Zheng Yi Sao
Zheng Yi Sao (1775–1844; born Shi Yang, a.k.a. Shi Xianggu), also known as Ching Shih, was a Chinese pirate leader who was active in the South China Sea from 1801 to 1810. Born as Shi Yang in 1775 to humble origins, she married a pirate named Zheng Yi at age 26 in 1801. Zheng Yi Sao was a honorific bestowed upon her by the people of Guangdong, meaning wife of Zheng Yi. After the death of her husband in 1807, she took control of his pirate confederation with the support of his adopted son Zhang Bao, who  she entered into a relationship with and later married. As the unofficial commander of the Guangdong Pirate Confederation, her fleet was composed of 400 junks and between 40,000 to 60,000 pirates in 1805. Her ships entered into conflict with several major powers, such as the East India Company, the Portuguese Empire, and Qing China. In 1810, Zheng Yi Sao negotiated a surrender to the Qing authorities which allowed her and Zhang Bao to retain a substantial fleet and avoid prosecution. At the time of her surrender, she personally commanded 24 ships and over 1400 pirates. She died in 1844 at  the approximate age of 68, having lived a relatively peaceful and prosperous life since the end of her career in piracy. Zheng Yi Sao has been described as history's most successful female pirate, and one of the most successful pirates in history. Early life. Zheng Yi Sao was born in 1775 in around Xinhui, Guangdong. She was possibly a Tanka, who worked as a prostitute or procurer on a floating Tanka brothel () in Guangdong. In 1801, she married Zheng Yi, a well-known pirate. Marriage to Zheng Yi. Zheng Yi was a pirate who fought as a privateer for  the Vietnamese Tây Sơn dynasty in the Tây Sơn wars against Qing China and later Nguyễn Ánh. Under Tây Sơn patronage, he fought in his cousin Zheng Qi's fleet. Zheng Yi hailed from a family of well-known pirates whose roots traced back to the Ming dynasty. He had an adopted son, Zhang Bao, who was abducted by Zheng Yi in 1798 at the age of 15, and subsequently pressed into piracy. A year after their marriage in February 1802, Zheng Yi's cousin Zheng Qi was captured and executed by Nguyễn forces in the town of Jiangping () on  the border of Vietnam and China, near present day Dongxing (). On July 20, 1802, Nguyễn Ánh entered the city of Thăng Long, which marked the end of the Tây Sơn dynasty. Zheng Yi quickly took over Zheng Qi's fleet after his death, and sailed back to the Chinese coast together with the rest of the Chinese pirates formerly under Tây Sơn patronage. What followed was a period of infighting among the pirates near the Guangdong coast, but with the help of Zheng Yi Sao, who was a capable consolidator and organizer, Zheng Yi was able to unite the pirates  into a confederation through the signing of an agreement on July 1805 in which each pirate leader agreed to sacrifice some of his autonomy for the greater good. The confederation consisted of six fleets known by the colour of their flags – red, black, blue, white, yellow, and purple. Zheng Yi commanded the biggest fleet in the confederation, the Red Flag Fleet. Zheng Yi Sao had two sons with Zheng Yi. Zheng Yingshi () was born in 1803, and Zheng Xiongshi () was born in 1807. Ascension to leadership. On 16 November 1807, Zheng Yi fell overboard in a gale and died at  the age of 42. Zheng Yi Sao quickly took over her deceased husband's operations, through the support of Zheng Yi's nephew Zheng Baoyang () and the son of Zheng Qi, Zheng Anbang (). Zheng Yi Sao also balanced the various factions in the confederation, and was familiar with Guo Podai (), leader of the second biggest fleet in the confederation, the Black Flag Fleet, who was abducted by Zheng Yi and pressed into piracy at a young age. Most importantly, Zheng Yi Sao had the support of Zhang Bao, who was in effect commanding the Red Flag Fleet at the time . Zheng Yi Sao effectively inherited her deceased husband's informal command over the entire Pirate Confederation, while Zhang Bao became the official commander of the Red Flag Fleet. According to a report by Wen Cheng Zhi (), a government official who led the negotiations with Zheng Yi Sao and Zhang Bao with the Viceroy of Liangguang Bai Ling () later in 1810, "Zhang Bao obeyed Zheng Yi Sao's orders, and consulted her on all things before acting (張保...仍聽命於鄭一之妻石氏，事必請而後行)." After taking control of the confederation, Zheng Yi Sao and Zhang Bao quickly entered a sexual relationship. It is speculated that they  were already intimate before the death of Zheng Yi. Leader of the confederation. In 1808, a year after Zheng Yi Sao took power, the Pirate Confederation became significantly more active. In September, Zhang Bao first lured then ambushed Lin Guoliang (), brigade-general () of Humen, and destroyed his fleet of 35 ships near Mazhou Island, located east of present day Bao'an District, Shenzhen. A month later in October, Zhang Bao defeated lieutenant-colonel () Lin Fa () near present day Weiyuan Island east of Humen Town. These two engagements reduced the Chinese provincial fleet by half, and cleared the way for the pirates  to enter the Pearl River. 