Feng Xifan

Feng Xifan (birth and death dates unknown), pseudonym Xifan (希範), was an official and general of the Kingdom of Tungning in Taiwan in the 17th century. He was from Longxi County, which is around present-day Qiling Village, Longwen District, Zhangzhou, Fujian Province.

Life

Feng Xifan's father, Feng Chengshi (馮澄世), served as an official in the court of Koxinga (Zheng Chenggong), the founder of Tungning. When the forces of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty conquered Beijing (the capital of the Ming dynasty) and Nanjing (the capital of the Southern Ming dynasty), Feng Xifan and his father joined Koxinga's army and resisted Qing forces in southern China. Koxinga later wrestled control of Taiwan from Dutch colonial forces and established the Kingdom of Tungning there.

Koxinga died in 1662 and a power struggle broke out between his eldest son Zheng Jing and fifth son Zheng Xi (鄭襲). A group of officials headed by Huang Zhao (黃昭) and Xiao Gongchen (蕭拱辰) opposed Zheng Jing succeeding to the throne of Tungning, so they supported Zheng Xi, who became the "Royal Supervisor of Yanping" (延平监国).

At the time, Zheng Jing was at Xiamen, where he gathered his own supporters from Fujian's coastal regions and led them to attack Taiwan. Zheng Jing highly trusted Feng Xifan and appointed him as a personal bodyguard. Zheng Jing's forces then fought with an army led by Huang Zhao at Chikan (赤崁; present-day Tainan). Huang Zhao was defeated and killed in battle. After this battle, the officials who initially supported Zheng Xi immediately defected to Zheng Jing's side, so Zheng Jing became the new king of Tungning. He implemented policies to pacify the people and the military. As a gesture of kindness, Zheng Jing spared his brother Zheng Xi but had the latter placed under house arrest in Xiamen.

In 1679, Zheng Jing appointed his eldest son, Zheng Kezang, as "Royal Supervisor" and allowed him to administer some state affairs. Zheng Kezang married the daughter of the official Chen Yonghua (陳永華), who was Zheng Jing's tutor. Chen Yonghua helped Zheng Kezang in his duties. Zheng Kezang was strict and he punished members of the royal family according to the law when they committed crimes. He was hated by many royals and aristocrats, including Feng Xifan.

Zheng Jing and Chen Yonghua died in 1680, after which Feng Xifan gathered his supporters to kill Zheng Kezang and install Zheng Jing's second son, Zheng Keshuang, on the throne. In 1683, when Zheng Keshuang surrendered to the Qing dynasty,^[1] Feng Xifan was granted the noble title "Count Zhongcheng" (忠誠伯) by the Kangxi Emperor. Feng's daughter married Zheng Keshuang and bore Zheng a son, Zheng Anfu (鄭安福).

In fiction

Feng Xifan appears a minor antagonist in the novel The Deer and the Cauldron by Louis Cha. In the novel, he is depicted as a powerful swordsman from the Kunlun Sect and is nicknamed "One Sword Thrust That Draws No Blood" (一劍無血) for his skill in swordplay. He serves as Zheng Keshuang's martial arts teacher.

References

• Draft History of Qing, Volume 170.