Pirates and Privateers

Change is inevitable. From the time we are born until the day we die, we are changing. The catalysts of change may be external or internal, and the result may be good or bad. Such is the cycle of life. In adolescence, we test boundaries. We prepare to change from a child to an adult. We adopt some behaviors and discard others, depending on how others react, what we learn, and how we feel.

As time passes, piracy changes. It is also cyclical. Philip Gosse, a physician and naturalist with an avid interest in pirates, describes this cycle in The History of Piracy.

First a few individuals from amongst the inhabitants of the poorer coastal lands would band together in isolated groups owning one or but a very few vessels apiece and attack only the weakest of merchantmen. They possessed the status of outlaws whom every law abiding man was willing and eager to kill at sight. Next would come the period of organization, when the big pirates either swallowed up the little pirates or drove them out of business. These great organizations moved on such a scale that no group of trading ships, even the most heavily armed, was safe from their attack. . . .

Then came the stage when the pirate organization, having virtually reached the status of an independent state, was in a position to make a mutually useful alliance with another state against its enemies. What had been piracy then for a time became war, and in that war the vessels of both sides were pirates to the other . . ..

In the end the victory of one side would as a rule break up the naval organization of the other . . .. The component parts of the defeated side would be again reduced to the position of outlaw bands, until the victorious power was strong enough to send them scurrying back once more to the status of furtive footpads of the sea whence they had arisen. (1-2)

Sound a bit familiar? Gosse could have been describing the Zheng clan’s rise to power. When Koxinga died, they were on the cusp of achieving “the status of an independent state.” Zheng Zhilong’s success bred legitimacy. Koxinga’s seizure of Taiwan from the Dutch created the seed from which an “independent state” might rise. His son, Zheng Jing, would nurture that genesis into near reality . . . although not many thought him capable of doing so after his father’s death.

Koxinga and his wife, Dong Cuiying, welcomed their first son into the world in 1642. They named him Zheng Shifan (Model for the World), although during his childhood, he was usually called Jin-She (Bright Prospect for the House). He tended to follow the beat of his own drummer rather than heeding his parents. He did so in ways that suggested that he had little backbone. He tended to follow his emotions, which apparently appealed to women, especially those who were older. He also liked to drink, sometimes to excess.

Shortly before his death, Koxinga discovered that Zheng Jing was having a fling with his younger siblings’ wet nurse (Lady Chen). This affair resulted in the birth of his first grandson, Zheng Kezang. Koxinga went ballistic. He ordered Zheng Jing’s execution. That did not happen, perhaps because of Koxinga’s untimely passing at the age of thirty-eight or because two men, granduncle Zheng Tai and longtime Zheng associate Hong Xu, safeguarded him in Fujian.

Now that Koxinga was dead, who was to become the next head of the family business and rule Taiwan? Zheng Jing was the obvious choice as eldest son, but rumors said that Koxinga had sworn before witnesses that he wanted his second son to rule instead. The Taiwan waiji says Koxinga’s choice was his younger brother, Zheng Shixi, not his second son. There were other family members who felt they had stronger claims to succeed Koxinga, especially given the rebellious and wayward behavior of Zheng Jing, who believed he was the rightful heir.

The first of these family members was Zheng Tai, Koxinga’s uncle. While his nephew was out fighting for the Ming emperor, Zheng Tai oversaw the running of the family business. Father Victorio Riccio, a Dominican missionary from the Philippines, said Zheng Tai “occupied the primary and almost absolute post of government since Cuesing’s (Koxinga’s) death.” (Blussé, 230)

What was evident was that relationships within the Zheng clan were not as smoothly woven as the threads of their red silk banner. These filaments were snapping and discord was inevitable. Perhaps this was why Zheng Jing took stock of his life and found it wanting. Whatever catalyst made him switch paths from rebellious adolescent to a more rational adult, this happened. As had occurred with his father and grandfather, it was a moment when he lacked sufficient resources to openly take on his granduncle. Subtler means were needed. First, he would watch and learn.

