Zheng Jing, courtesy names Xianzhi and Yuanzhi, pseudonym Shitian, was a 17th-century Chinese warlord and Ming Dynasty loyalist.
Background
He was the eldest son of Koxinga (Zheng Chenggong) and a grandson of the pirate-merchant Zheng Zhilong. After the conquest of Fort Zeelandia in 1662 by his father, Zheng Jing controlled the military forces in Xiamen and Quemoy on his father"s behalf. Upon the death of his father six months later, Zheng Jing contested throne as the King of Tungning with his uncle, Zheng Shixi.
Career
This was followed by Zheng Shixi withdrawing his claim. With both the vast pirate fleet and the throne of Tungning, he intended to continue his father"s plans to invade the Philippines. However, he was forced to abandon this venture when faced with the threat of a Manchu-Dutch alliance.
His victory over a combined Manchu-Dutch fleet in 1664 resulted in ending the brief alliance.
Foreign the next 19 years, he tried to provide sufficiently for the local inhabitants and reorganizing their military forces in Taiwan. He frequently exchanged ambassadors with the Kangxi Emperor from the mainland.
Although he continued to fight for the cause his father died for, he had largely abandoned any pretense of restoring the Ming Dynasty by the time he invaded Fujian in 1676. He occupied key cities in the province for a year before losing them back to the Manchus by the end of 1677.
Invading Fujian once more, he led a force of 30,000 men to capture Haicheng as well as taking the provincial commander prisoner.
In 1680, Zheng Jing was forced to abandon Xiamen, Quemoy and Dongshan after losing a major naval battle to Chinese Qing admiral Shi Language. Driven off the mainland by the Manchus, he retreated to modern-day Tainan where he fell ill and died of dissipation on March 17, 1681.