11 On February 1, 1662, Zheng Chenggong recovered Taiwan, China and expelled the Dutch colonists, a full 360 years ago.
Many people may not know that in the process of regaining Taiwan, China, Zheng Chenggong also had a relatively special army and made good assists.
slave trade. Source/(English) Lizzie Clingham, Li Yan "The Hungry Empire"
China and Africa are thousands of miles apart. Chinese people have limited knowledge of black people since ancient times. , a popular " Kunlun slave ", is still controversial whether it comes from Africa or Southeast Asia. With the arrival of the Age of Discovery, early maritime powers such as Portugal and the Netherlands began to transport African blacks to the East as slaves. It was from the beginning of the 16th century that African blacks gradually came to China.
1441, the Portuguese took the first black people back to Lisbon , which is regarded as the beginning of the black slave trade in modern history. In 1488, Portuguese navigator Bartolomeu Diaz bypassed the Cape of Good Hope and opened up a new route to the East, and the black slave trade immediately extended to the East. When the Portuguese entered Macau, China, a large number of African black slaves followed.
According to statistics, in 1564, ( Ming Dynasty 43rd year of Jiajing) Macau had only 900 Portuguese, but there were thousands of Chinese, Indians and black slaves. The Portuguese who came to the East to engage in trade raised and used large quantities of African black slaves. They not only used black slaves to handle housework and take care of their daily life, but also used black slaves to act as sailors and transport goods in the navigation trade. More importantly, the Portuguese often used black people as entourage guards to protect their masters' safety. African blacks were strong, loyal, brave and reliable, and their reputation gradually spread in the East. Ming Dynasty literati Wang Shixing in 1601 (Ming Dynasty Wanli 29th year) traveled to Macau and wrote this experience in his travel notes "Guangzhiyi":
There is a first-class man named Kunlun slave, commonly known as black ghost, with his body as lacquer, and his eyes were white. He only recognized the master of his food and clothing, and that is, his relatives and friends did not recognize him. The life and death are only ordered by the master. If the master asks to commit suicide, he will commit suicide. He will commit suicide. He will commit suicide. He will not think about whether to commit suicide or not. He is good at killing with a knife. If the master comes out and asks him to guard the door, he will not go until he dies. If someone else moves his slugging (the meaning of the door latch key), he will kill him, not to mention stealing. He can also be good at losing things, tie the rope to the waist and go into the water to collect things. One head is worth fifty or sixty gold.
In the eyes of Ming people, although African blacks are loyal and agile, they are bloodthirsty and terrifying. It is hard to imagine what the consequences would be if they intermarried with Chinese people. In fact, there are already many records of Chinese women marrying African black slaves in the Ming and Qing dynasties. Cai Ruxian, a literati of the Ming Dynasty, served as an official in Guangdong for a long time during the Wanli period. It is generally believed that the "On East Yi Picture Book" he wrote not only left behind the earliest existing European images of China, but also had a lot of observations on local black people: " (African black slave) is paired with a Chinese woman, and having a child is also black." Practice has proved that such records are extremely scientific. Later generations obviously arranged them based on such facts, and interpreted various human tragedies. For example, the literary and historical master of Qing Dynasty, Zhao Yi wrote a story in " Eaves Miscellaneous Notes ":
A certain family bought a black slave and was given a Guangdong maid and gave birth to a son. Someone joked, "You black ghost, you should have a child. Now your son is white, not your child." The black slave was suspicious and killed his son's shin with a knife, and his tibia was pure black, so he was very sad. It is only then that bones belong to the father, but muscles belong to the mother.
Although there is such a ridiculous idea, it was an indisputable fact that African blacks were common in the coastal areas of Guangdong at that time. Many literati of the Ming and Qing dynasties often have such poems in " Bamboo Branch Ci " which chants the charms and scenery of Guangdong coastal areas: "The South China Sea is full of mysterious countries, and the Western half-black people." Especially in the city of Macau, the whole city celebrates around Christmas, and the nature of African black people who can sing and dance is fully utilized: "Hundreds of thousands of lights shine on the small forest cliffs, brocades are made into clouds and mountains, waxes are made into flowers. The winter mountains are decorated and celebrated together, and the black people dance to Pipa ."
However, these black people have low status. Portugal humiliated them at will, and once they make mistakes, they will punish them cruelly. It is common for them to be whipped along the street and then shipped to Manila to be sold. Black slaves who once committed crimes were tied to the muzzle of the castle and were blown to pieces. The literati of the Ming and Qing dynasties have a lot of sympathy for this. It is observed that the Portuguese like to keep pet dogs, and the status of the owner's dogs is much higher than that of the black slaves, so it is said: "It is better to be a foreign dog than a ghost slave. "The unbearable black slaves choose to escape or even resist, and sometimes they will be protected by the Chinese.
