Ching Shih: Pirate Lord

Portrait of Cheng Shih (1).

When imaging pirates people picture big, gruesome, men heading a ship full of other furious men.  However, Ching Shih proved everyone wrong and became one of the most infamous pirate lords, as a woman.  She was born in the Guangdong providence of China in 1775 (2).  There is little that's known of her early life, but she reappeared in history working as a prostitute in Canton.  Her life as a prostitute changed dramatically when Zheng Yi came into her life.  Zheng Yi came from a long line of notorious pirates and commanded the Red Flag Fleet.  There are stories that Zheng had his men go back and raid the brothel that Ching worked at and bring her back to his ship (4).  He then asked for her hand in marriage and in return she said she would accept if she too could have power and equal plunder.  Zheng agreed and the two were married shortly after.  With Ching by his side, they would go from controlling 200 ships to 600 and would eventually have over 1700 ships in their fleet (2).

There were approximately 50,000-70,000 pirates in the Red Flag Fleet (5).  Ching and Zheng together formed the Cantonese Pirate Coalition with pirate Wu Shi'er.  Six years after they got married Zheng died leaving the Red Flag Fleet in need of a new leader.  Cheng feared going back to the life she had as a prostitute and saw this as her chance to rise to power.  Following Zheng's death Cheng took control of the Red Flag Fleet with the support of her adopted son Chang Pao.  With Cheng now in command of the fleet she set out a new focus on military strategy and business.  She also went to great lengths to get the pirates in her fleet into an ad hoc government.  Within this government the pirates would be bound and protected by laws and taxes.  This went on further to include a new code within the fleet itself. All ships would present their plunder to Cheng and register it before being distributed amongst themselves.  Twenty percent of the plunder would be given to the ship, and the other eighty percent would be put into the fleets collective fund (5).

Along with this new style of government within the Red Flag Fleet, Cheng also enforced strict rules regarding the life of the pirates in her fleet.  Specifically, she had rules about taking females captive during their raids.  If a woman was deemed to be 'ugly' they would be released without being harmed.  On the other hand, if a pirate was interested in sleeping with a beautiful woman they were obligated to marry this woman.  Marriage meant that the pirate had to be faithful to his wife and care for her for the duration of their marriage.  Unfaithfulness and raping of women would result in execution, and their would be harsh capital punishment for anyone who would disobey Cheng's new code (2).  Cheng's fearsome laws went beyond the code she had for her fleet of pirates.  When raiding or taking over a village Cheng would place taxes that the village would pay to her fleet.  Anyone who did not comply with these orders would be severely punished.  There were stories that these person's who would not pay the taxes would be taken aboard Cheng's ship, have their feet nailed to the deck and then beaten (2).

Illustration of Cheng Shih battling an opposing pirate (3).

Cheng was known as the "Terror of South China" and rightfully so considering the harsh laws and codes she put in place.  During her reign as leader of the Red Flag Fleet she defeated the Chinese, Portuguese and British navies.  In 1809 the Chinese emperor sent out an armada to attack the Red Fleet Flag, who in return defeated the Chinese with little difficulty (4).  After defeating them Cheng captured the crews of 63 ships and 'persuaded' most of the crew to join her own fleet (5).  Two years after this war had begun the emperor gave up, pulled his men from the sea and offered Cheng amnesty.  Cheng fought for all of the pirates in her fleet to also receive full amnesty, and allow them to keep all of their riches they had earned during piracy (4).  The emperor agreed and from this Cheng was granted a noble title and joined aristocracy, while her men lived out their lives with the plunder they earned while under Cheng's command.

Cheng Shih was one of the most fearsome female pirates.  I think that the values that the Chinese held were also one's that Cheng followed out during her reign.  She enforced a moral code among her fleet and used violence when this code was broken. I found her to be inspiring and women today can see this inspiration because of the way that she knew she was also entitled to the same stature of a male pirate.  It's amazing that even in the 1800's women were fighting for other women's rights.  Cheng made her pirates marry and then stay faithful to them, even rape was punishable by execution.  This can resonate with today's society and women dealing with rape.  We are now fighting to find a voice for women that do get raped and be able to speak without the fear of a man tearing her down.  To have a woman that was alive centuries ago start a fight for women not to be seen as objects and to have rights themselves is remarkable.  I think that the power that this woman had in a world full of powerful men should speak volumes to women all over the world.



Works Cited

1.) 10153697231268764. “Captain's List - Ching Shih #1810 – Career Accelerator.” Career Accelerator, Career Accelerator, 17 Oct. 2016, career-accelerator.corsairs.network/captains-list-ching-shih-3899456d235a.

2.) “Ching Shih Pirate Biography and Facts.” Ching Shih Pirate - Biography of Female Pirate, www.annebonnypirate.com/famous-female-pirates/ching-shih/.

3.) “Ching Shih.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 17 Oct. 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ching_Shih.

4.) “Ching Shih: From Pirate Queen of the South China Sea to Aristocrat and Businesswoman.” Young Post | South China Morning Post, Young Post, 19 Sept. 2018, yp.scmp.com/education/article/92402/ching-shih-pirate-queen-south-china-sea-aristocrat-and-businesswoman.

5.) Reese, Mr. “Ching Shih – from Prostitute to Pirate Lord.” Ancient Origins, Ancient Origins, 2018, www.ancient-origins.net/history-famous-people/ching-shih-prostitute-pirate-lord-002582.