Coxinga and the Fall of the Ming Dynasty

By Jonathan Clements

This is the fantastic true story of the infamous pirate; Coxinga who became king of Taiwan and was made a god - twice.

• Language: English
• Publisher: The History Press
• Release date: Oct 24, 2011
• ISBN: 9780752473826

Jonathan Clements

Jonathan Clements presented several seasons of Route Awakening (National Geographic), an award-winning TV series about Chinese history and culture. He is the author of many acclaimed books, including Coxinga and the Fall of the Ming Dynasty, Confucius: A Biography, and The Emperor’s Feast: A History of China in Twelve Meals. He has written histories of both China and Japan, two countries that have, at some point, claimed Taiwan as their own. He was a visiting professor at Xi’an Jiaotong University from 2013 to 2019. He was born in the East of England and lives in Finland.

Reviews for Coxinga and the Fall of the Ming Dynasty

[teresa · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A really interesting book that doesn't read like a biography. About half the book diligently sets up the political and economic background of era, the competing interests of the Dutch, English and Portuguese in South China and how Chinese pirates were able to capitalise on them also. It does a very good job in explaining how Coxingas father became rich and powerful, and how Coxinga came to be such a determined Ming loyalist. The second half of the book covers the competing forces and chaos after the fall of the Ming dynasty and recounts Coxingas sucesses and failures, battles and negotiations. As someone with limited knowledge of Chinese history I was captivated the whole way through and found it easy to follow the events.