Chen Yonghua

Biography

Familial Calamity and the Rising "Wolong" Chen Yonghua was born in 1634 during the late Chongzhen era in Tongan County, Quanzhou Prefecture, Fujian. His father, Chen Ding, was an esteemed local scholar who earned the title of Senior Tribute Scholar (Bagong) in 1644. During the early Southern Ming resistance, the Longwu Emperor recognized Chen Ding's integrity, appointing him Magistrate of Tongan. In 1648 (the 2nd year of Yongli), Qing armies under General Geng Zhongming launched a ferocious assault upon Tongan. Refusing to yield, Chen Ding led local militia in defending the city walls until they were breached, whereupon he hanged himself inside the Ming Grant Hall of the Confucian temple to uphold Ming dynastic allegiance. The fifteen-year-old Chen Yonghua escaped the massacre carrying his mother's safety as his chief concern. Witnessing the destruction of his ancestral home and the fall of the empire, he renounced the pedantic examination essay tradition and dedicated himself to classical military theory, fiscal administration, and practical statecraft. As Zheng Chenggong (Koxinga) gathered loyalist forces along the southeastern coast, Vice Minister of War Wang Zhongxiao recognized Chen Yonghua's rare genius and introduced him to Zheng. During an extensive nocturnal audience, Zheng Chenggong interrogated Chen Yonghua on grand geopolitical strategy, coastal defense, and the restoration of the central plains. Chen Yonghua presented a lucid, forward-looking analysis that captivated the Prince. Overjoyed, Zheng Chenggong proclaimed to his staff: "Fufu is truly the Wolong (Zhuge Liang) of our present day! With such an exceptional strategist, why should our restoration fail?" Zheng promptly commissioned him as an Army Supervisor and appointed him teacher and counselor to his heir apparent, Zheng Jing. ### Coastal Defense and the Stabilization of Succession In 1658, Zheng Chenggong gathered his naval forces for an all-out northern campaign along the Yangtze River, aiming to liberate Nanjing. Aware that Kinmen and Xiamen constituted the lifeblood of the Ming-Zheng resistance, Zheng Chenggong entrusted the garrisoning and logistic supply of the islands to Chen Yonghua and Zheng Jing. Although the campaign ended in retreat after fierce battles at Nanjing, Chen Yonghua maintained rear order, marshaled provisions, and rallied returning troops, preserving the maritime army's cohesion. Recognizing the tactical vulnerability of mainland coastal islands against Qing land armies, Zheng Chenggong led an armada of four hundred ships across the Taiwan Strait in 1661, laying siege to the Dutch garrison at Fort Zeelandia. Throughout the nine-month campaign, Chen Yonghua operated from Xiamen, dispatching reinforcing vessels, rice rations, and gunpowder, enabling Zheng Chenggong to secure the Dutch capitulation in February 1662 and restore Chinese sovereignty over Taiwan. Four months later, in June 1662, Zheng Chenggong died abruptly in Taiwan at the age of thirty-nine. In the ensuing power vacuum, garrison commanders Huang Zhao and Xiao Gongchen attempted a coup d'état by proclaiming Zheng Chenggong's younger brother, Zheng Xi, as Prince of Yanping. Responding with resolute decisiveness, Chen Yonghua advised Zheng Jing to immediately mobilize the naval forces at Xiamen and cross the strait. Chen Yonghua orchestrated the tactical landing, swiftly defeated the rebel commanders, executed the conspirators, and legitimized Zheng Jing's succession as the second Prince of Yanping. Deeply indebted to his guidance, Zheng Jing appointed Chen Yonghua Advisory Army Supervisor (Ziyi Canjun), placing the entire civil and military administration in his hands. ### Retreat to Dongning and Comprehensive State-Building In the winter of 1663 and spring of 1664, a massive joint armada of Qing and Dutch forces overwhelmed the naval defenses of Kinmen and Xiamen. Faced with panic among his commanders, Chen Yonghua advised Zheng Jing: "Kinmen and Xiamen are isolated and untenable against combined fleets. Taiwan possess fertile plains across thousands of li, guarded by turbulent straits. It is better to retreat to Dongning, reform our statutes, accumulate grain, and build an enduring base for the future." Convinced, Zheng Jing ordered the complete evacuation to Taiwan. Upon arriving in Taiwan, Chen Yonghua initiated a grand program of political, cultural, and economic modernization known to history as the "Governance of Dongning": 1. Founding the Confucian Educational System: In 1665, Chen Yonghua submitted a landmark petition arguing that military conquest alone could not civilize a state. He urged the construction of official temples and schools to inculcate Confucian ethics and train civil administrators. He personally supervised the erection of the Tainan Confucian Temple, founded the Imperial Academy, established local schools in all districts, and initiated imperial examinations.

