Ching Shih

 

 

Ching Shih was the most powerful pirate queen of them all. Upon her husband’s death she took control of the Red Flag Fleet, a pirate federation made up of 70,000 men, whom she ruled with an iron fist, not a bad career move for a low-born former prostitute from Canton.

 

 

Ching Shih was the most feared female pirate of her time. With her tens of thousands of pirate crew and hundreds of vessels under her control she terrorized the Chinese coast; plundering, pillaging, slaughtering, abducting, extorting, and mainly, beheading. The ruthlessness of her federation was notorious and her ever-increasing power and influence infuriated the Chinese government. After a few years and numerous failed attempts to defeat her, they negotiated an amnesty and she lost all her men and vessels. However, Ching Shih wasn’t prepared to lose everything she’d worked so hard for, she demanded to keep her loot. 

Shih Yang was born in 1775. There is little recorded about her until she became a prostitute on a floating brothel in Canton, north of Hong Kong in 1801. It was there that she met a patron of the brothel, Zheng Yi, and soon they were married; her name changed accordingly to ‘Zheng Yi Sao’, meaning ‘wife of Zheng Yi’. Zheng Yi was a major player in piracy, he was a member of an infamous family of pirates that had been in operation since the 17th century. When Shih Yang entered his family she was offered a route out of prostitution and into piracy, but not as any old outlaw, but alongside one of the most powerful men at sea. Zheng Yi worked hard to expand his empire. By 1804 he used his reputation and military expertise to gather a coalition comprised of competing Cantonese pirates. This formed the largest pirate fleet in China, known as the ‘Red Flag Fleet’. They commanded 50,000 pirates which is a staggering number compared to the 5-6,000 pirates known to exist in the Caribbean sea during the same period in history. Female pirates were not uncommon in Chinese waters and Zheng Yi Sao proved herself to be a great warrior. 

 

Widowed at Sea

In 1807 Zheng Yi was killed during a particularly violent gale, leaving Zheng Yi Sao a widow. She then became ‘Ching Shih’ meaning ‘widow of Zheng Yi’, the name she is most commonly affiliated with. It was unusual for women to be in positions of power but Ching Shih saw his death as an opportunity to manoeuvre herself into leadership and quickly assumed control of their ever-growing empire. Ching Shih ran a tight ship, literally. By now the number of pirates under her command reached 70,000 and any that broke her rules could be eliminated and replaced with ease. One of her rules onboard was that if any pirates raped a female captive then they would be beheaded. From this one could assume Ching Shih was a pioneer for women’s rights, but the truth was the female was also killed. Consensual sex was banned too, with the male offender being beheaded and the female having weights attached to her ankles and thrown overboard. Ching Shih was deeply concerned with the attractiveness of her captives. Women deemed ‘ugly’ were set free whereas beautiful women were kept and allowed to be purchased by her pirates. Once a purchase was made, this couple were seen as ‘married’. If the pirate cheated on his wife, he would be decapitated. If a pirate took loot from the haul, or took unauthorized shore leave, a simple beheading seemed to do the trick. She reserved a rather gruesome punishment for deserters. They would be found and their ears sliced off – a painful penalty but at least they were allowed to keep their heads. Ching Shih had 1,500 vessels in her empire now, and she handed over the naval operations to Chang Pao, Zheng Yi’s adopted son, allowing her to take care of the company finances. Chang Pao became Ching Shih’s lover and eventually her husband, despite the fact that at one point she was technically his adopted mother.

 

Business is Booming

Southeast Asia was used to suffering at the hands of Ching Shih. Her fleets targeted fishing villages, markets, towns and cities, levying taxes and stealing goods. The pirates would invade the coastal villages and terrorize the inhabitants, slaughtering anyone who got in their way. They would abduct women and children and sell them into slavery or hold them to ransom. Ching Shih made a fortune extorting money from salt merchants, and even dabbled in the dealing of opium. Her federation offered a ‘protection fee’ to ships leaving Canton port. This meant the sailors were protected from attack. Of course, this attack would most likely come from Ching Shih’s cronies so it was a win-win situation for her. It seemed for a long time that she was getting away with whatever she liked, the Chinese government were sick of it. They repeatedly tried to defeat Ching Shih at sea but these attempts were often met with her simply taking their ships too, only serving to strengthen her business further. By 1808 they had lost 63 ships to the pirate fleet. Problems started to arise in the coalition when there were arguments between squadrons and threats from rival fleets began to increase too.

 

A Deal is Struck

In 1810 the Imperial government secured assistance from British and Portuguese warships but before battle commenced an amnesty was offered to Ching Shih, in return for her resignation from piracy. Ching Shih demanded she could keep her loot, she also negotiated pardons for most of her men and only 126 were executed and 250 received some other form of punishment. The remaining men were offered jobs within the army and Chang Pao was given the role of lieutenant.

Ching Shih and Chang Pao settled in Fukien where they had a son. In 1822 Chang Pao died aged 36, having achieved the rank of colonel. Ching Shih moved back to Guangzhou, Canton and opened a brothel and a gambling house. She died aged 69, a very wealthy woman and a most notorious pirate. In 2007 a character named ‘Mistress Ching’ appeared in the film Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. Although it is not confirmed it seems likely that this character, one of the nine pirate lords, is based on Ching Shih, thus securing her legend a place in popular culture.