Yamaga Soko's 山鹿素行 residence in Hirado

Yamaga family residence, photo by Jiang Wu

One of the disappointments I had when I visited Hirado was that there was not so much information about Yamaga Soko and his contribution to the building of Hirado Castle. The only place I found was the residence of his descendants who still live there. It is original location of the famous Sekitokudo 積徳堂. Yamaga is important to my study because he met Yinyuan in Edo in the winter 1658 and had an encounter dialogue with him. I devoted an entire section on him in Chapter Six (pp.183-191).

Yamaga family residence in Hirado, photo by Jiang Wu

Zheng Chenggong Cult in Japan (1)

Because the connection between Yinyuan and Zheng Chenggong, I went to Hirado last summer to visit Zheng's birth place. Unfortunately I missed a major festival honoring Zheng. However, I was lucky that a new memorial museum just opened to the public a few months before. There appears to be a strong interest in the local area.

Zheng Chenggong festival in Hirado, photo by Jiang Wu

Statue of Zheng Chenggong and his Japanese mother in front of Zheng Chenggong memorial museum, photo by Jiang Wu

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.