Zheng Yi Sao
The Cantonese commander who ran the South China Sea like a state — and negotiated her own retirement from the empire that hunted her.
Zheng Yi Sao, whose name means 'wife of Zheng Yi', was born around 1775 in Guangdong, China. She married the pirate leader Zheng Yi, who built a confederation of pirate fleets on the South China Sea.
When her husband died in 1807 she took control. Working with her partner Zhang Bao, she led the confederation and its core Red Flag Fleet, commanding tens of thousands of pirates and hundreds of ships. She enforced a strict code of conduct and ran the fleets like a state, with taxes and protection payments.
The Qing navy, along with Portuguese and British ships, failed to defeat her. In 1810 the government chose to negotiate instead. Zheng Yi Sao arranged the surrender herself, and most of her followers were pardoned and allowed to keep their wealth.
She retired to Guangzhou, where she is said to have run a gambling house, and died in 1844, one of the very few pirate leaders in history to end her career on her own terms.
Watch “Zheng Yi Sao”
Watch Elegida's episode on Instagram