Koxinga

Koxinga (a Westernization of Guoxingye 國姓爺 literally "Lord of the Imperial Surname"; August 1624 – 23 June 1662) or Zheng Chenggong was a Chinese military leader who was born in Hirado, Japan to the Chinese merchant/pirate Zheng Zhilong and his Japanese wife, and died on the Island of Formosa (Taiwan).

A Ming loyalist and the chief commander of the Ming troops on the maritime front for the later emperors of the withering dynasty, Koxinga devoted the last 16 years of his life to resisting the conquest of China by the Manchus. Upon defeating the forces of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) on Formosa in his last campaign in 1661–1662, Koxinga took over the island in order to support his grand campaign against the Manchu-ruled Qing dynasty. After Koxinga's death, his son and successor, Zheng Jing, gradually became the ruler of an independent Kingdom of Tungning, the first Chinese state to rule the island.

Early years
In 1624, Koxinga, whose name at birth was Zheng Sen, was born in Hirado, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan to Zheng Zhilong, a Chinese merchant and pirate, and a Japanese woman, only known as being surnamed Tagawa. He was raised there until the age of seven and then moved to Nan'an county in Quanzhou in Fujian province of China.

In 1638, Koxinga became a Xiucai (a successful candidate) in the imperial examination and became one of the twelve Linshansheng (廩膳生) of Nan'an. In 1641, Koxinga married the niece of Dong Yangxian, an official who was a Jinshi from Hui'an. In 1644, Koxinga studied at the Imperial Nanking University, where he met and became a student of the scholar Qian Qianyi.

In 1644, Beijing fell to rebels led by Li Zicheng and the Chongzhen Emperor hanged himself on a tree at modern-day Jingshan Park in Beijing. Manchu armies aided by Wu Sangui's forces defeated the rebels and took the city. The Ming remnant forces retreated to Nanjing where the Prince Fu ascended to the throne as the Hongguang Emperor. The next year, the Manchu armies led by Dodo advanced south and conquered Yangzhou and Nanjing while the Ming leader defending Yangzhou, Shi Kefa, was killed. The Hongguang Emperor was captured and executed.

Longwu Emperor's reign
In 1645, Prince Tang was installed on the throne as the Longwu Emperor with support from Zheng Zhilong and his family. The Longwu Emperor established his court in Fuzhou, which was controlled by the Zhengs. In the later part of the year, another Ming Prince Lu proclaimed himself as Regent (監國) in Shaoxing and established his own court there. Although Prince Lu and Longwu's regimes stemmed from the same dynasty, both of them pursued different goals.

It was due to the natural defences of Fujian and the military resources of the Zheng family, that the emperor was able to remain safe for some time. The Longwu Emperor granted Zheng Zhilong's son, Zheng Sen, a new personal name, "Chenggong" (success), and the title of Guoxingye ("Lord of the Imperial Surname"; Koxinga).

In 1646, Koxinga first led the Ming armies to resist the Manchurian invaders and won the favour of the Longwu Emperor. The Longwu Emperor's reign in Fuzhou was brief, as Zheng Zhilong refused to support his plans for a counter-offensive against the rapidly-expanding forces of the newly established Qing Dynasty by the Manchus. Zheng Zhilong ordered the defending general of Xianxia Pass (仙霞關), Shi Fu (a.k.a. Shi Tianfu, a relative of Shi Lang), to retreat to Fuzhou even when Qing armies approached Fujian. As such, the Qing army faced little resistance when it conquered the north of the pass. In September 1646, Qing armies broke through inadequately defended mountain passes and entered Fujian. Zheng Zhilong retreated to his coastal fortress and the Longwu Emperor faced the Qing armies alone. Longwu's forces were destroyed and he was captured and died shortly afterwards.

Zheng Zhilong's surrender and the death of Tagawa
The Qing forces sent envoys to meet Zheng Zhilong secretly and they offered to appoint him as the governor of both Fujian and Guangdong provinces if he would surrender to Qing. Zheng Zhilong agreed and ignored the objections of his family, surrendering himself to the Qing forces in Fuzhou on 21 November 1646. Koxinga and his uncles were left as the successors to the leadership of Zheng Zhilong's military forces. Koxinga operated outside Xiamen and recruited many to join his cause in a few months. He used the superiority of his naval forces to launch amphibious raids on Manchu-occupied territory in Fujian and he managed to take Tong'an in Quanzhou prefecture in early 1647. However, Koxinga's forces lacked the ability to defend the newly occupied territory.

