[PLAQUE]
| Time Period | 1660-1662: the two years before Zheng Chenggong’s death |
| Geographical Region | The Southeast coast of China; stretching from Shanghai and the Yangtze, to Taiwan and the Philippines. |
| List of Symbols |
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The Ming empire falling to the Manchu invaders was certainly a unique situation. The Manchus militarized a nation of two million people and conquered the Ming empire a nation of more than one-hundred million people. After taking Beijing and establishing the Qing dynasty the Manchus faced many years of fighting several Ming Loyalist emperors who claimed a right to the empire. Zheng Zhilong had been a wealthy merchant trader and leader of the Ming Navy before the Qing takeover. He had gained his power by skillfully trading and managing the interests of Chinese, Japanese, Dutch, and Spanish traders. Zheng participated in the rebellion against the Qing before eventually joining the Qing cause. Zheng Zhilong’s son Zheng Chengong, would take over his father’s empire and continue the fight against the Qing. My plaque displays the situation of Zheng Chengong during the years 1660-1662 as his continued rebellion against the Qing came to a close.
The plaque is generally split diagonally along the Chinese coastline. This section of coastline runs from Xiamen in the south to Shanghai and the entrance to the Yangtze on the north part of the coast. The Qing and Ming flags indicate which section was controlled by which group. the Qing flag in the Northwest indicates that the Qing empire and the Manchus were in control of the mainland of China. Especially by 1660 they were even pushing the Ming loyalists under Zheng Chengong out of their strongholds in Haichang and importantly Xiamen. Next to the Qing flag are the eight Manchu banners. These banners represent the organizational structure that the Manchus used to take over Ming China. These same banners and their related military enabled the Qing to militarily dominate mainland China. Also on the mainland there is a large Manchu soldier who also represents the large army the Qing had at their command. They could not match Zheng at sea but Zheng could not match them on land. The Ming flag in the ocean indicates that this was the area where Zheng and his followers controlled with the large navy that he inherited from his father.
The crown and skull and crossbones symbolize Zheng Chengong himself, the pirate king. Zheng is surrounded by his ships which symbolize his naval superiority over the Qing empire. Zheng used this naval power to attack coastal areas under Qing control, and even sail up the Yangtze to siege Nanjing. The Qing had tried to defeat Zheng on the seas, but they had failed against the more experienced forces of Zheng. The dotted lines indicate the places that Zheng and his forces travelled to in order to fight the Qing and gain territory to grow grain to feed his troops.
The tulip on the island of Taiwan indicates the Dutch military and trade presence of the Dutch on the island. Zheng Zhilong was the one who originally convinced them to occupy that territory. But in order to feed his troops Zheng Chengong ousted them from the island and used the area as a port and to grow grain to feed his troops.
The zone outside the area of Xiamen with x’s in it indicates a region which the Qing used harsh policy to stop people from helping Zheng Chengong and his forces. The Qing empire enforced rules banning trade within certain Zheng supporting areas. Eventually resorting to coastal evacuations of people to literally move them away from the coast so they would stop helping Zheng. Eventually these more extreme measures became effective forcing Zheng to seek other areas to feed and support his troops, like Taiwan and the Philippines.
Lastly the figures headed back towards the mainland indicate the men who betrayed Zheng and his Ming loyalist forces for the more stable Qing. Even Zheng Chengong’s own father defected to the Qing and it was a constant problem for Zheng Chengong.
Zheng Chenggong eventually died in 1662 failing to re-establish the Ming empire in any meaningful sense. His followers would fight over his remaining resources and territory until 1884 when the Qing successfully invaded Taiwan.
DANIEL LEMIRE