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... to attack Zheng's forces and many of his generals had died in battle which left him and his remaining coastal resistance no option but to retreat back to the coastal province of Fujian. Prince Gui (Emperor Yongli), received from him the title of "Prince of Anping Prefecture, " and waged war against the Qing army in the coastal regions of Fujian, Guangdong and Zhejiang. Dongshan Island off the shore of the Fujian province, was one of Zheng's military bases where he trained soldiers and built his warships. Although he was frequently referred to as a pirate, just like his father, there are no historical records that point to this fact. It seems that although Zheng Cheng-Gong freely and regularly uses his fathers fleet to resist the Qing Dynasty, there is no indication and documentation that he ever was engaged in privateering or smuggling of any kind.
In the beginning of 1661, Zheng Cheng-Gong was forced to look for a safer base of operation after the Qing troops initiated an unsuccessful attack on his capital of Xiamen. He turned to Formosa, or Taiwan and led his troops across the Taiwan Straight from Xiamen Island. Zheng Cheng-Gong sailed to Taiwan after the Qing's attack on Xiamen to reorganize and mobilize for further resistance to the Manchurian's. But first, they have to defeat the Dutch colonizers before they can use the island. The Ming loyalist troops landed at Luermen ready to attack the Dutch in Taiwan. They immediately besieged the Dutch, instigated a powerful and monumental onslaught on Taiwan.
After numerous attacks, defenses and exchanges of written communication, at the end of January 1662, the Dutch resolved to negotiate and surrender. On February 1, 1662, barely a year after they begun their attacks, both sides signed a treaty. The Dutch left the goods and property behind at Fort Zeelandia, but all officials, soldiers and ordinary people were free to leave Taiwan, with their personal belongings and supplies. The Dutch Governor of Taiwan, Frederik Coyett, surrendered Fort Zeelandia to the Chinese invaders on February 9.
Badly outnumbered and outgunned, not to mention outmaneuvered; added to the fact that there is an on-going native revolt, the Dutch were easily defeated and driven off the island. The victorious attack of Zheng Cheng-Gong and his troops against the Dutch colonizers effectively ended thirty-eight years of Dutch rule and generally rendered a severe blow to the western colonizers. Frederick Coijett, handed over the keys to the fort, and led two thousand people back, by sea, to Batavia (modern-day Jakarta). There was even an unaccounted report that after the defeat of the Dutch, Zheng Cheng-Gong was noted to have sent a missive to the Spanish conquerors of the Philippines that they will be the next casualties of his anti-western maneuver. He died before he could carry out his threat, but the Spanish took it very seriously.
The Spaniards in the Philippines commenced to build a strong wall to protect Manila (some of the walls build at that time can still be seen around the Intramuros area). Although the forewarning was real, Chenggong's heirs were too divided to make any effort to carry out the threat when he suddenly died. The Chinese conquerors, led by their leader, Zheng Cheng-Gong then devoted themselves to making Taiwan into an effective base for anti-Qing sympathizers who wanted to restore the Ming Dynasty to power. When Koxinga and his troops expelled the Dutch on February 1, 1661 he re-named Zeelandia Castle as Imperial Castle before the year ends. And thus began the reign of Koxinga, establishing the first Han Chinese political rule in Taiwan's history. When the Dutch left Taiwan in February after both parties signed a treaty, Koxinga kept the Dutch's system of government.
The administration of the island is seated in Chentian-Fu while military affairs were delegated to Anping. Besides geographical feature, Anping Fort had the most complete scale of equipment and because of the reinforcement carried out by the Dutch, Anping Fort had a 3 -layer structure. The upper one had about 900 level grounds with western fortress and the middle was the meeting room and offices. As for the lower one was a store for weapons, ammunition and food. There were a police office, a court, markets, a jail and a public place of entertainment in Anping Street. (the full article can be retrieved from the website of Anping Harbor National Historical Park web). Even with a very short reign as the first Han Chinese ruler of Taiwan, Zhang Chang-Gong was able to bring Han's literature and traditional religion into the consciousness of the native people of Taiwan.
