Map of the action at Tamsui, 8 October 1884, by Captain Garnot
It was a great pleasure to do these two podcasts with my old friend John Grant Ross, founding member of Camphor Press, and writer of Formosan Odyssey, his first Taiwan book, Taiwan in 100 Books – his best Taiwan book, in my view – and other works. John was also an editorial consultant for my own book, Taiwanese Feet: My walk around Taiwan. It was good to get him out of his dusty town in Chiayi and up here in the bustling metropolis of Taipei for some intelligent conversation and a few beers.
John Ross and Eryk Michael Smith have been doing some fantastic podcasts on the Formosa Files. The format for the two episodes I did with them is a bit different, as they take the form of a “walking and talking tour”. The subject matter is the Battle of Tamsui, October 2nd to 8th, 1884, which was part of the Keelung Campaign of the Sino-French War, August 1884 to April 1885. I thought it would be helpful to add some visuals to augment the listening experience, if only after the fact. So please find below the links to the podcasts, and some maps and pictures of the sites mentioned in them.
A note on photos: Most are unattributed, meaning they are mine or John’s or copyright-free pics from the Internet. But a few of them, the best ones, are from KJ Dickson, an excellent photographer who I have collaborated with on another project. More about that project and a link to KJ’s site at the bottom.
NOTE: Embedded links are not working, so to listen to the podcasts, please just go to the Formosa Files website and scroll down.
The two episodes are: (These are not links)
S3-E19 – Two Johns Take a “Walking Tour” in Historic Tamsui 淡水 – Part One
S3-E20 – John Groot and John Ross Walk and Talk Historic Tamsui 淡水 – Part Two
Scroll down to S3-E19 first.
Visual references
Here are a few Google Earth images. The first one is an overall look at riverside Tamsui for your reference. The second one is the main area covered in our first podcast, marked with numbers, lines and images. Below that will be some text naming and explaining the numbered locations. Following that will be another marked-up Earth image detailing the sites of the second podcast, followed again by explanatory text.
INFORMATION FOR ABOVE MAP
1: Shalun Beach: Landing site for the French Marines on Oct. 8, 1884
2: Location of French ships shelling Tamsui on Oct. 2, 1884
3: Fisherman’s Wharf. Area inside dotted line is reclaimed land.
4. Mound: Used to signal retreat of French forces just before noon on Oct. 8
5. Position of Qing underwater barrier of sunken barges (brown), submerged sea-mines (red) with their detonation cables stretching back to the sea-mine engineers’ camp.
6. Fort Blanc (White Fort), Qing defensive and artillery position.
7. Sea-mine engineers’ camp
8. Fort Neuf (New Fort): Main Qing encampment and artillery position in Tamsui.
9. Wadianbi: Small bridge over a stream where the French were finally stopped and forced to retreat.
10. Danjiang Bridge, under construction
(THE ABOVE NUMBERS DO NOT REFER TO THE MAP DIRECTLY BELOW)
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INFORMATION FOR MAP ABOVE
1. Tamsui customs wharf
2. Hobe Port
3. The Red Fort aka Fort San Domingo
4. Aletheia University (Zhenli Daxue) formerly Oxford College. On Zhenli Street (upper left dotted line), and next to many other historical buildings.
5. Tamsui Customs Officer’s Residence (Little White House)
6. Mackay Street (lower right dotted line) and Mackay’s first residence in Tamsui (line on right under number)
7. Tamsui Presbyterian Church, next to the Tamsui Mackay Clinic
8. The triangular park with the statue of George Leslie Mackay
9. Fuyou Mazu Temple
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A FEW CLARIFICATIONS
There are a few points as follows to add to the second podcast, S3 E20, for greater accuracy and context. The numbers are the times of the relevant sections in the podcast.
9:18 Re: HMS Cockchafer: A cockchafer is a kind of beetle.
10:34 The English name for Zhenli Daxue is Aletheia University. But most people in Tamsui call it Zhenli University.
14:02 There were no reported attacks on foreign residents in Tamsui during the battle. However, after the battle, there was a wave of wider anti-foreign sentiment, and threats made against Mackay, who felt compelled to move to Hong Kong until April 1885, when he returned to Tamsui.
NOW, HERE ARE SOME PICTURES OF THE SITES MENTIONED IN THE PODCAST
French warships bombard the Chinese coastal defences at Tamsui, 2 October 1884; from left to right the gunboat Vipère, the ironclad Triomphante, the cruiser d’Estaing and the ironclad La Galissonnière.
Myself looking historical
The Mound: Art on the Tamsui LRT. (Photo by KJ Dickson)
The Marines’ landing site on Shalun Beach (Photo by KJ Dickson)
An artist’s impression of the landing. More LRT art. (Photo by KJ Dickson)
How Shalun Beach usually looks.
Commemorative art near the site of the river mines barrier. Bridge construction visible in background.
Commemorative art at Wadianbi, where the French were forced to retreat.
Fort San Domingo: aka the Red Fort
Oxford College, on the campus of present-day Aletheia University
Tamsui Customs Officer’s Residence aka Little White House
Shell crater from October 2nd, 1884 at Little White House
Top end of Mackay Street
George Leslie Mackay’s first residence in Tamsui in 1872
Tamsui Presbyterian Church and the original Mackay Clinic (Photo by KJ Dickson)
From left to right: French Admiral Amédée Courbet, commander of the Far East Squadron; John Grant Ross, content creator; and Liu Mingchuan, Imperial Commissioner (and later governor) of Taiwan.
A SPECIAL THANKS TO KEN DICKSON
Going by the photographer’s name “KJ Dickson”, Ken is an old friend, a lovely fellow, and a great photographer. His pictures look far better than the pale renderings of them I’ve managed here. Check out his professional website by clicking on the link below:
https://www.lookthroughthelens.com/
Ken and I collaborated on an article on the Battle of Tamsui for Centered on Taipei, the magazine of the Community Services Center. The link to that article is here:
The article starts on page 17.
ENDING NOTE: The next blog post will be a special one about the family of Dr. Hong-Ming Cheng, who have deep historical roots in Tamsui.
And finally, a shameless plug for my book: Taiwanese Feet: My walk around Taiwan. You can find it on Amazon. Or email me at taiwanese DOT feet AT gmail DOT com.
See you next time!
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The Culture Shack 