Zheng Chenggong – known in Dutch records as Koxinga – arrives with a flotilla of junks and 25,000 fighting men and begins demanding the Dutch surrender Formosa. The Dutch need to make decisions fast. They have two forts, people scattered around the island, only four ships and a suspicion that Koxinga may not actually want Formosa.
Zheng Zhilong (merchant, translator, pirate, naval tactician and Admiral of the Chinese fleet) has a key role in the history surrounding Taiwan. No less important – in fact, arguably more important – is the role that his son, Zheng Chenggong, would play. To understand the role he played, it is important that we look at his childhood, his family dynamic and the world in which he was growing up.
If one follows this link to the Wikipedia page on events of the 17th Century, one could be surprised by the number of entries that relate to war.
Taiwan Through Time 