While Zheng Tai controlled the family’s mainland holdings, the man who wielded the power on Taiwan was Ma Xin, Koxinga’s second-in-command. The two men did not agree and the fissure dividing them only widened when the Qing invited Zheng Tai to discuss peace. He was open to this, even though the olive branch being offered was more severe than in the past. First, the Zheng must leave all their bases in China. Second, the men had to shave the front of their heads and wear what remained of their hair in a long braid down their back just as the Manchu did. Only then would it be possible to receive a high-ranking position and/or special privileges.

Samples of Manchu queues from Adolf Rosenberg's and Eduard Heyck's Geschichte des Kostüms, 1905
(Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Zheng Tai didn’t bother to consult with his grandnephew or Ma Xin. He and the other Zheng commanders in Xiamen would agree. To show his seriousness in accepting these conditions, he turned over a few Zheng seals; in return, the Qing would name him lawful head of the Zheng organization. When Zheng Jing learned of this, he was powerless to intervene and went with the flow. Ma Xin, however, severed connections between the island and Xiamen and announced that Taiwan would now institute its own government. There was just one minor problem: the island had a ruler named Zheng Xi. He might be just a figurehead, but he was the tenth brother of Koxinga and was in collusion with Zheng Tai.

Scroll painting of Taiwan during Kangxi era, 1684-1722 by unknown artist
(Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Zheng Xi, with the assistance of two generals, decided it was time to terminate Ma Xin. Once that man was out of the way, another problem cropped up; they no longer had any need of Zheng Jing. As they determined how best to get rid of him and what might be a plausible reason for doing so, Zheng Tai found himself in trouble because Ma Xin was dead. To placate other members of the extended family, Zheng Tai reevaluated his submission plans to the Qing.

One commander in Xiamen was troubled by Zheng Tai’s maneuverings without consulting anyone. Hong Xu had been with the family for more than thirty years; he had worked alongside Zheng Zhilong in the early days. Now Hong Xu decided it was better to back the grandson and provided Zheng Jing with the ships and soldiers he needed to gain control over the family enterprises. First objective: free Taiwan of anyone colluding with his granduncle. Once those men ceased to exist, the remaining officers on the island acknowledged that Zheng Jing was the rightful heir to the Zheng enterprises.

During this first visit to Taiwan, Zheng Jing unearthed correspondence between the colluders and Zheng Tai. One letter, written by Zheng Tai, said that if Zheng Jing tried to gain control of the island, Zheng Xi should make certain their grandnephew died. If Zheng Jing wanted to live a long and happy life, he had to deal with his rival once and for all. Although he and his men returned to Xiamen toward the end of January 1663, it was not the right time to confront Zheng Tai.

In July, there was to be a family gathering and Zheng Tai accepted his invitation. Father Riccio recorded what happened.

[T]he son of the deceased Cuesing [Koxinga] . . . during a banquet treacherously arrested the senior mandarin, Chuye [Zheng Tai], the most powerful and richest man there was in Imperial China. . . . Chuye therefore hanged himself in his cell the following day, grieved and enraged at being mocked by a brigand, and depressed over his ill fortune. The land and the seas fell into chaos at this tragic news because Chuye was loved by all. (Blussé, 231-232)

Another account, written by a Dutch official in 1665, chronicled what he had seen and heard. (In this version of events, he referred to Zheng Jing as “Kimtsia” and Zheng Tai as “Sauja.” Formosa was Taiwan.)

Kimtsia saw that the hour of his revenge had come and during the banquet produced the letter and showed it to Sauja, asking him if he was familiar with it and had written it. Sauja did not flinch and answered that he had. He told him the motives that had induced him to write it.

Thereupon Kimtsia had his men seize the aged man, had him thrown into prison and strangled with a cord. A trusted servant of Sauja who was present managed to escape in the commotion . . . carrying the sad news of this murder to . . . Sauja’s brother. (Blussé, 234)

Many family members, including the brother, and those who had supported Zheng Tai decided their chances of survival were better if they submitted to the Qing rather than Zheng Jing. Zheng Tai’s brother took with him “180 junks, and over ten thousand soldiers.” (Hang, 150) The Qing couldn’t ask for a better gift. The time had come to seize control of Xiamen and Jinmen, two Zheng strongholds. They also formed an alliance with the Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC, or Dutch East India Company), which had suffered such humiliation at the hands of Koxinga.

