A Fascination with Pirates

Ching Shih: Most successful pirate in history - a lady!

From the time I was a child, I’ve had a fascination with pirates.  It began with my interest in Peter Pan and the book-famous pirate, Captain Hook. To that child, pirates led a life of adventure, visited exotic places, faced danger at every turn, and they didn’t have rules ... they made their own rules.

Other movies that boosted my fascination were: “Treasure Island”, “Long John Silver”, and “Blackbeard the Pirate”. In recent years, pirates were further romanticized by Johnny Depp in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” films.

Unlike those pirates, I wanted to sail the seven seas and be a water-bound Robin Hood. I would steal from the rich and give to the poor and never kill a soul.  So, my silly idealistic self asked Google:

“Were there ever any famous female pirates?”

Surprised, I learned the world’s most successful pirate in history was a lady named Ching Shih. She had been a prostitute in China until the Commander of the Red Flag Fleet bought and married her.

Her husband soon considered her his equal. He wanted to utilize her business talents to further improve his pirate fleet. However, Ching Shih only agreed to join under one condition — she would have command of half of his pirate fleet. He loved Ching so much, he agreed.

Her first act was to implement a code of conduct that ensured discipline among the outlaws, effectiveness in combat, and, above all, success and riches from loot. Here's the rundown:

• Only Ching Shih could authorize an attack. Unsanctioned attacks were punished by beheadings.

• Loot was to be gathered by superiors and distributed equally. Punishment for the first infraction was a severe beating. Repeat offenders were beheaded.

• Ears were cut off those who deserted their post. The second time they deserted, they were beheaded.

• Rape was punished by beheading.

• Consensual sex without Ching Shih's permission meant a beheading. On top of that, your female partner slept with the fishes.

• Pirates had to marry female prisoners before they could ravage them. Cheating on your new spouse or treating her poorly was punished by beheading.

After Ching suddenly died in Vietnam in 1807, she succeeded him and commanded over 1,800 pirate ships, and an estimated 80,000 men. Ching Shih went on to marry Ching’s adopted son and her lover, Zhan Bao, and took control of the pirate fleet.

While Caribbean pirates like Blackbeard could boast a handful of ships and hundreds of men, at best, Ching Shih commanded an entire armada, with more sailors than most nations could muster, so she was also unafraid of the Imperial Navy.

She would be remembered as one of the most notoriously fearsome pirates in history. 

Hmmm, that would have shot a hole in my dream of being a Robin Hood kind of pirate.  Ching Shih would have had me for breakfast …

Poet/Writer/Author of 5 books.
Quora Top Writer 2018.
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