Shi Lang Pacifies the Truth About Taiwan: 300 Years of Controversy Over Merit and Wrong

Article excerpt from: "Global People" magazine, author: Wu Kaisheng.

Shi Lang, a figure who has been controversial for more than three hundred years, has once again attracted the attention of public opinion. Some people believe that Shi Lang was a great patriotic hero who successfully swept away the Taiwan separatist regime and incorporated it into the administrative map of China; others believe that Shi Lang twice surrendered to the Qing regime and was willing to fight for the lives of foreign rulers, and was a "national" scum. There is no difference between right and wrong. We may as well whisk away the dust of history and walk into Shi Lang's bumpy life together...

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Twice descended to Qing, and the Zheng family began to have an end-to-end feud

Shi Lang was born in 1621 to a relatively well-to-do peasant family in Yakou, Jinjiang, Fujian Province. Since he was a child, his strength and insight were amazing, and his family had high hopes for him, and they wanted him to seek fame and glory. However, he is not good at martial arts and has little interest in his career. Later, as the family road gradually declined, Shi Lang abandoned the wen and followed the martial arts, and practiced martial arts with his teachers and mastered the art of war.

At that time, it was the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, and there was wolf smoke everywhere. Shi Lang had an uncle named Shi Fu, who was a close confidant of Zheng Zhilong, the commander-in-chief of the Ming Dynasty. At the age of 17, Shi Lang left his hometown to join his uncle and join Zheng Zhilong's team. Because of his outstanding military achievements, Shi Lang was soon promoted to guerrilla general. In November 1646, Zheng Zhilong, who was then the Duke of Pingguo of the Southern Ming Dynasty, saw that the general situation had gone, so he secretly sent someone to contact Qing. The Qingping Southern general BoLuo promised Zheng Zhilong to make him the governor of Minyue after he surrendered. Despite the bitter persuasion and obstruction of his son Zheng Chenggong, Zheng Zhilong led his people, including Lang, to Fuzhou to surrender. However, after surrendering, Zheng Zhilong found himself deceived, and instead of becoming the governor of Fujian and Guangdong, he was taken hostage by Boluo and put under house arrest in Beijing. The officers and men who came with Zheng Zhilong were forcibly assigned to the Qing army camp, and Shi Lang was also incorporated into the Qing army that attacked the Southern Ming regime. In 1648, Shi Lang learned that Zheng Chenggong had rebelled against the Qing, so he led his younger brother Shi Xian and some generals to defect to Zheng Chenggong.

Zheng Chenggong, who was three years younger than Shi Lang, had not long since started his army at that time, and his strength was weak, so he attached great importance to Shi Lang's military talent, appointed him as the left vanguard, regarded him as his right and left arm, and consulted with him every time he encountered major events. Shi Lang also wholeheartedly served Zheng Chenggong, and also led an army to capture Zhangpu, Jieyang and other places, increasing Zheng Chenggong's prestige and power. However, over time, there was constant friction between Shi Lang, who was somewhat arrogant and arrogant, and Zheng Chenggong, who was young and vigorous, and the relationship between the two gradually deteriorated.

In April 1652, the "Zengde Incident" finally led to Shi Lang and Zheng Chenggong parting ways. Zeng De was a pacesetter under Shi Lang, who once committed a capital crime in violation of military law, and because he was afraid of being punished by Shi Lang, he defected to Zheng Chenggong to seek refuge, and Zheng Chenggong promoted him to his own entourage. Shi Lang was indignant when he heard the news, and sent someone to capture Zeng De and behead him. Zheng Chenggong was furious and ordered the arrest of Shi Lang, his father Shi Daxuan, and his younger brother Shi Xian. Later, Shi Lang escaped with a ruse, and Zheng Chenggong executed Shi Lang's father and brother in anger. Shi Lang then hated Zheng Chenggong to the bone marrow, determined to defect to the Qing Dynasty, and vowed to avenge Zheng Chenggong's killing of his father and brother. Hearing that Shi Lang had taken the initiative to surrender, Li Litai, the governor of the Qing army in Fujian and Zhejiang, was overjoyed and immediately reported to the imperial court, and the Qing court quickly approved it, appointing Shi Lang as the deputy general of the Qing army tong'an, and soon promoted him to the general of tong'an. After Shi Lang's old ministry learned of his surrender, many of them also followed. In this way, Shi Lang changed from a close comrade of Zheng Chenggong to a powerful opponent.

