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The Fearless Life of Ching Shih #OrdinaryWomen

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    When most people think of pirates,
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    they imagine hulking, fearsome men
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    with names like Blackbeard or Long John Silver.
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    Although the vast majority of pirates
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    throughout history have been male,
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    One of the most famous and feared pirates
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    who ever lived was
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    Ching Shih --
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    a young Cantonese woman who became the ruler
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    of one the largest pirate fleets in history,
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    and the mastermind behind
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    a floating criminal empire so powerful,
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    that even the Chinese military couldn't stop it.
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    We don't know much about her early life,
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    except that at one point,
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    she worked at a brothel in Canton.
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    In 1801, Ching Shih married a pirate commander
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    named Ching I,
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    and soon ruled by his side
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    as he expanded his empire,
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    unifying countless small, scattered crews of pirates
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    into an organized
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    and increasingly powerful coalition.
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    When her husband died suddenly in 1807,
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    Ching Shih knew exactly what to do.
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    She stepped in to claim the leadership for herself,
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    taking control of somewhere between
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    40,000 and 60,000 pirates.
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    Their acceptance of a woman as their commander
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    remains a remarkable testament to both
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    her political skill and the respect
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    she must have earned from the crew.
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    She soon appointed her adopted son,
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    Chang Pao,
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    as the commander of her most powerful fleet
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    and eventually married him.
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    It was a little creepy,
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    but the two became a formidable team
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    whose raids were feared through
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    the South China Sea.
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    We don't know exactly what Ching looked like,
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    although some historians have assumed
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    she caught the eye of her pirate husband
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    through good looks rather than `
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    her considerable intelligence.
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    While there are many flamboyant but dubious
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    accounts invented by Western writers of a
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    gorgeous goddess,
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    wielding swords and wearing glittering battle gear
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    covered in golden dragons,
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    more reliable texts describe Ching Shih
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    as a good military strategist,
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    a strict disciplinarian,
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    and an excellent businesswoman.
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    Although she rejected many traditional ideas
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    about what women could and couldn't do,
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    other rules were extremely important:
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    namely, those enforced on her ships.
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    With the help of a code of conduct
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    drawn up by Ching Pao,
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    she helped establish clear rules for the behavior,
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    finances, and power structure of the fleet --
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    As well as the draconian punishment that awaited
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    anyone who dared to disobey or cheat her.
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    Her rule was unquestionably harsh:
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    not only for the victims of her raids,
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    but for anyone in the fleet who dared
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    to step out of line.
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    All plunder had to be registered,
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    with 80% of the loot paid into a general fund.
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    Somewhat ironically,
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    stealing from the fund
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    was one of the worst crimes a pirate could commit,
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    and the punishment was death.
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    As one observer noted,
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    Ching Shih's strict and often lethal reaction
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    to misbehavior kept the crew very honest.
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    And the pirates under her command
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    took great care to behave themselves well.
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    Through careful and ruthless management,
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    Ching Shih made the bloody and chaotic work
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    of piracy into a highly organized business.
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    And business was good --
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    making her a very wealthy woman.
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    And, of course,
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    like so many male leaders,
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    conquerors, and generals
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    throughout history,
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    her prosperity and success
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    came at the cost of innocent lives.
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    Her remarkable story is a reminder that,
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    regardless of the limitations placed on them,
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    women can be anything that men can be:
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    brilliant and brutal,
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    courageous and cruel,
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    powerful and dreadful.
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    The Chinese government devoted
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    considerable effort to crushing the pirates,
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    but, thanks in large part to
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    Ching Shih's strategic skill,
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    her fleets became so powerful
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    that the government eventually stopped
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    trying to destroy them,
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    and started trying to negotiate with them instead.
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    Ching Shih knew that piracy was not
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    a wise long term career --
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    especially when the most common
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    retirement plan was death.
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    So, in 1810,
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    she stepped off a boat,
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    surrounded by the wives and children
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    of her pirates
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    and walked completely unarmed into the office
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    of the local Governor General
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    to discuss amnesty.
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    With a fearsome floating army at her back,
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    Ching Shih negotiated a very good deal.
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    Not only was she and any other pirates
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    who surrendered completely pardoned
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    by the government for their many, many crimes;
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    they got to keep their all ill-gotten plunder
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    and even received jobs from the government
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    if they wanted.
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    Her husband was appointed a lieutenant
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    in the Chinese navy,
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    where he commanded a private fleet --
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    made up of former pirates, of course.
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    Thanks to her exceptional cunning and bravery,
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    Ching Shih ended her life of piracy,
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    not as a criminal behind bars,
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    or the casualty of a raid gone wrong;
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    but rather, by gathering her riches,
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    and retiring in comfort as a law-abiding citizen.
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    Well, mostly law-abiding.
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    She spent her later years running
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    a gambling establishment back in Canton,
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    where she reportedly led a peaceful life,
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    or at least, as peaceful as she could manage
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    while presiding over a notorious gambling den.
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    When she finally died in 1844,
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    at 60 years old,
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    she had transformed herself
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    from a relatively powerless young woman
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    into both the most powerful female pirate in history
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    and into something almost as rare:
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    a pirate who died from old age.
Title:
The Fearless Life of Ching Shih #OrdinaryWomen
Description:

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Video Language:
English
Team:
Feminist Frequency
Duration:
04:53

English subtitles

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