Chen Yonghua (; 1634–1680),

courtesy name A courtesy name (), also known as a style name, is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one's given name. This practice is a tradition in the East Asian cultural sphere, including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.Ulrich Theob ...

Fufu ()), was a prominent official of the

Kingdom of Tungning The Kingdom of Tungning (), also known as Tywan by the British at the time, was a dynastic maritime state that ruled part of southwestern Taiwan and the Penghu islands between 1661 and 1683. It is the first predominantly Han Chinese state in ...

in Taiwan in the late 17th century. He was from the region near modern-day Quanzhou.

Biography

Chen Yonghua was born in 1634 in the region near modern-day

Jiaomei Jiaomei () is a Town in the portion of Longhai City north of the Jiulong River, in the municipal region of Zhangzhou, Fujian. Presidential ties Democracy icon Corazon Aquino and her son, Benigno S. Aquino III (the tenth and fifteenth Presidents ...

. In 1648, Chen's father was forced to commit suicide by the invading

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-spea ...

's army. Chen took refuge under

Koxinga Zheng Chenggong, Prince of Yanping (; 27 August 1624 – 23 June 1662), better known internationally as Koxinga (), was a Ming loyalist general who resisted the Qing conquest of China in the 17th century, fighting them on China's southeastern ...

and became his son

Zheng Jing Zheng Jing, Prince of Yanping (; 25 October 1642 – 17 March 1681), courtesy names Xianzhi () and Yuanzhi (), pseudonym Shitian (), was a 17th-century Chinese warlord, Ming dynasty loyalist and ruler of the Kingdom of Tungning in Taiwan. Bi ...

's tutor.

Career

After Koxinga's death in 1662, a power struggle broke out between Zheng Jing and Kozinga's fifth son Zheng Xi (). A group of officials headed by Huang Zhao () and Xiao Gongchen () opposed Zheng Jing succeeding to the throne of Tungning. Chen Yonghua led an army with many others against Huang Zhao in

Tainan Tainan (), officially Tainan City, is a special municipality in southern Taiwan facing the Taiwan Strait on its western coast. Tainan is the oldest city on the island and also commonly known as the "Capital City" for its over 200 years of his ...

. Huang Zhao was defeated and killed while Zheng Xi was put under house arrest. After the power struggle ended, Zheng Jing promoted Chen to the position as the Chief Minister of Tungning by the new ruler Zheng Jing. Chen introduced Chinese bureaucracy and introduced a salt production method to the coastal areas. The method worked by the evaporation of water and created high-quality salt, making Tungning self-sufficient. Chen is also credited for introducing agricultural techniques such as storing water for annual dry periods and growing

sugar cane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, perennial grass (in the genus '' Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fibrous stalk ...

as a cash crop. Chen also created many new policies to develop Tungning's agriculture, education, finance, industry, and trade. He also created a harsh tax system. In 1664, Zheng Jing lost a campaign against the Qing dynasty and many people left Tungning for the Qing dynasty. Zhen Jing was thinking about surrendering, but Chen Yonghua told him that all the people who surrendered were slaves and merchants who lied to the Qing dynasty. In 1665, Chen also built the first Confucian temple, the Tainan Confucian Temple, as well as an academy. In the 1674, Chen's daughter married the Crown Prince

Zheng Kezang Zheng Kezang (1662–1681), birth name Qin () or Qinshe (), was the crown prince and regency of Kingdom of Tungning. Kezhang was the eldest son of Zheng Jing and Chen Zhaoniang, and his grandparents were Koxinga and Princess Dong. Biography ...

when Zheng Jing went on another campaign against the Qing dynasty. Zheng left Chen in charge of the kingdom.

Death

After coming back from a failed campaign in 1680,

Feng Xifan Feng Xifan ( 17th century), pseudonym Xifan (), was an official and general of the Kingdom of Tungning on the island of Taiwan in the late 17th century. He was from Longxi County, which is around present-day Qiling Village, Longwen District, ...

and

Liu Guoxuan Liu Guoxuan (1628-1693) was the Wuping Marquis and a 17th-century military officer of the Kingdom of Tungning based in Taiwan. He fought all over the island of Taiwan and the nearby mainland. He also commanded the Penghu defense during the Bat ...

ousted Chen Yonghua from power out of jealousy. Chen died in July 1680 and was buried in the mountains near

In Popular Culture

* ''

The Deer and the Cauldron ''The Deer and the Cauldron'', also known as ''The Duke of Mount Deer'', is a comic historical novel by Jin Yong (Louis Cha), the longest of his novels and the last to be published but chronologically it is the eighth novel. It was initially pub ...

'' is a wuxia novel by Jin Yong. In the novel, the martial arts master and leader of the Tiandi Society Chen Jinnan is believed to have been based on Chen Yonghua. Chen Jinnan is later killed by

Zheng Keshuang Zheng Keshuang, Prince of Yanping (; 13 August 1670 – 22 September 1707), courtesy name Shihong, art name Huitang, was the third and last ruler of the Kingdom of Tungning in Taiwan in the 17th century. He was the second son of Zheng Jing and ...

and his master Feng Xifan.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yonghua, Chen Hokkien people People from Quanzhou Kingdom of Tungning 1634 births 1680 deaths