Conflict and Commerce in Maritime East Asia: The Zheng Family and the Shaping of the Modern World, c.1620–1720

It has been forty-one years since Croizier published his milestone research on Koxinga or Zheng Chenggong.¹ The name Koxinga never fails to catch the attention of maritime historians of East Asia. The military leader built a name for himself among his European contemporaries as a ruthless pirate who ousted the Dutch East India Company, or the voc, from the island of Formosa (present-day Taiwan)—the first Dutch overseas “territorial republic” (van Veen’s term)—after the Pax Hollandica (Andrade’s term) there.² The merchant and military forces of Koxinga’s family dominated East Asian maritime trade and played havoc with the commercial interests of competitors for decades. Hang’s book is the latest addition to the story of Koxinga, following Cheng’s War, Trade and Piracy in the China Seas, 1622–1683.³ It is remarkable for offering a comprehensive history of four generations of Koxinga’s family, from his father Nicholas Iquan Gaspard to...