author
active 1692 Risheng Jiang
A shadowy writer from the early Qing period, he is remembered for Taiwan Waiji, a vivid account of the Zheng family and the struggle over Taiwan in the late 1600s. His work sits somewhere between history and storytelling, which is part of what makes it so memorable.
1 Audiobook
臺灣外紀
by active 1692 Risheng Jiang
About the author
Very little is firmly documented about Jiang Risheng, and even basic biographical details are hard to pin down. He is commonly identified in library records as "active 1692," and Project Gutenberg lists him under the alias 江日昇, reflecting how little definite information survives about his life.
He is best known as the author of Taiwan Waiji (臺灣外紀 or 臺灣外記), a Qing-era work about Zheng Zhilong, Koxinga (Zheng Chenggong), Zheng Jing, and Zheng Keshuang. Chinese reference sources describe the book as a mix of historical writing and chapter-style narrative fiction, and note that it helped preserve stories about the Zheng regime in Taiwan that are scarce in other records.
That blend of fact, memory, and dramatic storytelling is what gives his writing its lasting appeal. For listeners interested in Taiwan history, the Ming-Qing transition, or the legend of Koxinga, Jiang Risheng offers a rare and lively voice from close to the period itself.