翻開台灣的歷史,從有印象以來,早期的台灣和西方世界的接觸的始終相當模糊,這塊土地在十七世紀實際上已經躍上了世界的舞台,但是我們對於當時的歷史記憶又跑到哪裡去了?希望藉著整理現有的史料,從中建構自己土地文化的早期歷史與文化記憶。荷西兩國或許在動機、神學立場、貿易考量的角度,或來台的團體性質上都有很大的差異,進而造就了兩種截然不同情勢的殖民地處境和經營方式,但在信仰上卻不論是新教或是舊教,都是在基督宗教的信仰脈絡下,在十七世紀的時空背景下,這樣的共同背景卻也造成荷西彼此的矛盾與衝突。1624~1642年幾十年間,荷蘭與西班牙各自投入大量人力與財力,在福爾摩沙島上企圖建立起一個海外的基督化地區,他們抱持著不同的動機和企圖,在這樣的經濟動機與政治環境下,忠心的神的僕人們仍抱著主所託付的使命投入了一個又一個的生命。對於這群完全異於歐洲文化的原住民來說,基督教世界觀下的荷蘭與西班牙文化,都是完全無法套用在原本他們生活經驗中的一種全新的經驗,不論他們是否能夠理解這些外來者企圖表達的內容,或在時空背景下存在著另一種利益關係,當中,他們所能體會的還是來自於傳教士們的愛,這也成為他們接納外來文化與信仰的關鍵因素。
When most people think of Taiwan’s history, they find a blurry line at the moment contact with western culture began. In western history Formosa is not a total stranger to colonizing empires. We want to sort out our own history aside from a European point of view, and want to try to recover our own view of Taiwan’s early history from ancient documents. The Dutch and Spanish motivations for colonization were very different; theological stands and economic considerations. Even these two countries mission group members were so very different. This caused different situations and ways of managing the colony. Even though the Dutch and Spanish have Christianity as their same belief, during the 17th century a conflict between these two countries occurred. During 1624-1642 Dutch and Spanish invested greatly monetarily and with labor in the development of Formosa. They wanted to build a Christian colony overseas.