【Description】

 

Zheng Jiazheng, courtesy name Boyu and style name Xueting, was a native of Dongshi Village outside Tek-chhàm(now Hsinchu). He passed the provincial examination in 1894, and earned the title of Juren. Following the Japanese capture of Hsinchu in 1895, his family relocated to Quanzhou, where he established a school. In 1919, he returned to Hsinchu for about eight years amid revolutionary turmoil in mainland China. He was employed by Zheng Zhaoji and taught at various local academies, also guiding a literary group formed by colleagues from Hsinchu Public School.

​

This piece is Zheng Jiazheng's foreword to Zhou Weijin's "General Historica of Taiwan." After reading about the 1895 cession of Taiwan, Zheng was moved to tears by recounting the islanders' indignation and the ministers' sorrowful laments. Unfortunately, aside from Zheng's preface, the complete book is not extant.