The Admiral Shilang “Who is Who”
Who was who in Seventeenth Century China?

Feng Xifan(馮錫範), life data unknown, was born in Fujian province in the city of Jinjiang 晉江. Feng Xifan was appointed officer of the Imperial Bodyguard after the death of Zheng Chenggong in 1662. He was a very powerful general of the Zheng family and married one of his daughters off to Zheng Jing’s son Zheng Keshuang to establish and secure his power and influence. In 1683, he and Liu Guoxuan [s.b.] lost the battle against Shi Lang. Feng was taken to Peking after the defeat, but wasn’t executed. (Rubenstein, 1999: 101; Guo Hongbin 2003). Feng Xifan and Liu Guoxuan were also the main negotiators during the capitulation talks between the Qing and the Ming. In the TV drama, Feng is the main proponent of the independence of Taiwan. He is killed by Zheng Haikui. MSch

Giyesu (康亲王杰书), 1645-1697, also known as the First Prince Kang and the great-grandson of Nurharci, who had established the basis for the conquest of China by the Manchus. He acted as commander-in-chief of the Manchurian armies with the task to demolish the rebellion of Geng Jingzhong 耿精忠 (?-1682) and bring about his surrender, which he did in October 1676. Despite the fact that Giyesu had secured the support of Geng Jengzhong’s forces against Zheng Jin’s occupation of a great part of Fujian, it took him until 1680 to rescue Fujian and cause Zheng Jin to retreat to Taiwan. Giyesu was never rewarded for his achievements during the Sanfan Rebellion (1673-1681) (Hummel 1943: 270). CK

Hong Xu (洪旭), 1605-1666. The historical Hong Xu was born in Fujian province in the town of Tongan 同安. He was an officer in the army of Zheng Zhilong 鄭芝龍 and late became officer under Zheng Chenggong 鄭成功 after Zheng Zhilong had died. In 1655, he was promoted to the position of an admiral under the command of Zheng Chenggong. After the defeat of Xiamen, he and Zheng Chenggong withdrew to Taiwan. Hong Xu supported Zheng Chenggong`s son Zheng Jing 鄭經 after Zheng Chenggong’s death in 1662. In 1664, he was engaged in strengthening the Zheng`s military basis on the Pescadores Island. Hong Xu was also Zheng Jing’s personal adviser, teaching him martial arts and warfare and helping him to modernize and expand the army of the Zheng family. He died of an infection in 1666. (Taiwan Sheng Tongzhi 2007) In the TV drama, Hong Xu is a follower of Feng Xifan and is still alife in the 1680s. MSch

Kangxi (康熙), 1654-1722, also known as the Emperor Shengzu, ascended the throne of the Qing dynasty in 1661 at the age of 15. In the following thirty years of his reign, Kangxi aimed at stabilizing his empire militarily by abbolishing the sources of menace inside and outside of China (Hook 1982: 228). He is often depicted as an erudite and open minded man who set modest conditions for himself, cared for his people, scrutinized his ministers, was amiable towards foreigners and was a grand advocate of Confucian morality (Giles 1898: 359). His constant pursuit of an amelioration of the administration, his sponsoring of scholarly projects, his trips to various regions of his country to survey local conditons and his support of the arts are an example of Kangxi’s various and colourful actions (Hook 1982: 228). CK

Laita (赖塔) , -1684, a Manchu Prince renowned as a military commander. He was first recognized during the time of the subjugation of the Ming Dynasty, excelled at the overthrow of the rebellion of Geng Jingzhong and antagonized Zheng Jin in Fujian, who then fled to Formosa in 1680. Laita achieved peace in Yunnan after entering the province in 1680-1681 and suppressing the rebel leader Wu Shifan. He was canonised as Xiangyi 襄毅 (Giles 1898: 413-414). CK

