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Zheng Yi Sao

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Zheng Yi Sao
鄭一嫂
Born
  • Shi Yang (石陽)
  • Shi Xianggu (石香菇)

1775 (1775)
Xinhui, Guangdong, Qing China
Died1844 (aged 68–69)
Nanhai, Guangdong, Qing China
NationalityChinese
Occupation(s)Prostitute, pirate leader, and gambling house owner
Criminal chargePiracy
Criminal statusPacified
Spouses
  • ​
    ​
    (m. 1801; died 1807)​
  • ​
    ​
    (m. 1810; died 1822)​
Children
  • Zheng Yingshi (鄭英石) (son)
  • Zheng Xiongshi (鄭雄石) (son)
  • Zhang Yulin (張玉麟) (son)
Piratical career
Other namesChing Shih (鄭氏)
TypePirate
AllegianceGuangdong Pirate Confederation (1805-1810)
Years active1805–1810
Base of operationsLantau Island, Guangdong, Qing China
CommandsGuangdong Pirate Confederation (400 ships, 40,000–60,000 pirates in 1805) Personal command of 24 ships and 1,433 pirates in 1810
Later workGambling house owner at Guangzhou
Zheng Yi Sao
Ching Shih
Traditional Chinese鄭氏
Simplified Chinese郑氏
Literal meaningwife of Zheng
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinZhèng Shì
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutpingzeng6 si6
Cheng I Sao
Traditional Chinese鄭一嫂
Simplified Chinese郑一嫂
Literal meaningwife of Zheng Yi
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinZhèng Yī Sǎo
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutpingzeng6 jat1 sou2
  • Shih Yang
  • (birth name)
Traditional Chinese石陽
Simplified Chinese石阳
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinShí Yáng
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutpingsek6 joeng4
  • Shih Heang Koo
  • (former nickname)
Chinese石香菇
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinShí Xiāng Gū
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutpingsek6 hoeng1 gu1

Zheng Yi Sao (born Shi Yang, a.k.a. Shi Xianggu), also known as Ching Shih, meaning wife of Ching (Zheng), was a Chinese pirate leader who terrorized the South China Sea from 1807[1] to 1810.[2] Zheng Yi Sao was a honorific bestowed upon her by the people of Guangdong, meaning wife of Zheng Yi.[3][4] She was the unofficial commander of the Guangdong Pirate Confederation,[5] which was composed of 400 junks and between 40,000 to 60,000 pirates in 1805.[6] Her ships entered into conflict with several major powers, such as the East India Company, the Portuguese Empire, and Qing China.[7]

Zheng Yi Sao and her crew have been featured in numerous books, novels, video games, and films about pirates and their way of life in China as well as in a global context. Based on her influence and achievements as a pirate, which included commanding a vast fleet of around 1,500-1,800 ships crewed by 80,000 sailors during her peak, she is hailed by many as being the most successful pirate in history.[8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]

Early life

Zheng Yi Sao was born in 1775 in around Xinhui, Guangdong.[16] She was possibly a Tanka, who worked as a prostitute or madam on a floating Tanka brothel (花船) in Guangdong. In 1801, she married Zheng Yi, a well-known pirate.[6]

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.[17] Under Tây Sơn patronage, he fought in his cousin Zheng Qi's fleet.[17] Zheng Yi hailed from a family of well-known pirates whose roots traced back to the Ming dynasty.[18] 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.[5]

A Chinese junk depicted in Travels in China: containing descriptions, observations, and comparisons, made and collected in the course of a short residence at the Imperial palace of Yuen-Min-Yuen, and on a subsequent journey through the country from Pekin to Canton, published in 1804

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 (江平) on the border of Vietnam and China, near present day Dongxing (东兴). On July 20, 1802, Nguyễn Ánh entered the city of Thăng Long, which marked the end of the Tây Sơn dynasty.[19] 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.[20] 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,[21] 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.[22] The confederation consisted of six fleets known by the color of their flags – red, black, blue, white, yellow, and purple. Zheng Yi commanded the biggest fleet in the confederation, the Red Flag Fleet.[23]

Zheng Yi Sao had two sons with Zheng Yi. Zheng Yingshi (鄭英石) was born in 1803, and Zheng Xiongshi (鄭雄石) was born in 1807.[24]

Ascension to leadership

On 16 November 1807, Zheng Yi fell overboard in a gale and died at the age of 42.[5] Zheng Yi Sao quickly took over her deceased husband's operations, through the support of Zheng Yi's nephew Zheng Baoyang (鄭保養) and the son of Zheng Qi, Zheng Anbang (鄭安邦). Zheng Yi Sao also balanced the various factions in the confederation, and was familiar with Guo Podai (郭婆帶), 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.[25] Most importantly, Zheng Yi Sao had the support of Zhang Bao, who was in effect commanding the Red Flag Fleet at the time.[1]