After three unsuccessful attacks on Taiwan, the "Interior Minister" was depressed for 13 years

In 1662, Zheng successfully used the thick fog as a cover to lead his troops to recover Taiwan, which had been occupied by Dutch invaders. On Taiwan Island, Zheng Chenggong enshrined the Ming Dynasty as orthodox and dreamed of one day realizing the great cause of "opposing the Qing Dynasty and restoring the Ming Dynasty" one day. Unfortunately, this national hero died young and soon, and the Zheng clique split, fighting for the throne of Yanping County, which was successfully succeeded by Zheng. The generals of the Zheng army in Taiwan supported Zheng Chenggong's younger brother Zheng Xun to succeed to the throne, and the generals in Xiamen elected Zheng Chenggong's eldest son Zheng Jing to succeed to the throne, and both sides did not give in. In the end, Zheng Jing calmed down the contradictions and seized great power. But he openly betrayed his father, and went so far as to declare that Taiwan was far overseas and did not belong to China's territory, intending to divide one side and confront the Qing court across the sea. Zheng Jing's perverse behavior caused great indignation in the world. Shi Lang, who had been promoted to admiral of the Fujian Water Division at that time, suggested taking the opportunity to capture Kinmen and Xiamen. The Qing court adopted Shi Lang's suggestion and asked him to conspire with Geng Jimao, the king of Jingnan, and the governor Li Litai to "suppress thieves". After the First World War, the Qing army successfully recaptured Kinmen and Xiamen, and Zheng Jing fled to Dongshan Island. In March 1664, Shi Lang led an army to capture Dongshan Island, causing the Zheng army to lose all the strongholds that had been operating along the Fujian coast for more than 20 years. Immediately afterward, Shi Lang put forward the idea of marching into Taiwan, suggesting that Zheng Jingjun's unstable heart should be taken advantage of, send troops to attack Penghu, and then directly attack Taiwan and seek to realize the unity of the four seas. The ambitious young Kangxi gladly accepted Shi Lang's suggestion and appointed him as the general of Jinghai, responsible for commanding the water division and finding opportunities to use troops against Taiwan.

In November 1664, Shi Lang chose the season of northerly winds in winter and led the Qing army's marine division to Taiwan for the first time. Unexpectedly, on the way to the march, the Qingshui Ocean in the Taiwan Strait suddenly encountered a typhoon, and the wind and clouds rolled over and the vicious waves were fierce. Regardless of Shi Lang's rich sailing experience, according to the level of ship manufacturing at that time, it was impossible to resist such a fierce wind and waves, so he had to order a return voyage.

From March 1665 to April of the following year, Shi Lang launched two more attacks on Taiwan, but both were stranded by typhoons.

Three successive dispatches of troops were fruitless, which caused criticism of Shi Lang by many Manchu officials in the DPRK and China, and some even suspected that he was not sincere about the use of troops in Taiwan. In the years that followed, calls within the Qing court against the conquest of Taiwan by force prevailed. Although the young Kangxi was very supportive of Shi Lang's ideas, he was helpless that he was not yet in power, so he had to listen to the opinions of Ao Bai and other masters. In 1668, Kangxi ordered the abolition of the Fujian Marine Division, burned all warships, the imperial court no longer discussed the matter of military conquest of Taiwan, and transferred Shi Lang to the capital to become the minister of the interior. The Minister of the Interior was only an idle post, and Shi Lang, who was bent on pacifying Taiwan by force, felt very depressed. However, he was not discouraged, but continued to pay attention to the coastal trends in Fujian, seriously summed up the lessons of failure, and slowly waited for the opportunity to make a comeback. Who knows, that's a full 13 years.

