Madam Ching: The Pirate Queen Who Made the British Navy Her Bitch

At the beginning of the 19th century, Ching Yi, a notorious pirate, managed to do what no one before him had even attempted: he united dozens of pirate tribes in the Chinese Sea under one flag. 80,000 pirates on 1,800 ships sailed under the “Red Flag.” The largest pirate fleet in the Chinese Sea.

The Power Couple

In 1801, Ching Yi met Zheng Yi Sao (basically: kidnapped her from a brothel). Zheng was a woman with high financial intelligence that allowed her to collect pieces of information and secrets during her work at the small brothel in Guangdong. She used this information to pressure and control her clients who had great financial power. Ching Yi fell in love with her, and the two married that same year.

Rumor has it that in exchange for her hand in marriage, Zheng demanded equal control with Ching over his fleet. Control of pirates by a woman was something that had never happened before, and it’s unclear if she already started managing the fleet then.

When Everything Goes Wrong

But six years later, everything was destroyed when Ching Yi died at age 42 in Vietnam. It’s unclear how he was killed or murdered. But you can guess what this means for Zheng - there’s not much use for widows on a pirate flagship.

Danger also lay in wait from Ching’s adopted son: Chang Pao. He was supposed to inherit control of the fleet from his adoptive father and, as such, would execute her himself.

Here’s where it gets weird, you see: there was a reason Ching adopted Chang (say it 20 times really fast, let’s see you try). Chang was Ching’s lover. Yes, yes, Ching sat on the fence regarding his sexual preferences. To protect his lover, he adopted him as a son.

The Ultimate Power Move

This was supposed to be Zheng Yi Sao’s sad end, but within a few weeks of her husband’s death, Zheng found herself a new husband: she married fucking Chang. You see, Chang had no idea how to manage the fleet, but Zheng, with the wisdom she had accumulated in manipulating men throughout her life, quickly learned how to control bloodthirsty pirates.

She took the name Ching Shi (in Chinese: Ching’s widow), but most of her subjects simply called her Madam Ching.

The Pirate Code That Actually Worked

In 1809, Ching Shi’s fleet met the British fleet in battle. Not only did the Chinese fleet defeat the British (something that was almost impossible at the time), but they also took a hostage whom they held for two months before releasing him. The hostage’s name was Richard Glasspoole, and his testimony is the closest thing to facts about Madam Ching we have today.

According to Glasspoole, Madam’s fleet was disciplined and loyal to death to their mistress. Ching Shi managed to do this with the help of a very cruel code of laws:

First: Anyone who gave his own order (not transmitted from Ching Shi), or anyone who violated the order of his superior - his head was cut off immediately.

Second: Absolute prohibition on stealing money from public funds or from villagers who supplied supplies to the pirates.

Third: All loot taken had to be presented for group inspection. The loot was recorded by the treasurer and then distributed according to the code by the fleet commander: whoever brought the loot received twenty percent, and the rest was deposited in the public treasury.

Fourth: Cash money taken in raids was handed over to the group commander, who would give the informant only a small amount and use the rest to purchase supplies for other ships that were less successful in their missions. The punishment for the first offense of non-delivery was severe whipping on the back. Repeat offenses or hiding large sums carried the death penalty.

Fifth: Female captives were released immediately. Otherwise, the pirate had to marry one of them, provided he would be faithful to her until his death and never touch other women for the rest of his life. Pirates who raped captives were executed.

For violations of other rules of the code, they were punished by flogging, shackling, or mutilation. Deserters or those who left without official permission had their ears cut off and were then paraded before the eyes of fleet members.

The Undefeated Decade

The Red Flag fleet began a 10-year career of successful plunder and naval victories against the British fleet, Portuguese fleet, and Chinese fleet. During a decade, no one managed to defeat Lady Ching. The pirate widow.

In 1820, the Chinese government, in an attempt to establish law in the waters, offered Ching a deal: take the loot you’ve accumulated, just get off the ship and don’t attack us anymore. Ching accepted the amnesty offered to her and ended her career that same year. She kept the loot she had accumulated and opened a gambling house that also served as a center for opium smuggling.

She died in 1844 at age 69.

The Legacy

In 2007, in the third film in the Pirates of the Caribbean series, Ching Shi was featured as “Madam Ching,” one of nine pirate lords.

Over the years, Ching Shi became a romantic figure: the woman who turned China’s largest fleet into China’s most successful fleet and one of the only pirates in history who were so terrifying that they were simply allowed to walk free and die of old age.

For comparison, the legendary pirate Blackbeard held only 300 men in his crew and only four ships.

Ching Shi holds the title of the most successful pirate in human history.

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