A Chinese prostitute who became one of her nation’s most feared pirates, Cheng I Sao (c. 1785–1844) commanded a huge force of up to 70,000 brigands between 1807 and 1810. Under her leadership, the pirates plundered villages along the coast of China, ran elaborate extortion rackets, and even set up their own floating society on the high seas. Soon after reaching the height of her power, however, Cheng I Sao abruptly decided to give up piracy, accepted amnesty from the Chinese government, and retired to the mainland.
Born Shih Yang, the future pirate queen first went to sea aboard a “flower boat,” or floating brothel, in the South China Sea. She married a pirate captain, Cheng I, in 1801, after obtaining a promise that she would have an equal share of his power.
Her husband was one of numerous pirates in the South China Sea who had been hired by the neighboring Vietnamese to attack Chinese shipping. When the Vietnamese reached a peace accord with China in 1802 and withdrew their support, Cheng I organized the pirates into a close confederation of seven fleets. Cheng I died in 1807, and his widow took command of the massive armada.
Life aboard the 400 junks in Cheng I Sao’s fleet was harsh, and her punishments for rule breakers were often draconian. Hundreds of pirates, along with their families, might be crowded aboard a single vessel. They were expected to obey orders instantly, or they would be decapitated. She also set strict rules about the division of treasure and enforced the death penalty for pirates who didn’t contribute their share of booty to the common treasury. Cheng I Sao also outlawed rape and adultery aboard her ships, making both punishable by death.
The imperial government attempted to arrest Cheng I Sao in 1808, but the leader of the expedition was killed, and almost half the government fleet was sunk or captured. In 1809, the government was forced to ask the British to lend them a warship, the HMS Mercury, to chase the pirates. Six Portuguese men-of-war later joined the imperial fleet as well.
Cheng I Sao managed to evade the European ships, but she decided the next year to give up piracy and accept a government amnesty. Almost all of her pirates were spared; of the tens of thousands, 211 were banished and 126 were executed. Cheng I Sao retired to shore, married one of her late husband’s lieutenants, and reputedly operated a gambling establishment for the remainder of her life.
ADDITIONAL FACTS
- Cheng I Sao had three sons—two with her first husband and another with her second.
- The name by which she was most commonly known, Cheng I Sao, means “wife or widow of Cheng,” after her first husband.
- Cheng I Sao appears in a short story, “The Widow Ching, Lady Pirate” (1933), by the Argentinean writer Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986).
