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The Most Feared Pirate in History Did Not Have a (Black) Beard
When you think “most feared pirate in history” you’re probably going to go straight to Blackbeard, who commanded four ships and about 300 pirates.
You’re wrong. The most feared pirate in history did not operate in the Caribbean. And did not have a beard of any color.
While one could make a case for it being Cheng Yi, most historians actually say it was Shih Yang, better known as Ching Shih.
Who Was Ching Shih?
So, the story does indeed start which Cheng Yi, also known as Cheng I, a feared pirate prince who plagued the South Chinese sea. He may have at times acted as a privateer for the Mac Dynasty.
In 1801, Cheng Yi chose a bride.To be more accurate, he purchased a bride. The story goes that he found the 26-year-old woman in a floating brothel in the city of Canton.
This was not some kind of love match. Cheng Yi already had a life partner, Chang Paou, his adopted son. (Before you side-eye, it wasn’t unusual in their culture to adopt an adult, and while Paou was younger than him, he did not raise him and the adoption was the closest he could get to marrying his lover).
No, the young woman he “purchased” (a deal apparently negotiated by Zheng herself) was a savvy businesswoman…