Black slaves. Photography/Archivist, source/Tuzhun Creative
Nevertheless, the Portuguese are the most against black people The place where he relies on it was to use blacks as the combat force. As early as 1548, in May, the famous minister of Zhejiang, Zhu Wan, and the prisoner, reported that there were three "black ghosts" among the prisoners. After interrogation, one of them was named "Mali Dingniu, thirty years old, a Cafuri, who was bought by Folang Jifan since childhood. "
The so-called "France" is France, used to call Portugal in the Ming Dynasty; "Cafraria" is the Cafraria in Portuguese , which generally refers to East Africa black areas, and is the name of some southern Bantu people by Europeans. However, a month later, "On June 11, eight large ships of France and eleven large ships and eleven whistle ships attacked Qidu Shatouao. Their bodies were all black, and they each held lead guns, iron marks, and bows and crossbows. "The Portuguese undoubtedly used a large number of black people in combat, and the role of black people is quite important - "each holding lead gun". These black people were trained to become skilled musketeers , and their combat effectiveness should not be underestimated. Black people are obviously good at using spears, halberds, swords and shields and crossbows . They should use cold weapons to provide cover when the Portuguese owners who used muskets filled ammunition. Some people also pointed out that at that time, Macau was the center of the production of modern firearms in Far East . Many black slaves had been engaged in the casting and production of muskets and cannons, so they also mastered some firearm maintenance and even manufacturing techniques.
html At the end of the 116th century, the Netherlands rose and emerging The maritime power began to compete with Portugal for trade dominance in the East. In 1601, (the 29th year of Wanli of the Ming Dynasty) Dutch armed merchant ships came to the coast of Guangdong, China, trying to seize the trade base of Macau from the Portuguese.
Dutch failed to succeed. The Ming people who witnessed the war found that the Dutch also used black people to participate in the war. Since then, the Dutch have repeatedly plotted against Macau, but they could not do it. 1622 (the second year of the Ming Dynasty’s Apocalypse) html In June, the Dutch East India Company sent an expeditionary fleet from its stronghold in Batavia, Indonesia , prepare for more than a thousand troops to capture Macau in one fell swoop. The Portuguese fought with the whole city, and the two early colonial powers began to confront Macau in the Ming Dynasty. Two days of the war between the two sides, the Portuguese won a great victory. The Portuguese authorities later set June 24, which won a great victory as Macau City Day as a public holiday. This day was also the day of the Catholic Baptist. The Portuguese regarded the defeat of the "heretic" Protestant Dutch as a miracle under the protection of St. John. St. John the Baptist (Macau translated as "Saint John the Baptist") thus became the saint of Macau.
As for the Dutch, they tried to seize Macau again a few years later. It ended in failure and then invaded Taiwan, China.
Macau scenery. Photography/lkunl, Source/TuChong Creative
Macau black slaves played an important role in the Battle of Portugal, Netherlands and Macau. During the battle, the Dutch saw in horror that the blacks were fighting with muskets, long halberds and swords and shields, rushing towards the Dutch array to death. These Portuguese black slaves rushed the Dutch array to collapse, and even the Dutch battlefield commander was knocked down by the blacks rushing towards the front and almost died. Some blacks stopped to plunder the bodies of the dead of the Dutch fighters while chasing, and released quite a few Dutch life paths.
Later, Dutch witnesses wrote with lingering fears: "Many Portuguese slaves, black slaves, etc., were drunk by wine, let the guns be fired without fear, which is unbelievable." Portugal recorded proudly: "In order to commend the loyalty and courage shown by the black slaves, the winner announced on the spot to return them to their freedom." Later, it was also recorded that these African black slaves were not only released by the Portuguese, but also praised by the Ming government. Local Ming officials specially rewarded the black people with hundreds of dans of rice.
As for how black people in Macau invest in Zheng Zhilong and Zheng Chenggong and his son, according to the diaries and memoirs of some European Catholic missionaries who came to China in the early days, the process was quite tortuous and even somewhat strange. As we all know, Zheng Zhilong traveled across the sea for half his life. He was nicknamed " Yiguan " because of his eldest son in his family. He also became the name "Nicholas Gaspard (Nicholas Gaspard) " because of his conversion to Catholicism and baptism. As is also well known, Zheng Zhilong once married a Japanese woman named Takawa in Hirado, Japan, and gave birth to Zheng Chenggong. In fact, Zheng Zhilong did not only marry one Takawa family in Japan. He married at least four or five Japanese wives, and five or six male children were added to the Zheng family. Many years later, Zheng Zhilong, who had already surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, was executed by the Qing court in Beijing, and his three sons who died with him were born in Japan.
