Introduction -- Unrest on the China coast -- The rise of Zheng Zhilong -- Zheng Chenggong's politicization of the China coast -- From Dutch Taiwan to Zheng Taiwan -- The antagonism across the Taiwan Strait -- The politics of peace talks -- Shi Lang the admiral -- The crucial naval battle near Penghu -- Taiwan's integration with China -- Conclusion.

This is the first book to comprehensively cover the historical process leading to Taiwan's integration with Mainland China in the seventeenth century. As such, it addresses the Taiwan question in the seventeenth century, presenting for the first time the process leading to the island's integration with the mainland through the story of the Zheng family and Admiral Shi Lang. The author has confirmed Zheng Chenggong (Koxinga)'s Ming loyalism and his politicization of the conflicts on the China coast. Thus, the author concludes that Zheng was a "revolutionary traditionalist" who transformed sheer violence into a political movement in an unprecedented way. He politicized the entire region and paved the way for the inevitable conflict with Mainland China. After repeated political talks had failed, the rising Qing China decided to take Taiwan by force. Though seaborne warfare was a formidable task at the time, the man who overcame these difficulties and completed the seemingly impossible mission was none other than Admiral Shi Lang. The book provides a new and more justifiable assessment of the Admiral's contribution to the conquest of Taiwan and pacification of coastal unrest. The book will be of interest to general readers as well as specialists researching security and warfare on the China coast.

Local access dig. pdf. [Wong-ConquestTaiwan.pdf]

War, trade and piracy in the China Seas, 1622-1683 / by Cheng Wei-chung.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 345-355) and index.

Introduction: The Missing Link -- The tributary system challenged -- Nicolas Iquan before 1627 -- The survival game of the mercenaries, 1628-1631 -- The establishment of the An-Hai trading emporium, 1630-1633 -- Stormy weather at the imperial court and on the south China coast, 1632-1633 -- The winding ways towards the western ocean -- The risk of politics and the politics of risk, 1636-1640 -- In search of silver in a changing world, 1640-1646 -- The open coast of the Chinese empire, 1646-1650 -- Fukienese exceptionalism transformed into a political project, 1650-1654 -- The passions of a merchant prince, 1654-1657 -- From defeat to victory, 1658-1662 -- All acknowledged by the kings, 1663-1667 -- Monopoly lost, 1669-1683 -- Conclusion: defensive and aggressive monopolies.

Approaching its demise, the Ming imperial administration enlisted members of the Cheng family as mercenaries to help in the defense of the coastal waters of Fukien. Under the leadership of Cheng Chih-lung, also known as Nicolas Iquan, and with the help of the local gentry, these mercenaries became the backbone of the empire's maritime defense and the protectors of Chinese commercial interests in the East and South China Seas. The fall of the Ming allowed Cheng Ch'eng-kung-alias Coxinga-and his sons to create a short-lived but independent seaborne regime in China's southeastern coastalprovinces that competed fiercely, if only briefly, with Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch and English merchants during the early stages of globalization.

Local access dig.pdf. [Cheng-China Seas.pdf

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