Ching Shih: The Pirate Queen

Ching Shih (1775–1844) was arguably the most successful pirate ever, ruling one of the largest ever fleets and crossing swords with some of the world’s most powerful empires.

Born in 1775 in Guangzhou, China, Ching was originally known as Shih Heang Koo. She was working in a “flower boat” i.e. a floating brothel when she met a notorious pirate client named Cheng I. He was so infatuated with her that he decided to marry her – either because of her good looks or because he recognised the potential she had as a cunning and resourceful business partner. They were married in 1801 and they had two children.

Their marriage was unconventional from the start. Ching Shih refused to be just a pretty little housewife as most women would have become. Rather, she demanded 50% of his business and properties, and became an active partner in his piracy. Within a few years, they had accumulated a huge fleet of various pirate ships – uniting those who would usually be business rivals. Cheng I came from a huge pirating family, and may of his clan joined their fleet. This fleet became known as the ;Red Flag Fleet’ which by 1804 was the biggest pirate fleet ever known in China. However, in 1807, Cheng I died in Vietnam. Ching Shih was flung into a battle for leadership, from which she emerged victorious and assumed total control.

Estimates of how many pirates were under Ching’s control range from between 20,000-40,000. A female in such a position was highly controversial, and thus, she often gave her orders via her righthand man, Cheung Po Tsai (more on him later) to reduce the chance of mutiny from those who would not accept orders from a woman.Under Ching Shih’s leadership, the Red Flag Fleet raided towns all over China. They easily quashed any resistance, and demanded tributes from towns in exchange for lienancy. Captives were often held for ransom, and even the Chinese government’s intervention failed to diminish Ching Shih’s power. The British also tried and failed to bring down Ching Shih – several British sailors and one official from the East India Company were captured by the Red Flag Fleet in 1809.

A crucial figure in Ching Shih’s story is Cheung Po Tsai. He served as her second-in-command, but their relationship was much more complex than that.  It is not exactly known how the pair met. One theory was that Ching Shih and her first husband Cheng I stole Cheung Po when he was a child and began to raise him as their own son and prep him as an heir to the empire. Others have suggested, more controversially, that Cheng I and Cheung Po Tsai were actually lovers themselves and that Cheng I adopted Cheung Po so that he would be legally recognized when Cheng I died. This sounds ulikely, but it was apparently a common practice amongst homosexual/bisexual couples at the time.

Either way, it makes the ending of Ching Shih and Cheung Po Tsia’s relationship unorthodox to say the least. They become lovers for years after Cheng I’s death, but Ching Shih was still legally recognized as Cheung Po Tsai’s mother. One of the deals she made when bargaining her freedom was that this title be lifted so that they could be married. Her request was granted and the pair were married for more than a decade until Cheung Po’s death in 1822 – having a son together in 1813.  Whether or not her was her adopted son or her husband’s ex-lover, their relationship raised eyebrows but seems to have been a happy and successful one.

In 1809, after an intense series of fights with the Portuguese Navy, Ching Shih’s career as a pirate queen came to an end. She was offered a deal by the Chinese government: if she surrendered her weapons, the thousands of pirates working for her would be granted amnesty.  Less than 300 pirates were ever punished for their part in the Red Flag Fleet. Remarkably, Ching Shih was allowed to keep her wealth and loot, and thus happily accepted the bargain having fared very well from her time at sea. With her wealth, she opened a gambling house, got involved in the salt trade, and ironically established a brothel in Macau, returning to her humble roots – although I doubt she was working there herself! In 1839, Ching Shih came out of retirmenet to advise the Chinese Government in the opium wars – showing that despite everything she was still a respected and powerful woman in Chinese society.

Based on the huge numbers of pirates that she commanded and her peaceful retirement and later business ventures, Ching Shih is widely regarded as the most successful pirate in history – despite being relatively forgotten compared to the likes of the much less effective Blackbeard.

After such an eventful and dangerous life, Ching Shih died peacefully aged 69, surrounded by her family.  

One explanation for Ching Shih’s power is the strict military code she imposed on her subordinates. Some were to be expected (e.g. no one was to give an order without running it past her, no one was to disobey an order, and they were not to keep any loot for themselves or steal from their allies). However, other rules are extremely interesting on a feminist level. Ching forbade her pirates to rape any captives – something that was commonplace during this era. They were allowed to take captives as wives, but if they were found to abuse or cheat on their wives they were punished by flogging or even beheading.  There is no doubt that Ching Shih was a ruthless and dangerous woman, responsible for many barbaric attacks across China and beyond. However, her strict enforcement of rules which sought to protect the women in her care – even enemy women – really gives me a soft-spot for her. It is often assumed that women in power, especially in this era, must have had to forgo their femininity and act like men to gain their control. Ching Shih shows that this was not the case, and that while she could be ferocious, she was aware the danger her men posed to women and did her best to prevent any harm. Even today, it would be great to have more women in power as it shows that laws that destroy the patriarchy can be effective when properly enforced. Thus, Ching Shih should be remembered as one of the most formidable and badass women in Asian history – a humble prostitute who came to defeat some of the most powerful empires in the world.