1. Developing Salt Manufacturing: Observing that the islanders boiled seawater in iron pans—a tedious process yielding coarse, bitter salt—Chen Yonghua surveyed the tidal flats of Laikou in Tainan. He established the Jiulongfo Salterns, introducing clay-lined evaporation ponds and tidal irrigation gates. This technological transformation produced abundant, pristine white salt, satisfying local consumption and creating a lucrative export commodity.
2. Encouraging Sugar Production and International Trade: Recognizing Taiwan's optimal climate for sugarcane, he introduced advanced granite-roller crushing mills and cane-sugar purification techniques. High-grade white and brown sugars were exported aboard Zheng merchant fleets to Japan, the Philippines, and Batavia, bringing substantial silver bullion to finance the regime.
3. Military Agricultural Colonies and the Baojia System: To resolve food shortages without burdening the populace, Chen Yonghua instituted agricultural garrisons (Tuntian), allocating plots and oxen to soldiers while training them during agricultural lulls. He also promulgated the Baojia system of mutual surveillance, grouping households into tens to maintain local security and curb piracy, creating a society where "doors remained unlocked at night." ### The Western Campaign and Factional Eclipse In 1674, the Revolt of the Three Feudatories broke out across southern China. Geng Jingzhong, Prince of Jingnan, rebelled in Fujian and invited the Zheng regime to join the campaign. Zheng Jing decided to lead Taiwan's main armed forces across the strait to invade coastal Fujian and Guangdong. Prior to his departure, Zheng Jing appointed Chen Yonghua as Governor-General of Dongning (Dongning Zongzhi), granting him supreme authority over all civil, judicial, and military affairs on Taiwan. For six years, Chen Yonghua governed Taiwan with meticulous prudence. He kept taxation light, encouraged agricultural production, maintained absolute social order, and steadily manufactured artillery and ships to supply the mainland expedition. In 1679, Zheng Jing named his talented eldest son, Zheng Kezang, as Regent (Jianguo). Chen Yonghua, whose daughter was married to Kezang, worked tirelessly to support the young prince, enforcing laws impartially and checking the arrogance of royal kinsmen. However, the continental campaign ultimately disintegrated due to strategic discord and superior Qing forces. In the spring of 1680, Zheng Jing was forced to retreat to Taiwan with his shattered armies. Taking advantage of the military crisis, ambitious courtiers Feng Xifan and Commander Liu Guoxuan sought to seize total political dominance. Resenting Chen Yonghua's moral authority and command over the garrison armies, Feng Xifan orchestrated a deceptive maneuver. He falsely announced his own intent to resign military command due to old age, encouraging Chen Yonghua to retire simultaneously to demonstrate detachment from power. Trusting in the gesture, Chen Yonghua submitted his resignation as Governor-General of Dongning. Zheng Jing accepted his request and immediately transferred all military commands to Feng Xifan. Realizing too late that he had fallen victim to a court intrigue, Chen Yonghua retired in sorrow to Longtan Mountain in Chishan. The frustration of witnessing the collapse of the restoration cause, compounded by the ascendance of self-serving flatterers, took a devastating toll on his health. In August 1680 (the 7th month of the 34th year of Yongli), Chen Yonghua died of illness at his residence in Tainan at an unconfirmed age. Overcome with grief, Zheng Jing personally mourned his passing, conferring upon him the supreme civil honor of Grand Master for Splendid Happiness and the posthumous name "Wenzheng."

