WEBVTT - Who Was History's Most Successful Pirate?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren Vogelbam Here history is most successful and feared pirate

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<v Speaker 1>fleets shared some key attributes. They were well oiled operations

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<v Speaker 1>and enforced strict rules despite the lawlessness of their profession. Crucially,

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of them were helmed by intelligent leaders who

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<v Speaker 1>played politics, exercised diplomacy as needed, and earned the respect

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<v Speaker 1>of their peers. One exceptionally skilled fleet commander terrorized the

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<v Speaker 1>South China Sea in the early nineteenth century. At the

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<v Speaker 1>height of her power, she directed a vast coalition of

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<v Speaker 1>several thousand pirates, the largest pirate crew ever assembled. Then.

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<v Speaker 1>Having made history in spectacular fashion, she retired from piracy

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<v Speaker 1>and lived to a ripe old age. So who was

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<v Speaker 1>this seafaring outlaw. Well. In contemporary English language books and websites,

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<v Speaker 1>she's often called ching Shi, but that wasn't her real name.

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<v Speaker 1>We spoke by email with Diane Murray, a history professor

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<v Speaker 1>her at the University of Notre Dame and authority on

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<v Speaker 1>China's pirate past. She explained that the name ching Chi

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<v Speaker 1>was the invention of an author in the early eighteen

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<v Speaker 1>hundreds who was attempting to translate a Chinese text into English,

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<v Speaker 1>Murray said. The lady pirate in question is most commonly

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<v Speaker 1>referred to in the official Chinese sources simply as Mrs Chang.

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<v Speaker 1>Chang's early life is poorly documented. We do know that

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<v Speaker 1>she worked at a Cantonese brothel before she married a

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<v Speaker 1>man by the name of Change in the year eighteen

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<v Speaker 1>o one or so. She was likely in her twenties

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<v Speaker 1>at the time. Her husband, a notorious pirate, was the

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<v Speaker 1>product of a changing seascape. From seventeen seventy one to

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<v Speaker 1>eighteen o two, Vietnam was embroiled in the Taishan Rebellion,

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<v Speaker 1>a peasant light uprising against the Lay dynasty. Lacking a

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<v Speaker 1>strong naval force, the rebels contracted small time pirates to

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<v Speaker 1>fight and loot on their behalf. In exchange, the plunderers

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<v Speaker 1>received weapons, vessels, and, best of all, safe harbors. Such

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<v Speaker 1>allowances created an environment where organized, large scale piracy could

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<v Speaker 1>flourish even after the rebellion was put down. As of

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<v Speaker 1>eighteen o two, the South China see played host to

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<v Speaker 1>roughly fifty thou pirates. By eighteen o four, the Chang

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<v Speaker 1>husband and wife team had united five numerous fleets into

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<v Speaker 1>one gigantic confederation made up of seventy thousand men and

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<v Speaker 1>four hundred junks, which are large sailing vessels. The coalition

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<v Speaker 1>was broken up into half a dozen semi autonomous squadrons,

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<v Speaker 1>whose leaders were answerable to the Chang's. Each unit bore

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<v Speaker 1>the name of a colored flag. There's a red flag fleet,

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<v Speaker 1>a black flag fleet, and so on. One of the

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<v Speaker 1>sailors in this mighty criminal syndicate was Chang Po, a

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<v Speaker 1>teenager who had been captured by Change. Murray said, after

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<v Speaker 1>recognizing his potential for leadership, Change initiated Chang Po into

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<v Speaker 1>the pirate ranks by means of a homosexual liaison. Soon enough,

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<v Speaker 1>Chang e put the youth in command of his own vessel,

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<v Speaker 1>and even adopted him as his own child. But it

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<v Speaker 1>was Mrs Chang who held the confederation together after change

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<v Speaker 1>abrupt death in November of eighteen o seven. Taking charge

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<v Speaker 1>of the enterprise, she implemented a new code of conduct.

