Sitting combing her hair, a young woman doesn't realize that pirates are maurading through the city, smashing windows, looting and killing. Their captain, Zheng Yi has sent his men to seize young women for the pirates to marry. The women were carried back to the ships, their pleas for help ignored.
While the other girls cried and were terror-stricken, this young woman saw an opportunity. She refused to marry Zheng Yi unless he gave her an equal share in his business. He agreed. Within six years Zheng Yi Sao's husband was dead and she quickly took command of Zheng Yi's pirate fleet. No one challenged her, not even her late husband's lieutenant, Zhang Bao.
Zheng Yi Sao was now in command of more than eighteen hundred ships and seventy-thousand men! To cement her authority over the pirates, Zheng formed a council out of her squadron leaders and soon they ruled the entire South China Sea.
So feared were the pirates that towns gave their money to Zheng Yi's pirates and her power grew. She was able to pay workers in every town to supply her ships.
Eventually she became even more powerful than the emperor, so he sent his armada to destroy her. But Zheng Yi's Red Flag Fleet destroyed sixty-three of his ships. Attempting to starve out the pirates also did not work.
The emperor then enlisted the help of the British, Dutch and Portuguese also without success. But Zheng Yi grew tired of a pirate's life and the knowledge that there was a price on her head.
So she sailed into Canton's port on a gunboat, along with the wives and children of her crew and offered to surrender most of her ships in exchange for their freedom. At first the governor-general refused but then changed his mind. And so Zheng Yi Sao retired from her pirate ways, a wealthy and free woman.
Discussion
Zheng Yi Sao was a real pirate who ruled the South China Sea. Some details of her story remain vague and unverified but the general story of her life is well known. In 1801, Zheng Wenxian was a powerful Chinese pirate, commander of the Red Flag Fleet that had been operating throughout the South China Sea. It is believed he had heard about Shi Xianggu, a prostitute in a floating brothel who had a reputation for being an astute businesswoman. She used the secrets she learned from her clients to further her own interests. Such a woman interested Zheng and set out to secure her, although it's not known for sure if she was kidnapped or if he met her and simply proposed to her. She married him on the condition that he share control of the pirate fleet with her. He agreed. Upon his untimely death however, Zheng's adopted son, Cheung Po Tsai was slated to take over the fleet. So Zheng Yi Sao married Cheung Po and gained control of the fleet.
After marauding the South China Sea for three years, Zheng Yi Sao finally decided to surrender and accept the Qing dynasty's offer of amnesty in 1810. It was likely a combination of constant harassment by the Chinese government to bring down the pirates as well as their own internal strife that influenced her decision.
Helaine Becker tells Zheng Yi Sao's story in a short,straightforward way, alongside Liz Wong's colourful illustrations, reminiscent of the Chinese traditional painting. The story is unique, and while Becker has left out some of the more spicy aspects of the pirate queen's life, the main message is that of a capable, savvy and intelligent woman holding her own in a very male dominated era. The author has included an Author's Note about the pirate queen and also notes on her sources and and offering of further resources to read.
Book Details:
Pirate Queen: A Story of Zheng Yi Sao by Helaine BeckerToronto: Groundwood Books 2020
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