With a comeback, Enwei and Shi regained Taiwan

In 1681, Zheng Jing, who ruled Taiwan, died, and the descendants of the Zheng clan once again had serious infighting in order to compete for the throne. At this time, the Qing court had quelled the "San Fan Rebellion", and the Kangxi Emperor had also secured his throne, so he made up his mind to unify Taiwan by force. At this time, Shi Lang, who had reached the age of flower armor, finally waited for the dream opportunity.

Under the strong recommendation of Yao Qisheng, the governor of Fujian, and Li Guangdi, a fellow scholar and scholar of Shi Lang, Kangxi vigorously overcame the consensus and reappointed Shi Lang as the admiral of Fujian, and added the title of prince shaobao, so that he could immediately return to Fujian and prepare for the army. Before leaving, Kangxi specially gave a feast to Shi Lang. During the banquet, he said in a serious tone: "In the use of force to pacify the Taiwan issue, only Shuo agrees with your plan, and I hope that you will do your best and not live up to yuan's hopes!" The grateful Shi Lang said proudly: "Although the old minister has become sixty-two this year, his flesh and qi have not yet been exhausted, and he can still repay the emperor and the imperial court." If I fail again on this trip, I am willing to take the blame."

As soon as Shi Lang arrived in Xiamen, he worked day and night to prepare for the expedition, almost to the point of sleeping and forgetting to eat. On the one hand, he trained sailors, manufactured ordnance, and selected generals, while on the other hand, he collected intelligence on the Zheng army, plotted against the generals of the Zheng army, and formulated a plan to attack Taiwan. After half a year of hard work, everything was finally ready, just waiting for the troops.

Taiwan's own island is narrow and lacks strategic depth, and Penghu is the only barrier to its periphery defense. Once Penghu falls, Taiwan will not attack itself. On June 14, 1683, Shi Lang led more than 300 large warships, more than 20,000 sailors, and more than 230 small and medium-sized warships to set sail from Dongshan Island in Fujian Province and force Penghu. On the morning of the 16th, Shi Lang launched the first attack on the Zheng army in Penghu. On the 18th, Shi Lang sent warships to capture Hujing and Bucket Pan Two Islands outside Penghu Port and cleared the perimeter. On the 22nd, the Qing Dynasty sailors launched another attack in three ways: Shi Lang personally led the main attack force composed of 56 large warships to attack the Main Position of the Zheng Army, Niangma Palace; The Chief Soldier Chen Boa and others led the Eastern Offensive Force composed of 50 warships to break into Jilong Island from the east side of the Penghu Port, as a surprise soldier, and cooperated with the main attack force to attack the Niangma Palace; the general dong Yi and others led the western front attack force composed of another 50 warships to enter Niuxin Bay from the west side of the port, carry out a feint landing, and contain the Zheng army in the west. In addition, the remaining 80 warships served as reserves, following the main attacking forces. Both sides knew that this was a fateful battle, so a fierce battle began to fight, and the fierce battle lasted for seven days and nights. Shi Lang skillfully took advantage of the favorable southwest wind direction conditions and adopted the "five-point plum blossom array" tactic, that is, using multiple warships to besiege one of the Zheng army and concentrate troops to fight. Suddenly, the "plum blossoms" on the vast sea flew, and the Qing army sailors became more and more courageous in the war, conquering the Penghu Archipelago in one fell swoop, destroying nearly 200 large and small warships of the Zheng Army, annihilating more than 12,000 of its elite troops, and reducing nearly 5,000 people. Zheng Jun's commander Liu Guoxuan luckily relied on the familiar terrain to lead a small number of subordinates to flee back to Taiwan.

