Born In 1775, She Became One Of History’s Most Famous Pirates After Commanding A Massive Fleet Of 1,800 Pirate Ships Alongside Her Husband And Establishing Important Rules For Respecting Women On Board
Most stories you hear involving pirates often depict men who sailed the seas and committed crimes on boats. However, you rarely hear stories of some of the female pirates that once existed.
Ching Shih is one of the most famous pirates in history and has a reputation for being quite fearsome. Interestingly, she was a woman.
Ching Shih lived during China’s Qing Dynasty. She was born in 1775 and grew up in poverty, eventually having to work in a brothel.
In 1801, when she was 26-years-old, she married the famous pirate Zheng Yi, who had an impressive pirate fleet.
After marrying, Ching Shih and Zheng Yi operated as a husband-and-wife team of pirates. She embraced the lifestyle, and they commanded his fleet together. By 1806, they had the largest pirate fleet, which was named the Red Flag Fleet.
Ching Shih helped establish important rules for the Red Flag Fleet, some of the biggest involving respecting women on board their 1,800 ships.
If anyone took advantage of female captives or if any married people were unfaithful, they would be executed.
When Zheng Yi died in 1807, she married his adopted son, Cheung Po Tsai, who was due to inherit his father’s power.
Once they were married, she made it so that she took control of the Red Flag Fleet and set a strict code of conduct.
James Steidl – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only
Under Ching Shih’s power, the Red Flag Fleet dominated the South China Sea and had entire villages supplying them with food and goods. Some say that at one point, around 80,000 pirates operated under Ching Shih’s command.
Under the Qing Dynasty, there were Mandarin navy vessels that wanted to confront the Red Flag Fleet to put an end to their pirating. However, when they tried, they were overtaken by the fleet and forced to join them.
However, in the early 1800s, crew members of the Red Flag Fleet faced attacks from the Portuguese navy and eventually surrendered. Ching Shih retired from life as a pirate in 1810 and accepted amnesty from the Chinese government.
In 1813, Ching Shih had a son and then, later, a daughter. After the death of her second husband in 1822, she moved her family to the city of Macau. She got involved in the salt trade, opened a gambling house, and lived as a successful woman.
Ching Shih passed away in 1844 at 69. Although she may be long gone, her legend as one of China’s most iconic pirates lives on.
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