Interview w/ Larry Feign on the Pirate Queen Zheng Yi Sao | The China History Podcast | Special Ep.

[@RichMitch]

Can hear how excited Lazslo is to be talking to Larry 😊

[@michelleeewu]

This was so cool - would be awesome to get a movie out of it

[@ChinaHistoryPodcast]

I was thinking the same thing.

[@andro7862]

I'm glad I'm early.

[@Ashley-vs8nu]

Will definitely have to take a look into this book. Ever since discovering Zheng I've often wondered how her story could be brushed aside.

[@MadHatter42]

I’ve been looking for a good book to read at the beach this summer, can think of anything better than the Pirate Queen of the East!

[@ChinaHistoryPodcast]

It's a serious page-turner. You won't be disappointed, I guarantee it.

[@hiroyukisanada6868]

Long live Lazlo Montgomery, Chinese expert

[@ChinaHistoryPodcast]

Faux Chinese Expert. 滥竽充数.

[@melissa8373]

Have you heard of about the pirate lady from Shanghai?

[@thewisetzar5363]

Good episode. Would be nice to see more interviews in the future

[@ChinaHistoryPodcast]

You're definitely going to get your wish. Lots more of this planned for the future.

[@anngo4140]

I'm so gonna buy this book! :D

[@ChinaHistoryPodcast]

Haha! Thanks! I’m sure he’ll be thrilled. I should have pre-arranged for a commission! Hope you’re well An.

[@anngo4140]

@@ChinaHistoryPodcast Thank you for the well wishes! I hope the best for you and everyone involved in Teacup! :D

[@Jumpoable]

How amazing! Zeng Yat Sou has been making the rounds lately! Her story's being told again! & Larry Feign gave me endless hours of laughter during my childhood. Thank you gentlemen for this EPIC episode! Wow. Larry had a total shamanic experience at the Tin Hau temple on Tai O! Definitely planning a visit sometime soon. PS) Book bought on Kindle.

[@ChinaHistoryPodcast]

And a big thanks to you Johannes for giving it a listen.

[@KingHayabusa384]

Bought me this book today. Looking forward to read it.

[@ChinaHistoryPodcast]

You'll really enjoy it. I sure did.

[@theanalectsofcatherine9813]

Really enjoyed this interview, glad I found out about the book!

[@ChinaHistoryPodcast]

You'll love it!

[@Tonytony95461]

Loved this! Its great to hear these experiences.

[@ewright4108]

There is some confusion here about flower boats. They operated upriver and in typhoon shelters - too close to Authority for pirates. There would have been close kin relationships between the Hakka people who operated these brothels and sea going pirates - the brothel keepers were the link that allowed disposal of contraband. With this interaction there would have been opportunities to buy out flower girls, although from the girls perspective it was still an abduction. It’s romantic to think that a beautiful woman as depicted on the cover could eventually control the pirates. But there was a hierarchy among the womenfolk too. Don’t forget the mothers and aunties. Cheung Yee Sau would have been an auntie by the time she gained any control.

[@ChinaHistoryPodcast]

Thanks for this insight. Much appreciated.

[@LFeign]

I agree with your points about the flower boats. As I said in the interview, and depict in the book, their location and their relationship with the pirates make it extremely unlikely that she was abducted from a flower boat, despite what many dubious accounts claim. I devoted considerable research and consideration into all the possible circumstances that would have brought her aboard Cheng Yat's fleet, and the scenario in the book--in which she returned to her home village and was taken in a raid--though impossible to confirm, is, to me, the most plausible. She was 26 when she joined the pirates, 32 years old when she assumed control, and 36 when she retired from piracy, that's been documented, so she was clearly not an old auntie. If any hierarchy existed among the women, she was already at the top from the start, being the wife of the fleet leader.

[@mosquedasam]

my kind of Lady, reminds me of my wife.

[@germangarcia7584]

Yayoi man