Li Guangdi (李光地), 1642-1718, was born in a scholarly family of no wealth in Anxi, Fujian. Throughout his entire life he assumed various positions as an official, a scholar, an expert in the Classics, an editor and an author (WBIS 2007). In 1674, Geng Jingzhong started a rebellion in Fujian in alliance with Zheng Jing. Acting as a spy for the Manchu army and aiding them to get through to southern Fujian unseen, Li Guangdi played a key role in overpowering Geng Jingzhong and seizing Fujian. Henceforth, emperor Kangxi regarded Li Guangdi as a loyal servant of the empire consulting him in various matters. Concerning the recovery of Formosa (Taiwan) from out of the hands of Zheng Jing, it was Li Guangdi who advised emperor Kangxi to employ Shi Lang ascommander-in-chief. Taiwan was taken in 1683. In the following years, Li Guangdi became appointed to a number of highranking positions, such as Chancellor of Hanlin Academy in 1683, junior vice-president of the Board of War in 1690, governor of Zhili in 1699 and Grand Secretary of the Grand Secretariat in 1705 (Hummel 1943: 473-474). As a Confucian scholar Li Guangdi was also accomplished in the Classics, mathematics and phonology (Yao 2003: 363). He was also frequently called by emperor Kangxi to explain the “Book of Changes”, as he was known as a master of its content. Li Guangdi was canonised as Wenzhen 文真 after his death (Giles 1898: 447). CK

Liu Guoxuan (劉國軒), life data unknown, was born in the province of Fujian 福建 and known as the leading admiral and glowing supporter of the Zheng family. Liu Guoxuan ran a counterattack on the important city of Zhangzhou 漳州 in 1678 after the Qing troops had focused on southern Fujian and liberated several towns from the role of Zheng family. He failed however, because the Qing had reinforced their local troops and appointed a new governor of Fujian. His name was Yao Qisheng and he should become one of the greatest antagonists of Liu Guoxuan. Xiamen (Amoy) fell on March 26th, 1680. It was the last bastion of the Zheng family on mainland China. Consequently, Liu Guoxuan fled to Taiwan together with the rest of the Zheng family. On July 12th, 1683, Shi Lang’s fleet, consisting of 300-400 junks, hit the hostile fleet commanded by Liu Guoxuan near the islands of Penghu 澎湖. Liu Guoxuan managed to tempoarily win the battle for the Zheng family. Five days later Shi Lang attacked again and this time Liu Guoxuan was defeated and forced to withdraw to Dongning 東寧, Taiwan. After the Qing`s conquest of Taiwan, Liu Guoxuan took over the position of a Qing commander of a garrison in Tianjin. (Guo Hongbin 2003; Keliher 2003: 45-46; Rubenstein 1999: 101-102) MSch

Mingzhu (明珠), also called Mingju, 1635-1708, was a Manchu official during the reign of emperor Kangxi. He moved with his family to Beijing 北京in 1644 as a member of the Manchu Plain Yellow Banner. Starting off as an officer of the Imperial Bodyguard, he got ahead quickly. He was, for example, president of the Censorate in 1669 and president of the Board of War in 1671 (Hummel 1943: 577). Mingzhu was one of the main supporters of Kangxi [s.b.], helping him to break free of the regent Oboi 鳌拜 (?-1669) and advising him during the Three Feudatories War, which was led by Wu Sangui 吴三桂 (1612-1678) (Peterson 2002: 163). In 1677 Mingzhu became Grand Secretary. By appointing followers to key positions, Mingzhu became one of the most powerful officials during the 1680s (Hummel 1943: 577). In 1688 he and his group were memorialized to the throne on eight instances of corruption by the censor Guo Xiu 郭琇 (1638-1715) and were consequently dismissed. Mingzhu was very successful in commercial enterprises until his death (Peterson 2002: 163). MR

Qiu Hui (邱輝), ?-1883, was born in Guangzhou 廣州 province, in the small town of Dahao 達濠. In 1666, he took part in a revolt against the Qing troops, who were moving towards his home province. After the defeat of Fujian, he followed the Zheng family and established a single Ming outpost in his hometown, setting up a network to support the Zheng family in Taiwan with goods. In 1680, his hometown was attacked by the Qing troops. Qiu Hui and his troops were defeated and consequently forced to withdraw to Taiwan. He died in the battle of Penghu against Shi Lang’s troops in 1683. (Cai Xianghui 2007) In the TV drama, Qin Hui is the murderer of Zheng Kezang, he is executed after the assassination. MSch