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.[5] According to a report by Wen Cheng Zhi (溫承誌), a government official who led the negotiations with Zheng Yi Sao and Zhang Bao with the Viceroy of Liangguang Bai Ling (百齡) 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)."[26]

After taking control of the confederation, Zheng Yi Sao and Zhang Bao quickly entered a sexual relationship.[1] It is speculated that they were already intimate before the death of Zheng Yi.[3]

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 (林國良), brigade-general (統兵) 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 (參將) Lin Fa (林發) near present day Weiyuan Island east of Humen Town.[27] These two engagements reduced the Chinese provincial fleet by half, and cleared the way for the pirates to enter the Pearl River.[28]

1809 was an eventful year for the Pirate Confederation under the command of Zheng Yi Sao. In March, Provincial Commander (提督) Sun Quanmou (孫全謀), 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 (香山二) and Xiao Bu'ao (蕭步鰲) to flank Sun from the sides, and Liang Bao (梁保), 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.[29] 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 (許廷桂) and 25 ships to Zhang Bao.[30]

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.[31] 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.[32]

On September 27, Zheng Yi Sao personally took command of 500 ships and anchored near Tanzhou (潭洲). On the 29th, Zheng Yi Sao ordered Zhang Bao to raid the town of Shating (沙亭) further upriver, where he captured around 400 civilians; on October 2, Zheng Yi Sao order Guo Podai to anchor around Jigongshi (雞公石), presumably near Sanxiongqi (三雄奇, modern day Sanhongqi 三洪奇), where he raided two days later.[33] 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 (沙灣).[34]

Tung Chung Bay today

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.[35][36]

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.[37] 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.[38] 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.[39] On the 20th, 93 ships from the provincial fleet joined the Portuguese in their blockade, commanded by Sun Quanmou.[40][41]

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.[42] 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.[43]

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 (把總).[44][45]

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.[37]

Bai Ling's policy of militia training and embargoes also enjoyed reasonable success in cutting off the pirates' supply lines.[46] 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.[47]

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.[48][49]

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 (芙蓉沙, near present day Guzaiwan 古仔湾)[50] 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 (千總), and was allowed to retain a private fleet of 20-30 ships. Zheng Yi Sao was also given permission to officially marry Zhang Bao.[51]

Life after piracy and death

After surrendering, Zhang Bao would further distinguish himself by defeating the Blue Flag Fleet under Wu Shi'er (烏石二) near the Leizhou Peninsula.[52] 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 (張玉麟).[53]

In 1822, Zhang Bao, aged 36, died near Penghu while serving as a colonel (副將) in charge of the Penghu garrison. In 1824, Zheng Yi Sao returned to Guangdong with Zhang Yulin.[54] In 1840, while living at Nanhai, Zheng Yi Sao filled charges against a government official, Wu Yaonan (伍耀南), 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.[55]

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.[56]

Legacy

Zhang Bao's three codes for the pirates of the Red Flag Fleet are often misattributed to Zheng Yi Sao. The codes are:[57]

  1. If any pirate goes privately on shore, he shall be taken, his ears mutilated, he will be paraded around the fleet and executed.
  2. Not the least thing shall be taken privately from the stolen and plundered goods, all shall be registered. The pirate receives for himself, out of ten parts, only two; eight parts belong to the storehouse, called the general fund; those who steal anything out of this general fund, shall be executed.
  3. Women captured from villages shall not be harmed or harassed. All women captives shall be registered, their place of origin recorded, and be given separate quarters. Those who raped or committed adultery with the women captives shall be executed.

The three codes and the fact that Zhang Bao was the author of the codes were recorded in Jing hai fen ji (靖海氛記), an account of the Pirate Confederation by Qing official Yuan Yonglun (袁永綸) based on first-hand testimonies.[4] 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."[58] 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.[59] 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,"[60] while Jin hai fen ji contains significantly more mentions of Zhang Bao (88) than Zheng Yi Sao (25).[61]

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.[62] In the story, Borges repeated the false claim that the pirate codes were issued by Zheng Yi Sao.[63][64]

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.[65]

