Episode 9: Queen of Pirates: Cheng I Sao

As the 19th century loomed, China experienced a huge boom in piracy—and the largest, most terrifyingly organized fleet that menaced the South China Sea was led by…a woman. Madame Cheng (remembered as Cheng I Sao or Ching Shih) had a meteoric rise from impoverished sex worker to climb to arguably the most successful and influential pirate of all time. Should we cheer her on—or remember her as a criminal?

Sources:

Pirates of the South China Coast, 1790-1810, by Dian Murray

“One Woman's Rise to Power: Cheng I's Wife and the Pirates,” by Dian Murray, published in Historical Reflections / Réflexions Historiques, Vol. 8, No. 3

“Piracy in Early Modern China,” by Robert Antony, International Institute for Asian Studies newsletter #35

“Asian Piracy,” by Sebastian R. Prange, Oxford Research Encyclopedia

The History of Piracy, by Philip Gosse

Music:

“Guilty” by Ruth Etting, via archive.org

“Gnossiennes no. 1” by Erik Satie, via musopen.org