Shi Lang (施琅), 1621-1696, was a very self-confident man who studied military strategy in his early years and knew how to take advantage of wind and tide. Starting his career in the service of Zheng Zhilong [s.b.], he was the commander of Zheng’s left vanguard. Zheng Chenggong [s.b] got jealous of Shi Lang’s popularity and hence had him arrested and his family imprisoned. In 1646, Shi Lang escaped and surrendered himself to the Qing 清. Taking revenge, Zheng Chenggong executed Shi´s father, son and nephew. Shi Lang was treated well by the Qing and became an assistant brigade-general very quickly (Hummel 1943: 653). In 1663 he helped the Manchus to defeat the Zheng insurgents on the mainland (Wills 1979: 228). He planned to conquer Taiwan by taking advantage of the successor-struggle in the Zheng family after Zheng Chenggong’s death. Shi Lang set out twice for Taiwan (1664-65), but bad weather conditions forced him to return both times (Rubenstein 1999: 96-97 and Wills 1979: 229). In 1668, Shi Lang made a plan to defeat the Zheng regime in Taiwan and was ordered to Beijing to present his plan personally, but it was put on hold. Shi Lang got a post at the Imperial Bodyguard and was assigned to the Chinese Bordered Yellow Banner.
In 1681, with the support of Li Guangdi [s.b.], Shi Lang was made commander-in-chief of the naval forces of Fujian 福建. He started on July 8, 1683 with 300 ships and 20.000 men. On July 16/17, he won a brilliant victory over Liu Guoxuan [s.b], who held the Pescadores for the Zhengs. On September 5, Shi received Zheng Keshuang’s [s.b] offer to surrender. Shi Lang finally reached Taiwan on October 3 and formally obtained the capitulation of Liu Guoxuan and Zheng Keshuang (Hummel 1943: 653). In the end Taiwan was conquered because of two major elements: Shi Lang´s naval talents and the negotiations led by the Qing which caused splits within the Zheng regime (Wills 1979: 231). Shi Lang became the „General who pacified the sea“(Jinghai Jiangjun 靖海将军). Because emperor Kangxi [s.b] didn´t know whether to keep Taiwan as part of China or have the island evacuated, Shi Lang advised him to keep it for its strategic position (Keliher 2003: 69-73).). He applied his influence to the reorganization of Taiwan and the Pescadores, the considerate treatment of the surrendered leaders and troops and the regulation of foreign trade (Hummel 1943: 653). Shi Lang was in office until his death and Taiwan almost turned into Shi’s personal colony (Struve 1998: 272). MRo

Shi Shibiao (施世骠), 1666-1721, was the sixth son of Shi Lang. He had his first battle in 1683, when he was just 17 years old. Shi Shipiao’s military career evolved quickly. He was commander-in-chief of many different city guards. In 1712 he became commander-in-chief of the naval forces of Fujian 福建. After starting a serious uprising in Taiwan in 1721, he started a major campaign against the uprising. Shi Shipiao combined his forces with Lan Tingzhen´s 蓝廷珍 1664-1730) and could recover the capital city of Taiwan after several days of fighting. Shi Shipiao worked day and night to rebuild Taiwan and died of illness a few months later (Hummel 1943: 654-655). Besides Shi Shilun and Shi Shibiao, Shi Lang had six other sons: Shi Shiguo 施世国, Shi Shiliu 施世骝, Shi Shiji 施世骥, Shi Shilai 施世騋, Shi Shihua 施世骅, Shi Shifan 施世范 (Shu: 33). MRo

Shi Shilun (施世纶), 1658-1722, was the second son of Shi Lang and a member of the Chinese Bordered Yellow Banner. He was a competent administrator and incorruptible. Shi Shilun held many different posts during his career as an official. He was a magistrate, judge of Hunan 湖南, vice-president of the Censorate and so on. Beside his very successful career, which brought him the nicknames „the most incorruptible official of the empire“ (tianxia diyi qingguan 天下第一清官) or „Shi of clear sky“ (Shi Qingtian 施青天), he wrote many poems (Hummel 1943: 653-654). MRo