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<v Speaker 1>Under these rules, pirates and her fleets would be executed

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<v Speaker 1>if they stole goods from a communal fund that was

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<v Speaker 1>meant to benefit everyone, or if they raped a captive woman.

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<v Speaker 1>The rules were co authored by Chang Po, who had

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<v Speaker 1>assumed a powerful new role within the outfit. Murray said,

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<v Speaker 1>Mrs Chang realized that she needed a lieutenant to help

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<v Speaker 1>her command the three hundred junks and twenty to forty

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<v Speaker 1>men of what had previously been her husband's red flag fleet.

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<v Speaker 1>Cheang Po took the job, becoming Mrs Cheang's lover and

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<v Speaker 1>later her second spouse. For years, MSUs chengg maintained good

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<v Speaker 1>relationships with the leaders of every fleet in the coalition.

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<v Speaker 1>She ran a tight ship um and oversaw everything for

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<v Speaker 1>monetary transactions to religious ceremonies. On her watch, the pirate

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<v Speaker 1>alliance expanded even further. Of the two hundred and seventy

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<v Speaker 1>government owned ships stationed at Tien Paie, two hundred and

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<v Speaker 1>sixty six fell on or her control. By demanding regular

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<v Speaker 1>patronage from sailing merchants, missus chang sailors profited off of

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<v Speaker 1>Canton's lucrative salt trade. As a matter of fact, the

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<v Speaker 1>Outlaws extracted so much revenue across their domain that missus

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<v Speaker 1>Chang found it necessary to establish a network of land

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<v Speaker 1>based financial offices. Her strategic mind was well suited to warfare.

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<v Speaker 1>Mus Chang's fleets regularly embarrassed to the navies of southern China.

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<v Speaker 1>They grew notries for kidnapping Chinese officials, blockheading rivers, and

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<v Speaker 1>routing just about anyone who opposed their will. But that

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<v Speaker 1>was to change. In eighteen o nine, China's increasingly agitated

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<v Speaker 1>government borrowed well armed vessels from the British East India

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<v Speaker 1>Company and the Portuguese Navy. At the same time, it

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<v Speaker 1>also offered amnesty to pirates who surrendered. Marie explained the

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<v Speaker 1>offer was tempting to the leader of the Black Flag Fleet,

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<v Speaker 1>who then forced a confrontation with the Red Flag Fleet.

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<v Speaker 1>While negotiating with the government, the Black Flag leader turned

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<v Speaker 1>over the captives from that inter squadron battle as a

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<v Speaker 1>gesture of goodwill. Before long, other units were defecting from

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<v Speaker 1>missus Chang's confederation. She could read the writing on the wall.

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<v Speaker 1>Blackbeard and other career pirates who kept plundering until the

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<v Speaker 1>bitter end usually met horrible deaths, whether on the high

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<v Speaker 1>seas or at the gallows. Missus Chang decided to go

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<v Speaker 1>a different route. On April eighth, eighteen ten, after an

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<v Speaker 1>earlier round of peace talks failed, she took a delegation

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<v Speaker 1>of seventeen pirate wives and children to the Governor General's

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<v Speaker 1>office in Canton. Inside Missus Chang Broke heard a favorable

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<v Speaker 1>amnesty deal. Murray said. Cheang Po was allowed to retain

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<v Speaker 1>between twenty to thirty of his vessels for use in

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<v Speaker 1>the salt trade, and received an appointment in the Chinese

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<v Speaker 1>Water Forces. Furthermore, most of the pirates who had served

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<v Speaker 1>under her were granted pardons as well. Cheng Po passed

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<v Speaker 1>away in eighteen twenty two at the age of thirty six.

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<v Speaker 1>He was survived by his wife, who died peacefully in

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<v Speaker 1>eighteen forty four at the age of sixty nine. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>episode was written by barkman Chen and produced by Tyler clayg.

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