The Historical Backdrop of a Clash of Empires

In the turbulent mid-17th century, as the newly established Qing Dynasty consolidated its rule over China, remnants of the Ming loyalists continued their resistance. Among them, Zheng Chenggong (known in the West as Koxinga) emerged as a formidable maritime warlord. By 1652, the ninth year of the Shunzhi Emperor’s reign, Zheng had built a powerful naval force and sought to reclaim territory along China’s southeastern coast. His target: the strategic city of Zhangzhou in Fujian Province.

Zhangzhou, a vital administrative and commercial hub, was under Qing control but vulnerable due to its proximity to Zheng’s strongholds. The region’s mixed loyalties—with many Han Chinese still resentful of Manchu rule—created fertile ground for rebellion. Zheng’s campaign would test both his military ingenuity and the Qing’s ability to defend its frontiers.

The Opening Moves: A Swift and Strategic Offensive

On the third day of the first lunar month in 1652, Zheng Chenggong launched his assault with a fleet of over 2,000 ships, descending upon Haicheng Port near Zhangzhou. The Qing garrison, led by Deputy Commander He Wenxing and acting County Magistrate Gan Tiyuan, capitulated without significant resistance. Zheng rewarded He Wenxing by appointing him as a frontline commander—a calculated move to encourage further defections.

By the tenth day, Zheng’s forces severed critical supply routes, including the Jiangdong Bridge linking Quanzhou to Zhangzhou. Qing General Wang Bangjun dug in at Zhangzhou’s fortified city walls, while Zheng’s troops seized Pinghe County. Local villagers, sympathetic to the Ming cause, rallied behind Zheng, flying rebel flags. The Qing found themselves isolated, with reports lamenting the city’s “dire and untenable” situation.

The Brutal Stalemate: Siege Warfare and Desperation

Zheng’s initial attempts to storm Zhangzhou’s walls in early February failed. A daring tunneling operation—aimed at planting explosives beneath the city’s defenses—miscalculated the distance, rendering the plan useless by early March. Undeterred, Zheng adopted a war of attrition, encircling Zhangzhou with 270,000 troops, 87 wooden forts, and layered trenches. The city became a “barrel of iron,” cut off from all relief.

Inside, conditions grew apocalyptic. By August, after six months of siege, famine gripped Zhangzhou. Residents resorted to eating rats, tree bark, and even human flesh. Official reports later described streets piled with corpses, the stench carrying for miles. A bowl of gruel sold for four taels of silver; eventually, no food remained at any price. The Qing garrison, desperate, looted homes and executed civilians to conserve supplies.

The Qing Counterattack: A Narrow Escape

Meanwhile, the Qing court scrambled to respond. Zhejiang-Fujian Governor Chen Jin mobilized reinforcements but suffered a crushing defeat at Mati Mountain in March. His subsequent attempts to relieve Zhangzhou faltered, culminating in his shocking assassination by disgruntled servants in July. The Qing then dispatched General Jin Li with elite Banner troops, who arrived in late September.

On October 3, 1652, Jin Li’s cavalry exploited a favorable wind to break Zheng’s lines. Key Zheng commanders, including Huang Shan and Chen Feng, fell in the rout. Forced to retreat to Haicheng, Zheng abandoned his hard-won gains as the Qing reclaimed surrounding counties.

Cultural and Social Repercussions

The siege left Zhangzhou physically and psychologically scarred. Contemporary accounts, like Fujian Inspector Wang Yingyuan’s memorials, depict a society pushed to cannibalism—a trauma that fueled anti-Qing sentiment for decades. Zheng’s ability to inspire local uprisings revealed lingering Ming loyalism, while the Qing’s brutal suppression underscored its determination to crush dissent.

The conflict also highlighted Zheng’s tactical brilliance (and occasional miscalculations), reinforcing his reputation as both a guerrilla strategist and a leader capable of large-scale operations. His decision to allow Qing reinforcements into Zhangzhou—only to tighten the siege—demonstrated psychological warfare at its most ruthless.

Legacy: A Turning Point in the Ming-Qing Struggle

Though Zheng failed to hold Zhangzhou, the campaign exposed Qing vulnerabilities in coastal defense, prompting later policies like the “Great Clearance” (1661), which evacuated entire coastlines to deny Zheng resources. The siege also foreshadowed Zheng’s eventual invasion of Taiwan in 1661, where he expelled the Dutch and created a Ming loyalist base.

Modern historians view the siege as a microcosm of the Ming-Qing transition: a clash of naval versus land power, ethnic tensions, and the high human cost of dynastic change. For Fujian’s people, the events of 1652 became a cautionary tale of resilience and suffering, memorialized in folklore and archival records alike.

Today, Zheng Chenggong’s campaign is studied for its military innovations and its role in shaping East Asia’s geopolitical landscape—a testament to how one city’s struggle echoed across empires.