Zheng Chenggong statue. Photography/Zhang Dong-Looking West Vision, Source/TuChong Creative
According to European Catholic missionaries, these sons were taken by Zheng Zhilong in their early years, but he still had a daughter in Japan. Since the end of Warring States Period and the establishment of Tokugawa Shogunate, Japan has gradually implemented "locking the country" and banned Catholicism. In 1635, (Ming Dynasty Chongzhen eighth year, Japan Hironaga twelve year) , Tokugawa shogunate issued the third lockdown order , a large number of Japanese Catholics went exiled overseas and fled to Macau. Zheng Zhilong's daughter has been a Catholic since she was a child. The church name is "Ursola de Bargas (Ursola de Bargas) ". She is also a mixed-race child of Chinese and Japanese, and she also went into exile in Macau.
She was taken in by the local Catholic church in Macau and later married the local Portuguese Antonio Rodrigues (Antonio Rodrigues) . Many years later, Zheng Zhilong learned about this and sent a message to the Portuguese Macau authorities, asking him to send his daughter. However, the Portuguese refused because Zheng Zhilong's daughter was a devout Catholic, but Zheng Zhilong had long given up his faith and could not hand her over to the pagans. Anyone with a discerning eye can see that this is the Portuguese using this to balance Zheng Zhilong. Zheng Zhilong did not hesitate to threaten with force, while the Portuguese responded with his daughter's original words: he would not live in a place without a church and a priest. Zheng Zhilong then promised to build a church specifically for his daughter and allow Catholic priests to accompany his daughter.
Zheng Zhilong’s film and television image. Source/Screenshot of TV series "Hero Zheng Chenggong"
The Portuguese had nothing to say, so they should have taken the opportunity to repair Zheng Zhilong and agreed to his request. Zheng Zhilong's daughter and son-in-law came from Macau to the Zheng family's base camp at that time, and now belonging to Quanzhou, Fujian, and brought a meeting gift to his father - a group of African black slave musketeers recruited from Macau.
The knowledgeable Zheng Zhilong knew the outstanding performance of these black people in the battle between Portugal, Netherlands and Macau. The black people should also hope to serve under this maritime hero as mercenary , thereby getting rid of the slave identity. At that time, the Qing army had gone south across the Yangtze River, and the Longwu regime in the Southern Ming Dynasty had been established. Zheng Zhilong, as the general town of Nan'anbo and Fujian in the Ming Dynasty, was responsible for the anti-Qing military affairs in Fujian Province. The Portuguese's move may also have the meaning of intervening in the chaos in the Ming and Qing Dynasties and waiting for opportunities to make profits from it. But no matter what, Zheng has since owned his own black mercenary force.
Zheng Zhilongyan saw that the Qing army was powerful and soon surrendered to the Qing Dynasty and was sent to Beijing by the Qing court.According to European missionaries, the father of Zheng Zhilong's son-in-law Rodriguez, his Portuguese relative, came to Anhai from Macau to recognize his relatives, and now he has accompanied Zheng Zhilong to Beijing. The daughter and son-in-law returned to Macau and no longer involved in the affairs of the Zheng family. Zheng Chenggong, who was originally a scholar, cried in the Confucius Temple, burned Confucian robes, inherited his father's old subordinates, destroyed his family and houses to lead his army to sea, and continued to fight against the Qing Dynasty on the southeast coast for decades. Those black mercenaries from Macau, , became Zheng Chenggong's loyal subordinates.
Zheng Chenggong film and television image. Source/Screenshot of the TV series "Hero Zheng Chenggong"
All kinds of records are still unknown, ranging from fifty people to five hundred people, generally considered about three hundred people. Some people also believe that the actual number has increased with the recruitment of Zheng Zhilong and Zheng Chenggong. Zheng Zhilong was baptized in his early years and joined the Catholic Church. He was proficient in Portuguese and was able to communicate with black people in Macau. So some people think that these black people act as guards beside the Zheng father and son. Some people even speculate that the increase in the number of blacks under Zheng Chenggong may be in these aspects: blacks are brave and ruthless in combat, able to use, repair and even make firearms, but due to their skin color and slave status, their military salary is much lower than that of Portuguese whites; in the late Ming Dynasty, there were many Portuguese mercenaries entering China to help the war, helping the Ming Dynasty and the small courts of the Southern Ming Dynasty fight against the Qing Dynasty, and it is estimated that the cost will be far higher than that of Zheng employed black musketeers. Some people even pointed out that the Portuguese who were involved in the chaos in the Ming and Qing Dynasties had to clear the relationship, so they would no longer rashly allow the Zheng family to recruit white Portuguese mercenaries; but there was no problem in recruiting black mercenaries, because the Portuguese could call these black people black slaves fleeing from Macau.
