Were there any female pirates?
Her fleet committed many varying kinds of piracy, from the traditional weak merchant ships, to sacking and pillaging villages inland along rivers. The government tried to destroy the pirates in a series of battles in January 1808, however all they managed to do was to give the pirates even more ships for the fleet. The damage was great enough that the Government had to use private fishing vessels. The real threat came from other pirates, and a rival called O-po-tae forced Ching Shih’s fleet to retreat. Because of his worry about the revenge that could be exacted on him, O-po-tae sought a pardon for his men from the government and it was granted. Ching Shih also sought pardon for her fleet in 1810, now that the government could concentrate on her men and ships, and received it. Chang Pao spent the rest of his life in a comfortable government position, while Ching Shih died at the age of 60 in 1844, running a brothel and gambling house in Guangzhou.