Yao Qisheng (姚启圣), 1624-1684, was a native of Zhejiang 浙江. He had to change his name after killing two Manchu soldiers in his early years. In 1659 he joined the family of a related clansman with whom he enlisted in the Chinese Bordered Red Banner. Yao Qisheng took first place in the juren 举人 examination (1663) and started his official career as a magistrate in Xiangshan 香山 (Hummel 1943: 899). During the Three Feudatories War he expanded his leadership competencies by suppressing Geng Jingzhong 耿精忠 (?-1682) (Struve 1998: 281). He became governor-general of Fujian 福建after Geng Jingzhong‘s fall (Hummel 1943: 899). In 1680 he was mainly engaged in driving the forces of Zheng Jing [s.b.] out of mainland China (Struve 1998: 281). Yao Qisheng was a master of „pacification“ tactics, rewarding surrendered Zheng soldiers and people who were willing to work for the Qing 清 (Rubenstein 1999: 101). In the following years Yao Qisheng established a fleet, waiting for a psychologically advantageous moment to attack Formosa. The moment came after Zheng Jing’s death and during the power struggle between his sons. Yao Qisheng entrusted the execution of his plan to Shi Lang [s.b.]. Because his victory report reached Beijing 20 days after Shi Lang´s, Shi Lang got all the merits, leaving Yao Qisheng unrewarded. He died shortly after in 1684 (Hummel 1943: 899). MRo

Zheng Chenggong (郑成功), 1624 – 1662, Son of Zheng Zhilong, was born in Hirado, near Nagasaki (Hummel 1943: 108). 1644 he went to Nanjing and studied in the Imperial Academy of Learning. One year later, when Nanjing fell, the court moved to Fuzhou, where Zheng Chenggong was by his father presented to Zhu Yujian, who conferred on him the imperial surname Zhu. For this reason he was popularly known as 国姓爷, “Lord of the imperial surname”, from which the Dutch derived Koshinga/Coxinga and the Spanish Cogsin/Coseng. (Hummel 1943: 108). In 1646, he was sent, like his father before, to the Xianxiaguan 仙霞关. When his father defected to the Qing, he cut off Zheng Chenggong‘s supplies, forcing him to return to Fuzhou, which enabled the Qing to march through and capture Zhu Yujian at Tingzhou. In the following years, Zheng Chenggong build up an army and fought at different spots of Fujian coast, still for the Ming cause. In 1650, he withdrew to Amoy, where he killed his cousin Zheng Lian 郑聯. In 1651, Ming Emperour Zhu Youlang ordered Zheng Chenggong to rescue Du Yonghe 杜永和 in Qiongzhou 瓊州. He left his uncle Zheng Zhiguan 郑芝莞 to defend Amoy. When Amoy was still taken by the Qing, Zheng Chenggong executed his uncle and started a campaign of retaliation (Hummel 1943: 108).
He was offered preference and titles by both sides, the Ming and the Qing, but he steadily refused any relation with the Qing. In 1658/59 he raised an army of 100.000 to 170.000 men and asked the Japanese for help, which they refused. Zheng gained back several cities along the Zhejiang coast. In September 1659, he suffered a grave loss after a great battle before Nanjing and was forced back to Amoy (Hummel 1943: 109). In 1661, he moved over to Taiwan with a fleet of 900 ships and attacked Fort Zeelandia 熱蘭遮城 at Anping 安平, after Taiwan had been left with little defense by the Dutch. After a siege of nine months, the Dutch gave up and on February of the next year a treaty was signed which had the Dutch withdraw to Batavia. In consequence, Zheng Chenggong established his capital on Taiwan (Weggel 1991: 21). On June 23, 1662, he is said to have commited suicide. Possible reasons might have been the execution of his father and brothers in Beijing, the incident concerning his son Zheng Jing, who had had an illegal relationship with a nurse, the refusal of his generals to carry out Zheng Chenggong’s order to execute Zheng Jing or the notice that a delegation he had sent to Manila to inform the Spanish about the new situation had been massacred (Hummel 1943: 109). MCA

