Women who seek to be equal with men lack ambition. - Timothy Leary
To start with, Ching Shih (1775–1844) was only her stage name; it simply means “Widow of Zheng”. Her real name and her history prior to 1801 are completely unknown except for the fact that she was a prostitute in one of the famous floating brothels of Canton. She was captured in a raid by the powerful pirate Zheng Yi, commander of six pirate fleets, who appears to have known her professionally before the raid because his men were specifically instructed to bring the 26-year-old beauty to him. He had fallen deeply in love with her and proposed marriage, and she agreed on the condition that Zheng Yi grant her 50% of his profits and command of one of his fleets.
Artist’s conception of Ching Shih (origin unknown)
Ching I Sao (“Wife of Zheng”), as she was then known, quickly won the respect of her men and her husband drew upon her shrewd advice to increase his power; his family had been noted pirates since at least the mid-17th century and the cunning former whore advised him to use that reputation in combination with intimidation to build an alliance of pirate fleets which until that time had engaged in self-defeating competition. By 1804 this alliance, known as the Red Flag Fleet, was the most powerful pirate force in China; it was comprised of over 1500 ships and ranged all the way from Korea to Malaysia. In 1807 Zheng Yi was killed in a typhoon, and his widow (now called Ching Shih) quickly made a pact with Chang Pao, the late commander’s chief lieutenant, which placed her in absolute command of the fleet with him as her executive officer. The deal appears to have been leveraged by her sex appeal, because they became lovers and later married (though sources vary as to whether this was before or after her retirement).
Ching Shih realized that in order to maintain control she had to establish strict discipline lest the men believe that a female commander could be defied with impunity. She therefore imposed a code of behavior far more severe than the pirate “articles” common in the Spanish Main: disobedience, theft, desertion, dereliction of duty, cowardice and rape of female prisoners were all punishable by beheading. Her power grew at a frightening pace, and within a year the Red Flag Fleet boasted two hundred oceangoing junks of twenty guns each, eight hundred small ships, dozens of riverboats and over 17,000 men; it was one of the largest navies in the world and nothing could stand against it. She extorted tribute from merchants all over the China Seas and from coastal towns from Macau to Canton, and became a de facto government in her own right; soon she began to impose taxes and levies and enforced her own laws.
This sketch from 1836 imagines what Ching Shih might have looked like in battle.
Clearly, the Chinese government could not ignore this, so in 1808 it sent a fleet against Ching Shih; she easily defeated it, capturing 63 ships and impressing hundreds of sailors into her navy (those who remained loyal to the Emperor were beaten to death with clubs). Further attacks were equally unsuccessful, as were the attempts at rebellion by subject villages (which were burned to the ground and saw all their men slaughtered). In desperation, the Chinese government asked for help from the British and Portuguese; their forces, too, were defeated by the harlot admiral. By 1810 the government was forced to admit defeat and offered a general amnesty to all pirates who would give up their ships and arms. Ching Shih was no fool, and saw her opportunity to quit while she was ahead; accordingly, she appeared unannounced at the official home of the Governor-general of Canton and negotiated an incredible deal: she and all her men were given full amnesty and allowed to keep all of their loot, any of her men who wished to join the Imperial Navy would be allowed to do so, and Chang Pao received a lieutenant’s commission. Ching Shih thus retired from piracy at 35 and opened a combination casino and brothel which she operated until her death at the age of 69, survived by at least one son.
Ching Shih was quite probably the most successful pirate who ever lived; not only did she defeat all attempts to stop her and make staggering sums of money, but she also managed to keep all her profits and transition into a respectable business when she was still quite young. And considering that the half-share in the pirate fleet which set the stage for her eventual control of the whole was essentially a price for her favors, I think it’s fair to say she was among the most successful prostitutes of all time as well. She didn’t become an empress as Theodora did, but she essentially made herself a queen, foiled the efforts of the three greatest navies in the world and died a peaceful death as a wealthy, successful, respected businesswoman at a ripe old age.
Nothing like a little swashbuckling to wake me up in the morning… c: cool story Maggie….I like the caricatures of prostitutes in history….. very interesting!
The more history lessons you give, the more modern women seem to owe their gratitude to whore’s. That’s awesome!
Thanks, ladies; if you want to know just how much modern women owe their rights to whores (rather than feminists), you need to read Russell’s Renegade History of the United States and Nickie Roberts’ Whores In History (both reviewed on my bibliography page). Even the feminist movement itself owes whores for its existence; first-wave feminism began in earnest with Josephine Butler’s campaign for the rights of English prostitutes, and one of the first second-wave feminist organizations in the late ’60s was called “Whores, Housewives and Others” (WHO); the “others” were lesbians. Neofeminists of course want everyone to forget this, and never to learn about women like Ching Shih or the Greek hetaerae.