He built Confucius Temple as the first school in Taiwan. They also built Matsu Temple to consecrate Matsu, the deity who helped them many times in their time of trepidations. Because Zheng considers himself more of a scholar than a patriot, he encouraged people from the mainland to become residents of Taiwan. According to some historical record over 800 literati and officialdom followed Koxinga to Taiwan right after he established his rule. Zheng was instrumental in the migration of Shen Guang-Wen, the founder of Taiwan's literature, to Taiwan. Taiwan's poetry, literature were all started from him.
His writings have a deep and far influence in Taiwan's literature. He was the advocator of immigration literature, country literature, hermit literature and folk literature. The literature of the new Taiwan under the Han Chinese ruler flourishes. The glorious victory against the Dutch was the only success Zheng Cheng-Gong experience for in 1662 he reportedly died of malaria on the mosquito infested island of Taiwan. There were speculations, though, that he died in a sudden fit of madness when he ordered his men but they refused to execute his son, Zheng Jing who was left in Xiamen when he went to Taiwan for allegedly having an affair with a nurse.
Then there was the news about his his father, Zheng Zhi long, who was sent into exile in the northeast of China at the end of 1661, and was later put to death in Beijing because his son had rebelled against the Qing. The Qing court was really bent on punishing Zheng Cheng-Gong that they even sent people to desecrate his family's ancestral graves, all of which made him extremely upset and indignant. In actual fact, the real cause of his death was most likely the contraction of malaria, because the Taiwan of those days was rife with the contagious diseases, and malaria claimed countless lives even the very strong. Koxinga died in his prime, he was only thirty-eight.
He has fought and won a lot of battles but malaria was the fateful hand of death which took his life. The other stories described above are simply the exaggerated legends of a folk hero. When he died, his kingdom of Tung-ning was inherited by his son, Zheng Qing, and then by the third generation, his grandson, Zheng Keshuang, who was defeated and overthrown in 1683 by a Qing general named Shi Lang. Although Koxinga's time in Taiwan was short, he left behind many stories and legends.
Zheng descendants and followers led by his widow continued to fight the Qing Dynasty using Taiwan as the springboard. The Zheng group in Taiwan carried out frequent raids and forays on Mainland Chinas eastern coast. The newly established Ching empire was still preoccupied trying to iron out domestic conflicts and so was unable to readily send expedition to suppress the Ming loyalist in Taiwan. The Qing tried to destroy his supply and support strongholds along the coast by ordering the destruction of all towns and villages along the southern coast and the resettlement of the population away from the coast in the hinterland. In the end, Koxinga's successors surrendered after twenty-two years of repulsing the Qing Dynasty. It seems that they are not as capable as he was and besides there is a great amount of intrigues within the group.
Thus, the Qing armada easily conquered Taiwan in 1683. The Qing Dynasty occupied Taiwan for two hundred eleven years until 1895. The Zheng Cheng-Gong Legacy The Chinese general, Zheng Cheng-Gong is an interesting figure in history not only because of his achievements and military prowess but also for the fact that people from all walks of life respected him and considered him a hero if not a deity to be invoked. Even before the Qing Dynasty ultimately vanquished the last of the Ming loyalist, they are ready to honor and confer on Zheng Cheng-Gong the title Paragon of Loyalty -- -a hero to be identified with because of his undying devotion to his emperor. The move was doubtless inspired and spurred by the fact that even when family and friends deserted and betrayed the Ming cause and eventually Zheng, himself -- -he remained loyal and constant to his purpose and motive. Koxinga has become a sanctified historical figure in Taiwan, and so many legends concerning him abound in different places.
The temple dedicated to him and his mother is ceaselessly filled with the smell of incense in all four seasons. Tales about this valiant warrior and sage abound in Taiwan. It seems that these tales reflect the fact that Koxinga brought the Han Chinese to Taiwan. The Chinese people of Taiwan considered him a deity and descendants of the first Taiwanese (the product of inter-marriages between the Taiwan and the Chinese) were grateful for his dedications and virtue. The Taiwanese see Koxinga (even at present) as the original ancestor who opened up the country to independence and free Taiwan from the western colonizers. This is the reason why he is known as the "sage king who opened up Taiwan, " and worshiped as a deity.
