Shi Lang's Pacification of Taiwan (Battle of Penghu)

Timeline

1. 1683Tongshan · DongshanFollowing advice from Li Guangdi and others, the Kangxi Emperor ordered Shi Lang to have sole command of the Taiwan expedition, without sharing power with Governor-General Yao Qisheng. After training the navy in Fujian, Shi Lang set sail from Tongshan in midsummer with a fleet of about three hundred ships and some twenty thousand men, aiming first to take Penghu and open the sea route to Taiwan.
2. 1683Penghu Islands waters · PenghuDongning naval commander Liu Guoxuan strongly defended the Penghu islands. The Qing and Zheng forces fought a decisive battle on the Penghu seas, each with over two hundred warships, with Shi Lang's force holding the advantage in numbers and firearms. After his flagship ran out of ammunition Liu Guoxuan retreated to Taiwan, Penghu fell, and Taiwan lost its maritime shield.
3. 1683Chengtian Prefecture, Dongning · TainanNews of the Penghu defeat split the Dongning court into war and surrender factions. Feng Xifan and Liu Guoxuan favored surrender, and the thirteen-year-old Prince of Yanping Zheng Keshuang followed their advice, first sending envoys to request surrender while asking to remain in Taiwan, which Shi Lang rejected; he then submitted an unconditional surrender memorial. A few Ming princes such as Prince Ningjing Zhu Shugui refused to have their heads shaved and took their own lives.
4. 1683Chengtian Prefecture, Dongning · TainanShi Lang led his forces to Taiwan to oversee the surrender; Zheng Keshuang, Liu Guoxuan, and others shaved their heads and changed their clothing, and the Southern Ming era names were discontinued. The Qing army did not carry out large-scale massacres and announced a three-year tax exemption for the locality. The Ming-Zheng regime ended, Taiwan entered Qing territory, and the following year prefectures and counties were established under Fujian. This node records the Qing army's entry into Taiwan to accept surrender, not Zheng Chenggong's 1661 landing at Lu'ermen.