Minhai jiyao 閩海紀要

Minhai jiyao 閩海紀要, written by Xia Lin 夏琳 (mid-17th cent.), is a concise report on the rise and fall of the Zheng 鄭 family who controlled Taiwan during the cataclysmic age of the Ming dynasty's 明 (1368-1644) downfall. It covers 39 years and described how Zheng Chenggong 鄭成功 (Koxinga, 1624-1662) built up an area of resistance in Fujian and Guangdong to fight agains the Manchu invaders, his conquest of Taiwan, and how his son Zheng Jing 鄭經 (1642-1681) and grandson Zheng Keshuang 鄭克塽 (1670-1707) defended the island and finally submitted to the Manchus. The introduction even mentions the activities of Koxinga's father Zheng Zhilong 鄭芝龍 (1604-1661), which means that the book is a history of four generations of the Zhang family.

The book is written in simple language and with a concise structure. The book can be compared with Ruan Minxi's 阮旻錫 (1627-1712) Haishang jianwen lu 海上見聞錄. Yet from the historiographical perspective, the part on Zheng Jing with its many details on the war in China's southeastern provinces is quite outstanding. The book does not only use the reign mottos of the Manchu-Qing 清 (1644-1911), but that of the Southern Ming 南明 (1644-1661) emperors. It quotes from many decrees of the Zheng leaders and is therefore an important source, providing details not mentioned in other texts.

The text survives in two versions with different juan arrangements, namely the manuscript of Zheng Lisheng 鄭麗生 (Zheng chaoben 鄭抄本) with 4 juan, and the Lian version 連氏本 (Lianyatang Studio 連雅堂 in Tainan 臺南) with 2 juan. The latter is also found in the series Taiwan wenxian congkan 臺灣文獻叢刊. In 2008, the Fujian Renmin Press 福建人民出版社 published an annotated modern edition.