[snowybeagle]

郑一嫂 Zhèng Yī Săo (literally wife of Zhèng Yī)

This female pirate leader was listed in various English websites as the leader, and presented as the leader behind the pirate force after her husband's death. I detected more than a hint of admiration of her by the mainly female writers of the English articles.

In contrast, her lover Zhang Bao Zai (张保仔) was quoted in a Chinese website http://www.xinhui.go...xhsw/XHSW51.htm as being the de facto leader, displacing Zhèng Yī Săo as the mastermind.

I wonder if there is any chauvinism involved on the part of the Chinese article writers or feminism on the part of the English article female writers!

Quote

Cheng I Sao (Ching Yih Saou) — 1810s, South China Sea, commanded either five or six squadrons consisting of 800 large junks, about 1,000 smaller vessels, and between 70,000 and 80,000 men and women.

Quoted from :
http://www.deadmentellnotales.com/onlinete...womenlist.shtml
http://blindkat.hegewisch.net/blindkat/pir...menpirates.html

Other extensive write-ups
http://www.cindyvall...m/chengsao.html
http://www.crosswind...n/cheng_sao.htm
http://piratesofpensacola.tripod.com/blarg...g?from=20050309
(The above 3 are the same articles).

http://www.madunicky...hing%20shih.htm
(This one is different from the above)

From http://www.beaglebay...htm#Cheng%20Sao

Quote

In 1805, Cheng I Sao (wife of Cheng) or Ching Shih became the leader of the infamous Red Flag Fleet, a confederation of pirates with over 1500 ships that ranged the whole Chinese coast and South to Malaysia. When Cheng died in 1807, Cheng I Sao took charge as a sort of admiral and placed Chang Pao, formerly her husband’s right-hand man, in command of the operation of the fleet. Shortly, they became involved with each other and later married. The discipline Cheng I Sao imposed was formidable, with punishments much more severe than the pirate "articles" of the Caribbean. Most offences were punishable by beheading. Her battle plans were just as ruthless. Many engagements of the Red Flag Fleet were conducted by hundreds of ships, each with twenty to twenty-five cannons, and upwards of two-thousand pirates. The pirate ships were shallow-hulled junks that had wide sails, but had as many as twenty oars to be rowed up rivers. Not only was her fleet engaged in acts of piracy, they also extorted money as "protection" from the pirates themselves.
Chinese officials tried many tactics to bring the Red Flag Fleet to justice, but every expedition to eradicate the pirates failed. The Chinese navy lost sixty-three ships in the attacks. Twice, the Red Flag Fleet was ambushed by citizens of beset villages, only to have their towns burnt to the ground and the men slaughtered. Even the navies of Portugal and Britain could not defeat Cheng I Sao. In desperation, a general amnesty was offered to all pirates in 1810 and Cheng I Sao decided to take advantage of it. She negotiated pardons for almost all of her men, and even managed to get Chang Pao a lieutenancy in the Chinese Army. She retired with all of her fortune, ran a gambling house and had at least one son with Chang Pao before dying in 1844. Some historians say that she was the "best pirate who ever lived."

[snowybeagle]

In addition, I recalled in the 1980s, there was a HK serial with Zhang Bao Zai as the title.
In that version, Zheng Yi Shao was depicted as a venomous woman in contrast to Zhang Bao Zai.

While both of them conspired to murder her husband Zheng Yi, they drifted apart when Zhang Bao Zai became wary of her ruthlessness, and he subsequently fell in love with another woman and had a son.

Somehow, the other woman died and Zheng Yi Shao raised the son with Zhang Bao Zai. After receiving the amnesty, Zhang Bao Zai was busy with official work and she deliberately allowed the boy to grow up unruly.

Somehow, I suspect now it was more chauvinism, though a wise man take care not to offend woman, especially his wife.

[Yun]

Beaglebay? For a moment I thought that site was run by you, Snowy!

I've found a recent book that should be useful to you: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/155...2052342-9647930

It contains material on the careers of various pirates, and also about the lives of pirates in general.

[tieu_yeu_nu]

whoa...i like her already...she sounds so...powerful

[DaMo]

Neat. Her story reminds me of a documentary I watched about the 16th century female Irish pirate Grace O'Malley.

http://en.wikipedia....race_O%27Malley

It says there she married someone nicknamed "Iron Dick". They never mentioned that in the documentary.

