Author: CHUNG Yoon Ngan
Date: 03-28-04 17:47
The History of Taiwan (03)
Wu Sangui (吳三桂), a general, was ordered by the 16th Ming Emperor Yi Zong Zhu Youjian (毅宗皇帝朱由檢 1628AD to 1644AD) to the north to defend Shanhaiguan (山海關 The Gate of Mountain and Sea) which was the only gate acessable to the Central Plain of China, through the Great Wall that dividing the Zhongyuan (中原) and the Liaoning (遼寧) peninsular (Southern Manchuria). Wu Sangui left behind his concubine Chen Yuanyuan (陳圓圓) in Beijing.
Li Zicheng (李自成) was a poor peasant who lived in Mizhi county in Shaanxi province.陜西省, 米脂縣). In 1628AD Shaanxi was hard hit by a famine and many people died of starvation. There was banditry every where and the Ming government could not cope with the disaster. With a few young men Li Zicheng formed a bandit band and became its leader. His band was like a rolling snow ball that grew bigger and bigger as thousands upon thousands of hungry peasants joined him. He organised an army and marched eastward. While on the march he raided government treasuries and offices.
In April 1644AD Li Zicheng descended on Beijing, the capital of the Ming Dynasty. Li Zicheng captured Beijing on the 25th of April and his followers ransacked the city as the Emperor fled and hid in Prospect Hill, over-looking the Forbidden City, not far from his palace. Later, the Emperor hanged himself in the pavilion on that hill.
Wu Sangui heard news that his father, Wu Xiang (吳襄), was captured by Li Zicheng. Li Zicheng forced Wu Xiang to urge his son Wu Sangui to surrender. Wu Sangui agreed to surrender and was marching back to Beijing. However, when he heard the news that his favourite concubine, Chen Yuanyuan was kidnapped by the rebel leader, Wu Sangui changed his mind and retreated back to Shanhaiguan. He opened the gate of Shanhaiguan and invited the Manzhous to join forces with him to attack the rebels.
The Manzhous (滿洲), who were from the Northeast, had overran the peninsular of Liaodong (遼東) and wanted to extent to the Central Plain of China, but their objective was blocked by the Great Wall. Now they were delighted with Wu's invitation.
The Manzhou army formed an alliance with the Ming forces under the command of Wu Sangui. They marched to Beijing and vanguished the rebels in no time. Before Li Zicheng withdrew from Beijing he killed Wu Xiang and his entire family of 39. Li Zicheng went off with Chen Yuanyuan. Li Zicheng headed west trying to return to his home base in Shaanxi province. Somehow on the way Chen Yuanyuan escaped and trekked back to Beijing and found Wu Sangui.
The Manzhous, after ceremonially buried the Ming Emperor, refused to go back to the Northeast.They established the Qing Dynasty (清朝 1644AD to 1911AD). That was the end of the Ming Dynasty. In July 1645AD Li Zicheng was killed by the villagers in Hubei province (湖北省).
Zheng Chenggong (鄭成功) was born in Hirado (平戶), an island in Kyushu, (九州) Japan, in 1624AD, the 4th year reign of Emperor Xi Zong of Ming Dynasty (明朝熹宗皇帝), the year of Jia Zi (甲子年) or the Year of the Rat. His father, Zheng Zhilong (鄭芝龍), was from Shi Jing village (石井鄉) of Nan An county (南安縣) in the city of Quan Zhou (泉州) in Fujian province (福建省). His mother was a Japanese woman by the name of Tamura Matsu (田川氏).
Zheng Zhilong was a maritime merchant and a part-time pirate. 1622AD, with his boss, Yan Siqi (顏思齊), Zheng Zhilong came to Beigang (北港) in Taiwan. Zheng Zhilong often went to Hirato to trade. While in business in Hirato he married a Japanese girl who became the mother of Zheng Chenggong. Tamura Matsu, Zheng Chenggong's mother, raised him on her own until he was seven. In 1631AD, Zheng Zhilong took Zheng Chenggong and his younger brother home in Nanan (南安) of Jinjiang county (晉江縣) in Fujian province. During those time Japanese women were forbidden from leaving Japan. Zheng Zhilong engaged a tutor to teach his elder son the classics and hoped that his son might be able to pass the Imperial Examination. Ten years later Zheng Chenggong's mother was allowed to leave Japan and arrived at Nanan to live with her sons.
Zheng Zhilong surrendered to Shen Youlong (沈猶龍), the governor of Fujian province (福建省). In 1633 the Dutch invaded Shamen (廈門) harbour the new governor of Fujian province, Zou Weilian (鄒維璉), ordered the Ming Naval Force to encounter the Dutch. Zheng Zhilong was ordered to be the vanguard of the naval force. The Dutch naval force was repulsed. The naval force under the command of Zheng Zhilong destroyed five Dutch ships and captured one. Zheng Zhilong was promoted to the rank of admiral (福建水師提督) by the Fujian Governor, Zou Weilian .
In May 1644AD, Fu Wang (福王 or Prince Fu), Zhu Yousong (朱由崧), the first cousin brother of Emperor Yi Zong, was installed as the new Emperor of the Ming Dynasty in Nanjing (南京) in Jiangsu province (江蘇省). Zheng Chenggong was 21-years-old and he went to Nanjing to study at a University. His father and his uncle Zheng Hongkui (鄭鴻逵) were supporting Zhu Yousong. Zheng Chenggong was told by his father and uncle to serve Zhu Yousong. Zheng Chenggong was charmed by the charisma of Zhu Yousong and became a staunch supporter of Zhu Yousong. Seeing him so loyal to him Zhu Yousong bestowed upon Zheng Chenggong the title of the Loyal Viscount (忠孝伯).
CHUNG Yoon-Ngan (鄭永元)
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