The Forgotten Pirate Queen Who Dominated the Seas

Early Life

Very little is known about the early life of Zheng Yi Sao. She was born in 1775 in China, in the city now known as Guangzhou. Life was tough, with violence rife and income low. To make ends meet, Zheng Yi Sao found employment as a sex worker. Many people from her hometown sailed north to plunder and rob fishermen along the coast to supplement their income. Zheng Yi Sao became smitten with one of these pirates, and the two married. From that point forward, her life took a drastic turn.

Taking to the High Seas

Zheng Yi Sao raided nearby towns and villages alongside her husband and their pirate crew. At first, they conducted petty raids, but soon, they became involved in grander schemes.

Vietnam was in upheaval. A rebel army was fighting the country’s rulers, and they asked the pirates of China for help. Zheng Yi Sao and her motley crew were only too happy to get involved for the right price. Pirate fleets swelled in size from a dozen to well over one hundred. Soon, the Vietnamese rulers were defeated, and the pirates headed home to China. But now, with so many ships and crews, the pirates began fighting each other for the best booty. It was chaos. Surely, there must have been a better way to go about things. Zheng Yi Sao certainly thought so…

She and her husband drew up the Articles of Confederation. It was a remarkable document setting out the rights and obligations that pirates shared. The pirates agreed to divide their forces into seven fleets, each with its own banner. Each boat had to have a name and registration number on its bow. When pirates attacked a cargo ship, its booty belonged to the first boat to strike it. These regulations were designed to stop infighting and ensure that the pirates fought against their common foe instead.

You just couldn’t waltz in and out anymore - that really cut out all of the small-time operators.

Dian Murray, historian and author of Pirates of the South China Coast 1790 – 1810

By 1805, the Zhengs' Confederation numbered some seventy thousand sailors on four hundred ships. This was a fleet more than twice the size of the Spanish Armada. The Chinese navy was so desperate to avoid going up against the superior pirate enemy that they sabotaged their own boats. Others set sail only to hide in secret harbours and bays, while false reports were filed to the high command, boasting of great victories over the pirates, which never happened. On the few occasions an Imperial Navy ship was foolhardy enough to engage the pirates, they almost always lost.

Disaster Strikes

In 1807, a typhoon struck the South China Sea. Many boats were caught up in the storm, one of which was Zheng Yi Sao’s. She managed to escape unharmed, but her husband was thrown overboard and never seen again.

Eager to consolidate her position as head of the pirate fleet, Zheng Yi Sao installed her adopted fifteen-year-old son, Zhang Bao, as fleet commander. Soon after, she married him, cementing her position as commander in chief. With Zheng Yi at the helm, the pirate army obliterated the Chinese navy not once but twice, in 1808 and 1809.

Until this point, the Emperor had avoided asking his European trading partners, England and Portugal, for help—not wanting to seem weak. But after these humiliating defeats, he was forced to change his mind. He asked the Portuguese for their assistance, who offered up six state-of-the-art man-of-war ships. Portugal’s alliance with the Emperor was a game-changer for the pirate confederation. The Portuguese Navy was one of the best in the world, and there was little hope that the Pirates could fight them off if they chose to ally with the Emperor in earnest. 

It was time to make a deal…

Cutting a Deal

Fearful of the increased military might and intrigued by the Chinese offer of amnesty to any pirates who chose to lay down their arms, Zhang Bao and Zheng Yi Sao surrendered. With the pirate federation wound down and their surrender negotiated, Zheng Yi Sao and Zhang Bao were free to continue with their lives.

They flourished, and Zhang Bao became an officer in the very military which had spent decades trying to capture and kill him. He rose meteorically through the ranks before dying at sea at 36. The Pirate Queen ran an infamous gambling house in Canton for the rest of her life. She may no longer have been a pirate, but everything she did was still on the margins of legality. She was a woman determined to do things her way. Zheng Yi Sao died in 1844 at the age of 69. 

Today, her legacy is often overlooked. While Western pirates like Blackbeard and John Rackham continue to thrive in popular culture, Zheng Yi Sao has slipped out of our minds. But for those versed in her legend, she remains a fascinating historical figure—a woman more than deserving of her fabled title, the Pirate Queen.