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Ching Shih – or Madame Ching – was a former courtesan who would rise from humble beginnings to command the notorious Red Flag Fleet, a syndicate of pirate crews that operated across the South China Sea during the early 19th century. Her unparalleled reign would re-shape the dynamics of power, defying the Chinese government, the British and Portuguese empires.
Born Shi Xianggu in 1775 in China's Guangdong province, her early life was one of hardship and toil. She entered the world's oldest profession, working in a floating brothel in Canton. However, her life was to take a dramatic turn when she caught the eye of the fearsome pirate lord, Cheng I. When she married him in 1801, there was a seismic shift in her life’s direction. The ocean of piracy was about to unfold, but it would be some years before she would stand at its helm
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