Ching Shih was one of the most badass pirates of all time. 

In a ten-year span, Ching’s “Red Flag Fleet”, a pirate armada consisting of somewhere around four hundred Chinese twenty-gun junks and several thousand men, sailed up and down the coast of Imperial China kicking asses, sacking towns, breaking necks and cashing cheques. 

Few pirates ever enjoyed such unbridled financial and military success as the Red Flag Fleet, thanks in a large part to the cunning and ruthlessness of Captain Ching Shih and her desire to be the most feared pirate in history.

Biography notes:

📍 1775, Guangdong Province, China – 1844, Macao Cantonese,

According to legend, following her husband’s death, she summoned the scattering fleet captains and announced: “Under the leadership of a man you have all chosen to flee. We shall see how you prove yourselves under the hand of a woman.”

She was a leader unlike any they’d had before. Where her husband had been brash and loud, she was quiet and calculating.

Soon into her rule, she took a charismatic man named Chang Pao as her husband and installed him as head of the fleet.

This proved a savvy move for a number of reasons. Chang Pao had been her husband’s right hand man (and lover… and adopted son… yeah, it’s a bit weird), and was widely respected among all the pirate fleets. Moreover, he was an illiterate fisherman’s son (he’d been taken by the pirates as a child and received little to no schooling), and likely easy to manipulate.

Under Chang Pao’s name (and Ching Shih’s guiding hand), many unruly pirate fleets united under the Red Flag banner, eclipsing the size of all other pirate groups. Every single ship, no matter how small, was given an edict from Ching Shih to display in a common area.

This outlined an incredibly hardcore code of conduct:

• Ching Shih okays all attacks beforehand. Disobey, and you’re beheaded.
• You give all loot to your superior, who distributes it afterwards. Disobey once, you’re beaten severely. Disobey twice, you’re dead.
• Don’t desert your post or take shore leave without permission. Disobey once, we cut off your ears (since you clearly weren’t using them) and parade you around. Disobey twice, you’re dead.
• Rape a female captive, better believe that’s a beheading.
• Have consensual sex with a female captive without permission, you’re headless and she’s taking a swim with a lead weight.
• If you want to have sex with a female prisoner, you take her as your wife. You are faithful to her. You treat her well. Or we take your head.
• Oh, and don’t use the word “plunder.” Instead, say “transferring shipment of goods.” It just sounds nicer.

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After several years Chinese government came to the conclusion that their military forces (even with the combined help of England and Portuguese) will never break the defenses of Shih’s pirate operation. They finally issued an amnesty for all pirates who were willing to return to the shore as free citizens. She took advantage of this and negotiated pardon for herself and the vast majority of her fleet (while even retaining all her wealth).

Ching Shih spent the remainder of her life operating her gambling house until her death in 1844, at the age of 69.

She had the profound influence on the history and modern popular culture, appearing in several pirate-themed books and movies. 

Most recently, powerful female pirate with the name Mistress Ching appeared in the third movie of the popular Disney movie franchise “Pirates of the Caribbean”.

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Her Quote: 

Under the leadership of a man you have all chosen to flee. We shall see how you prove yourselves under the hand of a woman.