Did you know that the most successful pirate in history was a woman?
That’s…Something.
Ching Shih! Not just a woman, but a Chinese woman who went from “prostitute” to “commander of 80,000 pirates”, and enforced a code that included:
Pirates who gave unsanctioned orders or who refused to follow orders were executed on the spot.
Stealing from the “public fund” of captured goods or money or raiding villages that supported pirates was punishable by death.
All captured goods, money or slaves had to be presented for inspection. The rewards were handed out in a predetermined way.
It was absolutely prohibited to have sex or rape female captives. Pirates could marry pretty captives if they had means to support them and be faithful to them, but rest were either ransomed or freed. Punishment for having sex or raping them was death.
They didn’t capture her either. She negotiated her own surrender, kept all her loot, got amnesty, and was able to die in her sleep an old woman.
Ching Shih was awesome.
DINGDINGDING!
Bringing her back for Talk Like a Pirate Day!
