ABSTRACT
More concretely, at the end of the preface by Ukai Nobuyuki (Sekisai, 161564) at the beginning ofthe text, we find that it was written in 'the first ten days of the eleventh month ofKanbun 1 [1661].' That Zheng Chenggong died in Taiwan at age 39, namely in the fifth month of the next year, Kangxi 1 (1662), is consistent with accounts from the Zheng Chenggong zhuan, the Taiwan Teishi kiji, the Taiwan waiji, and the Xiaotian jinian fukao (as weil as the Xiaotian jizhuan). Among these works, the Taiwan waiji and the Xiaotian jinian both supply the date as the eighth day of the fifth month. In this instance, it would appear that the Xiaotian jinian was based on the Taiwan waiji; at other points in the Xiaotian jinian, the compiler notes that accounts from the Taiwan waiji are more reliable than those of the Mingji nanlüe (Southern Strategies of the Late Ming).b
vessels coming from the Pescadores Islands; he then suddenly died on the eighth day of the month. Any number of theories seem to have been circulating as to its cause. Perhaps, while reading the Taizu zuxun (Ancestral Admonitions from [Ming] Taizu) (the Longwu Emperor was said to have contributed apreface to this work), he said 'with what dignity may we look upon our former emperor [Longwu] who is beneath the earth,' tore at his head (or covered his face) with both hands, and died in a fit of anger (as told in such texts as the Taiwan waiji and the Xiaotianjinian). Perhaps, he became insane, bit off his fingers, and died (as told in such texts as Lin Shidui's Hezha congtan [Collected Stories of Hezha]C and the Qing shi gao [Draft History ofthe Qing Dynasty]). Perhaps, he contracted malaria and died (as told in such works as Irisawa Tatsukichi's Unsö zuihitsu [Random Notes from a Villa in the Clouds] and Inagaki Magohee's [Kigai] Tei Seikö [Zheng Chenggong]).d
In his work, 'Zheng Chenggong de siyin kao' (A Study ofthe Cause ofZheng Chenggong's Death),e Li Tengyue, a medical doctor (perhaps his degree was from a Japanese institution inasmuch as he cites numerous Japanese writings) of the 'Taiwan Documents Committee,' introduced these various theories, widely referred to many types of historical works (58 in all), and added a study of his own. He coneluded that 'the onset of his [i.e., Zheng's] illness came from a cold he had caught, which appears to have been a kind of sickness accompanied by a sud den rise in temperature' related, Li argues, to the poor elimate of Taiwan.
