Het Inkomen van de Haven van Aimoey Van Rio Chinchew af tot de Erasmus Baay onder Quemoey

The Van Keulen publishing house, In de Gekroonde Lootsman (“In the Crowned Pilot”), was founded in Amsterdam by Johannes van Keulen I in 1678 and became one of the leading Dutch firms producing maps, sea charts, atlases, and pilot books. After Johannes I and his son Gerard developed the business, it passed to Gerard’s son, Johannes van Keulen II. Johannes II is especially known for issuing the sixth and final volume of De nieuwe groote lichtende Zee-fakkel in 1753, devoted to Asian and Indian Ocean navigation. The volume brought into print closely guarded VOC hydrographic knowledge, including information derived from manuscript charts and sailing directions that had previously been restricted because of their commercial and strategic value.

The Zee-fakkel included this sea chart showing the entrance to the harbour of Aimoey, now Xiamen, from Rio Chinchew to Erasmus Baay under Quemoy, now Kinmen. It forms part of the China-coast material in the 1753 Zee-fakkel and provides practical information for approaching one of the important maritime centres on the Fujian coast.

The chart includes depth soundings in fathoms, secure anchorages, islands, coastal features, and landmarks needed for navigation. Xiamen, known to Europeans as Amoy, was an important seaport, while Kinmen guarded approaches to the harbour. The region also had wider political significance through its association with Zheng Chenggong, known in European sources as Koxinga, whose maritime power was centred in this coastal world before his conquest of Taiwan.

This chart is closely connected with Van Keulen’s other China-coast charts in the collection, especially the Pescadores chart (317) and the Zhoushan/Ningbo coast chart (387). Together, they show the close attention given in the 1753 Zee-fakkel to the navigational approaches between Fujian, Taiwan, the Pescadores, and the China coast.