The Founder

## The founders beginnings

The founder was born most likely some time around the year 1620 in what is today Guangdong in southern China. His early life is not really known except for the face that in 1644, he fled Guangdong to the island of Hainan with other refugees fleeing the Manchurian Qing Dynasty. He would reside on the island of Hainan for the next 2 years until 1646 when it is said a ship of around 270 Ming loyalists set sail from Hainan to Taiwan. The ship would sail for 2 months between late July and September before a monsoon swept across the sea, and took the ship down. Everyone on board would perish except the founder, who would wash ashore on the island of Natal sometime in November of 1646. We know of his early experiences through oral tradition passed down through generations of islanders.

### The flower

When the founder washed ashore, the island of Natan was being bombarded by heavy rains and winds due to the monsoons passing through. These winds were strong enough to rip trees from their roots, and the rains flooded many of the lower regions of the island. The founder, knowing fully that he could not survive these conditions attempted to find shelter, and soon stumbled across a ravine, with a river running through it. As he entered the ravine, he noticed a dim orange light coming from a small opening in the rocks. He entered the cave and saw a small orange flower with an aura around, and nectar on its leaves. He had had nothing to drink for almost a day, and would surely die of dehydration, so he picked the flower and had the nectar. After he had it, he described what occurred next as such:

"It seemed the injuries I sustained on my ill fated journey across the sea have been almost completely healed by whatever this flower contains. For the first time in months, I feel almost calm and soothed in a way. I know not of what this flower is, nor how it has done what it did, but with this new knowledge I will be sure to learn as much as I am able to about it."

He picked the flower and remained in the cave for some time, waiting for the weather to pass. As the weather calmed down over the coming days, he began his journey out of the cave and started looking for anything or anyone that could help him.

### Experiences with the natives

The founder was said to have wandered for 2 days before he stumbled upon a native village. There, he was welcomed in by the natives and given amenities such as food and water. He would use the natives help to found a small settlement in the bay of rén, that would begin to attract new settlers who might have been blown off course. The founder, although being helped and somewhat helping the natives, did not trust them. He wrote of them:

"These things, although kind seem to be weary of me and my actions. I hear the small whispers through the night in their native tongue that I can not understand. I fear that as this settlement grows, and brings civilization to this barren island, they will begin enacting hostilities upon me and my people."

The founders fears were not without merit, as the natives also had these same fears towards the founder and his people, with one native chief saying:

"How many more of these people will come. They have already reached a third of our numbers and do not seem to be slowing down. If they continue to come we will have no choice but to fight back against the invader."

This chief, whos name was Foros, would begin to rally other fishmen to his side to push out the Natan people. He would go around to many villagers along the northern and western coast, convincing other chiefs to join him in his cause to "Save our people, and push the invader back out to the sea". Through his urging, he managed to gather 4000 native soldiers to raid and attempt to destroy the founders settlement. The raid would see the death of captain xi-huang Xu, a trusted advisor and friend of the founder, and the death or capture of 86 Natan men, women and children to an unknown fate.

##### Foros war

After the raid on the settlement, the natives would retreat back to their villages and attempt to consolidate their presence in the mountains. Also in response to the raid, the founder called upon hundreds of men to help him retaliate against the natives. He would set off in December of 1648 and would give the order to "burn all that you see, no matter if it is abandoned or settled by thousands.". This event would be known as the great arson, and saw the destruction and arson of hundreds of native homes across the main island. The natives upon seeing this, would launch a raid across the outskirts of the settlement, burning every field of rice they found and destroying all buildings in their way, they also massacred or kidnapped 200+ settlers. These two events would bring on the "period of darkness" which was a time of constant famine and war between the end of 1648 and the beginning of 1650. This raid would also mark a turning point in the war, with the natives only being on the defensive after. This raid also marked the departure of almost 7000 settlers of Natan, which was about a third of the population at the time.

The founder would launch one last campaign in late May of 1649, with the goal of destroying every native village and town in the northern and western regions of the island. He described their mission as that of "Survival and glory for our people". He raised an army of 8000 men, women and children to begin marching from their settlement in the bay of rén through the dense forests and mountains across the island. The expedition lasted 7 months and saw the destruction of every major and minor outpost of natives on the island. The battle of the shells beach, which was the final battle of the war, saw Foros be struck down in battle and hundreds of thousands of natives flee on ships to an unknown fate. Most would perish, but many would reach the northern island after weeks of sailing. Foros' body would be taken back to the main settlement and buried in an unmarked grave on a small remote island. Almost a quarter of the 8000 soldiers who set off would die in battle with the natives, but this victory would cement the founders place in mythology and usher in the period of good fortune for the next 70 years.