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Cheng I Sao
Chinese Female Pirate
a.k.a. Ching Sih,
Pinyin: Zhèng Shì or Zhèng
Yī Sao
Cantonese: Jihng Sih meaning “widow
of Jihng” or Jihng Yāt Sóu meaning "wife of
Jihng Yi" |
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Born: 1775
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Died: 1844 |
 Ching Shih started her career as a Chinese prostitute called Shih Yang. She married in 1801,
to one Cheng I who commanded a pirate fleet and fought in a Vietnamese rebellion on the side
of the Tay-son. They adopted a son named Chang Pao. By the time her husband died in a gale
in 1807, he had united a pirate coalition numbering 400 ships and over 70,000 sailors.
A master of manipulation, Cheng I Sao (literally means "wife of Cheng"), now also known as
Ching Shih, took over the fleet after some political maneuvering. She shortly thereafter
fell into an affair with her adopted son, having already made him her lieutenant, and
married him, cementing the family's hold on the fleet.
She developed a code of laws that were strictly enforced. Commands were not to be given by
anyone except the leaders of the fleet. That was considered a capital offense along with
disobeying orders. If a village regularly helped the pirates, it was a capital offense to
steal from them. It was a capital offense to steal from the treasury. Raping female captives
was a capital offense. Even if there was fornication with a female captive at her supposed
consent, the sailor was beheaded and the female cast overboard with a weight tied to her
legs. If a sailor was absent without leave, or deserted and was caught, one of his ears was
cut off and he was shown off through the squadron as an example.
 Her fleet committed many varying kinds of piracy, from the traditional weak merchant ships,
to sacking and pillaging villages inland along rivers. The government tried to destroy the
pirates in a series of battles in January 1808, however all they managed to do was to give
the pirates even more ships for the fleet. The damage was great enough that the Government
had to utilize private fishing vessels. The real threat came from other pirates, and a rival
called O-po-tae forced Ching Shih's fleet to retreat. Because of his worry about the revenge
that could be exacted on him, O-po-tae sought a pardon for his men from the government and
it was granted. Ching Shih also sought pardon for her fleet in 1810, now that the government
could concentrate on her men and ships, and received it. Chang Poa spent the rest of his
life in a comfortable government position, while Ching Shih died at the age of 60 in 1844,
running a brothel and gambling house in Guangzhou. |
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