How A Prostitute Terrorized the British and Portuguese Empire
Screengrab from: Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean In 1800s, a Chinese prostitute could not be defeated, neither by Qing dynasty Chinese officials nor by Portuguese or British bounty hunters. We’ve unknowingly seen her in several books, novels, video games, and films about piracy, including the Pirates of the Caribbean. Due to her tremendous influence and achievements as a pirate, she is widely accepted to be the most successful pirate in history. Ching Shih a Cantonese prostitute married Cheng Yi, a notorious pirate, in 1801. Together, Cheng Yi and Ching Shih formed a massive coalition from unifying small gangs into a federation of 70,000 men and 400 junk ships. Their coalition consisted of six fleets known by the colors of blue, red, green, black, white, and yellow. By 1804, this coalition was a formidable force and was known as the Red Flag Fleet. However, Cheng Yi died on Nov. 16, 1807. Ching Shih took control of her late husband's pirate fleet and by 1809 , sh