Ching Shih

Influential female Chinese pirate

  • Fame58.6
  • Momentum1.3
  • Wikipedia46.7K
Source-basedFalling
Lived 1775–1844, aged 69China
  • Wikipedia
    48 languages
    Cross-language footprint
  • Era
    1775–1844
    Aged 69
Summary
Updated 2026-06-08

She commanded the largest pirate fleet in history — hundreds of ships, tens of thousands of fighters — and when the empires came for her, she negotiated her way out, retired on her terms, and died prosperous in old age.

Biography

About

Born Shi Yang around 1775, she married pirate Zheng Yi in 1801 at age 26 and became known as Zheng Yi Sao among the Cantonese. When her husband died in 1807, she seized control of his confederation with backing from his adopted son Zhang Bao, whom she later married. By 1805 the fleet held roughly 400 junks and between 40,000 and 70,000 pirates, clashing with the British, Portuguese, and Qing forces across the South China Sea. After defeats by the Portuguese Navy, she cut a deal with Qing authorities in 1810: she and Zhang Bao kept 24 ships and over 1,400 crew, faced no charges, and walked away…

Deep cuts

Era & geography

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Where to find them

Platforms

By the numbers

Score breakdown

The six component signals behind the Fame score, and their ranks across the leaderboards.

Fame
Falling
58.6
Composite of search demand, mentions, audience & graph footprint.
Score components
Momentum1.3
Historical25.0
Now attention9.0
Source confidence65.0
Completeness75.0
Global rank
Country rank
Category rank
Receipts

Sources

  • Wikidata
    wikidata · wikidata.org
    High confidence
  • Wikipedia
    wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org
    High confidence
  • Pantheon 2.0
    database · pantheon.world
    High confidence