Zheng Zhilong

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Illustration of Zheng Zhilong and his son Koxinga
Illustration of Zheng Zhilong and his son Koxinga

Zheng Zhilong (traditional Chinese: 鄭芝龍; pinyin: Zhèng Zhīlóng; Wade-Giles: Cheng Chih-lung; 1604 – 1661) also Nicholas Iquan Gaspard was a 17th century Chinese merchant, pirate and admiral for the Ming Empire. He was the father of Zheng Chenggong (Koxinga), also a military leader. His company was known as Iquan's Party.

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[edit] Names

  • Name: traditional Chinese: 鄭芝龍; simplified Chinese: 郑芝龙
  • Japanese Romaji: Tei Shiryuu
  • Surname: 鄭 (ch: Zhèng; jp: Tei)
  • Western Name: Nicholas Iquan Gaspard
  • Baptismal name: Nicholas
  • Other names: Jasper (in Portuguese Icoan)

[edit] History

Born in Fujian, Zheng studied business under his uncle in Macau at the age of 18. He became baptized as a Catholic in Macao, receiving the Christian name Nicholas Gaspard [1]. He later worked for Lee Dan, a Chinese businessman in Nagasaki, Japan, where Zheng married Tagawa Matsu, a local woman. In 1622, when Dutch forces took over the Pescadores archipelago off the Taiwan Strait, Lee Dan sent Zheng to Pescadores to work with the Dutch as a translator. The Dutch, wishing to control and monopolize commerce routes to Japan, collaborated with Chinese pirates; Zheng was one of the collaborators, engaging in robberies along coastal China.[1] After Lee died, Zheng acquired his fleet of ships in 1623. Zheng's son, Zheng Chenggong, was born in Nagasaki in 1624. In the same year, due to the feudal nature of Japan during the Edo period, Zheng relocated his enterprise to Taiwan. He built ten outposts in the island's south-western coastal region, between Tainan and Chiayi, but was evicted shortly after when the Dutch arrived on the island.

Zheng and his wife resettled on an island on the coast of Fujian, where he operated a large armed pirate fleet along the coast from Japan to Vietnam. Appointed by the Chinese Imperial family "Admiral of the Coastal Seas", Zheng would continue to serve the Ming dynasty after the fall of Peking (Beijing) in June 1644. After the capture of Nanjing in 1645, Zhilong accepted an offer becoming commander-in-chief of Imperial forces and ordered to defend the newly established capital in Fuzhou under the Prince of Tang.

In 1649, Zheng decided to defect to the Manchus leaving the passes of Zhejiang unguarded, allowing Manchu forces to capture Fuzhou. As a result of the Manchu victory, Zhilong was greatly rewarded and retired very wealthy. However, he would later be executed by the Qing government in 1661, as a result of his son's continued resistance against the Qing regime.

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ npm.gov.tw - Nicholas Iquan. (Chinese)

[edit] References

  • Manthorpe, Jonathan. Forbidden Nation: A History of Taiwan. New York, 2005.
  • Michael, Franz. The Origin of Manchu Rule in China. Baltimore, 1942.
  • Andrade, Tonio. "The Company's Chinese Pirates: How the Dutch East India Company Tried to Lead a Coalition of Pirates to War Against China, 1621-1662." Journal of World History, 2004 Dec.; 15(4):415-444. [2]