The current article intends to identify the relationship between Jeongdoryeong, who was considered as a messiah in the Chosun Dynasty, and the family of Zhèng Chénggōng (1624-1662), who campaigned against the Cheong Dynasty in the Myong-Cheong transition period. Of the three generations of the family, Zhèng Chénggōng, Zhèng Jīng-Zhèng and Kè Shuǎng, Zhèng Jīng received the most attention from Chosun. He was already considered as “Jeong True Man,” one who would destroy Chosun and build a new country, partly because the popular prophecy of Dosun foretold that a man named Jeong would rule over Chosun.
Zhèng Kè Shuǎng, in turn, was called “Naval True Man,” one who would raise troops in an island in the south, and destroy Chosun and build a new kingdom, while Zhèng Chénggōng was recognized as Jeongdoryeong, a representative messiah in the 18th and 19th centuries. These three individuals were all perceived as messiahs, although they were called by slightly different names, such as “Jeong True Man,” “Naval True Man” or “Jeongdoryeong,” respectively. In other words, the family of Zhèng Chénggōng played the role of messiah from the 17th through the 19th centuries.