Major Activities

Establishing the Tainan Confucian Temple and Institutionalizing Classical Education Prior to Chen Yonghua's arrival, Taiwan lacked an institutionalized classical education framework. Recognizing that cultural elevation was essential for lasting statehood, Chen Yonghua presented his famous 1665 memorial: "Han Gaozu conquered the empire on horseback, yet he could not govern it from horseback. Overseas lands are vast, but without temples and academies to educate the people, succeeding generations will lapse into unlettered ignorance. I pray Your Highness establish the Sage's Temple and erect academies to cultivate talent." He selected Ninan Ward in Chengtian Prefecture (modern Zhongxi District, Tainan) to build the Great Completion Hall (Dacheng Dian), the Hall of Bright Relations (Minglun Tang), and the semicircular pool (Pan Chi), dedicating the complex to Confucius. Opened in January 1666, it was integrated with the Imperial Academy (Taixue / Guozijian). Chen Yonghua invited eminent scholars displaced from the central plains to teach the Confucian Classics, historical annals, and administrative protocols. He instituted prefectural, district, and village schools, establishing periodic examinations to select civil bureaucrats. Known as the "First School of Taiwan" (Quan Tai Shou Xue), this foundational complex successfully rooted Chinese classical culture and institutional education in Taiwanese soil. ### Pioneering Solar Evaporation Salterns and Transforming Island Livelihood Before Chen Yonghua's administrative tenure, Taiwanese salt production relied exclusively on boiling brine over firewood stoves. This primitive technique consumed immense timber supplies and yielded small amounts of dark, bitter-tasting salt. Chen Yonghua personally inspected the low-lying tidal marshes at Laikou (modern Yancheng, South District, Tainan) and introduced the advanced Chinese mainland technique of solar salt evaporation. He engineered coastal dikes to regulate tidal inflow, dug distribution canals, and laid ceramic tiles across expansive crystallization pans. By channeling ocean brine into layered ponds under intense sunlight, salt crystals precipitated naturally. This innovation, epitomized by the famous Jiulongfo Salterns, drastically increased salt output, lowered production costs, and produced immaculate, crystal-white culinary salt. It not only satisfied all domestic dietary and military preserving needs, but also generated substantial export revenue throughout East Asian trade networks. ### Promoting Sugarcane Industry and Military Agricultural Colonies To maintain a standing army of tens of thousands on an island without draining civil resources, Chen Yonghua instituted extensive military agricultural colonies (Tuntian). Troops were assigned specific tracts, draught cattle, and farming implements, cultivating crops during peaceful intervals while maintaining military readiness. Concurrently, he identified sugarcane as Taiwan's ideal cash crop. Chen Yonghua introduced improved cane varieties, constructed hydraulic and oxen-powered granite cane-crushing mills, and popularized refining techniques that produced superior white sugar and crystal rock candy. Sugar swiftly became the primary foreign-exchange export of the Kingdom of Tungning, traded with Tokugawa Japan, Spanish Manila, and Dutch Batavia in exchange for silver bullion, copper coins, textiles, and European armaments. ### Historical Folklore and the Legend of Tiandihui Master "Chen Jinnan" In popular East Asian folklore and historical fiction, Chen Yonghua occupies a revered status closely intertwined with the origins of the Tiandihui (Heaven and Earth Society, also known as the Hongmen), a secret fraternal brotherhood dedicated to overthrowing the Qing and restoring the Ming. Secret society documents, such as the Tiandihui Association Registers (Huibu), state that the brotherhood was founded by Ming loyalists in Fujian and Taiwan during the Shunzhi and Kangxi reigns under the leadership of a grand master known as "Chen Jinnan." In Louis Cha's (Jin Yong) famous historical novel The Deer and the Cauliflower (Lu Ding Ji), Chen Jinnan is depicted as the consummate heroic scholar-knight, giving rise to the celebrated Chinese cultural proverb: "If you have never met Chen Jinnan in your lifetime, calling yourself a hero is entirely in vain." Modern historians identify Chen Jinnan as the historical folk incarnation of Chen Yonghua (whose courtesy name was Fufu and alternative pseudonym Jinnan). His lifelong dedication to the Ming restoration, combined with his clandestine political organizing throughout southeastern China, cemented his enduring status as an immortal emblem of righteous loyalty.