[Yun]

I should point out that Zheng Yisao's fame in the West is largely due to the work of Dian Murray, a scholar who wrote her PhD thesis on the Guangdong pirates of 1780-1810 in the 1970s and became a great admirer of Zheng Yisao and Zhang Bao. Romanticised accounts of their lives did exist in older Western literature, but were ignored by academics. Murray's contribution was to publish her thesis as a book "Pirates of the South China Coast", which became a classic in the field and was followed by several articles on these same pirates, especially Zheng Yisao.

Robert Antony's recent book is essentially an expansion of Murray's work, but focusing more on the economic and social reasons for piracy in the 1780-1810 period.

[Liang Jieming]

Most successful pirate was beautiful and tough
By Maggie Koerth
Mental Floss

You can keep your Bluebeards and your Blackbeards. The most successful pirate of all time controlled a fleet of more than 1,500 ships and upwards of 80,000 sailors -- and she did it all without the help of facial hair.

When a Chinese pirate captain named Cheng married a beautiful prostitute in 1801, he wasn't just getting the girl of his dreams; he was making the best financial investment of his career. His new bride, known to history as Cheng I Sao, or "Wife of Cheng," agreed to the marriage on one condition -- that she would share equally in his power and would be given the opportunity to help him secure more wealth.

Sounded like a deal to Cheng, and for the next six years, the husband and wife teamed up to grow their piracy business along the coast of the South China Sea, as far south as Malaysia. But then, in 1807, Cheng passed away. Instead of stepping aside like a "proper" widow, Cheng I Sao promptly took the reins.

Thinking outside the treasure box

Although clearly ahead of her time, Cheng I Sao was shrewd enough to realize that the pirate masses weren't likely as enlightened. So, her first act as leader was to make her husband's second-in-command, Chang Pao, official captain of the fleet.

While Chang Pao led the men into battle, Cheng I Sao focused her attention on business, military strategy, and the enormous task of governing a growing body of ruffians. In the years following her husband's death, she steadily brought more and more outlaws under the banner of her Red Flag Fleet.

In fact, Cheng I Sao was eventually responsible for nearly all the piracy in the region and her fleet exceeded the size of many countries' navies. She also expanded the scope of the business, branching out from simple attack-and-pillage jobs to protection schemes, blackmail, and extortion. Cheng I Sao's reach also extended to the mainland, where she set up an extensive spy network and developed economic ties with farmers who would supply her men with food.

If Cheng I Sao's business practices were exemplary, then her system of pirate law was nothing short of revolutionary. The code of conduct she wrote for her men prescribed much harsher punishments than previous pirate laws had. A disobeyed order was cause for beheading (as was stealing from the common plunder), and deserters stood to lose their ears.

Ironically, Cheng I Sao's most famous laws applied to the taking of female prisoners. Ugly women were returned to shore, free of charge. Attractive captives were auctioned off to the crew, unless a pirate personally purchased the captive, in which case they were considered married. Of course, if that pirate cheated on his new bride, Cheng I Sao had him killed.

The not-so-bitter end

Murder, thievery, and intricate crime syndicates will eventually garner the full attention of the law, and Cheng I Sao certainly had the authorities on her tail. But, here again, she proved more successful than her male counterparts.

Cheng I Sao repelled attack after attack by both the Chinese navy and the many Portuguese and British bounty hunters brought in to help capture her. Then, in 1810, the Chinese government tried a different tactic -- they offered her universal pirate amnesty in exchange for peace.

Cheng I Sao jumped at the opportunity and headed for the negotiating table. There, the pirate queen arranged what was, all told, a killer deal. Fewer than 400 of her men received any punishment, and a mere 126 were executed. The remaining pirates got to keep their booty and were offered military jobs.

As for Cheng I Sao, she retired with her loot and her new husband (former righthand man, Chang Pao) and opened a gambling house. She died peacefully in 1844, a 69-year-old grandmother.

[Yang Zongbao]

Very interesting!

Are there any contemporary accounts that we might be able to find of this female sea-tiger? It's the first time I've heard of one of these crime bosses getting away with so much and dying happily.

Anyways, it sure beats Chow Yun Fat's Sao Feng anyday.

[Beccy]

~laughs~

you go, girl.

It's interesting that she let attractive female prisoners get sold off, though. You'd think she might feel a little empathy. but hey, obviously she knew what she was doing.

[polar_zen]

I'm surprised she wasn't arrested. You would think the government would offer "negotiations" and then arrest her when she came out of hiding.

[snowybeagle]

Would like to recommend this thread to be merged with Female Pirate Leader Cheng I Sao, 郑一嫂 at http://www.chinahist...?showtopic=5900

For those interested in comparison of pirates from China and Europe, check out History of Pirates, Comparing China and Europe