Zheng Jing (郑经), ?? – 1682, was the eldest son of Zheng Chenggong (Hummel 1943: 111). Zheng Jing was condemned to death by his father after having had a relation with his younger brother’s wet nurse, which originated the birth of Zheng Kezang. Zeng Chenggong’s generals, however, refused to carry out the order (Spence and Wills 1979: 228). Zheng Jing came to power after invading Taiwan and forcing his uncle Zheng Shixi 郑世襲, who had been assigned leader after Zheng Chenggong’s death, to flee to the mainland, where he surrendered to the Qing (Hummel 1943: 111). After several of Zheng Chenggong’s generals had defected to the Qing and after the Qing had got support by Dutch Ships, Zheng Jing had to move his home-base from Amoy to Taiwan in 1664. He reorganized the gouvernment, set up a civil and military organization and opened trade with foreign countries. In 1674, he again went to the mainland to aid Wu Sangui and Geng Jingzhong against the Qing. In 1676, Geng had to surrender while Zheng resisted until 1680, when he was finally forced to return to Taiwan (Rubinstein 1999: 101). In 1682, he died in Taiwan (Giles 1898: 111) MCA

Zheng Keshuang (郑克塽), 1670 – 1707, was placed in command in 1682 and took the title of Prince of Yanping (Yanping Wang 延平王) (Giles 1898: 112), after his elder brother Zheng Kezang had been driven into suicide by his family and generals, probably due to his illegitimate birth. After that, Zheng Keshuang, Feng Xifan 馮錫範, his father-in-law, and Liu Guoxuan 劉國軒, commander of the biggest part of the fleet, were the three most powerful men in Taiwan (Hummel 1943: 111). In 1683 they had to surrender to Shi Lang’s 施琅 great Manchu fleet, which outnumbered the Zheng fleet by far (Keliher 2003: 21). Zheng Keshuang was brought to Beijing for house arrest (Keliher 2003: 69). After their surrender to the Qing, they were treated good by the new rulers, as Zheng was given the title of Duke and Liu and Feng were given the title of Earl. Zheng Keshuang died in 1707 (Hummel 1943: 111). MCA

Zheng Kezang (郑克臧), ?? – 1681, was the eldest son of Zheng Jing and Zheng Jing’s younger brother’s wet nurse (Hummel 1943: 111). He was placed in command over Taiwan during the last years of Zheng Jing’s life and was meant to rule over Taiwan after the latter’s death (Rubinstein 1999: 101). When Zheng Jing had passed away, however, his generals compelled Zheng Kezang to commit suicide. This was probably due to his illegitimate birth (Hummel 1943: 111). In the TV drama, he is assassinated by Qin Hui. MCA

Zheng Zhilong (郑芝龙 (鄭芝龍)), 1604 – 1661, was born in Nan’an, Fujian as a son of a poor family. Still young he went to Macao where he worked with Europeans and was babtized Nicolas Gaspard. Later he went to Nagasaki where he married a Japanese woman, Tagawa Matsu, who gave birth to Zheng Chenggong in 1624 (Hummel 1943: 110). In 1624, he joined a band of Pirates, headquartered in Taiwan. He was so succesful in establishing trade from Macao up to the Japanese Kyushu, that four years later, he changed sides, joined the Ming and was 1629 put in charge of the defense of the coast against the Qing (Weggel 1991: 20). From 1644 on, when Beijing fell to the Qing and the court fled to Nanjing, he was given several titles and made chief supporter of the new court eventually. 1646 the Qing achieved important victories and Zheng Zhilong withdrew his troops from the Xianxiaguan 仙霞关, giving the Qing a chance to invade Fujian. Little later Zheng Zhilong surrendered to them. His son Zheng Chenggong and his brother Zheng Hongkui, however, did not. In service for the Qing, Zheng Zhilong was given the title Earl Tongan 同安伯 and appealed to Zheng Chenggong to surrender. 1655 he was charged with treason and imprisioned. Six years later he and his family were executed in Beijing (Hummel 1943: 111) MCA

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