Ching Shih was a powerful female pirate that dominated the China Sea during the early 19th century. This female pirate from China is a rare historical figure because she is one of the few women in history to lead a pirate crew that was the size of a kingdom. According to historical accounts, Ching Shih lead a force of up to 40,000 pirates operated 300 junks( A Chinese sailing ship). Ching Shih was feared, revered, respected and hated by thousands of people who lived in the regions situated along the China Sea.

• No written records exist on Ching Shih’s childhood. While historians have figured out that she was born in the Guangdong province in 1775 they do not have any information about her mother, father or economic condition.
• Ching Shih was working as a sex worker in a brothel inside of a city named Canton. The year was 1801 when Ching was first introduced into the world of piracy. She was going about her daily routine of offering sex for sale when a ruthless pirate named Zheng Yi raided Canton. Shih was captured with other women and she caught the attention of Zheng Yi.
• Zheng Yi apparently liked Ching more so than the other females because he selected her to be his wife.
• Ching Shih’s name was given to her after she married Zheng Yi. No one knows her original name. Apparently, she never told anyone this information. Ching Shih means “widow of Zheng”.
• After the couple were married, Ching Shih participated in Zheng Yi’s activities. She learned about the daily routines and habits of piracy from her husband. She was also exposed to the different situations that usually accompany the life of an outlaw.
• Zheng Yi used his reputation and power to consolidate the pirates in Canton into a formidable alliance. Zheng Yi ruled them and they were known as the Red Flag Fleet.
• In 1807 Zheng Yi died while in Vietnam. Ching Shih did not want to lose any of the power that she had with her husband. After his death she immediately began to set up control over the Red Flag Fleet.
• Ching Shih formed relationships with her rivals to recognize her position as the next ruler of the pirate alliance. She called upon members of Zheng Yi’s family who were powerful pirate lords. Cheng Pao-yand and Cheng Ch’i was Zheng Yi’s nephew and cousin and their influence was necessary for keeping the pirates under control for Ching. Most of the captains who served under Ching and her husband continued to remain loyal to her.
• Ching Shih realized that she needed someone to handle the daily routine of governing the pirates and she chose a man by the name of Chang Pao.
• Chang Pao was Zheng Yi’s adopted son and his sex slave. Apparently, Zheng Yi was a bisexual man and captured young Chang Pao when he was 15 years old. Zheng Yi then adopted him and he became a recognized authority figure among the pirates. None of this mattered to Ching Shih because she ended up marrying Chang Poa because the other pirates respected him as a leader.
• Ching Shih had a son with Chang Pao right before he died. No one knows how Chang Pao lost his life.
• While Chang Pao was alive he issued a set of pirate codes for his large crew to follow. The codes were strictly enforced.
• The codes that were given by Chang Pao required the pirates to strictly follow the orders given by Ching Shih and her superiors. Pirates who made up their own orders or who did not obey Ching Shih were beheaded. The second rule stated that no one could steal from the funds or villages that supported the large pirate fleet. The last code required all treasure taken in raids to be inspected and then placed into the public coffers. The original seizer of the treasure was given 20% of loot that was taken.
• People who did not follow these rules could be beaten, whipped or killed.
• Ching Shih used terror tactics in order to control the China sea. People who opposed her were either badly beaten or killed.
• The British Empire operated in this part of the world at the time and they would often report Ching Shih as a Terror of South China.
• China’s natvies could not defeat Ching Shih. Neither could the British or Portuguese fleets that operated in that region. She was so powerful that they had no choice but to give amnesty to all pirates in Southern China.
• The Qing Dynasty was ruling China during the time of Ching Shih’s reign. A government official named Zhang Bai decided on amnesty but he wanted Ching Shih, Chang Pao and the pirates to bow before the rulers of China. The pirates refused. Ching Shih and Chang Pao found a way to satisfy this requirement by getting the blessing of the government to marry. They had to do this because Chang Pao was still considered Ching Shin’s son before they got married.
• Chang Pao and Ching Shih both retired from piracy after this event took place. Chang Pao and Ching Shih were two very rich individuals and Chang took a government’s position before he suddenly died at the age of 36.
• After Chang Pao’s, Ching Shih opened up a gambling house with her son. She worked this place until she died in 1844 at the age of 69.
• Ching Shih’s life has been romanticized in books, films and video games.
• The History of Piracy by Philip Gosse is the original manuscript that outlines the life of Ching Shih.
• A graphic novel called Afterlife portrays a character based off of Ching Shih as a female warrior that battles demons in the afterlife.
• Mistress Ching in the Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End is based off of Ching Shih.
• The TV series,Red Flag is based on the life of Ching Shih.

When Ching Shih retired from piracy in 1810 she was never defeated in battle. For close to nine years she dominated the world of piracy in Southern China. This would not have been an easy feat for any person to do. After all she commanded a vast army of pirates and they followed her closely. While China and the western powers had found a way to make her complacent, they could not end her legacy. Her fame and notoriety still lives on in modern times.

