Dramatis Personae Listed in rough order of appearance. Chinese names are given with family name first. Frederick Coyet—Governor of Taiwan, 1656–1662. Defeated by Koxinga. Treated as scapegoat by colleagues and countrymen. Koxinga—Aka Zheng Chenggong, The Yanping Prince, Great Rebel- Quelling General, Bearer of the Imperial Surname. Warlord who devoted his adult life to the fight to restore the Ming Dynasty to China. Conqueror of Taiwan. Zheng Zhilong—Koxinga’s father, good- looking pirate who became fabulously wealthy. Li Dan—Zhilong’s wealthy old mentor and a master of Min trade. Possibly gay. Zou Weilian—Upright Ming official who hated the Dutch and tried to make Zhilong break ties with them. Zhilong ousted him from power. Hans Putmans—Dutch governor of Taiwan, 1629–1636. Fought for Zhilong and then against him, being defeated in 1633. xii DRAMATIS PERSONAE THE PIRATES Li Kuiqi—Pirate leader under Zheng Zhilong who, when Zhi- long went legit, went back to sea and led Zhilong’s former comrades against him. The Dutch agreed to help Zhilong fight against him. Zhong Bin—Pirate leader under Li Kuiqi who betrayed his master and helped the Dutch defeat Li Kuiqi on Zhilong’s behalf. Liu Xiang—Pirate chief who nearly defeated Zheng Zhilong. THE MING EMPERORS Longwu—Ming pretender- emperor who set up a court in the Land of Min to resist the Manchus. Liked Koxinga very much. Killed by the Qing in 1646. Yongli—Ming pretender- emperor who ran a court in China’s far southwest. Was captured and executed by the Qing in 1662. Qian Qianyi—Koxinga’s teacher and one of most famous po- ets of late Ming. When the Manchus entered Nanjing in 1645, he defected to them, a decision that haunted him for the rest of his life. THE ZHENG FAMILY Zheng Hongkui—Aka The Jianguo Duke. Koxinga’s favorite un- cle. Discoverer of the Spirit Cannons. Zheng Lian—Uncle whom Koxinga executed to take over Xiamen. Zheng Zhiwan—Cousin whom Koxinga executed after the cousin failed to defend Xiamen. DRAMATIS PERSONAE xiii Zheng Tai—Koxinga’s half brother. Refused to send rice to provi- sion Koxinga’s forces in Taiwan. Huang Wu—After Koxinga demoted him, Wu defected to the Qing and provided inside information about Koxinga’s operations and advice to weaken it. Su Mao—One of Koxinga’s top commanders. Lost a battle in 1656 and Koxinga had him executed. This act prompted Su Mao’s cousin to plot with Huang Wu to defect to the Qing. Yang Ying—Koxinga’s chronicler. Shunzhi—Young Qing emperor of China. Tried to woo Koxinga to his side. Victorio Riccio—Italian missionary who lived for years under Koxinga’s rule in and near Xiamen City. Chosen by Koxinga to lead a delegation to demand tribute from the Spanish Philippines in 1662. Gan Hui—One of Koxinga’s top commanders. Advised Koxinga to press attack against Nanjing in 1659. Captured and executed by the Qing in the disastrous battle that followed. Zhang Huangyan—Devoted Ming loyalist and eloquent writer. Ad- vised Koxinga during the drive up the Yangtze in 1659. Opposed Koxinga’s decision to go to Taiwan. He Bin—Chinese translator for the Dutch on Taiwan. Fled the col- ony after a scandal and brought Koxinga a map of Taiwan. Yang Chaodong—Sychophantic underling of Koxinga. Spoke in fa- vor of the plan to invade Taiwan while the other commanders were against it. Later became prefectural governor of Taiwan. xiv DRAMATIS PERSONAE Ma Xin—Chinese general in command of forces that surrounded the Dutch stronghold Zeelandia Castle. Thomas Pedel—Overconfident Dutch military commander. Con- sumed with anger about wounded son, died leading foolish musket attack against Chinese forces. Chen Ze—Brilliant commander on Koxinga’s side. Defeated Thomas Pedel with clever ruse. Defeated Dutch bay attack with clever ruse. Was defeated by Taiwanese aborigines in clever ruse. Jacob Valentine—Dutch magistrate and second-in- command to Frederick Coyet. Surrendered Fort Provintia on Taiwanese main- land to Koxinga and was taken prisoner. Philip Meij—Dutch surveyor captured by Koxinga early in the war. Wrote vivid account of captivity. Antonio Hambroek—Missionary on Taiwan who was executed by Koxinga. Later he became the subject of a famous Dutch play. Jan van der Laan—Dutch admiral who led a fleet toT aiwan in 1660, when there were rumors that Koxinga would invade. Find- ing no evidence of an invasion, he left. Coyet hated him. He hated Coyet. Nicholas Verburg—Governor of Taiwan from 1649–1653 and sub- sequently member of High Council in Batavia. Coyet hated him. He hated Coyet. Jacob Cauw—Commander of reinforcement fleet sent toT aiwan in the summer of 1661. Coyet hated him. He hated Coyet. David Harthouwer—Dutch official who desperately wanted to leave Taiwan. Coyet didn’t let him. DRAMATIS PERSONAE xv Prince of the Middag—Mysterious leader of an aboriginal kingdom in central Taiwan who defeated one of Koxinga’s most powerful regiments in the summer of 1661. Melchior Hurt and Jacob Clewerck—Minor Dutch officials who became unwitting ambassadors, swept up on a long and harrowing tour of southern China. Geng Jimao—Viceroy of Fujian and one of most important figures in early Qing. Wanted to conclude an alliance with the Dutch. Li Shuaitai—Governor- General of Fujian Provice. Worked with Geng Jimao to defeat Koxinga, cooperating with the Dutch. Jacob Casembroot—High official inT aiwan. Feuded with Harthou- wer and Coyet. Hans Radis—German sergeant who defected from Dutch to Koxinga with vital military advice. Liked rice wine. This page intentionally left blank .