Zheng Yi (pirate)

Zheng Yi (Chinese: 鄭一; pinyin: Zhèng Yī; Wade–Giles: Cheng I; Cantonese: Jihng Yāt, also romanised as Cheng Yud and translated as Cheng One; 1765 – 1807) was a powerful Chinese pirate operating from Guangdong and throughout the South China Sea in the late 1700s.

Heavily involved in government intrigue, he was instrumental in China's interventions during the Tây Sơn Dynasty's control of Vietnam. Unable to marry his male lover, the son of a Tankan fisherman named Chang Paou who was later famously known as Cheung Po Tsai (called Sao Feng in Disney's portrayal of him in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End), Zheng Yi adopted Chang Paou as his son which granted him inheritance rights as well as respect from the crew when Zheng Yi appointed him as fleet commander.

In 1801, the nefarious intrigues of the notorious Cantonese brothel Madame Shih Yang, known for her shrewd business savvy and trade in secrets through the pillow talk of her wealthy and political clientele, caught his attention. Purely as a business move, Zheng Yi made a proposal of marriage to Shih Yang to consolidate the powers of intrigue, as it were, which she is said to have agreed to by formal contract granting her a 50% control and share.

Chang Paou thus became her step-son, while at the same time sharing Zheng Yi's bed. Shih Yang (now called "Zheng Yi Sao", meaning "wife of Zheng Yi") proved a formidable warrior and was instrumental in raising the fleet to upwards of 1,800 vessels and nearly 150,000 pirates.

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