Can you hear the word pirate?

What do you think of?

Do you picture a flag, bring a skull and crossbones, waving in the wind above some ominous

ship sailing off into the sunset?

Maybe you see a grizzled man with a beard and an eye patch.

Maybe he's got a peg leg, a flintlock pistol in one hand, a curved cutlass in the other.

But I hope that one comes with a Technicolor Parrot squawking on his shoulder.

I think of Blackbeard or Calco Jack.

Barbosa and Jack Sparrow.

You probably aren't picturing a shrewd, former peasant girl from Guangdong province named

Qingshui.

But you should be, because Qingshui was the most successful pirate in the history of the

world that you've never heard of.

It's 1810 in the South China Sea.

It's a violent yet golden age for Asiatic piracy.

One of the fiercest pirates in the history of the world looks out over a massive fleet

grown over the course of her career.

At its height, this includes more than 1800 ships, 70,000 pirates, both men and women.

For context, the infamous Blackbeard commanded just 300 ships at the height of his piracy

career.

It's an enormous fleet, loyal to the Guangdong Pirate Confederation, a united front of

pirates in China founded by their fearless leader, a united front that took on the Chinese

...