Zheng Zhilong

Zheng Zhilong
鄭芝龍
1. Count of Nan'an
2. Marquis of Pinglu
3. Duke of Ping
4. First-class Viscount
5. Marquis of Tong'an
Illustration of Zheng Zhilong and his son Koxinga, Prince of Yanping
BornApril 16, 1604
Fujian, Ming dynasty
DiedNovember 24, 1661(1661-11-24) (aged 57)
Burial
Tomb of Zheng Chenggong (鄭成功墓; in present-day Nan'an, Quanzhou, Fujian)
WivesTagawa Matsu
Lady Yan[1]
IssueKoxinga, Prince of Yanping(Zheng Chenggong)
Shichizaemon Tagawa
Zheng Xi
Names
Nicholas Iquan Gaspard
HouseZheng Dynasty (later called House of Koxinga because of his son)
FatherZheng Shaozu
MotherLady Wang
ReligionChinese Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Catholicism
OccupationAdmiral, merchant, military general, pirate leader, politician
Zheng Zhilong
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese鄭芝龍
Simplified Chinese郑芝龙
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinZhèng Zhīlóng
Wade–GilesCheng Chih-lung
Southern Min
Hokkien POJTēⁿ Chi-liông
Japanese name
Kanji鄭 芝龍
Kanaジェン・ジーロン
Hiraganaてい しりゅう
Transcriptions
Revised HepburnTei Shiryū / Jen Jīron

Zheng Zhilong, Marquis of Tong'an (Chinese: 鄭芝龍; pinyin: Zheng Zhilong; Wade–Giles: Ching Chih-lung; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Tēⁿ Chi-liông; April 16, 1604 – November 24, 1661), baptismal name Nicholas Iquan Gaspard,[2] was a Fujianese (Hokkien) admiral, pirate leader, merchant, translator, military general, and politician of the late Ming dynasty who later defected to the Manchu Qing. He was the founder of the Zheng Dynasty, the father of Koxinga, the founder of the pro-Ming Kingdom of Tungning in Taiwan, and as such an ancestor of the House of Koxinga.

During his reign, he controlled a massive and capable fleet of pirates that later joined up with the Ming Dynasty's navy, which he then became a Ming admiral that controlled all trade and security in the southern waters off China. He held a powerful maritime empire which controlled more sea than land. After his defection, he was given noble titles by the Qing government, but was eventually executed because of his son's continued resistance against the Qing regime.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Clements2011 b was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cheng, Weichung (2014). War, Trade and Piracy in the China Seas, (1622-1683). Brill. pp. 37–39, 41.