Many of us have seen the movie franchise Pirates of the Caribbean, though few probably realize the character of Mistress Chen represents the greatest pirate of all time; Zhen Yi Sao, or Ching Shih as she was known at birth.

Beginning life in the coastal city of Guangzhou, China around 1775, Sao would grow up to work in a brothel house. In 1801, she met the man she would marry, himself a pirate of some note already, Zheng Yi or as he is sometimes referred, Cheng I.

Together, they would go on to grow an unbeatable pirate army, perplexing the Chinese government to the point Sao was offered not only pardon, but the right to all her pilfered booty, if she would just agree to retire from her debauched life of piracy.

Other than her work in a floating brothel, very little is known about Sao’s life before her marriage. Working at the brothel, Sao quickly gained a reputation for being a tough, no-nonsense business woman. These early lessons learned through survival paid off and Sao would go on to assist her husband by acting as the head of HR for the pirates under his command. Now a full blown pirate herself, Sao worked alongside her husband to unify pirate factions into a cohesive confederation. Under the couple’s leadership, the fledgling band of pirates eventually ballooned to a roster of 70,000 men.

In 1807, at the age of 42, Sao’s husband fell overboard and drowned at sea. Sao didn’t let a little thing like grief slow down her ambition. Instead, she immediately took control of the couple’s fleet. Her adopted son, Zhang Bao stepped up to aid his mother, working as her second in command. Sometime after her husband’s death, Sao and her adopted son, Zhang Bao would become known as husband and wife.

Under their command, if anyone was caught being guilty of disobedience, it was immediately off with their heads! Clearly believing in the sanctity of marriage, if any man were found to be unfaithful, he could be put to death under Sao’s strict leadership.

Balancing out her all or nothing rules with sweets, Sao offered 20% of the goods to those of her pirates doing the actual seizing of property, while committing the remaining percentage into a communal treasure horde.

Over the years, the Chinese Navy made several attempts to thwart Sao, only to find, like Wiley Coyote, they lacked the money and manpower to stop her attacks. In an effort to remove other pirates, the Chinese government began negotiating with them to retire.

Sometime around 1810, the Chinese government entered into such a negotiation with Sao and her adopted son and husband, Bao, offering them a chance to surrender.

At first, the talks hit a rough patch when the government demanded the couple turn over all of their boats- which was a non-starter as far as Sao was concerned.

Sao’s early learned business skills rose to the forefront of negotiations, eventually securing the ownership of her fleet and a spot in the imperial army for Bao.

At the end of their aquatic reign, the couple had amassed 17,318 pirates, 226 ships, 1,315 cannons, and 2,798 assorted weapons in their confederation of seafaring terror.

When her second husband died in 1822, Sao took their eleven year old son to her hometown of Guangzhou to raise him. Sao lived out her later years as independently as her first, now choosing to run a gambling den until she died at the age of 69 in 1844.