Penghu lost its hand, and the Zheng clique suddenly became a pot of porridge: some advocated surrender, some advocated defending, and some advocated withdrawing to Luzon, and there was no result for a while. However, to their surprise, Shi Lang did not immediately send troops to attack Taiwan, but settled down in Penghu, on the one hand to appease the local people, while sending people to rescue the officers and men of the Zheng Army who did not die in the diving. Shi Lang ordered the release of the captured Taiwan soldiers back to Taiwan, and before his release, he specifically declared: "I will never take revenge for personal vengeance!" The man who killed my father was dead and had nothing to do with anyone else. He also promised: "Not only will the soldiers not kill, but even if the Zheng family is willing to surrender, I will never kill." The people around Shi Lang once asked, "The general and the Zheng family have a deep feud in the sea of blood, and now the descendants of the Zheng family have become fish in the kettle and caged birds, why don't you quickly send troops to suppress them and avenge the hatred of your relatives?" Shi Lang said: "I led troops to attack Taiwan, this is a major national event, how can I take the opportunity to declare a personal vendetta?" As long as the Zheng family is sincerely obedient, I will not hurt them, otherwise it will cause people's dissatisfaction and affect the people of Taiwan. ”

At the same time, Shi Lang went to the imperial court and proposed to implement a policy of appeasement for the Zheng clique, strive for the peaceful reunification of Taiwan, and save the people of Taiwan from the disaster of swords and soldiers. Kangxi greatly appreciated Shi Lang's approach and agreed to his suggestion. The young Yanping King Zheng Ke and Liu Guoxuan, who were originally afraid of Shi Lang's revenge, did not dare to surrender, but now seeing that Shi Lang really had no intention of killing himself, they hurriedly sent people to Penghu in front of Shi Lang's army to ask for surrender. On August 13, Shi Lang led his army to Taiwan and landed at Luermen. Liu Guoxuan and others greeted him in front of the army, and the people of all nationalities in Taiwan greeted them in the middle of the road. On August 18, Zheng Ke led the civil and military officials of the Zheng clique, as well as Zhu Heng, the son of king Lu of the Ming Dynasty, and Zhu Ling, the king of Le'an, who were in Taiwan, to shave their hair and shave their heads. A strand of hair that fell with the wind marked the official surrender of the Zheng Group and the end of the Southern Ming Dynasty.

When the news of Shi Lang's success in recovering Taiwan reached the capital, it was the Mid-Autumn Festival in 1683. Kangxi was overjoyed when he heard the news, took off his dragon robe and sent people to reward Shi Lang, and then personally made a commendation and praise, and made Shi Lang the Marquis of Jinghai, hereditary resignation, and ordered him to be a Water Master of Fujian in Yongzhen.

Success and fame, but left controversy for three hundred years

After Shi Lang pacified Taiwan, a dispute over the abandonment of Taiwan arose within the Qing court. Many ministers lacked an understanding of Taiwan's strategic position and advocated moving Taiwan's population to the mainland and giving up Taiwan's land. Kangxi also once expressed his agreement with this proposal, holding that "Taiwan is only a land of bullets, and there is nothing to gain and nothing to lose." Seeing that the voices of abandoning the government and the public were rising, Shi Lang was so anxious that he hastened to play the "Gong Chen Taiwan Abandonment and Neglect" in the annals of history, and resolutely advocated stationing in Taiwan. In the song, Shi Lang pointed out that Taiwan is related to the heavy responsibility of protection in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong and other places, and must not be discarded. Using his own eyes, he further argued that Taiwan's fertile land and abundant products can provide important material support for the southeast coastal area. In addition, he also warned that the Netherlands and other foreign invaders do not want to invade and occupy this part of Taiwan from time to time, and if we do not hold on, they will certainly make a comeback. Once Taiwan is invaded and occupied by foreign invaders, it will be difficult to ascend to heaven by sending troops on expeditions at that time. Shi Lang's superiors were eloquent, and some ministers agreed with his proposal, prompting Kangxi to change his mind and make up his mind to defend Taiwan.

