EPISODE 24 The Pirate Queen

History on Fire

Daniele Bolelli

Society & Culture

4.7 • 5.9K Ratings

🗓️ 14 September 2017

⏱️ 133 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

“I never planted wheat and never will, so long as there are other harvests to be reaped with the sword.” Robert E. Howard (from ‘Beyond the Black River’) “In the rough and violent world of seafaring, mariners could not afford to always abide by the niceties of the law or proper etiquette.” Robert J Anthony “There is no greater calamity than not knowing what is enough”. Tao Te Ching At the very beginning of the 1800s, a Chinese woman went from being employed as a prostitute in the floating brothels close to Canton to becoming the leader of the biggest pirate confederacy in modern history. Despite ending up as one of the most successful pirates ever, little is known about her. Today, we dive into the mystery and explore her story. In this episode: -The three waves of piracy -Piracy as a family business -The boat people -“People are not born sea bandits, but drift into brigandage because they can no longer support themselves.” Wang Zhiyin governor of Fujian -The Tay-Son rebellion -Death by a thousand cuts -The seven pirate bosses and the creation of the biggest pirate confederacy in modern history -When pirates invite you to join their crew, saying ‘no’ is not an option -A pirate’s life for me: opium, prostitutes, gambling, fights -The rise of Cheng I Sao, and her saving the Confederacy -Chang Pao -Cheng I Sao’s law: “Off with his head!” -Former prostitute, full time pirate leader and part time shaman -Straight out of Game of Thrones: fireboats -Cheng I Sao and the Taoist talent of knowing when to stop PATREON NEWS: I have just started a Patreon account!!!! If you feel in a generous mood, please, check it out at www.patreon.com/historyonfire Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Whether you like history or not, if you care about bravery, wisdom, passion, larger-than-life
0:07.7	characters, and some of the most emotionally intense moments in human experience, you
0:12.2	have come to the right place.
0:14.0	Danielle Bellelli is a university history professor, writer and martial artis, and he shall
0:19.0	be your guide in a journey to the place where history and epic collide.
1:01.0	The following sponsors make it possible to produce history on fire episodes and release
1:05.7	them for free.
1:07.1	All they ask in exchange is for you to check out if their products may be interesting
1:11.0	to you.
1:12.0	So let me thank these sweet folks right here at the top.
1:17.4	This episode is brought to you by BlueApron.com.
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1:37.1	So yeah, that's one easy way to support history on fire is to take them up on their off
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1:49.1	on fire.
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2:03.7	But in any case, check them out.
	...

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