In Western history, pirate culture prevailed, various pirate legends were widely circulated, and the creation of novels and film and television dramas based on this theme has endured for a long time. In contrast, the Chinese civilization rooted in the yellow land is a typical agricultural civilization, and the political center of gravity of successive dynasties has been inland, lacking attention to maritime activities, not much record of events at sea, and no pirate culture. However, in the records of the court of the past to quell rebellion, there are records of the suppression or appeasement of pirates. From these records, it can be found that China's piracy has a long history, almost lasting for two thousand years, and some pirate organizations are very large, and their strength can compete with the imperial court in parts, and no dynasty has ever been able to really eliminate pirates.
The earliest pirate to appear in the history books was Zhang Bolu in the early years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, who plundered the coast with 3,000 men and horses, and also used the emperor's crown and seal.
In the last years of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Sun En, who started the incident with the "Five Buckets of Rice Road", was actually a pirate who gathered on the sea.
During the Tang Dynasty, the Tang Empire's maritime trade with places such as Arabia and Persia flourished, and pirates also rose up to plunder these ships. When Jian Zhen traveled to Japan, he once drifted to the southeast of Hainan and was supported by the great pirate Feng Ruofang, who was entrenched in the local area. Jian Zhen witnessed the luxury of his life: "Often used nipple incense as a candle lamp, burning more than 100 catties. Behind his house, there is a mountain of sue wood." Feng Ruofang's wealth came from the robbery of cargo ships on the sea, "often robbing two or three Persian ships every year, taking things for their own goods, and plundering people as slaves."
In the Yuan Dynasty, Kublai Khan ordered many pirates to fight for the Yuan Dynasty, and in the "Battle of Hong'an" against Japan, a large part of the Yuan Dynasty army was the original pirates.
In the wave of uprisings at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the great pirate Fang Guozhen became one of the largest separatist forces at that time, powerful enough to compete with Zhu Yuanzhang for the world.
At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, Chinese pirates in Southeast Asia were very active, they used the old port of Sumatra as a base to rob passing merchant ships, Liang Daoming and Chen Zuyi were the two largest pirates, and later Liang Daoming was assassinated by the Ming Dynasty, and Chen Zuyi was destroyed by Zheng He's fleet.
Although the Ming Dynasty implemented a strict policy of sea ban, it could not prohibit maritime smuggling activities, with the development of the Ming Dynasty commodity economy and the colonization of Southeast Asia by Western forces, trade and shipping in the waters near China were more enthusiastic than ever, and the phenomenon of coastal officials and people "eating on the sea" was very common. In order not to be caught by the officers and soldiers, the smuggling ships used armed escorts and gradually became armed groups on the sea, and there were big pirates such as Wang Zhi and Xu Hai. At that time, the Chinese pirates who were active in Southeast Asia were strong, and not only the officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty could not help them, but even the Western colonists who were strong and strong in their guns were afraid of them. The Teochew pirate Lin Feng led a raid on the Spanish colony of Manila in 1574, and his fame spread to the West, in the Spanish Mendoza's "Chronicle of Great China", which specifically tells about Lin Feng's attack on the Philippine archipelago.
Lin Feng
Mao Wenlong, who was killed by Yuan Chonghuan, used Phi Dao as his base and occupied the sea, and although he still accepted the supplies of the Ming Dynasty and The DPRK, in fact, he was not controlled by either side, wantonly smuggled and robbed, and became a pirate who dominated one side.
After the Dutch invaded Taiwan, a group of pirates robbed Dutch and Portuguese merchant ships near the Taiwan Strait, and their power expanded rapidly, among which Yang Liu, Yang Qi, Zheng Zhilong and other pirate groups made the Dutch East India Company anxious. Later, Zheng Zhilong surrendered to the imperial court and contributed to quell the pirates, eliminating the Liu Xiang clique and becoming a powerful armed force controlling Fujian. After the fall of the Ming Dynasty, the forces of the Zheng family withdrew from Fujian, drove out the Dutch, and occupied Taiwan.