1809 was an eventful year for the Pirate Confederation under the command of Zheng Yi Sao. In March, Provincial Commander () Sun Quanmou (), with around 100 ships under his command, engaged a small group of pirates near Dawanshan Island, and the pirates called Zheng Yi Sao for aid. Before the battle, Zheng Yi Sao took command of the Red Flag Fleet and the White Flag Fleet, ordered Zhang Bao to engage from the front with around 10 ships, Zhang Bao's lieutenants, Xiang Shan'er () and Xiao Bu'ao () to flank Sun from the sides, and Liang Bao  (), leader of the White Flag Fleet, to cut Sun off from the rear. During the heat of the battle, Zheng Yi Sao charged in with the bulk of the Red Flag Fleet and the White Flag Fleet, which routed Sun. On July 21, the Qing navy dealt a major blow to the Pirate Confederation by killing Liang Bao and destroying Liang's White Flag Fleet at an engagement near present day Jinwan District, Zhuhai, at the cost of losing brigade-general Xu Tinggui () and 25 ships to Zhang Bao. Liang's death and the destruction of the White Flag Fleet  did not deter Zheng Yi Sao. In August 1809, Zheng Yi Sao ordered a massive raid: Zhang Bao would raid around Dongguan with the Red Flag Fleet, Guo Podai would raid around Shunde with the Black Flag Fleet, and Zheng Yi Sao would lead the raid around Xinhui with her personal fleet. Guo Podai worked his way through the numerous waterways along the Pearl River for six weeks on a bloody raiding campaign which ultimately resulted in the deaths of approximately 10,000 people. In early September, Zhang Bao completely destroyed a large town not far from Humen and killed 2,000  inhabitants. Numerous villages, settlements, and towns fell victim to the rampaging pirates. On September 27, Zheng Yi Sao personally took command of 500 ships and anchored near Tanzhou (). On the 29th, Zheng Yi Sao ordered Zhang Bao to raid the town of Shating () further upriver, where he captured around 400 civilians; on October 2, Zheng Yi Sao order Guo Podai to anchor around Jigongshi (), presumably near Sanxiongqi (, modern day Sanhongqi ), where he raided two days later. By late October, the provincial fleet was back to strength and ready for action under the command of Sun Quanmou, but was defeated again  by Zhang Bao on the evening of October 21 near the town of Shawan (). Blockade of Tung Chung Bay. In desperation, Chinese officials looked with renewed interest at the "foreign barbarians", hoping to obtain aid against Zheng Yi Sao and the Pirate Confederation. The Portuguese Empire, which controlled Macau at the time, agreed to help – on September 5, 1809, Zheng Yi Sao captured the brig of Antonio Botelho Homen (the Portuguese governor of Timor), and the Portuguese were eager for payback. In early November, 1809, Zheng Yi Sao suddenly left the Pearl River with only a few ships, and anchored  at Tung Chung Bay, north of Lantau Island, for repairs. On November 4, the Portuguese sent three ships and a brig to harass Zheng Yi Sao at Lantau, who immediately called the Red Flag Fleet under Zhang Bao for aid. On the 5th, Zhang Bao arrived at Tung Chung Bay, and seeing that the Portuguese were no longer around, decided to anchor his ships for repair and maintenance. However, on the 8th, six Portuguese ships, the "Inconquistável" (frigate), the "Indiana" (brig), the "Belisário" (brig), the "Conceição" (brig), the "São Miguel" (brig), and the "Princesa Carlota" (brig), under the command of  artillery captain José Pinto Alcoforado de Azevedo e Sousa, blockaded Zheng Yi Sao and Zhang Bao within Tung Chung Bay. On the 20th, 93 ships from the provincial fleet joined the Portuguese in their blockade, commanded by Sun Quanmou. The pirates made various attempts to counterattack and break the blockade, but were unsuccessful due to unfavorable wind conditions. On the 23rd, the pirates managed to capture one ship from the provincial fleet, and killed the 74 men aboard. The situation turned into a stalemate between the pirates and the joint Sino-Portuguese fleet. Frustrated with the lack of progress, Sun  Quanmou converted 43 of his ships into fireships and set them adrift towards the pirates in Tung Chung Bay on the 28th. The pirates diverted the fireships, towed them on shore, extinguished the fire, and broke them up for firewood. It was at this point that the wind changed, and two of the fireships were blown back to the provincial fleet and ignited two of Sun's own ships. On the 29th, Zhang Bao and Zheng Yi Sao took full advantage of the wind, broke through the blockade, and escaped into the South China Sea. The provincial fleet lost 3  ships and at least 74 men, while the pirates lost no ships and only 40 men. Surrendering to the Qing authorities. By the end of 1809, the tides were turning against Zheng Yi Sao and the Pirate Confederation. Guo Podai, leader of the Black Flag Fleet, refused to reinforce Zheng Yi Sao and Zhang Bao during the Battle of Tung Chung Bay, and later openly battled with Zhang Bao near Humen. On January 13, 1810, Guo Podai officially surrendered to the Viceroy of Liangguang, Bai Ling, and was rewarded with the rank of sublieutenant (). The Portuguese and the British also  officially joined in the fray. On September 15, 