【Introduction】
In September of the third year of EmperorTienqi of the Ming Dynasty (1623), the troops of the Dutch East India Company (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, VOC in Dutch) settled in Anping and constructed a bamboo stockade there. Due to the precarious situation of the Pescadores (Penghu) following the raids of the Ming troops, the VOC demolished the stockade and retreated. The next year, in July 1624, the Dutch occupied Taiwan and Martinus Sonck was made the first governor. Sonck ordered construction of a fort at the same location of the previous stockade. Built from sand, mortar and timber, the fort was named Orange. In 1627, after the city walls were changed to brick, it was renamed Fort Zeelandia and becoming the political and commercial center of Dutch-ruled Taiwan.
In 1661, (the 15th year of Emperor Yongli ), Koxinga, also known as Yanping Lord, drove out the Dutch and settled in Fort Zeelandia. The city was thus called by the locals “the Lord’s City.” After being taken over by the Manchurian Qing regime, the fort was made an armament bureau. In 1871, an explosion occurred in the arsenal, and the surviving bricks were taken by the troops and civilians to build and repair their houses. As large quantities of the bricks were removed from the site, the broken walls fell into a ruinous state. During the period under Japanese rule, when the Anping Customs Dormitory was being built, the remains of the fort were leveled to make way for the construction. Afterwards, a square-shaped, elevated platform was built at the location and at the center of the platform a western-style building with design of arches and vaults was constructed. These make up what is known today as the Anping Fort. Currently, the foundation of a semicircular bastion and parts of the wall still remain at the right side of the fort.