Taiwan has a total of sixty-three temples devoted to this "sage king, " the most representative of which is Tainan's "Shrine of the Prince of Anping Prefecture. " Modern Chinese and Taiwanese are reviving and refreshing his role in the Taiwanese invasion in 1661. Both Beijing and Taipei are using him for the same purpose -- - the battles of words and propaganda over their conflict on the identity of Taiwan. The Beijing group wants to recognize him as a Chinese loyalist who reunified Taiwan with the Mainland; Taipei on one hand, perceives him as someone like the Biblical character Moses who led his people to the land of milk and honey as Vice President Annette Lu put it. He is a savior who fled his native land to provide a new country for his people. Zheng Chenggong left a complicated legacy.
He is claimed as a 'national' hero by the Peoples Republic of China, the Republic of China, and in even in Japan. He is the subject of numerous plays, stories, movies, and television shows extolling his virtues. During the period of Japanese colonial rule on Taiwan, when Taiwan was ceded to Japan, in the Treaty of Shimonoseki, Zheng Cheng-Gong, with his mixed heritage, was held up as a symbol of the connections between Japan and the island. Thus, there was an almost harmonious relationship between the Taiwanese and the Japanese who ruled the island for fifty years. He has been considered a national hero by Chinese nationalists both in Mainland China and on Taiwan because he was a Ming loyalist and an anti-Manchu leader and for his role in expelling the Dutch from Taiwan which Chinese nationalists portray as establishing Chinese rule over the island.
But the fact that he and his troops were being chased by the Qing court because of the revolt they instigated in the mainland was not considered. Zheng Cheng-Gong happened to be in Taiwan not to liberate it and establish Chinese rule but rather to fortify his own troops which was dwindling. The defeat of the Dutch army was but a circumstantial element on the scheme of things. Neither was he a-would-be Chiang Kai-shek, he might have gone to Taiwan to strengthen his forces yet it was not clear whether he has a plan to come back to China and liberate it from the Qing.
In fact, it was rumored that before he died, he threatened the Spaniards in the Philippines about a possible hostile attack from his troops to gain the Luzon-China Trade. The Taiwanese, on another hand, try to present him in a positive light by portraying him as a native Taiwanese hero seeking to keep Taiwan independent from a mainland Chinese government (i. e. the Manchus). Yet, Zheng Cheng-Gong is not interested in Taiwan. What he wants is to re-established the Ming Dynasty in mainland China and if ever on the process, he was able to repulse the Qing conquerors from invading Taiwan, it is so because of the fact that he wants to continue fortifying his troops and use Taiwan as the base for all his military maneuvers.
Zheng Cheng-Gong is indeed a well disciplined military leader bent on holding the fort against the newly established Qing dynasty and preserving it for the eventual renaissance of the Ming. He was an ordinary man subject to self-interest and selfish gains. He plan his success not for altruistic reasons but rather for self preservation, power and possibly wealth. Zheng Cheng-Gong became the last loyal defender of the Ming dynasty. The Dutch and Manchus considered him a pirate.
The English and Spanish called him a king. Some Chinese thought him the former, others the latter, but Koxinga thought of himself as a scholar and patriot. The colliding views attributed to Zheng Cheng-Gong by different conflicting political forces both in China and Taiwan only shows how complex the man is yet modern day people tend to simplify his character and motives by focusing on one attribute of the man to the exclusion of others. The motive behind this is to use the famous and highly acclaimed Fujian military warrior as a model which will strengthen their individual propaganda. Both parties wanted to portray Koxinga as their very own hero, and thus they have to play down the less savory aspects of the mans character to fit into the mold of the portrayal they would like to bestow on him. The man is not being honored as he is but rather by what his character can contribute to the cause of both parties -- - the Peoples Republic of China and Republic of China.
Works Cited BOOK Clements, Jonathan. Pirate King: Koxinga and the Fall of the Ming Dynasty. Gloucester, England: Sutton Publishing, 2004. Davidson, Gary Marvin. A Short History of Taiwan: The Case of Independence.
Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 2000. Willis, John E. Jr. Mountain of Fame: Portraits in Chinese History. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1994.
WEBSITE Forney, Matthew. The Real Battle of Taiwan. April 30, 2001, Time Inc. Retrieved on May 7, 2007 from
Biographical Database, Imperial China (? ? ? - 1644). n. d. , Retrieved on May 7, 2007 from < web >. N.
N. Encyclopedia Britannica, Zheng Chenggong. 2007, Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Retrieved on May 8, 2007 from < web >.
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