Illustrations at a #Koxinga (Zheng Chenggong 鄭成功) shrine in #Taitung 臺東 (Eastern #Taiwan). One shows Zheng's ships (flying banners with the character Zheng 鄭) attacking a Dutch fortress (marked by the character He 荷 for Helan 荷蘭). /1

The Dutch #VOC colonized #Taiwan (#Formosa), seizing parts from the indigenous Austronesians. They held it from 1624-1662, being expelled on #ThisDayInHistory by #SouthernMing general #Koxinga, who formed a first tiny #HanChinese kingdom there (#Tungning, taken by China in 1683).

The Pirate King - Island Folklore: Taiwanese Tales & Traditions In the late 1600s, the pirate king, Koxinga, ruled over the island of Taiwan. Today, he is a Taiwanese folk hero and this is his story.

In the late 1600s, the pirate king, Koxinga, ruled over the island of Taiwan. Today, he is a Taiwanese folk hero and this is his story.
#Taiwan #Koxinga #FolkloreThursday

Yet Cheng Ch'ou-yu considers himself a descendent of #Koxinga (鄭成功）:

長年旅居美國的鄭愁予，在2005年，將戶籍遷到金門，希望讓自己與先祖鄭成功踏在同一塊土地上。浪子漂泊多年，終於尋到一處能讓自己回歸的土地。正如他在〈偈〉中所寫：「不再流浪了，我不願做空間的歌者／寧願是時間的石人」、「這土地我一方來，／將八方離去。」就算人生皆是從出生開始，最終也都要面臨死亡，但詩人卻瀟灑地宣告自己「將八方離去」，不論終點是什麼，只要心靈任意自適，自然能安然處之。

taiwan.k12ea.gov.tw/index.php?in...

More on the Tanka People and Intermittent Piracy in Southern China Greetings!

Another weekly Asian history column. Why did Chinese pirates regularly operate in fleets of hundreds of vessels while Western pirates were lucky if they had two ships?

#Chinesehistory #tankapeople #chinesemaritimehistory #piracy #hongkonghistory #pirate #Koxinga

open.substack.com/pub/peterhus...

Part of an old Chinese map showing the now-Tainan area. This would have likely been the kind of map Koxinga was looking at as he planned his strategy.
#taiwanhistory
#taiwan
#koxingatemple
#koxinga