Yevdokia Bershanskaya was born in the Russian town of Stavropol on February 6 1913. She was born just before the First World War, a conflict that brought about the demise of the Russian empire and it’s replacement by the Soviet Union. Being a Soviet citizen gave Yevdokia Bershanskaya the chance to become a pilot.

Some Facts About Her:

• Her years of flying experience meant the Soviet Air Force quickly enrolled Yevdokia into their ranks after the German invasion began on June 22 1941. They needed to replace the male pilots captured, or killed in the first days of the Axis attacks.
• Due to the Germans destroying thousands of Soviet planes during their rapid advance towards Leningrad and Moscow, Bershanskaya and her female colleagues had only obsolete biplane bombers to bomb the invaders with.
• The three squadrons, (known as regiments by the Soviets) founded by
  Marina Raskova, comprised of only women.
• They flew and crewed the old Polikarpov Po-2 biplane bombers, that could carry a respectable bomb load yet their slow speed made them highly vulnerable to German fighters and anti-aircraft gunners if flown during the daylight.
• To lower the risks of being shot down in the slow Polikarpov planes, the three regiments of women that crewed them were ordered to always attack German positions, and targets at night. The Soviet Air Force leadership was not always noted for protecting its crews but the orders to fly at night were really sensible.
• Bershanskaya assisted in the development of tactics that made the three regiments feared by the Germans, as it made it harder for German anti-aircraft gunners, and night fighters to shot them down. The Germans dubbed them the “Night Witches.”
• Whenever possible the Night Witches flew at low altitudes where the Germans were known to have radar. They would rise to a higher altitude, turn off the plane engines, quietly glide into the best bombing positions, and only turn the power on for the return flight back to their bases.
• As a whole the Night Witches caused a great deal of damage to the Germans. They continued to fly at night even after the Luftwaffe became gravely weakened in the last months of the war.
• Bershanskaya joined the 588th Night Bomber regiment(Night Witches) in June 1941. Due to her flying skills she was made the Regimental Commander.
• In 1943 the Soviet Air Force altered the command and designations of its air regiments. The 588th Night Bomber Regiment was reconstituted as the 46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment.
• For her efforts in the Great Patriotic War, she was awarded the Order of the Red Badge of Honor, as well as the Patriotic War medal. She’s also the only woman to be awarded the Order of Suvorov.
• She died of a heart attack during 1982.

Marina Mikhaylovna Raskova was born on March 28 1912. Her maiden name was Malinina. When she was born, Russia was a backward empire. However due to the abject Russian failures during the First World War, and both revolutions of 1917 she was not a subject of the Tzar for too long. Under communism Marina Raskova, like many of the women she would go on to command. Benefited from being trained in normally masculine job roles. In her case that was becoming a navigator.

Facts About Raskova:

• Originally she had wanted to become an opera singer, just like her maternal aunt who had been famous in Russia. Her father’s premature death in 1919 changed those plans, although she remained passionate about singing for the rest of her life.
• Whilst at school the young Marina discovered that she excelled at studying the natural sciences, especially chemistry. When her education was finished she decided to get a job within heavy industry.
• The Soviet regime wanted to greatly expand industry and gave women roles in factories opportunities that their counterparts in capitalist countries simply did not have.
• It was at her job at a dye factory in 1929 where she met her husband, Sergei Raskov.
• Her only child, a daughter the couple named Tanya was born in 1930.
• By 1931 she had left the dye factory and started her career in aviation, which would make her famous throughout the Soviet Union. Her first role was as a draftswoman of the Aero Navigation Laboratory of the Air Force.
• Two years later Raskova made history by being accepted as the first woman navigator in the Soviet Air Force. She spent her time wisely, quickly learning to fly.
• In 1934 she achieved another first by becoming a teacher at the Zhukovskii Air Academy, before her personal life witnessed her divorce in 1935.
• Her fame increased during her stint teaching at the academy, especially after being involved in setting flight records. The most famous flight was when she was the navigator in a three woman crew that eventually set a long distance. Yet disaster almost struck as they could not find an airfield to land on. Kaskova had to bale out and for eight days survived on minimal rations. On their safe return they were all made Heroes of the Soviet Union.
• Using her connections with Joseph stalin she convinced the russian military to form three fighter regiments of women.
• Of these three regiments, one was commanded by Tamara Kazarinova. And the other two were commanded by Raskova herself, and Yevdokia Bershanskaya(Commander of the night witches regiment) respectively.
• It was the hard hitting German blitzkrieg of June 22 1941 that led to her playing an important role in resisting the invasion.
• For the Soviet Air Force she was the natural choice to place in command of the women only air regiments.
• Raskova and her comrades allowed the Soviets to recover from their disastrous losses sooner than the Germans expected.
• Despite flying obsolete biplanes at night, these regiments inflicted a lot of damage on German units. As 1942 progressed they were given more modern planes.
• Raskova took a keen interest in training her new recruits. It was on such a training flight when tragedy struck. During one of these flights her aircraft crashed while trying to make a forced landing and the whole crew including Raskova herself died.
• She was held with such high regard that she was honored with a state funeral.