Ching Shih – from Prostitute to King of the Sea

From a Prostitute to the King of the Sea

"The Hand That Rocks the Cradle Is the Hand That Rules the World". Perhaps this is the ideal proverb for one character in the history of China, Ching Shih, from the cruel and sad life of a prostitute to a pirate king who in its peak, controls over 70,000 pirates under it.

The great history of Ching Shih, a native of Guangdong, South China was born in 1775. Her birth name is Shil Xiang Gu. When growing up, she works as a prostitute in a floating prostitution house in Canton. The beauty of Ching Shih is fragrant and has attracted one of the pirates at that time, Zheng Yi who heads the Red Flag Fleet and crave to get married to Ching Shih.

Ching Shih

Various notes tell about their unification. Some say that Zheng Yi had plundered the prostitution house with his fleet, and directed Ching Shih to him and then married. In another story, when Zheng Yi asks Chih Shih to agree to marry her, then Ching Shih offers the conditions to be followed by Zheng Yi. Ching Shih must have power in a pirate fleet led by Zheng Yi and every treasure plundered by Zheng Yi's fleet, should be shared equally with him. Agree with the proposal of Zheng Yi, they married and started the Red Flag Fleet story led by Zheng Yi and Ching Shih.

The Red Flag Fleet under the leadership of Zheng Yi and Ching Shih progressed. Of the 200 ships, the number of ships with this fleet reaches up to 1800 ships. The Red Flag Fleet crew reached 70,000 pirates during the death of Zheng Yi after six years of marriage with Ching Shih. This incredible figure may have been achieved by the fact that they both had a coalition with the leader of the pirate called Wu Shi 'Er, forming a Pakatan Pirates-Cantonese pirates.

Zheng Yi's death did not occasionally bring Ching Shih's life back to the prostitution valley, but Ching Shih took over the captain's position and chairman for the fleet abandoned by Zheng Yi. Of course, Ching Shih did it with the support of his adopted daughter during the marriage with Zheng Yi, Chang Pao. So Ching Shih's reign began on the fleet abandoned by Zheng Yi.

Surprisingly, the Ching Shih government is very organised and fantastic. Ching Shih like creating her kingdom within the fleet. Under the leadership of Ching Shih, every pirate is bound by law and taxation. For example, any property plundered and forfeited shall be presented before Ching Shih. Usually, 80 percent of the property seized will be deposited in its vessel while the rest can be shared among pirate pirates.

The Battle

In fact, Ching Shih is a fascinating female rights warrior. For example, if there are pirate prisoners who are women, those who are considered as "ugly" should be released. If there is a pirate who intends to marry any beautiful prisoner, they are bound to the promise to keep the woman in good health and any fraudulent effort will be rewarded with the death penalty. Likewise, with rape crime, it is banned altogether.

Pirates who rape female prisoners will be sentenced to death. And whoever leaves the fleet (deserter), they will also be hunted and punished with great torment. For example, ears will be cut. In addition to the legal and tax system that existed in the Red Flag Fleet, a scary and terrible punishment was also part of the Ching Shih government itself.

The Ching Shih government is also filled with deck control over villages in Chinese waters from Canton to Macau. Many of these watershed villages are forced to pay their protection tax on Ching Shih. Apart from robbing and looting, Ching Shih is also said to be distributing and smuggling Candu into China.

Therefore, Ching Shih may be called "The Terror Of South China". Not surprisingly, it is said that the ships of China, the Portuguese, and the British themselves, lost to Ching Shih, forcing the Chinese government to offer forgiveness to all pirates in the hope of abolishing the dominance of Ching Shih in the oceans.

Ching Shih finally surrendered to the Chinese government after he was promised a pardon and was left to keep his booty. At the same time, Ching Shih just had to kneel in front of Zhang Bai Ling, a government guard who was directed to handle Ching Shih's case. At the same time, Zhang Bai Ling should be a witness to the marriage between Ching Shih and Chang Pao, who was his adopted son when he was 15 when his marriage with Zheng Yi first. Then the pirate career ends Ching Shih.

She then immersed the remains of her life by opening a gambling house in Canton, and her marriage to Chang Pao was awarded a child among them. It was quite long when only in the 69th year then Ching Sih died as one of the most successful pirates in history, overcoming pirates legend like Blackbeard and Captain Kidd.

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@Killuminatic