Badass from the Past is a monthly series spotlighting astonishing historical women whose accomplishments have not been given their due. They changed the narrative, and now we're amplifying their stories. For more articles, see the tag #BadassFromThePast.
This month’s Badass from the Past is Cheng I Sao, popularly known as Ching Shih, the fabled Cantonese “Pirate Queen” who rose to power in the South China Sea during Imperial China’s late Qing dynasty.
Shrouded in mystery, Ching Shih was a woman as unique as she was fearsome. While there have been many versions of her narrative throughout history, a few elements remain consistent. As a leader and naval commander, Ching Shih rose to unparalleled prominence through a combination of skill, intelligence, and luck.
Though there is no account of her birth, Ching Shih’s story begins some time in the 1770s. Before her life of piracy, she worked as a prostitute on a “Flower Boat,” or floating brothel, off the Cantonese coast.
Some time near the beginning of the nineteenth century, Ching Shih met her husband Cheng I, a successful pirate commander. Cheng I’s fleet was one of several that had taken advantage of opportunities for thievery created by the Opium Wars and the opening of Chinese markets to foreign trade with the West. While patriarchal customs on land severely limited the rights and roles of women, Ching Shih’s marriage to Cheng I afforded her some degree of autonomy. From the beginning of their union in 1801, Ching Shih worked alongside her husband and commanded her own ships. These responsibilities may even have been a condition included in her marriage contract, though that theory cannot be confirmed.
Soon after, Cheng I and Ching Shih became involved as mercenaries in the Tay Son rebellion in modern-day Vietnam. The couple learned valuable skills such as naval strategizing and maritime ambushing, and improved their fleet’s fighting capabilities, gaining them a stronger foothold in the pirate trade.
After the rebellion ended (unsuccessfully), Ching Shih and Cheng I went back to their usual brand of piracy, that is until the competition drove them to unify seven pirate fleets under their command. This piratical armada became known as the “Red Flag Fleet” and answered solely to Ching Shih and Cheng I, an unprecedented achievement that solidified their position as the most powerful force in the South China Sea.
When Cheng I died in 1807, Ching Shih took his place as undisputed leader of the Red Flag Fleet. She promoted her adopted son, Chang Pao, to commander of the largest of these fleets. Ching Shih and Chang Pao would become de-facto spouses, though she would retain ultimate control over seventy thousand men and more ships than most legitimate navies possessed at the time. Ching Shih developed a mafia-esque protection system, charging vessels of all sizes money for her fleet’s protection against other pirates. With the use of smaller, more adaptable ships, she was able to venture upriver and implement this same system on small towns and villages.
Notably, Ching Shih maintained a strict code of law that was ruthlessly enforced. The death penalty was meted out for numerous infractions, including theft from the fleet treasury, sex outside of approved marriages, rape, desertion, and unauthorized raids. Under Ching Shih’s leadership, the fleet was unstoppable and terrorized Imperial China so thoroughly that the empire sought the help of the rival British, Portuguese, and Dutch navies. Ching Shih’s fleet, however, would defeat any ships foreign navies sent against her.
Rather than ending her pirate career the usual way (through untimely, violent death), Ching Shih used her formidable reputation to negotiate amnesty for her entire crew in 1810, forcing the Chinese empire to grant each member of her fleet a pension and official job in the Imperial Navy or elsewhere. Ching Shih’s foster-son-turned-husband became a high-ranking naval officer and lived comfortably for the rest of his life. Ching Shih retired to land and possibly ran a successful brothel and gambling house until her own death in 1844 at the age of sixty-nine.
The story of Ching Shih and her formidable Red Flag Fleet is astonishing, but it has been overshadowed by those of better-known western pirates. Whether this lack of acknowledgement is due to her sex, origin, or the time and place in which she lived is up for debate, but there are few who would dispute Ching Shih’s important place in the historical record.
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