THE PIRATE QUEEN

The True Story of the Woman Who Commanded the South China Sea

By: William Ferrier Jr.

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

She was sold into sexual slavery at age seven. By thirty-five, she commanded 80,000 pirates and negotiated with empires as an equal.

In 1801, Shi Yang was property—a flower boat prostitute in Canton with no future and no hope. By 1810, she was Zheng Yi Sao, the Pirate Queen, commander of the largest criminal fleet in history.

This is the true story of how one woman transformed herself from victim to victor, building an empire on the South China Sea that neither the Chinese government nor European powers could destroy.

Starting with nothing but intelligence and ruthless pragmatism, Shi Yang:

• Commanded up to 1,800 ships and 80,000 pirates
• Controlled 300 miles of Chinese coastline
• Generated revenues exceeding entire provinces
• Wrote the first pirate code to include protections for women
• Negotiated the only successful pirate amnesty in Chinese history
• Retired wealthy and died peacefully at 69—an outcome achieved by no other pirate in history

THE PIRATE QUEEN is the story of impossible transformation: from enslaved girl to military commander, from property to power, from victim to the woman who forced an empire to acknowledge her as an equal.

Based on years of historical research, this is the biography she deserves—and the story that will leave you asking: why didn't we know about her?

Perfect for readers of Hidden Figures, The Woman They Could Not Silence, and Educated.

Fantastic novel!

I was surprised that I had never heard this story before. I did not even know that the pirate queen ever existed. The author writes in a way that I felt like I connected with each of the characters. He brought them to life.

well reasearched

quite an extraordinary story. how interesting to be discovered through archival paperwork in the course of research of Chinese maritime history amazing success as a pirate.