Zheng Zhilong

Timeline

1. 1604–1620Nan'an · Nan'anBorn in Shijing, Nan'an County, Quanzhou Prefecture to a poor family, he traveled in his youth with fellow villagers to Macao, Luzon and elsewhere to trade, acquiring seamanship and commercial skills that laid the foundation for his later armed maritime trading fleets.
2. 1621–1627Fujian-Taiwan Strait · Taiwan StraitHe conducted armed trade along the Fujian-Guangdong coast and the Taiwan Strait, allied with sea merchant forces such as Yan Siqi, controlled sea lanes and ports, and dealt with the Dutch East India Company, Portuguese merchants and the Ming court's navy on multiple fronts, expanding his power rapidly.
3. 1628–1630Fujian coast · FujianOffered amnesty by Fujian governor Xiong Wencan, he led his forces to submit to the Ming, receiving posts such as coastal defense patrol commander, and continued to control southeastern maritime trade and naval forces within a legal framework, becoming a maritime armed force the late-Ming court relied upon.
4. 1631–1661Fujian · FujianDuring the Chongzhen and Hongguang eras he continued to direct coastal defense and trade; during the Longwu regime he broke with Zheng Chenggong over advocating surrender to the Qing, later defected to the Qing but was imprisoned, and was executed by the Qing court in Beijing in the eighteenth year of Shunzhi (1661).