The Collapse of the Ming Dynasty and the Birth of Southern Ming Resistance

In March 1644, the Ming Dynasty reached its tragic conclusion when Emperor Chongzhen took his own life on Coal Hill (present-day Jingshan) as rebel forces overran Beijing. This moment marked not just the end of an emperor’s life, but the collapse of a 276-year-old dynasty that had once been among the world’s most powerful empires. The vacuum left by the Ming’s fall created opportunities for multiple claimants to power – the rebel forces of Li Zicheng, the invading Manchu armies from the north, and the Ming loyalists who refused to accept their dynasty’s demise.

Soon after Beijing’s fall, the Ming imperial clan and surviving officials established a government in Nanjing, known as the Hongguang regime. This marked the beginning of what historians would later call the Southern Ming – a series of short-lived regimes that continued resistance against the newly established Qing Dynasty. The Southern Ming sought alliances wherever they could find them, including with powerful maritime leaders like Zheng Zhilong, whom they ennobled as the Earl of Nan’an and tasked with defending Fujian province.

The Rise of the Zheng Family and the Longwu Emperor

By 1645, the Hongguang regime had collapsed, and Zheng Zhilong’s brother Zheng Hongkui played a crucial role in escorting Prince Zhu Yujian to Fujian. In the intercalary sixth month of that year, Zhu Yujian ascended the throne in Fuzhou as the Longwu Emperor, establishing the Longwu regime. The new emperor granted the Zheng brothers noble titles and military authority, effectively placing the regime’s survival in their hands.

However, this arrangement created immediate tensions between the Zheng military faction and the civil officials led by Huang Daozhou, a prominent Donglin Party leader. The resulting “civil-military conflict” severely hampered the regime’s effectiveness. When Huang Daozhou volunteered to lead troops against the Qing, Zheng Zhilong provided only weak soldiers and insufficient supplies, leading to Huang’s defeat and death. Similar incidents of military disobedience and half-hearted campaigns characterized the Longwu regime’s brief existence.

Zheng Zhilong’s Defection and Its Consequences

By 1646, Zheng Zhilong had begun secret negotiations with the Qing. His defection in November of that year proved disastrous for the Southern Ming cause. The Qing forces entered Fujian virtually unopposed after Zheng ordered the withdrawal of troops from key mountain passes. The Longwu Emperor was captured and executed in October, while Zheng Zhilong himself was betrayed by the Qing shortly after his surrender, taken to Beijing where he would spend the rest of his life under house arrest.

Zheng Zhilong’s decision to defect created a permanent rift with his son Zheng Chenggong (better known in the West as Koxinga), who would become one of the Qing Dynasty’s most formidable opponents. Educated in Confucian classics and deeply loyal to the Ming, Zheng Chenggong famously criticized his father’s actions, writing: “Since ancient times, fathers have taught their sons loyalty; I have never heard of fathers teaching their sons betrayal.”

Zheng Chenggong’s Transformation into a Ming Loyalist Leader

The year 1647 marked a turning point in Zheng Chenggong’s life. After Qing troops raided his family home in Anping and his mother committed suicide following alleged assault, Zheng underwent a dramatic transformation. He burned his Confucian scholar’s robes at a temple, symbolically abandoning his literary pursuits for military resistance. Gathering a small band of followers, he began building what would become one of East Asia’s most formidable military forces.

Zheng’s early campaigns focused on securing food supplies and consolidating power. By 1650, he had established control over Xiamen (Amoy) and organized his forces into a sophisticated military structure with five main armies and elite units like the “Iron Men” troops. His military organization combined traditional Ming structures with innovative adaptations, creating a force that could challenge the Qing on both land and sea.

The Economic Foundations of Zheng’s Resistance

Maintaining such a military force required substantial financial resources, which Zheng obtained through a combination of maritime trade and local taxation. His commercial network, known as the “Five Fleets,” operated both domestic and international trade routes stretching from Japan to Southeast Asia. This network allowed Zheng to fund his operations despite controlling relatively little territory.

Zheng also implemented a sophisticated taxation system, collecting fees from merchant ships and imposing levies on wealthy households in coastal regions. These economic strategies enabled him to sustain his resistance for nearly two decades against the vastly more resource-rich Qing Empire.

Military Campaigns Against the Qing

Zheng Chenggong’s military strategy leveraged his naval superiority and the mobility it provided. Unlike other Ming loyalists who fought conventional land campaigns, Zheng adopted tactics resembling pirate warfare – striking coastal targets then withdrawing to his island bases. His forces proved equally capable on land and sea, as demonstrated in victories at places like Luoyuan and Ningde in 1646.

The 1659 Northern Expedition represented Zheng’s most ambitious campaign. Leading a large force up the Yangtze River, he laid siege to Nanjing, nearly capturing this former Ming capital before suffering a disastrous defeat. The failure at Nanjing forced Zheng to reconsider his strategy and ultimately turn his attention to a new target – Taiwan.

The Conquest of Taiwan and Its Historical Significance

In 1661, Zheng Chenggong launched his invasion of Taiwan, then under Dutch colonial rule as Formosa. After a nine-month siege, he forced the surrender of the Dutch at Fort Zeelandia in February 1662. This victory not only expelled European colonizers from Taiwan but established the island as a base for continued Ming loyalist resistance.

Zheng implemented agricultural development programs and established administrative systems on Taiwan, laying foundations for its subsequent Sinicization. His plans to expand further into the Philippines were cut short by his untimely death in June 1662 at age 37.

Legacy and Historical Impact

Zheng Chenggong’s legacy is complex and multifaceted. In China, he’s celebrated as a national hero for resisting foreign rule (both Manchu and European) and for bringing Taiwan under Chinese administration. In Taiwan, he’s remembered as the island’s first Chinese ruler after centuries of indigenous and brief European control. Japanese history remembers him for his connections to that country through his mother, while Dutch accounts document their dramatic encounters with his forces.

The Zheng family’s maritime empire continued under Zheng’s descendants until 1683, when the Qing finally conquered Taiwan. This marked the true end of organized Ming resistance and the complete consolidation of Qing rule over China proper. However, Zheng Chenggong’s story continues to resonate as a powerful narrative of loyalty, resistance, and the complex interplay between land and sea power in East Asian history.

His life and campaigns represent a pivotal transition period between the Ming-Qing dynastic change and the emergence of early modern East Asia, with implications that still echo in contemporary discussions about Chinese identity, Taiwan’s status, and the historical role of maritime power in the region.