Zheng Jing

Zheng Jing (Chinese: 鄭經; pinyin: Zhèng Jīng; Wade–Giles: Cheng Ching; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Teⁿ Keng) was a seventeenth century Chinese warlord and Ming Dynasty loyalist. He was the eldest son of Koxinga and grandson of pirate-merchant Zheng Zhilong. After the conquest of Taiwan in 1662 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 Jing'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. He frequently exchanged ambassadors with the Kangxi Emperor from the mainland. 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 Fujian in 1676. He occupied key cities in the province for a year before losing them back to the Manchus by the end of 1677. Invading Fujian 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 abandon Xiamen, Quemoy and the Pescadores islands after losing a major naval battle to Chinese Qing admiral Shi Lang. Driven off the mainland by the Manchus, he retreated to Tainan where he fell ill and died of dissipation on March 17, 1681. Zheng named as his successor his oldest son, Zheng Kezang; however, Zheng Kezang was quickly toppled in favor of Zheng Keshuang.