On 19 November, the allies launched their offensive. The combined fleet pitted seventeen Dutch ships and 500 Qing junks against Zheng Jing’s 400 vessels. Although his men slew the Qing commander, there was little he could do against 400 Dutch guns and troops exceeding 2,500. This presented Zheng Jing with two options: submit and conform, or flee and live in exile forever. Zheng Tai, with what remained of his ships (at most fifty) and 4,000 officers and men as well as kindred of the Ming imperial family, opted for exile and left their homeland in April 1664.

Resources on Taiwan were limited; during the siege against the Dutch, Koxinga had run into trouble feeding the 25,000 soldiers already occupying the island. Nor were they the only ones living there; aborigines were present and they weren’t particularly welcoming. Unlike his father, who liked to oversee everything, Zheng Jing preferred to seek advice. He established a council of advisors, led by his friend Chen Yonghua. Together, they implemented policies, some of which originated with Koxinga, to create a viable agrarian system that, in turn, resulted in some manufacturing that allowed the island to become self-reliant to a limited degree.

Next, Zheng Jing focused his attention on reviving Zheng operations. Illicit trading centers were established on unoccupied islands. He bribed Qing officers and officials, which allowed him access to luxuries like silk. These items, along with sugar and deerskins from Taiwan, were then traded in Japan. Once the Zheng business flourished once again, he was able to branch further afield and trade with foreigners.

He also developed infrastructure and built temples and shrines. Schools that promoted the values of Confucius opened. Teachers went out to work with the aborigines, instructing them on better ways to farm and providing them with the necessary implements and animals. At the same time, he downplayed symbols related to the Ming dynasty. He also placed restrictions on members of the gentry with strong ties to the old ways who saw him as weak and ineffective.

Like his father, Zheng Jing wrote poetry. One poem, “Ti Dongning shengjing,” described Taiwan and his desire to preserve some traditions.

I have established a court, and settled a capital, east of the great sea,
A myriad mountains and a plethora of valleys are in the distance, crossing the sky.
Scented forests rise high up into the clouds,
Green waters flow along to gather in emerald pools.
On both banks fires are lit to welcome the rising sun,
Across the river the oars of the fishermen dip against the dawn breeze.
In the past I studied the words of the sage about dealing with trouble.
The caps and gowns of Han states have remained the same since antiquity.
(Milburn, 67)

In another poem, he shared his thoughts on the Manchu invasion. He was two years old when the Ming dynasty fell, and the upheaval that followed impacted his life.

A foul and rank stench fills the Central Plains,
The trees in our forests provide nests for foreign birds.
The Son of Heaven has fled in a cloud of dust;
Everyone complains of his minsters’ crimes.
(How right is this criticism!)
Strong knights cherish [dreams of] bravery and heroism,
Their loyal hearts are fixed on a single goal.
The banners of these righteous warriors can be seen across the land,
In the endless parade, they cover the sun.
Those who suffer in vain are the common folk,
For the plans that are made are indeed not the best.
One day, the barbarian horsemen arrive;
Everyone betrays [the Ming] for their own personal benefit.
I am today raising a royal army,
I will punish the guilty – justice will be done for the people.
I am training up ferocious soldiers,
Building up their strength on this eastern island.
I have been hoping that the Green Phoenix will arrive;
But even after all these years, it still has not appeared.
(Milburn, 73-74) (see notes 1, 2)

Despite his dislike of the Qing, Zheng Jing understood he needed them to recognize his government on Taiwan as being legitimate. The one sticking point in these negotiations, as always, involved the Qing’s insistence on adoption of their hairstyle. After two years with no compromise found, each side went back to their own corners. The Qing did, however, become more tolerant of Zheng presence on the island and upon the seas.