1809, the British country ship "Mercury" agreed to join 60 provincial warships in patrolling the inner passage of the Pearl River. On November 23, the Portuguese officially signed an agreement with Bai Ling that called for six Portuguese ships to join the Chinese provincial fleet on patrol between Humen and Macau for six months. Bai Ling's policy of militia training and embargoes also enjoyed reasonable success in cutting off the pirates' supply lines. But it was all these reasons combined, plus the organizational limit of the Pirate Confederation, which was held  together by a few charismatic leaders such as Zheng Yi Sao, Zhang Bao, and Guo Podai, that led Zheng Yi Sao to consider surrendering to the authorities in early 1810. With Macau's "Ouvidor" (magistrate) Miguel José de Arriaga as mediator, Zheng Yi Sao, Zhang Bao, and Bai Ling officially met on Zhang Bao's flagship on February 21, 1810. The negotiations quickly broke down when Bai Ling refused Zheng Yi Sao and Zhang Bao's demand of retaining 5,000 subordinates and 80 ships for entering the salt trade and joining the anti-pirate campaign in western Guangdong. At the  end of the day, ten British Indiamen sailed past the pirate fleet and alarmed Zhang Bao, who suspected some sort of Sino-European trap and quickly retreated. On April 17, Zheng Yi Sao, wanting to break the deadlock, personally led a delegation of 17 women and children to the Yamen at Guangzhou and negotiated with Bai Ling, where he yielded to her demands. On April 20, 1810, Zheng Yi Sao and Zhang Bao officially surrendered to Bai Ling near Furongsha (, near present day Guzaiwan ) with 17,318 pirates, 226 ships, 1,315 cannons, and 2,798 assorted weapons. Zheng Yi Sao surrendered with  24 ships and 1,433 pirates under her personal command. Zhang Bao was awarded the rank of lieutenant (), and was allowed to retain a private fleet of 20-30 ships. Zheng Yi Sao was also given permission to officially marry Zhang Bao. Zheng Yi Sao and her crews were pardoned, and the men received pork, wine and money. Life after piracy and death. After surrendering, Zhang Bao would further distinguish himself by defeating the Blue Flag Fleet under Wu Shi'er () near the Leizhou Peninsula. Zhang Bao, with Zheng Yi Sao accompanying him, would later be transferred to Min'an, Fujian, where Zheng  Yi Sao would give birth to a son, Zhang Yulin, in 1813 (). In 1822, Zhang Bao, aged 36, died near Penghu while serving as a colonel () in charge of the Penghu garrison. In 1824, Zheng Yi Sao returned to Guangdong with Zhang Yulin. In 1840, while living at Nanhai, Zheng Yi Sao filed charges against a government official, Wu Yaonan (), for having embezzled 28,000 taels of silver that Zhang Bao had handed over to him in 1810 for the purchase of an estate. The Viceroy of Liangguang at the time, Lin Zexu, petitioned the emperor to dismiss the case, which  he did. In 1844, Zheng Yi Sao died at the age of 68-69, having led a relatively peaceful life after the death of her second husband, as the proprietor of an infamous gambling house somewhere around Guangdong. Legacy. Zheng Yi Sao's codes that were used to compounded the bureaucratization of the confederation: Zhang Bao's three codes for the pirates of the Red Flag Fleet are often misattributed to Zheng Yi Sao. The codes are: The three codes and the fact that Zhang Bao was the author of the codes were recorded in "Jing hai fen ji" (), an  account of the Pirate Confederation by Qing official Yuan Yonglun () based on first-hand testimonies. The misattribution of the codes to Zheng Yi Sao most likely originated from Philip Gosse's "The History of Piracy", first published in 1932, in which he claimed Zheng Yi Sao to have drawn up "a code of rules for her crews which somewhat resembled those subscribed to by earlier European pirates." Gosse claimed to have based the story of Zheng Yi Sao on a translation of "Jing hai fen ji" by Charles F. Neumann in "History of the Pirates Who Infested the China Sea  from 1807 to 1810" published in 1831, which in itself contains numerous translation errors. Regardless, it seems like Gosse was primarily interested in a sensationalized account of Zheng Yi Sao, as he claimed in "The History of Piracy" that "the original ("Jing hai fen ji"), published in Canton in 1830, is chiefly devoted to the exploits of one pirate, and that a woman," while "Jin hai fen ji" contains significantly more mentions of Zhang Bao (88) than Zheng Yi Sao (25). A semi-fictionalized account of Zheng Yi Sao, based on Philip Gosse's "The History of Piracy," appeared in  Jorge Luis Borges' short story "The Widow Ching, Lady Pirate" (part of "A Universal History of Infamy" (1935)), where she is described as "a lady pirate who operated in Asian waters, all the way from the Yellow Sea to the rivers of the Annam coast", and who, after surrendering to the imperial forces, is pardoned and allowed to live the rest of her life as an opium smuggler. In the story, Borges repeated the false claim that the pirate codes were issued by Zheng Yi Sao. In 2020, Angela Eiter finished the first ascent of the mountain climbing route Madame  Ching (which she named after Zheng Yi Sao) in Imst, Austria.