Jeremiah McKinney
Staff Reporter
Being in quarantine has become rather dull, so I did a few things to bring some excitement back into my life. Like I mentioned in a previous story, I fulfilled some creative need with videogames. But what about simple entertainment? For that purpose, I turned to a rather extensive movie collection my dad built, including the well known “Pirates of the Caribbean” series. Although Captain Jack Sparrow is an amazing pirate, I cannot help but thinking he pales in comparison to legendary pirate queen Ching Shih (鄭氏), or Zheng Shi.
She was born as Shih Yang (石陽) in 1775 in Guangzhou (now called Canton), in the Guangdong province of Qing Dynasty China. For much of Ching Shih’s early life, she worked as an escort in Canton. This all changed in 1801 when she met pirate captain Zheng Yi (鄭一), who led the about 200 ships making up the Red Fleet. Ching Shih and Zheng Yi were soon married and, as per her request, Ching Shih was entitled to half of the loot her husband collected and she was fully involved in his affairs. By the time Zheng Yi died in 1807, the couple had control of between 1700 and 1800 ships, 50-70 thousand pirates, and Ching Shih was personally leading some small fleets. According to ancient-origins.net, their fleet was “‘color-coded,’ with the lead fleet being Red, and the remaining fleets Black, White, Blue, Yellow, and Green.” They had also formed the Cantonese Pirate Coalition with other powerful South China located pirates.
Now, of course, Ching Shih could not go back to her previous mundane life after Zheng Yi’s death, so she maintained command of the fleets with some quick political maneuvering, which included marrying Zheng Yi’s adopted step-son Cheung Po Tsai (張保仔). Ching Shih took charge of the entire pirate fleet with the help of her new husband, and soon became known as “The Terror of South China.”
Once Ching Shih took over, she implemented a tax among her fleets. Ships were allowed to keep 20% of what they plundered, with the other 80% being divvied up and sent to ships that needed support. Other laws made by Shih Ching included mandatory safety and release of “unattractive” female prisoners, pirates who took wives had to remain faithful, pirates could not give orders without Ching Shi’s approval, no one was to pillage villages that payed tax to the fleet, and many more.
Eventually, Ching Shih terrified Chinese, Portuguese, and British ships so much that when she offered to retire (on the condition that she could keep all her wealth), they took it immediately and pretty much never bothered her after. She even served as a military advisor to the Chinese during the First Opium War with Great Britain. In 1844, Ching Shih (69 years of age) died peacefully in bed surrounded by her family in Macau, a Portuguese colony in China.
If life ever gets you down, maybe a turn to adventure will serve you well. I, on the other hand, will settle for adventure movies.
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