Abstract

The four generations of the Zheng family — Zheng Zhilong, Zheng Chenggong, Zheng Jing, and Zheng Keshuang — controlled maritime trade in East Asia during the seventeenth century, and opened up the island of Taiwan for Chinese settlement. This paper traces the evolving interpretations of their legacy in the People’s Republic of China from 1949 to the present day. It argues that every new interpretation brings with it fresh disagreements and negotiations among the official government view, older historical narratives based on the Confucian value system, and the regional sentiments of the Zhengs’native southern Fujian, or Minnan.

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