Jinghai jishi 靖海紀事

Jinghai jishi 靖海紀事 "The appeasement of the sea", original name Jinghaiji 靖海紀, is a book on the conquest of Taiwan written by the early Qing-period 清 (1644-1911) scholar Shi Lang 施瑯 (1621-1696), original name Lang 郎, courtesy name Zhuogong 琢公 or Zunhou 尊侯. He hailed from Jinjiang 晉江 (close to Quanzhou 泉州, Fujian), and belonged to the military forces of the Ming 明 (1368-1644) loyalist Zheng Zhilong 鄭芝龍 (d. 1661). When the latter submitted to the Qing, Shi Lang served in various military positions of the region, finally as provincial fleet commander (shuishi tidu 水師提督) of Fujian, and was then included in the Bordered Yellow Banner of the Han Banners. In 1683, he took over command of the fleet conquering the Penghu Archipelago 彭湖 and invading Taiwan. For his successful pacification of Taiwan and the creation of the prefecture of Taiwan, Shi Lang was awarded the title of Marquis Jinghai 靖海 "Appeaser of the Sea", which is also used for the title of his book.

The 2-juan long text describes in 39 chapters the conquest of the island and the military and administrative measures taken thereafter. It consists mainly of quotations from memorials to the throne, but also includes prosaic texts, rhapsodies (fu 賦), biographies, and laudatory inscriptions of memorial stones.

The book was first printed in 1709, an edition to which Shi Lang's son Shi Shilun 施世綸 (1659-1722) wrote an afterword (ba 跋). The transmitted 2-juan version was printed in 1797 by the Yidetang Studio 衣德堂. This edition includes a critical appendix written by Shi Lang's grandson Shi Yixue 施奕學 called Xiaocang shanfang wenji zhengwu 小倉山房文集證誣. An offspring of the family published a further edition in 1875, printed by the Jiaye Studio 嘉業堂. The text is included in the series Taiwan wenxian congkan 臺灣文獻叢刊. A commented edition was published in 1981 by the Fujian Renmin Press 福建人民出版社.