The Japanese Youth who Loves Koxinga 国姓爷 (Zheng Chenggong)

A Japanese fan of Zheng Chenggong, Hirado, Japan, ©Jiang Wu 

Last summer (2013), I went to Hirado 平户 to visit Zheng Chenggong's birth place. Although Yinyuan and Zheng Chenggong never met, Yinyuan was escorted to Japan by Zheng Chenggong's ships from Amoy. Zheng was aware of Yinyuan's success and mentioned him in one of his "state letters" to the Japanese shogun. Yinyuan never went to Hirado. But before moving to Nagasaki, Chinese settlers congregated in Hirado, as the English and the Dutch. Zheng was born here and traveled alone to China at the age of seven.

Unexpectedly, I met a Japanese youth who was a fan of Zheng Chenggong. In such a mushiatsui weather, he wore a Ming-style robe and hat, holding a folding fan with Zheng Chenggong's name on it. He said he came with his uncle from Kumamoto to see the sites related to Zheng Chenggong. His uncle perhaps never spoke to a Chinese and kept saying that Japanese do not like guns, perhaps in fear of a possible Chinese invasion someday. I kept laughing.

I said I want to take a picture of him and he posed very well. I am sorry that I posted his photo in my blog without his consent. The date is August 16, 2013. The location is in front of St. Francis Xavier Memorial Church at Hirado.