翁夫人Lady Weng - Koxinga's mother

[Artist's rendition of a young Koxinga and his Mom]

It is well-known that Koxinga's mother Lady Weng (翁夫人) or Mrs Takawa (田川氏)[1601-1646] was from Hirado (平戶), Nakasaki, Japan.

Weng was the name of her stepfather 翁翊皇 [1582-1645], a blacksmith specializing in sword-making who emigrated from Hokkien and settled in Nakasaki. There is another version, that 翁翊皇 a naturalized Japanese citizen had assumed the family name of his Japanese wife, 田川, and became a low-level retainer of the Lord of Hirado 松浦隆信. His name was therefore changed to 田川翊皇. In Japan, Koxinga's mother is known as Takawa Matsu 田川松 when in fact, there was no historical record of the given name 松; it becomes so because the recent Hirado City Education Committee has determined that it was マツ [matsu], i.e., 松 [pine]. In the Cheng family history record books, she is always respectfully referred to as Lady 翁Weng. [Note: some literature even now indicate that the name 田川七左衛門 denoted Lady Weng's birth father when in fact this was her second son's name, see below.]

In 1623, Lady Weng married Koxinga's father 鄭芝龍Cheng Zhi-long who frequented Nakasaki and was becoming a successful businessman at that time. In 1624, she gave birth to Koxinga. Their second son 田川七左衛門 [or 田川次郎左衛門; 1626-1696] was adopted by Lady Weng's family and stayed in Japan. Koxinga, on the other hand, returned to China when he was 6 years old and was promptly raised in the Hokkien tradition. And because of Japan's closed-door policy, Koxinga did not see his mother again until 1645, 15 years later, when Lady Weng re-joined the family in 安平.

Lady Weng was to die in the following year when the Qing army invaded 安平.

On the 30th Day of the 11th Month in 順治三年 (1646), Qing army led by 固山韓岱 sacked 安平. This was in violation of an agreement with 鄭芝龍 who had already surrendered to the Qing on the 15th Day of the previous Month. And because of the surrender, the Cheng family was lulled into a false sense of security, so that no defenses were prepared. Koxinga, disagreeing with his father on the matter of surrender, had left 安平 and gone to Kimoy Island. The Qing army, consisting of both Manchurian and Han soldiers, came in and killed almost all residents in this small town.

There were two versions on how Lady Weng died. In one, she was raped and hanged herself; in the other, she was holding a sword and scolded 固山 before committing suicide. 江日昇's《台灣外紀·卷3》recorded that "翁氏毅然拔劍，割肚而死", i.e., she had opened her own belly with the sword [literally seppuku or harakiri]. The rape version was not credible as it is the Chinese way of insulting the deceased and her family. Lady Weng, being the daughter of a retainer of the Lord of Hirado, would have been given as a wedding gift, a 懐剣 [a short sword or dagger - now replaced with a symbolic folded fan]. Which was intended for a samurai's daughter to defend her honor, especially to avoid rape, in times of military defeat. And she knew how to use it well.

[A Japanese short sword/dagger 懐剣, given to a samurai's own daughter on her wedding day]

《靖海志·卷1》reported that Koxinga "剖其母腹，出腸滌穢，重納之以斂，發喪後遂起兵", i.e., following the Japanese way for an honorable death, Lady Weng's innards were cleansed and restored. Koxinga then mobilized his military after the funeral. His intense hatred of the Qing was not without a good reason.

Koxinga's grandson 鄭克塽 in his《鄭氏附葬祖父墓誌》stated: “翁曾祖母生於壬寅年八月十八日未時，卒於丙戌年十一月三十日巳時，享年四十有五", in short: Great Grandmother Lady Weng passed away at age forty five.