In March 1696, Shi Lang died of illness while serving in Fujian at the age of 76. After hearing the news, the Kangxi Emperor was heartbroken, ordered a thick burial, gave the crown prince Taifu, the title of Xiangzhuang, and built a shrine to commemorate it in front of the Quanzhou Government. To this day, archways, ancestral halls and inscriptions commemorating Shi Lang in southern Fujian can still be seen everywhere.

However, for three hundred years, Shi Lang has also been a controversial figure. There have always been different voices about his historical positioning. In Shi Lang's life, judging from the historical situation, there are nothing more than two things: one is to oppose Zheng And qing; the other is to unify Taiwan. It is precisely these two points that constitute the fundamental reasons for the different evaluations of him by later generations. Regarding Shi Lang's historical merits in reunifying Taiwan, historians have fully affirmed them. However, people have so far disputed the issue of his integrity of "betraying the lord and defecting to the enemy".

If Shi Lang's surrender was out of "revenge for personal taking revenge", then his subsequent actions have far exceeded the narrow vision of the individual. Whether on the issue of requisitioning and abandoning Taiwan, or on the issue of rehabilitating the aftermath and governing Taiwan, Shi Lang was far-sighted and made indelible contributions to safeguarding the interests of the state and the nation, and was undoubtedly an outstanding politician, military expert, and patriotic general of that era.

If Shi Lang is judged from the perspective of "national hero" and "national scum", it is inevitable that there is a suspicion of "narrow nationalism". Because, whether it is the Mongols who ruled the Yuan Dynasty or the Manchus who ruled the Qing Dynasty, they are all members of the big family of the Chinese nation, and it is the responsibility of every descendant of Yanhuang to seek the "great unification" of the Chinese nation.

The Qing Dynasty was an important dynasty in Chinese history, and the Manchus were important members of the Chinese nation. Historically, the Manchus originated from the Jurchens, later changed to Jin, and then changed to Qing, mainly living in the northeast and north China. In 1644, the Manchu nobles, with the cooperation and help of some Han landlord armed forces, gained the right to rule China, followed by launching a century-long war to unify the whole of China, and finally created an unprecedented unification of China in the mid-18th century. However, for a long time, due to the tyranny and brutality of the Manchu rulers and some deviations in people's understanding, some people in China described the important event of the Qing government's unification of China as a "foreign invasion." Even after the founding of New China, some people still regarded the Qing government as a "Manchu invading force." Therefore, some people regard Shi Lang as a national scum, which is premised on this erroneous view of history.

Some scholars have put forward such a point of view, which makes people feel quite innovative: Shi Lang lowered the Qing but did not betray Zheng. Shi Lang's assistance to the Qing government in realizing the reunification of the mainland and Taiwan after shi Lang surrendered to the Qing Dynasty was exactly the goal that Zheng Chenggong struggled for in those years, which is exactly the so-called common destination. Mr. Fu Yiling, a well-known expert in the history of the Ming and Qing dynasties, once said: "Although Zheng Chenggong's resumption of Taiwan and Shi Lang's resumption of Taiwan have specific reasons, they both hide the great righteousness of the Chinese nation. The two men's situations are different, and the starting point for the conquest of Taiwan is different, but they have the same understanding of the importance of Taiwan's strategic position, and both firmly advocate the defense of Taiwan." From the perspective of the two of them' understanding of Taiwan, we say that Shi Lang is not a traitor to Zheng Chenggong, but his successor. ”

In fact, in the Shi Lang Memorial Hall in Jinjiang County, Fujian Province, Shi Lang's hometown, there is a couplet that reads: "The platform is ancient, the platform is ancient; one zheng, one shi." Later generations compared Shi Lang with Zheng Chenggong in this way, which should be said to put aside "personal feelings" and affirm their historical merits based on the "great righteousness of the Chinese nation".

(Author Affilications:Academy of Military Sciences of pla Chinese People's Liberation Army)