During this time, Japan continued to send tribute ships to the Qing to keep trade open between the two countries. In 1670, a Zheng junk seized one of these vessels and its crew was slain. Two years later, when a Zheng ship put in at Nagasaki, officials seized its cargo. When Zheng Jing learned of this, he banned all Japanese vessels from docking in Taiwan. A shipwrecked Japanese sailor was arrested and forced to live and work for a peasant. Since trade relations between Japan and the Zheng went back at least to his grandfather’s days, some saw this as counterproductive, even risky. His interpretation was another indicator in the stage of the piracy cycle that Zheng Jing had achieved. His actions “expressed his readiness to defend his subjects from foreign rulers’ mistreatment and unjust seizure of their property, to the point of foregoing the lucrative profits from trade.” (Hang, Bridging, 245)

Another indication of this stage involved Zheng trading partners. He wanted Taiwan to become a major player and act as a gateway for international trade. No longer would they rely just on goods from China and Japan. They would trade with the English, the Philippines, and other countries of Southeast Asia.

In the early days of the Qing dynasty, the emperor had given three Ming defectors control of three regions and, over the years, these feudal lords pretty much had free reign in how they ruled. The problem was that they were becoming too powerful and the Kangxi emperor wanted to curtail their power. They did not take kindly to such intervention and in 1673, rose up against the emperor in what became known as the Revolt of the Three Feudatories. One of these feudal lords was Wu Sangui, with whom Zheng Jing had corresponded three years earlier.

Every time I read Your Highness’s letters, proclamations, and drafts, I never fail to clap my hands and sigh at the intensity of your loyalty and filial piety, and am often moved to tears afterward. Looking out across the Four Seas, we all place [hope] in Your Highness. During your spare time outside of administration and military affairs, are you familiar with this solitary minister beyond the pale? . . . Although my humble country is small, I have a thousand war junks and ten thousand warriors only for Your Highness to use. I await your virtuous reply from afar. (Hang, Conflict, 190)

It wasn’t that Zheng Jing was eager to fight the Qing, but he thought if he allied with Wu Sangui and they were successful, then Wu Sangui could grant him the legitimacy that he wanted for Taiwan. Although his offer was declined then, Wu Sangui and the other two feudal lords accepted it in 1674, and Zheng Jing returned to Fujian and Guangdong. He composed a poem that explained why he and the feudal lords fought the Qing.

Floating away to campaign in the west, riding on a battle-ship,
I sing loudly when the oars strike as we cross the waters.
The proper destiny of the country will be restored today,
The evil influences of the barbarian caitiffs will now be extirpated.
The common people shout with joy at the restoration of the Han house,
Exiled ministers are delighted as they get to gaze upon this sacred land.
After ten years of training and preparation, now is the time to act,
How could a valiant knight refuse to cross the seas this autumn?
(Grand and proud)
(Milburn, 80-81)

Map of the Revolt of the Three Feudatories by SY, 2017
(Yellow arrows denote Qing campaigns)
(Source: Wikimedia Commons)

His successes between 1675 and 1680 resulted in former Zheng adherents rethinking their submissions to the Qing and coming back into the fold. Eventually, a problem developed. He was too far from his base in Taiwan, which could not provide him with needed supplies. In the end, he turned to a piratical tactic: plundering.

The Kangxi emperor and his army would not surrender. Slowly, the tide turned and the three feudal lords found themselves in dire straits. Two surrendered. Dysentery claimed Wu Sangui in 1680. Zheng Jing and his men returned to Taiwan. Unfortunately, many of those who were closest to him, including his friend Chen Yonghua, died shortly thereafter. Devastated by the losses of these men whose counsel he so valued, Zheng Jing reverted to his old ways. He drank too much and spent much of his time with women. These overindulgences led to his death the following year. He was only thirty-nine, a year older than Koxinga was when he died.

Zheng Jing’s eldest son, Zheng Kecang, succeeded him, but Koxinga’s wife, Dong Cuiying, loathed this grandson because she considered him of low birth since his mother had only been a wet nurse. She felt Zheng Jing’s next oldest son was more deserving to rule of Taiwan. Two days after Zheng Jing’s death, she summoned Zheng Kecang to her apartment and strangled him.

Zheng Keshuang assumed the throne. Since he was only eleven years old, his eldest uncle served as regent. In 1683, the Kangxi emperor decided it was time to put an end to the Zheng once and for all. To that end, he appointed Shi Lang to effect that goal. Shi Lang was a creative general who often tried new approaches to achieve what he desired and he was quite successful in doing so. He had also once served Koxinga, until irreparable differences resulted in Shi Lang’s defection. Now he intended to wipe out the Zheng fleet and force Zheng Keshuang to submit.