I’ve read barely anything on the history of feminism so am wondering: did any “wild women” (my name for women like me who choose at times to have sex only friendships, purposely break the evil dating game “rules”, etc.) have any part in feminism in the past?
In second-wave feminism, certainly. Due to the lack of opportunities for women’s income prior to the early twentieth century they didn’t really exist except among the upper classes; women below that level who felt as you do would’ve needed to charge to survive or else risk their securities by marital infidelity. Certainly there were advocates of “free love” in the Romantic period (late 18th-early 19th centuries) but that was more of an idealistic philosophical movement like in the 1960s and as in the ’60s didn’t last long.
I always love a good history lesson, thanks!
Thanks for the information, Maggie. I’ve learned through reading that there’s been been a few wild women all through history. 1 of my favorites was the actress Clara Bow. She was hated by some in Hollywood because she didn’t hide her wildness. I also admire her because for a big part of her life she functioned great despite the horrible abuse she had up until her teen years.
as whore-storian (c) let me kick in that WHO (also known as WHOM, Whores, Housewives and Other Mother [fucker?]s) was organized by Margo St James a couple of years before she founded COYOTE in 1973.
don’t let HRC let you forget that sex workers also started the “gay” rights movement! Sylvia Rivera — who threw the brick that started the Stonewall Inn Riots was a sex worker – transgender and puerto rican too (and did a heckuva lot later for queer streets kids who did sex work to survive.)
and not trying to be picky but a small correction; it was josephine butler, not justine (although that would be ironic, since that’s the title of a novel by the marquis de sade).
Yikes! Thanks for pointing that out, Mindy; I’ll fix it now. What makes it a truly stupid mistake is that the name was right in front of me in my own damn column linked in that reply! My only excuse is that’s the sort of thing that happens when I post before breakfast.
Women who seek to be equal with men lack ambition. – Timothy Leary
When I was a teen the girls would say “When I grow up I am going have a career, I’m going to be equal to you men”.
I would say “Are you stupid? My uncles are clerks, a butcher, a builder, a road worker, a cab driver, a driver for politicians and a shopkeeper. These are not careers. They are jobs. They are dull and boring jobs. Why would you want THAT? My mum has it WAY better than my dad. If you want equality with men you are going to come a long way down to get it.”
Of course, I would get ‘you are sexist’ in response. Ok grrrls. Knock yourself out.
The MOST successful women in my year became a doctor. But she lives in a small rurual town in western australia. She was my ‘first love’. We stayed in touch for 32 years. We have cried on each others shoulders many times in our life. She envied me my ‘career’ and my travel somewhat. Being a doctor you can not move overseas very easily…especially if your husband is also a doctor which he is.
When we would talk about my ‘brilliant career’ and how Jennifer got to not work and travel so much I occasionally reminded her that SHE was my FIRST choice and she could have been my wife just for the nodding. She turned down my offers. Jennifer was her best friend!!! Indeed they passed themselves off as sisters many times over.. LOL!
Recently I had an indian woman start work next to me. We had to work very closely. She told me about her ‘brilliant career’ over and over again. One day I got a little tired of it and I turned to her and said “You women get to have the babies. Us men can not do that. Yet you wish to abandon the most important job of all, raising children, and tie yourself to a desk as a slave for 45 years like us men? You women are crazy.”
Her face fell like a stone. She said “I never thought about it like that” to which I responded “few women do”. She is now wanting to have children and leave work but can’t afford to. They are “used to the money”.
She is also opening up a foundation in India to promote the idea that feminism is social poison. She has seen what it has done in the UK and she can see it is happening in India. I am so pleased she will do this. We are great friends.
My mum told me every day in every way that she had the best job in the world. Raising her three boys. Do any women realise what message it sends to your children to put them into ‘someone elses care so you can have your glorious career’? It tells the kids they are not as important to you as your job. But women seem not to know this is the message the children are getting.
Ok so in case you aren’t aware, women are people too, not only mothers or love interests for egoistical jerks like you. And about the “message” that evil independant women are sending to their poor children, you can say the exact same thing about men (you know, fathers). Please don’t raise children, I rather prefer you to not teach those dumb ideas to anyone.
Wow. Why haven’t I ever her of Ching Shih before now? (Sadly, I know very little Chinese history, and yet I still probably know much more than the average American.) They really should make a movie about her. Her story is truly amazing.
I learned about her through my husband, who was familiar with her through his readings on the history of piracy. Such cross-pollination often bears interesting fruit!
Ching Shih was mentioned on yesterday’s ep of Where On Earth is Carmen Sandiego. Nothing about her prostitute background was mentioned, but then she was covered in about a minute and a half.
I have read the Jacky faber series, and it said that when Ching Shih died, they found a portrait of a European girl, maybe jacky faber, in her possesions. is this true?
Made by Noemi has just released the latest underwer collection named “At Pirate sea” where Ching Shih was her muse.
http://www.madebynoemi.com
This is so cool
!
Are there any books just about ching shih?