After the establishment of the Qing Dynasty, it continued to enforce strict sea prohibitions, but maritime smuggling and piracy activities were never calmed, and in the last years of Qianlong and Jiaqing, piracy became more rampant, and the power of the pirate group developed to the extent that it could openly confront the imperial court, known in history as the "rebellion of ship thieves". Among them, the two most legendary pirates are cai qian group and Zhang Bao and Zheng Yiyi, and Zhang Bao and Zheng Yiyi are the prototypes of "Lady Qing" and "Captain Xiaofeng" in "Pirates of the Caribbean 3: The End of the World". The pirate couple was later commanded by the imperial court, Zhang Bao became a member of the Erpin Clan, and Zheng Yiyi helped Lin Zexu resist Ying in the Opium War in his later years. Cai Qian fought against the imperial court to the end and was finally suppressed.
Cai Qian was the pirate of the Qing Dynasty who most caused the headache of the imperial court, and was the "first rebel of the sea" in the heart of the Jiaqing Emperor, he was a Native of Tong'an, Fujian, born poor, in his early years to play cotton for a living, and later joined the pirates, with superior wisdom and courage and good war, he soon established a prestige, he integrated the pirate forces in Zhejiang and Fujian, became the leader, and was respected by his subordinates as "the great sea". According to the Xiamen Chronicle, "The person who dominates the shipment of goods to the sea is called 'going to sea'. "The Great Sea" is the supreme helmsman of the maritime power. Cai Himself, who called himself the King of Zhenhai, owned hundreds of ships and roamed the coasts of Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong. Ships sailing at sea in this area all have to pay him protection fees, cai qian also came up with a way to amass wealth, he sold "tickets" to shipowners, as long as they held "tickets" to avoid robbery, a "ticket" to the sea sold for up to 400 silver yuan, the price of a return ticket was doubled. This led to a sharp decline in the tax revenue of the Qing Customs, and even the Jiaqing Emperor was alarmed, and he pointed out in a parable: "The foreign bandits in Fujian Province today... The merchant ships in Haikou will cost 400 yuan abroad when they go to sea, and the cost of those who return to the interior will be doubled. This fee is given to the foreign thief Cai, and if it is given, it is fine, and if it is not given, the wealth and life will be lost. ”
In the seventh year of Jiaqing, Cai Qian led a fleet to attack the big and small Danshan mountains in Haikou, Xiamen, captured the forts, and took 13 cannons. The Jiaqing Emperor was furious and strictly ordered the local officials in Zhejiang to suppress Cai Qian, a giant thief of the seas.
The emperor was angry, the officials were nervous, Zhejiang Governor Ruan Yuan increased the intensity of the attack, Zhejiang Governor Li Changgeng built 30 new warships "Thunder Ships" and cast 400 artillery pieces to attack Cai Zhao. In the ninth year of Jiaqing, he severely damaged Cai Qian's pirate fleet in Dinghai, and although Cai Qian escaped, only 24 ships remained. However, Cai Qian's power was already deeply rooted, and he colluded with some generals in the official army, and also received the secret support of some corrupt local officials and businessmen, not only to get the weapons equipped by the imperial court officials and troops, but also to have enough financial resources to build larger and stronger warships than the "Thunder Ship" to confront the officers and troops.
On the fifth day of June in the ninth year of Jiaqing, Cai Qian, who had made a comeback, led a pirate fleet to attack the Wenzhou Water Division in the Capture Eagle Ocean, and Hu Zhensheng, the commander-in-chief of Wenzhou Town, was killed, and the Wenzhou Water Division was completely annihilated.
In the tenth year of Jiaqing, Cai Qian led more than a hundred warships to capture Tamsui, Kaohsiung, and other places in Taiwan, and established a base here, and then led his troops to besiege the capital city of Taiwan, causing shocks in the government and the public, and the Jiaqing Emperor hurriedly sent the Guangzhou general Sai Chong'a to Taiwan to preside over the encirclement and suppression of Cai Qian. Li Changgeng led his sailors across the sea to attack Cai Qian, and after a fierce battle, Cai Qian withdrew from Taiwan and broke through.