He achieved both goals and those who survived were forced to discard their weapons and move far inland in China. Some warriors, adept at their jobs, were permitted to retain their weapons and fight, but they did so in Manchuria against the Russians. Other followers resumed their former lives, returning to the first stage in the piracy cycle, this time in the Gulf of Tonkin.

Zheng Keshuang cut his hair and dressed as the Qing did. He lived in Beijing, where he was named Duke Who Quells the Seas, one of several honorary titles he received. In 1684, the Kangxi emperor lifted the last sea bans and even permitted foreigners to come into Chinese ports to trade.

Piracy continued to be a pursuit of those who had allied with the Zheng. In the early years of the nineteenth century, another Zheng would rise to the forefront of Chinese history. (see note 3) He and his wife would establish a pirate confederation that rivaled the imperial navy and controlled the waters around the same coast as Zheng Zhilong and his family.


Notes:
1. The Green Phoenix was the rightful emperor.

2. The boldfaced lines within parentheses are comments that appeared in the earliest published book containing the poems. Most likely, Zheng Jing oversaw this edition; he may have penned these (comments) himself.

3. Zheng Yi was the son of Zheng Liaching, whose great-grandfather, Zheng Qián (Cheng Chien), joined Koxing soon after moving to Fujian in 1641. He served as an officer in Koxinga's army. Although he eventually returned to farming, some of his offspring and their descendants chose piracy as their calling.


Resources:

Anderson, John L. "Piracy and World History: An Economic Perspective on Maritime Predation," Bandits at Sea: A Pirates Reader edited by C. R. Pennell. New York University, 2001, 82-106.
Andrade, Tonio, and Xing Hang. “The East Asian Maritime Realm in Global History, 1500-1700,” Sea Rovers, Silver, and Samurai: Maritime East Asia in Global History, 1550-1700. University of Hawai'i, 2019, 1-27.
Antony, Robert J. Like Froth Floating on the Sea: The World of Pirates and Seafarers in Late Imperial South China. Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, 2003.

Blussé, Leonard. “Shame and Scandal in the Family: Dutch Eavesdropping in the Zheng Lineage,” Sea Rovers, Silver, and Samurai: Maritime East Asia in Global History, 1550-1700. University of Hawai’i, 2019, 226-237.

Clements, Jonathan. Coxinga and the Fall of the Ming Dynasty. Sutton, 2005.

Emmer, Pieter C., and Joseph J. L. Gommans. The Dutch Overseas Empire, 1600-1800 translated by Marilyn Hedges. Cambridge University, 2021.

Gosse, Philip. The History of Piracy. Rio Grande Press, 1995.

Hang Xing. “Bridging the Bipolar: Zheng Jing’s Decade on Taiwan, 1663-1673,” Sea Rovers, Silver, and Samurai: Maritime East Asia in Global History, 1550-1700. University of Hawai’i, 2019, 238-259.
Hang Xing. Conflict and Commerce in Maritime East Asia: The Zheng Family and the Shaping of the Modern World, c. 1620-1720. Cambridge University, 2017.
Hang Xing. “The Contradictions of Legacy: Reimaging the Zheng Family in the People’s Republic of China,” Imperial China 34:2 (December 2013), 1-27.

Konstam, Angus. Piracy: The Complete History. Osprey, 2008.

Milburn, Olivia. “Representations of History in the Poetry of Zheng Jing,” Ming Qing Yanjiu 21 (2017), 58-92.
Murray, Dian H. Pirates of the South China Coast 1790-1810. Stanford University, 1987.

Xu Ke. “Piracy, Seaborne Trade and the Rivalries of Foreign Sea Powers in East and Southeast Asia, 1511 to 1839: A Chinese Perspective” in Piracy, Maritime Terrorism and Securing the Malacca Straits edited by Graham Gerard Ong-Webb. International Institute for Asian Studies and the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2006.

Copyright ©2023 Cindy Vallar

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