Zheng Jing
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Zheng Jing | |
| King of Tungning | |
| Reign | 1662 – 1682 |
|---|---|
| Born | c. 1643 |
| Birthplace | Tainan |
| Died | 1682 |
| Place of death | Tainan |
| Predecessor | Koxinga |
| Successor | Zheng Kezang |
| Royal House | Zheng |
| Father | Cheng Ch'eng-kung |
Zheng Jing (traditional Chinese: 鄭經; pinyin: Zhèng Jīng; Wade-Giles: Cheng Ching) (c. 1643-c. 1682) was a 17th century Chinese pirate and warlord. He was the eldest son of Koxinga and grandson of pirate-merchant Zheng Zhilong. After the conquest of Taiwan in 1661 by his father, Zheng Jing controlled the military forces in Xiamen and Quemoy on his father's behalf. Upon the death of his father six months later, Zheng Jing contested throne as the King of Taiwan with his uncle, Zheng Shixi. The dispute was resolved in Zheng's favor after he successfully landed an army in Taiwan despite strong opposition by the forces of his uncle. This was followed by Zheng Shixi withdrawing his claim.
With both the vast pirate fleet and the throne of Tainan, he intended to continue his father's plans to invade the Philippines however he was forced to abandon this venture when faced with the threat of a Manchu-Dutch alliance. His victory over a combined Manchu-Dutch fleet in 1664 resulted in ending the brief alliance.
For the next 19 years, he tried to provide sufficiently for the local inhabitants and reorganizing their military forces in Taiwan. Contacts with the Kangxi Emperor from the mainland by sending ambassadors was frequent. Although he continued to fight for the cause his father died for, he had largely abandoned any pretense of restoring the Ming Dynasty by the time he invaded Fukien in 1676. He occupied key cities in the province for a year before loosing them back to the Manchus by the end of 1677. Invading Fukien once more, he led a force of 30,000 men to capture Haicheng as well as taking the provincial commander prisoner.
In 1680, Zheng Jing was forced to order the abandonment Xiamen, Quemoy and the Pescadores islands after losing a major naval battle to Chinese Qing admiral Shi Lang. Driven off the mainland by the Manchu, he retreated to Tainan where he fell ill and died of dissipation around 1681 or 1682. Zheng named as his successor his oldest son, Zheng Kezang; however, Zheng Kezang was quickly toppled in favor of Zheng Keshuang.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Jonathan Manthorpe (2002). Forbidden Nation: a History of Taiwan, New York: Palgrave MacMillan.
- Shen Yu. (1836). Cheng-shih shih-mo.
