Koxinga Writer Alert (No.1-4) “臺灣茶的故事 The Story of Taiwan Tea” Inspired

The Zheng Ancestral Shrine 鄭氏家廟 @Tainan

People like to tell or invent Koxinga stories - mostly harmless. 

With the recent publication of our book “臺灣茶的故事  The Story of Taiwan Tea”, we take the opportunity to set some records straight. 

No. 1 Koxinga descendants in Taiwan claim:

鄭守讓's story remains to be verified. 鄭寬 was buried in 北京，probably already passed when 施琅 took over Taiwan, his remains were shipped to Beijing, and 施琅's report to the Qing Court only mentioned the living ones, therefore leaving a hole for false claims. And Koxinga's direct descendants were confined to Beijing until 1911, none was allowed to have settled elsewhere. Any 鄭成功後代 in Taiwan claim is questionable.

No.2 Puzzled why Taiwanese historians missed or ignored references to 鄭寬：

(1) In 鄭克塽's own writing, 鄭寬 had a son 鄭克培, any descendants will have to be from 克培，and 

(2) 鄭氏家譜 clearly recorded 鄭寬 was buried outside of 北京永定門，in a nunnery.

No. 3 

Also a supplement to Chapter 5:

Was 鄭芝龍 executed soon after he was forced to Beijing, as a warning lesson to the common folks starting with elementary schoolers?
No, not at all, 據閩浙總督劉清泰順治11年4月15日奏摺：“同安侯鄭芝龍，拜國家之重爵，為殿陛之親臣，更有與國休戚之誼”. With his wealth and political connections, he enjoyed 10 years of prestigious life, only to be brought down when he lost the support of 多爾袞 and 陳名夏. And the remnants of Ming loyalist 黃道周 supporters particularly his nephew 黃梧 （a much-despised Ming-Cheng turncoat) advocated for 芝龍's execution as a revenge for his role in 黃's demise (actually untrue) that was disguised as a punishment for his failure to convince Koxinga to yield. There, the record is now set straight.

No. 4

It is commonly assumed that the 鄭芝龍 and his sons and grandsons were arrested, imprisoned, and executed alone, while in fact they were accompanied by large numbers of servants. The above is a name-list, and we the surviving Cheng clan are forever indebted to them for their faithful services.