Following the fall of Tong'an to Zheng, the Manchus launched a counterattack in the spring of 1647, during which they stormed the Zheng family's hometown of Anping. Koxinga's mother, Lady Tagawa, had come from Japan in 1645 to join her family in Fujian (Koxinga's younger brother, Tagawa Shichizaemon, remained in Japan). She did not follow her husband to surrender to the Qing Dynasty. She was caught by Manchu forces in Anping and committed suicide after refusal to submit to the enemy, according to traditional accounts.

Resisting the Qing Dynasty


By 1650, Koxinga was strong enough to establish himself as the head of the Zheng family. He pledged allegiance to the only remaining claimant to the throne of the Ming Dynasty, the Yongli Emperor. The Yongli Emperor was fleeing from the Manchus in south-western China with a motley court and hastily assembled army at the time. Despite one fruitless attempt, Koxinga was unable to do anything to aid the last Ming emperor. Instead, he decided to concentrate on securing his own position on the southeast coast.

Koxinga enjoyed a series of military successes in 1651 and 1652 that increased the Qing government's anxiety over the threat he posed. The fight carried out massacre in Zhangzhou. Zheng Zhilong wrote a letter to his son from Beijing, presumably at the request of the Shunzhi Emperor and the Qing government, urging his son to negotiate with the Manchurians. The long series of negotiations between Koxinga and the Qing Dynasty lasted until November 1654. The Qing government appointed Prince Jidu (son of Jirgalang) to lead an attack on Koxinga's territory after the failed negotiations.

On 9 May 1656, Jidu's armies attacked Jinmen, an island near Xiamen that Koxinga had been using to train his troops. Partly as a result of a major storm, the Manchus were defeated and they lost most of their fleet in the battle. Koxinga had sent one of his naval commanders to capture Zhoushan island prior to Jidu's attack, and now that the Manchus were temporarily without an effective naval force in the Fujian area, Koxinga was free to send a huge army to Zhoushan, which he intended to use as a base to capture Nanjing.

In Taiwan
In 1661, Koxinga led his troops on a landing at Lu'ermen to attack the Dutch colonists in Taiwan. On 1 February 1662, the Dutch Governor of Taiwan, Frederik Coyett, surrendered Fort Zeelandia to Koxinga. During the siege, Koxinga's life was saved by a certain Hans Jurgen Radis of Stockaert, a Dutch defector who strongly advised him against visiting the overrun ramparts, which he knew would be blown up by the retreating Dutch forces. In the peace treaty, Koxinga was styled "Lord Teibingh Tsiante Teysiancon Koxin". This effectively ended 38 years of Dutch rule on Taiwan. Koxinga then devoted himself to transforming Taiwan into a military base for loyalists who wanted to restore the Ming Dynasty.

In the Philippines
In 1662, Koxinga's forces raided several towns in the Philippines. Koxinga's chief adviser was an Italian friar named Riccio, whom he sent to Manila to demand tribute from the Philippine government, threatening to attack the city if his demands were not met.

The Spanish refused to pay the tribute and reinforced the garrisons around Manila, but the planned attack never took place due to Koxinga's sudden death in that year after expelling the Dutch on Taiwan.

Koxinga's threat to invade the islands and expel the Spanish eventually caused the Spanish failure to conquer the Muslim Moro people in Mindanao. The threat of Chinese invasion forced the Spanish to withdraw their forces to Manila, leaving some troops in Jolo and by Lake Lanao to engage the Moro in protracted conflict, while Zamboanga was immediately evacuated upon Koxinga's threats.

Death
Koxinga died of malaria at the age of 37. There were speculations that he died in a sudden fit of madness when his officers refused to carry out his orders to execute his son Zheng Jing. Zheng Jing had an affair with his wet nurse and conceived a child with her. Zheng Jing succeeded his father as the King of Tungning.

Family
Zheng Chenggong’s short but eventful career was characterised by family tension and conflicting loyalties. The title of Koxinga ("Lord of the Imperial Surname") was one that Zheng himself used during his lifetime to emphasize his status as an adopted son of the deposed imperial house, and hence it was also a declaration of ongoing support to the Ming dynasty. Despite his deliberate self-identification as the noble, loyal vassal of a vanquished master, Koxinga’s actual relationship with the Longwu Emperor lasted only twelve months or so, beginning in September 1645 and ending with the Emperor's death the following year. Although many secondary sources claim that the two men shared a "close bond of affection", there is an absence of any reliable contemporary evidence on Koxinga’s relationship with the Longwu Emperor.