In the eleventh year of Jiaqing, Cai Qian encountered the water division jointly commanded by Li Changgeng and The Admiral Of Fujian Water Division Zhang Jiansheng on the surface of Fujian, and Cai Qian fled toward Zhejiang while fighting, Li Changgeng led his troops in hot pursuit, and his ship took the lead, firing cannons at Cai Qian, and also sent fire boats to catch up with Cai Qian's ship, preparing to burn Cai Qian's ship with fire. Cai Qian commanded the stern cannon to counterattack, and a cannon hit Li Changgeng's bow, Li Changgeng was immediately shot and killed, Zhang Jiansheng was shocked, he did not dare to fight again, and led his army to withdraw from the battle.
Statue of Li Changgeng
When the Jiaqing Emperor learned of Li Changgeng's death in battle, he was shocked and angry, and within a day he issued six edicts in a row, sternly resigned his responsibilities, and ordered Zhang Jiansheng and Li Changgeng's subordinate Wang Delu to quickly suppress Cai Qian and avenge Li Changgeng. If Zhang Jiansheng, Wang Delu, and others do not think of repaying the other and are willing to retreat, then they are not the ministers of our Great Qing Kingdom! ”
In the fierce battle with Li Changgeng, although Cai Was lucky to win a tragic victory, he was also seriously injured and fled to Vietnam with only three ships. Thirteen years after Jiaqing, Cai Qian returned to Zhejiang and Fujian to carry out activities in the sea. Li Changgeng's troops gathered Wang Delu and Qiu Lianggong, the viceroy of Zhejiang, together with the water divisions of the two provinces to encircle and suppress them. On August 18, 14005, the two sides encountered each other in the Black Water Ocean near Wenzhou, and fierce fighting ensued. During the battle, Cai Qian's ship was hit by shells and leaked, and his men suffered heavy casualties, Cai Qian himself was unable to fight for a long time because of opium smoking, but he did not fall to the death, and finally sank himself with his family and subordinates. On August 26, Zhang Shicheng, acting governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, together with Wang Delu, the viceroy of Fujian, and Qiu Lianggong, the viceroy of Zhejiang, jointly reported to the emperor: "Annihilate the head of the ocean, the rebel Cai Qian, sink all the more than 200 criminals of the anti-ship, and help the evil gang party." At this point, this pirate group that has been running rampant in the coastal areas of Guangdong, Fujian and Zhejiang for more than a decade has finally been cut off.
Cai Lead Base
However, the pirates did not disappear. After the Opium War, the country's gates were opened, five ports of trade were opened along the coast, and maritime trade flourished unprecedentedly, so the pirates turned their targets to foreign trading ships. Although the Qing government severely suppressed it, and foreign powers also sent warships to patrol, they could not be prevented. The pirates no longer form large pirate groups as before, but instead break into pieces, like somali pirates, small groups of merchant ships that have fallen singles, they will also impersonate passengers, carry weapons on passenger ships, and when the ship sails to the open sea, they suddenly attack to hijack the crew and passengers, rob the property, and even rob the entire ship. At that time, Chinese and foreign newspapers, such as the Northern China Herald and the Dianshizhai Pictorial, widely reported on the pirate attacks, causing panic among the people. Later, foreign merchant ships were stationed with Indian or Annan armed guards, but they were still repeatedly successful by pirates, and the great powers sent more warships to strengthen patrols. After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, piracy increased unabated, and the navies of the great powers used the advanced warships of the time to combat piracy, and the British even used submarines.
One night in October 1927, a British submarine patrolling the sea near Hong Kong spotted a large black ship that did not respond to the submarine's signal of inquiry. The British Navy, believing it to be a pirate ship, immediately launched an artillery attack, sinking the ship and rescuing 226 people who had fallen into the water. It was later discovered that it was a Chinese passenger ship, which had been hijacked by pirates, and the British police identified 7 pirates out of 226 people and were taken to Hong Kong to hang. But the overreaction of the British submarine caused protests from the Chinese government and shipowners, and the matter went to the maritime court, but how could the poor and weak China get justice in front of the British, and the court fully supported the British captain's decision to open fire. Through this incident, it is enough to show that the rampant piracy at that time had made the British highly nervous, to the point of being noisy.
Throughout Chinese history, although pirates only operated along the coast of China and Southeast Asia, and did not commit crimes across the ocean like Western pirates, their legendary degree is not inferior to that of famous Western pirates such as "Blackbeard", Captain Kidd, Henry Morgan, Anne Penny, etc. If excavated, it is also an excellent film and television theme.
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