What Does Zheng Chenggong See? Monumental Confrontations and Entangled Desires

This study investigates six statues of Zheng Chenggong, revered as a “national hero” in both the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of China. Rather than focusing on Zheng’s biography, the paper analyzes these monuments as lieux de mémoire in Pierre Nora’s sense—sites through which national memory and collective identity are embodied, negotiated, and contested. By examining not only the statues’ physical form but also their scale, location, and circumstances of construction, the study interprets them as visual and spatial media through which China and Taiwan have articulated competing historical narratives and political aspirations. The analysis demonstrates that the three statues erected in China from the late 1980s depict a martial figure facing east, while the three statues constructed in Taiwan during the period of martial law portray Zheng in civil attire facing west. These contrasting representations reveal the distinct imaginations at work in the two societies. Viewed across the Taiwan Strait, the monuments appear to confront one another, symbolizing Taiwan’s aspiration for a counteroffensive against the mainland on one side, and China’s affirmation of the One-China Principle on the other. The findings suggest that Zheng Chenggong statues function as vessels into which political power projects its values and ambitions. Ultimately, the guiding question, “What does Zheng Chenggong see?” becomes the more fundamental inquiry: “What does each society see in Zheng Chenggong?”