This is the first in a 5-part weekly essay series – Veiled Valour: The Forgotten Women of Warfare. The story of the ‘Dragon Lady’ – the ‘Pirate Queen’, a leader who was in charge of integrating over 1000 vessels with no prior military knowledge and who went on to become one of the most powerful pirates in human history, is telling of the forgotten women of warfare – the veiled valour. Unfortunately, the character of Zheng Yi Sao, depicted in pop culture as Madame Ching in “Pirates of the Caribbean”, is still not well known among the masses.
History has shown the rise and fall of kingdoms, the birth of empires, valiant warriors, invaders, colonizers, and outcasts like looters, robbers, convicts and pirates. Such stories were written and taught from a male perspective, with women as mere accessories to the plot. If a question is posed to a layperson to name an important warrior/leader from history, only a handful would name a woman. Stories of women’s roles in our histories are limited and depicted as sacrificial by historians over the years.
History, as the name suggests (‘his story’), has predominantly been a gender specific documentation of warfare and statecraft. Patriarchy demands women ‘to rise up’ to the occasion when all possible resources are exhausted and the ‘duty’ of the woman is to make do with what’s left behind without prior warning of the role she is stepping into. The woman – ‘the saviour’ – is lauded for being a revolutionary but exploited, ridiculed and shamed for mere existence. The story of Zheng Yi Sao is one such, where a sex worker in a brothel in Guangdong, China became arguably the most successful pirate queen in history.
Zhen Yi Sao’s birth name was Shi Yang – later in the years she was called Zheng Yi Sao (literal translation being Zheng Yi’s wife). Born in an impoverished family she was discovered in Canton’s floating brothels by Zheng Yi. In the brothels, Zheng Yi Sao was known for her business acumen and clever investments while also being a prostitute.
The 19th century, also referred to as the Golden Age of Piracy in the Qing Dynasty, witnessed innumerable pirates ravaging the coast of China. Zheng Yi was believed to be one of the most powerful pirates at that time. On various accounts, it is believed that Zheng Yi Sao’s marriage was consensual[1] and Zheng Yi was infatuated due to her bold wit and character while she married him for financial security.
Chinese piracy was almost coming to an end in Vietnam. Zhen Yi Sao aided her husband in leading the pirates to re-establish the forces in the Chinese Coast. Together in their marriage, they were able to achieve the unification of small pirate gangs amounting to 70,000 pirates. They were split into six squadrons with different flags named Red, Black, White, Green, Blue and Yellow pledging allegiance to the Zheng family[2].
Zheng Yi died unexpectedly early in the marriage. To secure the position of her husband, Zheng Yi Sao had to legitimize her authority. To disrupt any opposition from her husband’s counterparts, she strategically secured the support of the most powerful chieftains. She was also able to persuade the leaders of Black, White, Yellow, Blue and Green Flag Squadrons through skilful diplomacy. Zheng Yi Sao ultimately knew that she needed a man to secure her position – she needed someone loyal, someone she could trust, someone who could command the Red Flag Squadron, the largest squadron consisting of 40,000 men. Zheng Yi married Chang Pao[3], a protégé of Zheng Yi, who displayed leadership and was equally loyal to Zheng Yi Sao.
Zheng Yi Sao garnered the name of ‘Pirate Queen’ through her administration and strict code of laws. Any business transaction by a pirate needed permission, and was to be informed and documented in the ship’s ledger. Anyone caught disobeying her orders was decapitated, and stealing from the public was considered a capital offence. And most importantly, the sexual offences against women in any capacity were severely punished – if rape was committed, the perpetrators were immediately put to death.
Since she had Reg Flag Squadron’s military support, she was able to successfully increase her economic and military power. This posed a significant threat to the Qing Emperor. The pirates continued to grow in both size and strength terrorizing the Cantonese Navy – forcing China’s officials to seek help from the British and Portuguese Navy.
Zheng Yi Sao was undefeated in the battles that followed. The Portuguese and the East Indian Company ships tried to contain her in the Battle of Tiger Mouth[4] cutting off supply chains and destroying her ships, but she endured the battles and came out unscathed in the end. Zheng Yi Sao later proposed a negotiation with the Qing Empire. After the negotiations, the pirates under her leadership not only were pardoned but got high positions in the military and appropriate titles in the Empire. She walked with the ownership of all her treasures and a title of nobility. She had successfully commandeered the largest confederation of pirates!
The story of the ‘Dragon Lady’ – the ‘Pirate Queen’, a leader who was in charge of integrating over 1000 vessels with no prior military knowledge and who went on to become one of the most powerful pirates in human history, is telling of the forgotten women of warfare – the veiled valour. Unfortunately, the character of Zheng Yi Sao, depicted in pop culture as Madame Ching in “Pirates of the Caribbean”, is still not well known among the masses.
References:
- Castanheira, L. (2024, November 5). The Pirate Queen of the South China Sea. The HERstory Project. https://www.herstoryproj.com/post/the-pirate-queen-of-the-south-china-sea
- Murray, D. (1981). One Woman’s Rise to Power: Cheng I’s Wife and the Pirates. Historical Reflections / Réflexions Historiques, 8(3), 147–161. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41298765
- Ibid
- Stilwell, B. (2023, March 20). A Chinese woman led the largest and most successful pirate fleet in history. Military.com. https://www.military.com/history/chinese-woman-led-largest-and-most-successful-pirate-fleet-history.html
This is the first in a 5-part weekly essay series – Veiled Valour: The Forgotten Women of Warfare.
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