Did you know the most successful pirate in history was a woman? Did you also know she was not a westerner? Me neither! At the height of her career, CHING SHIH commanded a pirate fleet sixty times larger than Blackbeard’s. When she was cornered by the Chinese government, she negotiated a deal that allowed her to keep her fortunes and live out the rest of her life in freedom. No whining or execution for this woman.
Ching Shih was raised in poverty and worked in a brothel prior to marrying Cheng I, a fearsome pirate. Upon her husband’s death, Ching Shih, already owner of half her husband’s pirate confederation, took full command. While her adopted adult step-son was named head of the fleet, her business acumen made her the de facto commander. Within three years of assuming command, she had amassed 1,800 pirate ships and approximately 80,000 men under her command. She controlled this fleet through a code of laws that required strict adherence to the group <ahem, her command> while rewarding loyalty with riches and shared wealth. She protected women and children, on-board and on land, and executed with impunity any man who did not respect these laws.
Ching Shih, the most successful—and wealthy—pirate in history. Now, where’s my movie on this badass woman?
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