In contrast, Koxinga’s father Zheng Zhilong left his Japanese wife not long after the birth of his son; Koxinga would be a boy of seven when he finally joined his father on the Fujianese coast. It seems that Zheng Zhilong recognised his son’s talent and encouraged him in his studies and the pursuit of a career as a scholar-official, which would legitimise the power the Zheng family had acquired using sometimes questionable means. Zheng Zhilong’s defection to the Qing must have seemed opportunistic and in stark contrast to Koxinga’s continued loyalty to the Ming. But it is difficult to deny that in refusing to submit to the Qing, Koxinga was risking the life of his father, and that the subsequent death of Zheng Zhilong could only be justified by claiming loyalty to the Ming. It has even been suggested that Koxinga’s fury at the incestuous relationship between his son, Zheng Jing, and a younger son’s wet nurse was due to the fact that strict Confucian morality had played such a crucial role in justifying his lack of filial behaviour.

The one possible exception to this may have been his relationship with his mother, which has generally been described as being extremely affectionate, particularly in Chinese and Japanese sources. Their time together, however, was apparently very short - despite frequent entreaties from Zheng Zhilong for her to join him in China, Koxinga’s mother would only be reunited with her son sometime in 1645, and a year later she would be killed when the Qing took Xiamen.

A portrait of Zheng was in the hands of Yuchun who was his descendant in the eight generation.

Concubine
During the Siege of Fort Zeelandia, Koxinga executed Dutch missionary Antonius Hambroek and took his teenage daughter as a concubine. Other Dutch women were sold to Chinese soldiers to become their wives. In 1684 some of these Dutch wives were still captives of the Chinese.

Modern day legacy and influences


Depending on which side of the Taiwan Strait, Koxinga is remembered differently. Koxinga is worshipped as a god in coastal China especially Fujian and Taiwan and by overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia. There is a temple dedicated to Koxinga and his mother in Tainan City, Taiwan. The National Cheng Kung University in Tainan, one of the most prestigious universities in Taiwan, is named after him. Koxinga is still revered for expelling the Dutch from Taiwan.

Koxinga's army also brought the Qinxi fraternal brotherhood into Taiwan, of which some of his army were members of the organization. In the present day, the Qinxi currently exists in Taiwan. The Hongmen are associated with them.

The play The Battles of Coxinga (Kokusen'ya Kassen, 国姓爺合戦) was written by Chikamatsu Monzaemon in Japan in the 18th century, first performed in Kyoto. A 2001 film titled The Sino-Dutch War 1661 starred Vincent Zhao as Koxinga. The film was renamed Kokusenya Kassen after the aforementioned play and released in Japan in 2002.

Koxinga has received renewed attention since rumours began circulating that the People’s Liberation Army Navy were planning to name their newly acquired aircraft carrier, the ex-Soviet Varyag, the Shi Lang. Although the Chinese government denied all allegations that the vessel would be dedicated to the decorated Qing dynasty admiral. Admiral Shi Lang famously defeated Koxinga’s descendants in 1683, thus claiming Taiwan as part of Mainland China under Qing dynasty rule.

Koxinga is regarded as a hero in the People's Republic of China, Taiwan, and Japan, but historical narratives regarding Koxinga frequently differ in explaining his motives and affiliation. Japan treats him as a native son and emphasized his maternal link to Japan in propaganda during the Japanese occupation of Taiwan. The People's Republic of China considers Koxinga a national hero for driving the imperialist Dutch away from Taiwan and establishing ethnic Chinese rule over the island. On Mainland China, Koxinga is honoured as the “Conqueror of Taiwan, Great Rebel-Quelling General” a military hero who brought Taiwan back within the Han Chinese sphere of influence through expanded economic, trade and cultural exchanges. According to Wong Kwok Wah, Koxinga is honoured in China without any religious overtones and reverence as in Taiwan.

The Republic of China, which withdrew to Taiwan after losing the Chinese Civil War, regards Koxinga as a patriot who also retreated to Taiwan and used it as a base to launch counterattacks against the Qing Dynasty of mainland China. In Taiwan, Koxinga is honored as the island’s most respected saint for expelling the Dutch and seen as the original ancestor of a free Taiwan, and is known as Kaishan Shengwang, or “the Sage King who Opened up Taiwan” and as “The Yanping Prince, Lost Colony: The Untold Story of China's First Great Victory Over the West - Dramatis Personae, which refers to the Kingdom of Tungning, which he established in modern day Tainan.

In Taiwan, Koxinga is remembered and revered as a divine national hero with hundreds of temples, schools, tertiary educations, and other public centers named in his honor. Koxinga is accredited with replacing Dutch colonial rule with a more modern political system. Furthermore, Koxinga transformed Taiwan into an agrarian society through the introduction of new agricultural methods such as the proliferation of iron farming tools and new farming methods with cattle. For these reasons, Koxinga is often associated with “hints of [a] consciousness of Taiwanese independence.”

