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Updated Wednesday, August 5, 2009 9:45 am TWN, The China Post news staff

29 ancient cannons on Kinmen Island said to be cast in 1676

Dr. Huang Yi-nung, right, inspects one of the old cannons on the offshore island. (CNA)

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29 ancient cannons on Kinmen Island said to be cast in 1676

KINMEN, Taiwan -- Dr. Huang Yi-nung, member of the Academia Sinica, has identified the 29 old cannons unearthed on Kinmen as those cast in 1636.

He visited the offshore island yesterday and inspected the cannons, discovered earlier this year. He was accompanied by an Academia Sinica assistant researcher, Dr. Chen Wei-chun.

They said Cheng Ching, the heir to Koxinga, had the smooth-bore artillery pieces cast for his war junks. Koxinga drove out the Dutch from Taiwan in 1662. Cheng Ching led an expedition to the China mainland during what is known as the Rebellion of the Three Feudatories, with Kinmen or Quemoy as his base.

His war junks engaged the Dutch fleet sent from Amsterdam to help the Qing Manchu army in the late 1770s. His heir Cheng Keh-shuang surrendered to the Qing court in 1682. Taiwan was annexed by China a year later.

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