Arts, entertainment, and media

Film

Literature

Manga / Graphic Novels

Television

See also

References

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b c Murray 1987, p. 71.
  2. ^ Murray 1987, p. 143.
  3. ^ a b Wang 2019, p. 85.
  4. ^ a b Siu & Puk 2007, p. 10, U5b.
  5. ^ a b c d Siu & Puk 2007, p. 10, U5a.
  6. ^ a b Murray 2001, p. 258.
  7. ^ Zheng 1998, p. 309.
  8. ^ 𝐕𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐧𝐮 (25 September 2020). "Ching Shih: A Prostitute Who Became History's Deadliest Pirate". Medium. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  9. ^ Banerji, Urvija (6 April 2016). "The Chinese Female Pirate Who Commanded 80,000 Outlaws". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  10. ^ "Leadership Lessons From The Most Powerful Pirate That Ever Lived". www.linkedin.com. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  11. ^ "Mrs. Cheng: The Most Successful Pirate in History". HowStuffWorks. 4 June 2019. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  12. ^ "The Pirate Ching Shih « The Global Dispatches". Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  13. ^ "History's greatest woman pirate becomes a Hong Kong children's story". South China Morning Post. 28 February 2018. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  14. ^ "Ching Shih: The World's Most Successful Pirate (Pirate Tales) (Paperback) | The Elliott Bay Book Company". www.elliottbaybook.com. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  15. ^ "Ching Shih | International Women's Day Special". Moneycontrol. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  16. ^ Ye 2012, p. 74.
  17. ^ a b Murray 1987, p. 65.
  18. ^ Murray 1987, p. 63-65.
  19. ^ Buttinger 1970, p. 241.
  20. ^ Siu & Puk 2007, p. 9, U2b.
  21. ^ Murray 1981, p. 149.
  22. ^ Murray 1987, p. 57-59.
  23. ^ Siu & Puk 2007, p. 9-10, U3a-U3b.
  24. ^ Murray 1987, p. 64.
  25. ^ Murray 1987, p. 67.
  26. ^ Wen 1850, p. 3.
  27. ^ Siu & Puk 2007, p. 10-11, U7a-U9b.
  28. ^ Murray 1987, p. 121.
  29. ^ Siu & Puk 2007, p. 11, U10a-U11b.
  30. ^ Siu & Puk 2007, p. 10, U13b.
  31. ^ Siu & Puk 2007, p. 12, U14b.
  32. ^ Murray 1987, p. 126-128.
  33. ^ Siu & Puk 2007, p. 13, U19a-U20b.
  34. ^ Siu & Puk 2007, p. 14, L1a.
  35. ^ Siu & Puk 2007, p. 14, L3b.
  36. ^ Murray 1987, p. 132.
  37. ^ a b Murray 1987, p. 133.
  38. ^ Glasspoole 1812, p. 36.
  39. ^ Monteiro 2013, p. 37.
  40. ^ Glasspoole 1812, p. 36-37.
  41. ^ Murray 1987, p. 134.
  42. ^ Glasspoole 1812, p. 37-38.
  43. ^ Murray 1987, p. 135-136.
  44. ^ Murray 1987, p. 138-139.
  45. ^ Siu & Puk 2007, p. 16, L13b.
  46. ^ Murray 1987, p. 123.
  47. ^ Murray 1987, p. 147.
  48. ^ Murray 1987, p. 141.
  49. ^ Siu & Puk 2007, p. 17, L18a-L19a.
  50. ^ Siu & Puk 2007, p. 18, L21b.
  51. ^ Murray 1984, p. 143.
  52. ^ Siu & Puk 2007, p. 18, L23a.
  53. ^ Ye 2012, p. 73-75.
  54. ^ Murray 1987, p. 149.
  55. ^ Ye 2012, p. 75.
  56. ^ Murray 1987, p. 150.
  57. ^ Original quote in Chinese: 一、私逃上岸者，謂之反關，捉回插耳，刑示各船。 遍遊後，立殺。一、凡搶奪貨物，不得私留，寸縷必盡出眾點閱；以二分歸搶者，以八分歸庫。歸庫後謂之公項，有私竊公項者，立殺。一、到村落擄掠婦女，下船後，一概不許污辱。詢籍注簿，隔艙分住。有犯強奸、私合者，立殺。
  58. ^ Gosse 2007, p. 272-273.
  59. ^ Wang 2019, p. 83.
  60. ^ Gosse 2007, p. 271.
  61. ^ Wang 2019, p. 86.
  62. ^ Borges 1985, p. 49.
  63. ^ Borges 1985, p. 44-45.
  64. ^ Wang 2019, p. 92.
  65. ^ "Angy Eiter Completes 5.15b First Ascent (Story + Photo Gallery)". Climbing. 17 December 2020. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  66. ^ Olmi, Ermanno (24 October 2003), Cantando dietro i paraventi (Drama, History, Music, War), Bud Spencer, Jun Ichikawa, Sally Ming Zeo Ni, Camillo Grassi, Cinemaundici, Rai Cinema, Lakeshore Entertainment, retrieved 17 April 2021
  67. ^ Blumberg-Kason, Susan (15 March 2021). ""The Flower Boat Girl" by Larry Feign". Retrieved 17 April 2021.

Sources

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