Women Pirates, Not The Park Avenue Version

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               Ching Shih           

In 1805, Cheng I Sao (wife of Cheng) or Ching Shih became the leader of the infamous Red Flag Fleet, a confederation of pirates with over 1500 ships that ranged the whole Chinese coast and South to Malaysia. When Cheng died in 1807, Cheng I Sao took charge as a sort of admiral and placed Chang Pao, formerly her husband�s right-hand man, in command of the operation of the fleet. Shortly, they became involved with each other and later married. The discipline Cheng I Sao imposed was formidable, with punishments much more severe than the pirate "articles" of the Caribbean. Most offences were punishable by beheading. Her battle plans were just as ruthless. Many engagements of the Red Flag Fleet were conducted by hundreds of ships, each with twenty to twenty-five cannons, and upwards of two-thousand pirates. The pirate ships were shallow-hulled junks that had wide sails, but had as many as twenty oars to be rowed up rivers. Not only was her fleet engaged in acts of piracy, they also extorted money as "protection" from the pirates themselves. 
Chinese officials tried many tactics to bring the Red Flag Fleet to justice, but every expedition to eradicate the pirates failed. The Chinese navy lost sixty-three ships in the attacks. Twice, the Red Flag Fleet was ambushed by citizens of beset villages, only to have their towns burnt to the ground and the men slaughtered. Even the navies of Portugal and Britain could not defeat Cheng I Sao. In desperation, a general amnesty was offered to all pirates in 1810 and Cheng I Sao decided to take advantage of it. She negotiated pardons for almost all of her men, and even managed to get Chang Pao a lieutenancy in the Chinese Army. She retired with all of her fortune, ran a gambling house and had at least one son with Chang Pao before dying in 1844. Some historians say that she was the "best pirate who ever lived."