Qing Dynasty Official Records of the Fall of the Zheng Family in Taiwan

Records in Qing Official Histories of the Fall of the Zheng Clan in Taiwan under the Ming is a valuable historical source. The four-volume work was compiled and published by the Institute of History and Philology at Academia Sinica. Originally titled Strategies for Pacifying the Maritime Rebels, it survives as an unprinted manuscript from the Qing Grand Secretariat archives. It was not included in the Complete Library of the Four Treasuries and was typeset and published by the Historical Materials Series in 1930. In the form of official archival records, the book systematically documents the Qing court's campaigns against the Zheng faction in Taiwan, which had served the Ming, as well as the suppression of resistance and reorganization of governance during the Kangxi reign. It is an important firsthand source for understanding early Qing history in Taiwan and the downfall of the Zheng forces. The account begins in the eighteenth year of the Kangxi reign (1679), when the Qing court convened Prince Kang and others to discuss strategies for suppressing the so-called "maritime rebels." In practice, the campaign targeted the remnants of the Zheng forces and their rule in Taiwan. The book then records how Qing troops gradually captured strategic locations such as Kinmen and Xiamen, bringing most of Fujian under control. Beginning in the twentieth year of Kangxi, the court mobilized forces from across the empire for an expedition against Taiwan. The account concludes with Zheng Keshuang's submission to the Qing in the twenty-third year of Kangxi (1684), the formal establishment of prefectures and counties in Taiwan, and the island's gradual integration into the Qing empire's standardized system of governance. Alongside rigorous records of official military and government deployments, orders, and memorials, the book reveals the interplay between high-level Qing decision-making and its implementation in the provinces. It is an indispensable primary source for research into this period. Records in Qing Official Histories of the Fall of the Zheng Clan in Taiwan under the Ming not only documents the destruction of the power of Zheng Chenggong and his sons and the specific process by which the Qing unified Taiwan, but also sheds light on early Qing ideas and policy adjustments regarding the governance of remote coastal territories. It is one of the key historical sources for studying Taiwan's transition from a Ming-era separatist stronghold to a region incorporated into the Qing institutional system. For historians and readers interested in China's early modern frontier and maritime history, this work offers a firsthand perspective on Qing policy toward Taiwan, the decline of the Zheng regime, and political and social change on the island.