Shi Yang (c. 1775–1844) also known as Zheng Yi Sao, Shi Xianggu, Shek Yeung, Quing Shi, and Ching Shih, was a Chinese pirate leader active in the South China Sea from 1801 to 1810.
Born Shi Yang in 1775, she married the pirate Zheng Yi at age 26 in 1801. She became known as Zheng Yi Sao ("wife of Zheng Yi") among the Cantonese. After the death of her husband in 1807, she took control of his pirate confederation with the support of Zheng Yi's adopted son Zhang Bao. She later entered into a relationship with Zhang Bao and eventually married him.
While still under Zheng Yi's command in 1805, the fleet consisted of approximately 400 junks and between 40,000 and 70,000 pirates. Her ships engaged in conflict with several major powers, including the British, Portuguese, and Qing Chinese Empires.
After suffering a string of defeats at the hands of the Portuguese Navy, in 1810, Zheng Yi Sao negotiated a surrender to Qing authorities that allowed her and Zhang Bao to retain 24 ships and over 1,400 pirates and to avoid prosecution. She died in 1844 at the age of about 68, having lived a relatively peaceful and prosperous life after her career in piracy. Zheng Yi Sao has been described as history's most successful female pirate and among the most successful pirates overall.
Early life Zheng Yi Sao was born in 1775 near Xinhui, Guangdong. She may have been a Tanka, and is sometimes described as having worked on a floating Tanka brothel () in Guangdong, possibly as a prostitute or procurer, although evidence for this claim is lacking.
Marriage to Zheng Yi In 1801, Shi Yang married Zheng Yi, a pirate. Zheng Yi fought as a privateer for the Vietnamese Tây Sơn dynasty in the Tây Sơn wars and later Nguyễn Ánh (Gia Long), first emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty. Under Tây Sơn patronage, he fought in his cousin Zheng Qi's fleet. Zheng Yi hailed from a family of pirates whose roots traced back to the Ming dynasty. He had an adopted son, Zhang Bao, whom he had abducted in 1798 at age 15 and pressed into piracy.
A year after Shi and Zheng's marriage, in February 1802, Zheng Yi's cousin Zheng Qi was captured and executed by Nguyễn regime forces in the town of Jiangping () on the border of Vietnam and China, near what is now Dongxing. On July 20, 1802, Nguyễn Ánh entered the city of Thăng Long, ending the Tây Sơn dynasty. Zheng Yi took over Zheng Qi's fleet after his death and sailed back to the Chinese coast with the pirates formerly under Tây Sơn patronage.
Following a period of infighting among pirates near Guangdong, Zheng Yi, with the capable support of Zheng Yi Sao, united the pirates into a confederation through an agreement signed in July 1805. Each pirate leader agreed to sacrifice some of his autonomy for the greater good. The confederation consisted of six fleets, distinguished by the color of their flags – red, black, blue, white, yellow, and purple. Zheng Yi commanded the largest, the 200-Ship Red Flag Fleet.
Zheng Yi Sao had two sons with Zheng Yi: Zheng Yingshi (), born in 1803, and Zheng Xiongshi (), born in 1807.
Ascension to leadership On 16 November 1807, Zheng Yi fell overboard in a gale and died at the age of 42. Zheng Yi Sao took over her deceased husband's operations, through the support of Zheng Yi's nephew Zheng Baoyang () and the son of Zheng Qi, Zheng Anbang (). Zheng Yi Sao balanced the various factions in the confederation, and was familiar with Guo Podai (), leader of the second biggest fleet in the confederation, the Black Flag Fleet, who had been abducted by Zheng Yi and pressed into piracy at a young age. Most importantly, Zheng Yi Sao had the support of Zhang Bao, who was in effect commanding the Red Flag Fleet at the time.
Zheng Yi Sao effectively inherited her deceased husband's informal command over the entire Pirate Confederation, while Zhang Bao became the official commander of the Red Flag Fleet. According to a report by Wen Chengzhi (), a government official who led the negotiations with Zheng Yi Sao and Zhang Bao with the Viceroy of Liangguang Bai Ling () later in 1810, "Zhang Bao obeyed Zheng Yi Sao's orders, and consulted her on all things before acting ()." Taking the local monks under his protection, Zhang Bao, asserted himself as the leader of a sect to which the pirates adhered. Zhang Bao was even rumoured at Macau to aspire to becoming Emperor of China.
After taking control of the confederation, Zheng Yi Sao and Zhang Bao entered a sexual relationship. It is speculated that they were already intimate before the death of Zheng Yi.
Leader of the confederation
In 1808, a year after Zheng Yi Sao took power, the Pirate Confederation became significantly more active. In September, Zhang Bao first lured then ambushed Lin Guoliang (), brigade-general () of Humen, and destroyed his fleet of 35 ships near Mazhou Island, located east of what is now Bao'an District, Shenzhen. A month later in October, Zhang Bao defeated lieutenant-colonel () Lin Fa () near present-day Weiyuan Island east of Humen Town. These two engagements reduced the Chinese provincial fleet by half, and cleared the way for the pirates to enter the Pearl River.
