King of Ducks III

There was a famine in the county of Fengshan (鳳山) in southern Taiwan in 1720. The county, which had the jurisdiction over Neimen where Zhu Yigui ran his successful duck farm, was a much bigger district than present-day Kaohsiung County. There were only three counties in Taiwan during Kangxi's reign. The Qing magistrate of Fengshan overtaxed the people, who were ready to riot. Such riots were common in Taiwan. An old Taiwanese saying runs: “One small disturbance every three years, one great disturbance every five years.” That very well sums up Taiwan's social instability during the 212years of Qing rule that ended in 1895 when the island was ceded to Japan under the Treaty of Shimonoseki.

Impoverished people of Fengshan turned to the King of Ducks, who was their Tryad leader, for guidance. Tryad members urged him to lead an uprising against Manchu rule. On April 19, 1721 Zhu gathered together close to 2,000 peasants and villagers and told them he was a descendant of the Ming emperor Hongwu (洪武) and was duty-bound to overthrow the Manchu Dynasty and restore Ming rule in China. He proclaimed himself Zhong-xing da-yuan shuai (中興大元帥) or Grand Marshal for (Ming) Restoration and ordered an attack on Gangshan (岡山). In a few days, more than 10,000 ruffians, freebooters and peasants joined the Zhu band, which conquered Taiwan-fu (台灣府), the prefecture of Taiwan whose government seat was located in present-day Tainan. The prefect and all Qing officials fled Tainan. The rebels, in the meantime, took control of the entire district of Zhulo (諸羅), which was larger than the present-day county and city of Chiayi combined. Subsequently, the King of Ducks conquered nearly all west Taiwan.

Marching on Taiwan-fu, the Grand Marshal's army came across a troupe presenting a history play before a Taoist temple. Scouts sent out to Tapu (大埔) near Tainan had reported a commotion there. The King of Ducks suspected an ambush. So he ordered a salvo of artillery gunfire as his ragtag army drew near enough to the village. All those in the center of commotion, actors and the audience alike, fled for their lives. When he and his troops marched to the village square, they found only the props and costume left behind. Among a score box wardrobes were the crown and the dragon-emblazoned robe he saw himself wear in the image he had seen on the water of the Gangshan stream. He put them on. His generals were also told to wear the generals' costume left by the troupe. He was now certain he was destined to be an emperor.

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