A lot of time, many people would always imagine that an individual who is well- known as to be one of the most brutal and also scariest in the whole wide world that is a pirate would be someone who is male. Little did many people know, there is indeed one particular individual who is a woman and she was famously labeled as history’s deadliest pirate ever lived. Even more exciting, the extraordinary woman is indeed an Asian woman. It is so great.
For those who might not know, the name of the female pirate would be none other than Ching Shih. According to history, she was a pirate leader who was active in the South China Sea from the year 1801 to 1810. To prove that she was a very powerful and influential pirate ever, she has commanded up to 800 gigantic ships, 1000 vessels that are smaller in size, and also over 70,000 pirate crew that are men and also women under her. Such great responsibility.
At first, Ching Shih who is 26 years old at that time got married to a particular pirate named Zheng Yi and it was the year 1801. Zheng Yi was the formidable commander of the Red Flag Fleet of pirate ships. He united many rival Chinese pirate organizations. She was an honorific bestowed upon her by the people of Guangdong, meaning the wife of Zheng Yi. Right after the death of her husband in the year 1807, she took control of all his pirate confederation.
With the knowledge and also the secrets that she managed to learn as a prostitute previously in her life, Ching Shih apparently used them to wield power over her own wealthy and also politically connected clients. When she was young, she had been forced into prostitution so that she can supply her family’s income. She worked in one of the floating brothels, also known as flower boats, in the Cantonese port city. These boats would sail along the nearby coast with the customer on board. She died in the year 1844 at the approximate age of 68. Throughout her life after the death of her husband, she had lived a relatively peaceful and prosperous life since the end of her career in piracy.
Sources: History of Yesterday, History Hit.