A Pirate's Tale

We don’t usually think of women when we imagine pirates. Much less, a king of pirates. But did you know that one of the most successful and inﬂuential pirates in history was not only a woman, but a Chinese woman with her own giant pirate army? This is the true story of Cheng I Sao: the Pirate “King” of the South China Sea.

We don’t know much about Cheng I Sao’s early life, except that she came from a poor family and probably never learned to read. Historians don’t even know her real name! Cheng I Sao means “The wife of Cheng Sao,” and was given to the future pirate queen only after she married her husband, Cheng Sao. Cheng Sao was a ﬁerce pirate who ﬁrst met Cheng I Sao while she was working on a boat. Cheng Sao wanted a wife to help him build his pirate empire and Cheng I Sao, with few options as a poor female boat worker in 18th century China, agreed to marry him.

Before the Chengs came into power, pirates were forced to fend for themselves, leaving them vulnerable to attack. Oftentimes they’d be captured and killed by the very ships they were trying to pillage. That is until the Chengs came along. The Pirate King and Queen divided the pirate army into six “Flag groups” — the Red, Black, White, Green, Blue, and Yellow — each with their own leader who reported directly to Cheng Sao. Being part of a large, organized group offered the pirates protection and strength in numbers; a group of ships could easily overtake a single ship and get away with it, too.

Cheng I Sao, clever as always, sprang into action. At this time in China, women stayed home and had no power — but not Cheng I Sao. The death of her husband gave Cheng I Sao the perfect opportunity to take control of his army and strengthen it even further. She quickly began negotiating deals with the leaders of the Flag groups and securing her position as the future Pirate King.

But there was one challenge: Cheng I Sao needed someone to replace her husband as the leader of the Red Flag group, the largest and most powerful ﬂeet. She chose a young man named Chang Pao who had been a pirate in training for many years under the command of Cheng Sao. He was highly respected and loyal to the king. Before long, it was settled. Cheng I Sao was Pirate King, and Chang Pao was second-in-command.

As the new Pirate King, Cheng I Sao needed to establish order among the men, women, and children in her pirate ﬂeet. To do so, she developed a strict set of pirate laws that everyone in her army was required to follow.

If a leader of a Flag group gave a command without her approval, they would be killed. If someone hurt or harmed a woman in any way, they would be killed. If anyone stole money from the treasury, they would be killed. And if a pirate stole from the villagers — you guessed it — they were killed.

Not long after Cheng I Sao rose to power, the Chinese government began to take notice. As her pirate ﬂeet grew and grew, the Chinese navy seemed to shrink. Cheng I Sao ordered her pirates to attack government ships, leaving the government with no way to protect the sea and the people on land. At one point, only 4 out of China’s 270 junks were free from pirate capture. The Chinese government started to worry that Cheng I Sao would take control of the entire South China Sea. They ﬁnally decided on a plan that would end piracy and stop Cheng I Sao from ruling the seas.

By this time, Cheng I Sao did not just have command of the sea, but the land as well. She controlled so much trade in southern China that she even had deals with British and Portuguese traders. She was at the top of her career and loving every minute of it — until the Chinese government gave her an offer she couldn’t refuse.

If Cheng I Sao and her army gave up piracy, the government promised not to punish anyone. The pirates could have jobs in the Chinese military and keep their treasure, and Chang Pao would be allowed to keep several junks under his direct command. Cheng I Sao herself would have a full pardon — meaning she would not get in trouble for her years as the Pirate King, and could retire comfortably with all her treasure. The deal was too good to pass up, and being the wise woman that she was, she accepted.

After giving up her title as Pirate King, Cheng I Sao settled into a quieter life on land. She married her second-in-command Chang Pao, and the two had several children together. We don’t know too much about her life on land, but it’s nice to imagine her living out the rest of her days happily and quietly (and surrounded by treasure!), having made history as one of the most successful pirates of all time. We know Cheng I Sao lived to be a grandmother and died at 69, outliving Chang Pao.

Cheng I Sao was one of the greatest, most successful pirates in the world. She commanded an army of 70,000 pirates, without even knowing how to read. All the odds were stacked against her, and yet, she prevailed. With her wits, courage, and strong will, Cheng I Sao rose from an ordinary woman in a small ﬁshing village into an extraordinary world leader whose name will be remembered in history.