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Xiamen
KNOWLEDGE OF Xiamen
When compared with China’s overall dateline that wanders all the way back to 2,000 BC, Xiamen is relatively young. First records of its existence manifested during the Song dynasty (960-1279) when it subsisted as an isolated farming community of 4,000 residents. Its first bout with national significance occurred in the late 1300s when the ruling Ming dynasty took advantage of Xiamen’s coastal location and natural harbor by transforming the city into a frontline of defense against the advances of invading pirates and restless Japanese “expansionists.
During the 1600s, Xiamen began trading with Portugal, followed by Spain, and then the Dutch, who became so enamored with the area’s potential that they attempted to add Taiwan to its colonial empire. It was around this same time that Zheng Chenggong, who was locally known as Koxinga, began cementing his legacy as a warrior. After gaining favor with the Ming dynasty for helping to thwart the Qings (Manchurians) from overrunning China and seizing control of the government, he began focusing on the Dutch dilemma. In 1661, Chenggong assembled a massive fleet of 7,000 junks and almost 300,000 men, including an elite group of soldiers called Tiger Guards (supposedly prospective soldiers were required to lift a 600 pound iron tiger to be considered for service) and an odd assortment of renegade pirates. His makeshift army succeeded in evicting the Dutch from Taiwan. Allegedly he conducted this campaign from a lofty bluff called Sunlight Rock on Gulangyu Island, where a massive statue of a robed Chenggong towers today (Some, mainly local Chamber of Commerce people, even go so far to compare it to being China’s Statue of Liberty.).
The zeal of warfare, however, eventually hijacked his better judgment. Drunk with success he attempted to extend his power to the Philippines. But when the battles began to end in defeat he pinned blame on his uncle and his cousin and had them executed (The spot of execution is noted with a stone marker in Wansai Botanical Park. Overcome with guilt Chenggong took his own life on Taiwan in 1662.
After peace was restored, trading resumed with Europe. Relations remained amicable until the first Opium War (1839-1842) with Great Britain that ended in a resounding defeat for China. Under the provisions of the Treaty of Nanjing, Xiamen was declared one of “Five Treaty Ports granting Great Britain the right to residency. France, Germany and the United States signed similar treaties in the following years and the their influences can be seen today, especially on Gulangyu Island with its wall-to-wall colonial architecture. England would reign over Xiamen until 1939 when Japan invaded.
However, even after Japan was repelled, peace did not find its way into Xiamen. After the People’s Republic of China formed in 1949, Xiamen’s close proximity (three miles) to Taiwanese controlled Jinmen Island made it a battlefront with Taiwan as both islands continually lobbed shells at each other, with the last outburst coming in 1994.
During the 1600s, Xiamen began trading with Portugal, followed by Spain, and then the Dutch, who became so enamored with the area’s potential that they attempted to add Taiwan to its colonial empire. It was around this same time that Zheng Chenggong, who was locally known as Koxinga, began cementing his legacy as a warrior. After gaining favor with the Ming dynasty for helping to thwart the Qings (Manchurians) from overrunning China and seizing control of the government, he began focusing on the Dutch dilemma. In 1661, Chenggong assembled a massive fleet of 7,000 junks and almost 300,000 men, including an elite group of soldiers called Tiger Guards (supposedly prospective soldiers were required to lift a 600 pound iron tiger to be considered for service) and an odd assortment of renegade pirates. His makeshift army succeeded in evicting the Dutch from Taiwan. Allegedly he conducted this campaign from a lofty bluff called Sunlight Rock on Gulangyu Island, where a massive statue of a robed Chenggong towers today (Some, mainly local Chamber of Commerce people, even go so far to compare it to being China’s Statue of Liberty.).
The zeal of warfare, however, eventually hijacked his better judgment. Drunk with success he attempted to extend his power to the Philippines. But when the battles began to end in defeat he pinned blame on his uncle and his cousin and had them executed (The spot of execution is noted with a stone marker in Wansai Botanical Park. Overcome with guilt Chenggong took his own life on Taiwan in 1662.
After peace was restored, trading resumed with Europe. Relations remained amicable until the first Opium War (1839-1842) with Great Britain that ended in a resounding defeat for China. Under the provisions of the Treaty of Nanjing, Xiamen was declared one of “Five Treaty Ports granting Great Britain the right to residency. France, Germany and the United States signed similar treaties in the following years and the their influences can be seen today, especially on Gulangyu Island with its wall-to-wall colonial architecture. England would reign over Xiamen until 1939 when Japan invaded.
However, even after Japan was repelled, peace did not find its way into Xiamen. After the People’s Republic of China formed in 1949, Xiamen’s close proximity (three miles) to Taiwanese controlled Jinmen Island made it a battlefront with Taiwan as both islands continually lobbed shells at each other, with the last outburst coming in 1994.
Chapi