Some people also pointed out that at that time, other maritime forces hired scattered black people. But those maritime forces also regard black people as slaves, disrespect the black people's Catholic beliefs, and force black people to eat meat on fasting day , and there is no priest in the army, so these black people fled to Zheng's command. The treatment in the Zheng army was completely different. According to European missionaries, once a black mercenary celebrated the Jesus' Ascension Day all night long, and fired a gun at dawn. "The great official (referring to Zheng Chenggong) was shocked when he heard this loud noise because he had not received any news in advance. After asking the reason, he ordered everyone to reward (referring to black mercenaries) wine and pastries, and gave silver as the fee for continuing to celebrate during the day, but ordered not to fire guns again to avoid disturbing the place." Zheng Chenggong did not treat black mercenaries as slaves, so he naturally won the allegiance of the black people.
When the Dutch attacked Macau, they invaded Taiwan because they were defeated by the blacks who fought desperately. When regaining Taiwan, the black mercenaries under Zheng Chenggong met their old rivals. House in southern Fujian has been circulating today with the common sayings and legends of Zheng Chenggong "to instigate niggers to let go". It can be imagined that in the hearts of the elders of Minnan , these black musketeers are excellent in using guns and firearms. Black mercenaries should be equally good at charging melee battles. The " Relan Cham City Log " of the Dutch East India Company recorded the situation of Zheng Jun's mobilization: "Fifty or sixty of them came out from the black men who were (referring to Zheng Jun) , and they walked a short distance along the coast, and sat on the ground to watch here. They were fully armed, wearing big swords, shutters, bows and arrows, guns, flags and rope ladders." The black mercenaries were obviously carrying melee equipment and were ready to charge forward.
Zheng Chenggong film and television image. Source/Screenshot of TV series "Hero Zheng Chenggong"
In fact, the Dutch East India Company that invaded Taiwan, also used a large number of African black slaves. In order to fight against Zheng Jun, he also participated in the war with black slaves. This is the " Wufan Soldier " observed by Zheng Jun. Some people pointed out that among these black slaves who fought for the Dutch, some were originally trained by the Portuguese and surrendered to the new master because of defeat and was captured. After several battles, Zheng Chenggong adopted a long-term siege strategy against the Dutch, which happened to let the black mercenaries under his command come forward and persuade the surrender of the Dutch blacks in various ways.Sure enough, hundreds of Dutch black slave soldiers successively turned to Zheng's army. Shortly after the Dutch was expelled from Taiwan, China, the book "Negated Formosa" was published in Amsterdam ( Formosa is Latin and Portuguese Formosa, which is also translated as "Formosa", which means "beautiful", which is the name of Taiwan Island by early Westerners. This book is also translated as "Misundered Taiwan") , which is generally believed to be the governor of Taiwan of the Dutch East India Company Kuiyi (Frederick Coyett) , which records: "He (referring to Zheng Chenggong) and two teams of black soldiers. Most of them were slaves of the Dutch, and they learned how to use the rifle and smoothbore rifle . They caused great damage to the Dutch in the Formosa War." The story of Zheng Chenggong "stolen the niggers" that has been circulated in southern Fujian has also been said that Zheng Chenggong influenced the Dutch "nigger soldiers" captured by tricks, and let the "nigger soldiers" counterattack and "stolen" (fire guns and fires) .
In short, the black mercenary musketeer under Zheng Chenggong, together with the once famous heavy-armored infantry "Iron Man Army", became an impressive element in the recovery of Taiwan, China. After expelling the Dutch and recapturing Taiwan, China, these black mercenaries quietly faded out of history. It is generally believed that they settled in Taiwan from then on and became the nameless ancestors of some Taiwanese people in later generations. But a large number of far-known details still need to be explored.
References
Jin Guoping, Wu Zhiliang: "Zheng Zhilong and Macau——Add to talk about the black people of the Zheng family of Macau", "Research on the History of Mass Communications" 2002 Issue 2
Wu Chengzu: "A Study on the Legend of Zheng Chenggong "Makes the Black Ghost Release"", "Research on Fujian and Taiwan Culture" 2014 Issue 1
Zhu Junfang: "Research on the Population of Macau in the Ming and Qing Dynasties", Master's Thesis of Jinan University, 2005
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