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Taiwan jishi benmo 臺灣紀事本末

Jun 20, 2011 © Ulrich Theobald

Taiwan jishi benmo 臺灣紀事本末 "Historical events of [the pacification of] Taiwan in their entirety", also known as Taiwan waiji 臺灣外紀 "Unofficial history of [the pacification of] Taiwan" or Taiwan yeji 臺灣野記 "Wild (i.e. unofficial) history of [the pacification of] Taiwan", is a history of the rule of the Zheng family 鄭 over Taiwan written by the Qing-period 清 (1644-1911) historian Jiang Risheng 江日升 (fl. 1692).

The 30-juan long book begins with the conquest of Tainan 臺南 by Zheng Zhilong 鄭芝龍 (1604-1661) and Zheng Chenggong 鄭成功 (1624-1662) from the hands of the Dutch in 1621 and ends with the submission of Zheng Keshuang 鄭克塽 (1670-1707) to the Qing troops in 1683.

Each juan is headed by a double seven-syllable headline, which is common in the historiographical type of "events in their entirety" (jishi benmo 紀事本末), but brings it into the vicinity of novels. There is a preface from 1704 written by Chen Qiyong 陳祈永.

The Taiwan jishi benmo was printed in 1833 by the Qiuwubuhuo Studio 求無不獲齋. Shen Yun 沈雲 (jinshi degree 1844) later abbreviated and polished this book to the 6-juan long Taiwan Zhengshi shimo ji 臺灣鄭氏始末. The title of Taiwan jishi benmo for the original dates from that time. The edition in the series Guoxue congshu 國學叢書 is only 2-juan long. This version has been abbreviated to such an extent that it can barely be called an extract of the original.

Sources:
Li Xueqin 李學勤, Lü Wenyu 呂文鬰, eds. (1996). Siku da cidian 四庫大辭典 (Changchun: Jilin daxue chubanshe), Vol. 1, 912.
Wu Feng 吳楓, ed. (1987). Jianming Zhongguo guji cidian 簡明中國古籍辭典 (Changchun: Jilin wenshi chubanshe), 281.