1809 was an eventful year for the Pirate Confederation under the command of Zheng Yi Sao. In March, Provincial Commander () Sun Quanmou (), with around 100 ships under his command, engaged a small group of pirates near Dawanshan Island, and the pirates called Zheng Yi Sao for aid. Before the battle, Zheng Yi Sao took command of the Red Flag Fleet and the White Flag Fleet and ordered Zhang Bao to engage from the front with around 10 ships. Zhang Bao's lieutenants, Xiang Shan'er () and Xiao Bu'ao () were to outflank Sun from the sides, and Liang Bao (), leader of the White Flag Fleet, was to cut Sun off from the rear. During the battle Zheng Yi Sao charged in with the bulk of the Red and the White Flag Fleets, which routed Sun.
On July 21, the Qing navy dealt a major blow to the Pirate Confederation by killing Liang Bao and destroying his White Flag Fleet at an engagement near what is now Jinwan District, Zhuhai, at the cost of losing brigade-general Xu Tinggui () and 25 ships to Zhang Bao.
Liang's death and the destruction of the White Flag Fleet did not deter Zheng Yi Sao. In August 1809 she ordered a massive raid: Zhang Bao would raid around Dongguan with the Red Flag Fleet, Guo Podai would raid around Shunde with the Black Flag Fleet, and Zheng Yi Sao would lead the raid around Xinhui with her personal fleet. Guo Podai worked his way through the numerous waterways along the Pearl River for six weeks on a bloody raiding campaign which ultimately caused the deaths of approximately 10,000 people. In early September, Zhang Bao completely destroyed a large town not far from Humen and killed 2,000 inhabitants. Numerous villages, settlements, and towns fell victim to the rampaging pirates.
On September 27, Zheng Yi Sao personally took command of 500 ships and anchored near Tanzhou (). On the 29th, Zheng Yi Sao ordered Zhang Bao to raid the town of Shating () further upriver, where he captured around 400 civilians; on October 2, Zheng Yi Sao ordered Guo Podai to anchor around Jigongshi (), presumably near Sanxiongqi (, modern day Sanhongqi ), where he raided two days later.
By late October, the provincial fleet was back to strength and ready for action under the command of Sun Quanmou; however, they were defeated again by Zhang Bao on the evening of October 21 near the town of Shawan.
Cornered by the Portuguese Navy
In desperation, Chinese officials looked with renewed interest at the "foreign barbarians", hoping to obtain aid against Zheng Yi Sao and the Pirate Confederation. The mandarin of Qianshan had requested Portuguese military assistance at Macau as early as 1791. The Portuguese Empire, which controlled Macau at the time, had already fought the pirates. They had attacked a Portuguese ship near Macau in 1793, in which they killed all but four crewmembers, and in 1796, in which they again killed everyone on board.Robert J. Antony (2022). The Golden Age of Piracy in China, 1520–1810. A Short History with Documents, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2022, p. 39. In 1804 they occupied the Taipa anchorage, threatening the city, and later that year disrupted communications between Macau and Lantau, which caused difficulties in supplying foreign ships anchored by the island. In the middle of 1807, a pirate squadron had attacked a Portuguese brig commanded by captain Pereira Barreto, yet Barreto not only repulsed the pirates but he also captured their flagship in a boarding action with 70 men. The Portuguese agreed to help as Zheng Yi Sao had captured a brig belonging to the Portuguese governor of Timor António Botelho Homem on September 5, 1809, and they were eager for payback.
In early September, the brigs Princesa Carlota and Belisário along with the supply lorcha Leão left Macau under the command of captain José Pinto Alcoforado de Azevedo e Sousa and he engaged the pirate fleet, who focused on the weaker lorcha but were repulsed by the modern armaments of the Portuguese, which included rifles and modern rifled cannon that fired explosive shells.Monteiro, p. 30 A typhoon overcame the region and while it raged the Portuguese prisoners aboard the captured brig managed to break free, and escape from the Red Flag Fleet with their ship to Taipa amid the storm. On September 15, the East India Company agreed to help the Qing against the pirates with the frigate Mercury, then anchored at Macau. That same day, the Portuguese set out to meet the pirate fleet once again, but the Mercury remained in harbour and took no further action against the pirates. The Portuguese fleet engaged 200 ships commanded by Zheng Bao, sighted at anchor at a place the Portuguese identified as Wam-pao channels. The pirates sailed out to meet the Portuguese fleet and they were severely damaged by artillery, but by sunset both fleets disengaged, with one of the Portuguese brigs seriously damaged by the pirates fire and the other by the recoil of its own artillery.Monteiro, p. 31
In early November, 1809, Zheng Yi Sao suddenly left the Pearl River with only a few ships, and anchored at Tung Chung Bay, north of Lantau Island, for repairs. On November 4, the Portuguese sent three ships and a brig to harass Zheng Yi Sao at Lantau. She immediately called the Red Flag Fleet under Zhang Bao for aid. On the 5th, Zhang Bao arrived at Tung Chung Bay and, seeing that the Portuguese were no longer there, decided to anchor his ships for repair and maintenance.