the Christian faith into the minds and souls of his converts clearly was aiming too high. The documentary sources that have been explored in this chapter bear witness to a local process in which many Sincan villagers were filtering and bending Christian values in order to fit them into the reality of their own original cultural code.

Notes

• 1. Missive minister R. Junius to governor H. Putmans. Sincan, 25 November 1633, Dutch National Archives, The Hague (NL-HaNA), Teding van Berkhout Collection (Teding) 15, fol. 2–3. Published in the series: Blussé et al. (1999) (Hereafter: Encounter I), pp. 221–224.

• 2. Ibidem.

• 3. The inhabitants of Sincan (Today’s Hsin-kang/Xingang in Tainan county) are classified as Austronesian people belonging to the ethnolinguistic group the Siraya. In general the term Aborigines (yüan chu min) is applied: Shepherd (1993: 62–68), Macapali (2008: xxxiv–xxxvii); A critical approach on the conceptualization of Siraya communities in the Dutch sources is: Peter Kang ‘A Brief Note on the Possible Factors Contributing to the Large Village Size of the Siraya in the Early Seventeenth Century’ in Blussé (2003: pp. 111–127). I prefer the term inhabitants, indigenous peoples or Formosans, the literal translations of the designations used in the original manuscripts.

• 4. Discours ende cort Verhael van ’t Eijlant Formosa, minister G. Candidius. Sincan, 27 December 1628, Het Utrechts Archief (HUA) 67, Huydecoper Family Archive (Huydecoper) no. 621. Published in: Encounter I, 91–133.

• 5. The Siraya belong to the “Plains tribes” (p’ing p’u tzu): Shephard, Statecraft, 31, 415–417, 451; For an overview of the different Austronesian groupings and their encounters with officials in service of the East India Company (Verenigde Oost Indische Compagnie: VOC) see: Hsin-hui (2008). A compilation of the available original VOC documents on the indigenous peoples of Taiwan is: Blussé and Everts (1999–2010).

• 6. Continuation of Discourse, by G. Candidius [December 1628], HUA, 67, Huydecoper, no. 621. Published in: Encounter I, 134–137. See also Kang, ‘Brief Note’ 122–124.

• 7. Discourse, 1628, HUA, 67, Huydecoper, no. 621. Published in: Encounter I, 91–133.

• 8. Ibidem, I,103–105, 124–127. An indication of a matrilocal pattern of residence.

• 9. Ibidem, I, 105, 126; Shepherd (1995: pp. 41–46). In a profound analysis of Candidius’ account and the Sirayan construction of gender, Shepherd relates abortion to the male roles in warfare and headhunting. The Inibs were indeed deprived of their dominance: Blussé (2006).

• 10. Discourse, 1628, HUA, 67, Huydecoper, no. 621. Published in: Encounter I, 91–133.

• 11. Ibidem, 91–133.

• 12. Ibidem, 91–133.

• 13. Continuation of the Discourse, [1628], HUA, 67, Huydecoper, no. 621. Published in: Encounter I, 134–137.

• 14. Van Deursen (1992: pp. 291–296). Children from parents who did not belong to the Dutch Reformed Church could be baptized in the presence of a witness, who had to make the vow. See: Idem (1991: pp. 136–137).

• 15. Van Deursen (1992: 294); Schutte (2002: pp. 19, 22–23).

• 16. Van Deursen (1992: 118).

• 17. Memorandum minister G. Candidius to governor P. Nuyts on the Christianization of Formosa (undated), Campbell (1992 [1903]: 91–92).

• 18. Roodenburg (1990: 86).

• 19. Missive minister G. Candidius to governor-general J. Pietersz. Coen. Sincan, 20 August 1628, NL-HaNA, Archives of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) 1096, fol. 199–202. Published in: Encounter I, 79–89.

• 20. Missive minister G. Candidius to governor H. Putmans. Sincan, 25 November 1633, NL-HaNA, Teding 15, fol. 3–4. Published in: Encounter I, 225–227.

• 21. Missive minister R. Junius to the directors of the Amsterdam Chamber of the East India Company, 5 September 1636, in: Formosa under the Dutch, 116. For the background of Candidius’ and Junius’ missionary zeal, see: Ginsel (1931) passim; Leonard Blussé, ‘De Formosaanse Proeftuyn der Gereformeerde Zending,’ in: Schutte (2002: 189–200); L.J. Joosse ‘Kerk en Zendingsbevel’ in Idem, 25–42.

• 22. Missive minister R. Junius to governor-general A. van Diemen. Tayouan, 23 October 1640, Published in: Campbell (1992: 186). The Governor-General was the supreme administrator of the VOC, stationed in Batavia (modern Jakarta) on Java.

• 23. Missive governor P. Traudenius to the Amsterdam Chamber. Tayouan, 30 October 1641, NL-HaNA, VOC 1140, fol. 214–216. Published in: Blussé and Everts (2000: pp. 270–273).

• 24. Shepherd (1993: 62–68)

• 25. Missive minister R. Junius to governor H. Putmans. Sincan, 25 November 1633. NL-HaNA, Teding 15, fol. 2–3. Published in: Encounter I, 221–224.

• 26. Missive minister R. Junius to governor H. Putmans. Sincan, 15 August 1636. NL-HaNA, Teding 15, fol. 31–33. Published in: Encounter II, 90–95.

• 27. Ibidem, 90–95.

• 28. Ibidem, 90–95.

• 29. Besides being educated in the basics of Christianity, Tagutel was tied to Joost’s culture by the bonds of marriage. For the importance of intercultural marriage as a means of introducing new ideas in a community see: Brown (2004: pp. 134–155).