Personal Relations

• Grandfather: Chen Mo (Scholar of the late Ming period)
• Father: Chen Ding (Senior Tribute Scholar, Magistrate of Tongan under the Longwu regime, martyred himself in 1648)
• Wife: Lady Hong (Bestowed the title of First-Rank Lady)
• Eldest Son: Chen Mengwei (Military officer in the Zheng regime; served as local official under Qing administration)
• Second Son: Chen Mengqiu (Advanced Scholar Jinshi in 1694 under the Kangxi reign, admitted to the Hanlin Academy, the first scholar from Taiwan to enter the Hanlin)
• Third Son: Chen Mengjun (Civil scholar)
• Daughter: Lady Chen (Married Zheng Kezang, eldest son of Zheng Jing and Regent of Dongning)
• Sovereign and Patron: Zheng Chenggong (Koxinga, Prince of Yanping; lauded him as the "contemporary Wolong" and entrusted him with his heir)
• Sovereign and Confidant: Zheng Jing (Second Prince of Yanping; relied upon Chen Yonghua as prime minister, granting him total executive authority)
• Son-in-law: Zheng Kezang (Regent Prince of Dongning; guided closely by Chen Yonghua in judicial and administrative affairs)
• Political Rival: Feng Xifan (Commander of the Palace Guards; court intriguer who deceitfully stripped Chen Yonghua of military command)
• Political Rival and Colleague: Liu Guoxuan (Senior military commander who allied with Feng Xifan against Chen Yonghua)

Historical Assessment

Contemporary Accounts and Sovereign Acclaim - Zheng Chenggong (Koxinga): "Fufu is truly the Wolong of our present age! With such an exceptional councillor assisting us, why should our grand restoration enterprise fail?"

• *Shen Guangwen, Collected Literary Works of Siwen***: "Chen Fufu planned with profound circumspection and far-reaching wisdom. He transformed barren wilderness into fertile fields and erected academies to nurture noble intellects. In the southern seas, his statesmanlike grace was unparalleled."
• *Yang Ying, True Record of the Campaigns*: "Yonghua possessed towering intellect, unbending dedication, and profound political insight. Assisting the House of Yanping, he maintained undivided loyalty from beginning to end; the immaculate administrative order of Dongning was entirely fashioned by his design." ### Dynastic Chronicles and Later Historiographical Assessments - Lien Heng, General History of Taiwan, Volume 29, Biography 1**: "Chen Yonghua, courtesy name Fufu, was a native of Tongan. The Prince of Yanping recruited him with high courtesy, entrusting him with the state. When Zheng Jing ascended, Yonghua drafted grand strategies, built the Sage's Temple, established schools, and trained the troops, making the people prosperous and the treasury rich. That Dongning came to possess literature, ritual, and justice began with Yonghua... Leading soldiers as a Confucian scholar, he was calm, resolute, and far-sighted. Zheng Jing's finding of Yonghua was like Liu Bang finding Xiao He, or Liu Bei finding Zhuge Liang. Alas, before his mission was accomplished, his life ended, and the downfall of Dongning followed soon after."
• *Jiang Risheng, External Annals of Taiwan***: "Yonghua possessed extraordinary strategic intellect and decisive judgment. Residing in Dongning, he cultivated civil governance and established education, possessing the authentic qualities of a great chancellor. That he was ultimately undermined by sycophants and died in sorrow is deeply lamented throughout the realm."
• *Xia Lin, Summary of Maritime Records*: "Yonghua was magnanimous, generous, skilled in literature, and versed in military strategy. In Taiwan for twenty years, he established statutes, honored worthy scholars, and subdued the wilderness, bringing peace and prosperity to the island realm." ### Modern Historiographical Consensus - Taiwanese Historiographical Scholars**: "Chen Yonghua stands as the seminal founding father who implanted Chinese civil administration, classical education, and agricultural modernism in early modern Taiwan. The Tainan Confucian Temple and the Imperial Academy established under his auspices allowed traditional Confucian ethics to transcend the ocean and take root across the maritime frontier. His promotion of solar salt evaporation, sugarcane manufacturing, and military agricultural colonies provided the vital socio-economic foundation upon which early Taiwanese society was built."