Koxinga (Lord of the Imperial Surname) is the customary Western spelling of the popular appellation of Zheng Chenggong, a Chinese military leader who was born in 1624 in Hirado, Japan to Chinese merchant/pirate Zheng Zhilong and his Japanese wife, and died in 1662 on the Island of Formosa (Taiwan).
A Ming loyalist and the chief commander of the Ming troops on the maritime front for the later emperors of the withering dynasty, Koxinga devoted the last 16 years of his life to resisting the conquest of China by the Manchus. Upon defeating the forces of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) on Formosa in his last campaign in 1661–1662, Koxinga took over the island in order to support his grand campaign against the Manchu-ruled Qing dynasty. After Koxinga's death, his son and successor, Zheng Jing, gradually became the ruler of an independent Kingdom of Tungning, the first Chinese state to rule the island.
Read more about Koxinga: Early Years, Longwu Emperor's Reign, Zheng Zhilong's Surrender and The Death of Tagawa, Resisting The Qing Dynasty, In Taiwan, In The Philippines, Death, Family, Modern Day Legacy and Influences, Memorial Institutions