Representations of History in the Poetry of Zheng Jing: Writing about Identity in the Southern Ming

Abstract

Zheng Jing 鄭經 (1642–1681), the first classically trained Chinese-language poet to write about Taiwan’s landscape, also addressed a number of other themes. This paper will consider his small group of historical poems dealing with the achievements of the founders of earlier imperial dynasties; his poems about contemporary events, in particular the ongoing conflict between the Qing government and the remnants of the Southern Ming dynasty (which he supported) on Taiwan; his poems about his experiences as a military commander; and his poems criticizing the Manchu imperial house for their alien customs and culture. These works aren’t read here as straightforwardly autobiographical; instead we’ll interpret them as works of literature, ones carefully constructed to send specific political messages to a contemporary readership.