This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources:   "Pirates of the South China Coast"  ?  news   · newspapers   · books   · scholar   · JSTOR ( January 2019 ) ( Learn how and when to remove this message )

You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Chinese . (May 2016) Click [show] for important translation instructions. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate , is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Chinese Wikipedia article at [[:zh:華南海盜]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template {{Translated|zh|華南海盜}} to the talk page . For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation .

Pirates of the South China Coast ( traditional Chinese : 華南海盜 ; simplified Chinese : ?南海? ; pinyin : hua nan h?i dao ) were Chinese pirates who were active in the north-western coasts of the South China Sea from the late 18th century to the 19th century, mainly during a 20-year period from 1790 to 1810. After 1805, the pirates of the South China Coast entered their most powerful period. Many pirates were fully trained by the Tay S?n dynasty of Vietnam . ^[1]

They were called Ladrones by Richard Glasspoole .

History [ edit ]

Since the late 18th century, with the increase of the population, land annexation was becoming serious day by day. Many farmers lost their land, they became brigands or pirates. Giang Binh (present-day Jiangping town  [ zh ] in Dongxing , Fangchenggang , Guangxi , China) was known as a pirate hotbed at that time.

In early times, most of Chinese pirates were fishermen. They came to Giang Binh by boats to do business, though the private maritime trade was restricted by Chinese government. Giang Binh located near China?Vietnam border; it belonged to Vietnam since Ly dynasty , later, it was ceded to China after the end of the Sino-French War . Giang Binh was a melting pot of Vietnamese and Chinese, it was a strategically located; however, this area was neglected by Vietnamese government.

Tay S?n Rebellion broke out in Southern Vietnam in 1771. The rebellion soon swept Nguy?n lords and Tr?nh lords out of power. Many Chinese pirates were hired and joined the civil war. T?p đinh and Ly Tai became generals of Tay S?n army. He Xiwen (Ha H? V?n) became a general of Nguy?n Anh .

Nguy?n Hu? , one of Tay S?n leaders, crowned the Quang Trung Emperor, and defeated the invading Chinese army in 1789. After the battle, Hu? reconciled with China, however, he waited for an opportunity to take revenge on China. He provided money to Chinese pirates. Three prominent pirates, Chen Tianbao , Mo Guanfu and Zheng Qi , were ordered to hire more pirates. Since 1790, the number of Chinese pirates grew rapidly. Most of them pledged loyalty to Tay S?n dynasty, and were fully trained. Many pirates were granted official positions. They were able to block sea routes, and harassed the coastlines of South China ( Guangdong , Fujian , Zhejiang , Jiangsu ) frequently. Later, they also took part in all important naval battle against Nguy?n Anh.

In 1801, Nguy?n navy reached Phu Xuan , a naval battle broke out in N?n estuary (present-day Thu?n An estuary ). Many Chinese pirates were hired by Tay S?n to fight against Nguy?n lord. Jean-Baptiste Chaigneau described that it was the fiercest battle in the history of Cochinchina. The battle ended with a near annihilation of both Tay S?n navy and Chinese pirates. Three important pirates, Mo Guanfu , Liang Wengeng and Fan Wencai , were captured by Nguy?n lord. Emperor C?nh Th?nh fled to Th?ng Long (present-day Hanoi), in there, he planned a counter-attack. Most of pirates did not supported Tay S?n dynasty, they fled back to China secretly. Chen Tianbao fled to Guangdong and surrendered to China. Zheng Qi still pledged loyalty to Emperor C?nh Th?nh. In 1802, he arrived at Th?ng Long. He was appointed as đ?i T? Ma ("Grand Marshal") by C?nh Th?nh. Zheng Qi get involved in the siege of đ?ng H?i , but his fleet was defeated in the mouth of Nh?t L? River .

Tay S?n dynasty was overthrown by Nguy?n dynasty . Unlike Tay S?n emperors, the new crowned Gia Long started to suppress the pirates. In September 1802, Nguy?n army destroyed the pirates' lair in Giang Binh, captured Zheng Qi and had him executed.

After this incident, Chinese pirates had to flee to Guangdong . To compete for turf, they attacked each other. Finally, they found it would just destroy themselves. In 1805, seven pirate leaders made an agreement, a pirate alliance was founded. Seven leaders were: Zheng Yi (Red Flag Fleet), Guo Podai (Black Flag Fleet), Liang Bao (White Flag Fleet), Jin Guyang (Green Flag Fleet), Wu Shi'er (Blue Flag Fleet), Wu Zhiqing (Yellow Flag Fleet) and Zheng Laotong . Not long after, Zheng Laotong surrendered to Chinese government, actually there were six gangs joined the alliance. The Red Flag Fleet led by Zheng Yi was the strongest gang in the alliance, as a matter of course, he was selected the leader of the alliance. Ladrones Islands (present-day Wanshan Archipelago ), Hong Kong and Leizhou Peninsula became pirate hotbeds.

Zheng Yi died suddenly in Vietnam on 16 November 1807. His widow Ching Shih , became new leaders of Red Flag Fleet. Later, Ching Shih married with adoptive son Cheung Po Tsai , Cheung succeeded the leaders and leader of the alliance. It made Guo Podai resentful.

Now Red Flag Fleet had 30,000 men and several hundred vessels, it became a big threat to Qing China and Portuguese Macau . In September 1809, Cheung was attacked by Portuguese Navy in the Tiger's Mouth. In November, Cheung was besieged by Chinese-Portuguese Navy in Chek Lap Kok . Cheung asked for Guo Podai's help, however, Guo refused. In a day of fog, Cheung fled from the battlefield. He was furious at Guo and vowed revenge on him. A navy battle between Red Flag Fleet and Chinese navy broke out in December, in the battle, Cheung was ambushed by Guo's Black Flag Fleet, and defeated. Several vessels of Cheung were captured by Guo. After the battle, Guo surrendered to Chinese government, Guo became an official of Chinese navy.

Hearing the news, Cheung refused to surrender. However, more and more pirates surrendered. In January 1810, Cheung was persuaded to surrender. He delivered his fleet and weapons on 20 April. Cheung became a Chinese naval officer. On 24 May, Chinese-Vietnamese navy were dispatched to suppress the remnants of pirates. Cheung and Guo took part in the battle. The main part of pirate fleet was destroyed in the battle. It marked the end of Chinese pirates' era.

On 26 June, 1857, Chinese pirates defeated the Portuguese in the Ningpo massacre .

Battles [ edit ]

• Ningpo massacre (26 June 1857) - battle between Chinese pirates and Portugal during the Qing dynasty, Chinese victory

Prominent pirates [ edit ]

• Chen Tien-pao
• Mo Kuan-fu
• Cheng Chi
• Liang Wen-keng
• Fan Wen-tsai
• Ho Hsi-wen
• Lun Kuei-li
• Zheng Yi
• Zheng Yi Sao
• Cheung Po Tsai
• Shap-ng-tsai
• Ah Pak

See also [ edit ]

• Piracy in the Strait of Malacca
• Thalassocracy

References [ edit ]