Zheng Chenggong (Koxinga)
1624–1662 · Chinese/Japanese · Ming-Qing Transition
Known for: Ming loyalist who expelled the Dutch from Taiwan and established the Kingdom of Tungning
Zheng Chenggong—known in the West as Koxinga—was a Ming dynasty loyalist born to a Chinese pirate lord and a Japanese mother who devoted his life to restoring the fallen Ming dynasty. When his mainland campaigns against the Manchu Qing failed, he turned his fleet toward Taiwan and besieged the Dutch fortress at Fort Zeelandia, expelling the Europeans after a nine-month siege in 1662.
He was fierce, loyal, and driven by filial duty—his father had submitted to the Qing, but Koxinga refused to follow. He was strict and sometimes cruel, demanding absolute obedience. He died young at 37, reportedly of madness or malaria, but his kingdom on Taiwan lasted two more decades.
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