However, not all Taiwanese accept the popularized interpretation of the Koxinga legacy. Supporters of Taiwanese, or Republic of China independence are sceptical about embracing the Koxinga legacy. Koxinga’s mixed Japanese heritage (the Japanese were an occupying force for 50 years between 1895-1945) and the positive connotations in Mainland China have all made acceptance by Republic of China independence supporters problematic. Taiwanese aborigines are also highly critical of whole-heartedly accepting Koxinga as a patron saint and national hero. Although Koxinga was successful in expelling the Dutch East India Company and colonial control from Taiwan, the Aboriginal population was far from liberated. The Han migrants and soldiers which Koxinga brought to Taiwan seemed merely to replace the Dutch colonialists and also began to use the Aboriginals as part of their own lucrative endeavours. Koxinga’s forces and the Han immigrants he brought with him began clearing large tracts of indigenous land to support their military expeditions and counter any food shortages. Koxinga also accelerated the decrease of deer stock on the island, which ultimately brought a deleterious effect on aboriginal tribes who relied on the deer trade established by the Dutch.

In mainland China, Koxinga is also considered a very much positive historical but human figure (not deified as he often is in Taiwan). Koxinga’s retreat to Taiwan is seen largely as an inspirational story of Chinese nationalists seeking refuge against hostile forces. Koxinga’s aspirations to see Taiwan re-united with the mainland is often accentuated. Furthermore Koxinga facilitated the settlement of a large number of Han Chinese to Taiwan, initially to meet labour demand on the island. As a direct result, Han Chinese make up approximately 98% of the Taiwanese population today. With such a large-scale migration, the immigrants brought with them their Han culture, tradition, and language whose roots lie in Mainland China.

Memorial institutions
There are hundreds of public pieces, shrines dedicated to and worship Koxinga. The Koxinga Temple in Tainan City, Taiwan, is perhaps the most interesting as it is “the only Fujianese style shrine in Taiwan.” The temple “illustrat[es] the geographic connection between Taiwan and the Mainland, [whilst] describ[ing] the evolution of life from the past to the present,” which means that the temple acknowledges that Koxinga is a legacy shared by both Taiwan and the Mainland and that this perhaps is still important today.

In Mainland China however, there is only one official memorial to their ‘conqueror of Taiwan’ and that is on Gulang Island of Xiamen, Fujian Province (which is positioned directly across Taiwan’s Kinmen. The imposing statue of Zheng Chenggong in full military regalia, gazes over the water facing Taiwan.

Whilst “the statue of Zheng portrays a clean-shaven young general in armour … [in] Taiwan, Koxinga seldom appears as a warrior. His portraits show him as a Ming noble in civilian robes – and wearing a small beard, a symbol of seniority and sobriety.”

This difference in commemoration of the Koxinga story illustrates the wide difference in attitudes on either side of the Taiwan Strait on the issue of Taiwan sovereignty.


 * National Cheng Kung University (Koxinga University)
 * Cheng Kung Senior High School
 * Cheng Kung class frigate
 * Chenggong, Taitung

Bibliography & Further Reading

 * Andrade, Tonio. Lost Colony: The Untold Story of China’s First Great Victory over the West (Princeton NJ, Princeton University Press: 2011).
 * Clements, Jonathan. Coxinga and the Fall of the Ming Dynasty. Stroud: Sutton Publishing, 2004.
 * Croizier, Ralph C. Koxinga and Chinese Nationalism History, Myth, and the Hero. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1977.
 * Keene, Donald Keene. The Battles of Coxinga: Chikamatsu’s Puppet Play, Its Background and Importance. London: Taylor’s Foreign Press, 1950.
 * Meij, Philip. Daghregister van Philip Meij: Het naervolgende sijnde 't geene per memorie onthouden van 't gepasseerde in 't geweldigh overvallen des Chinesen mandorijns Cocxinja op Formosa en geduijrende ons gevanckenis, beginnende 30 April 1661 en eijndigende 4 Februarij 1662. Dutch National Archive, VOC 1238: 848–914.
 * Paske-Smith, M. Western Barbarians in Japan and Formosa in Tokugawa Days, 1603–1868. New York: Paragon Book Reprint Corp., 1968.
 * Struve, Lynn A. "Voices from the Ming-Qing Cataclysm: China in Tiger's Jaws. London: Yale University Press, 1993.
 * Tsai, Henry Shih-Shan. Maritime Taiwan: Historical Encounters with the East and the West (London, M.E. Sharpe: 2009) Chapter 2 ‘Taiwan’s Seventeenth-Century Rulers: The Dutch, the Spaniards, and Koxinga’ pg 19-45.
 * Wills, Jr., John E. Pepper, Guns and Parleys: The Dutch East India Company and China 1622–1681. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1974.
 * Wills, Jr., John E. Pepper, Guns and Parleys: The Dutch East India Company and China 1622–1681. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1974.