When Pirates Ruled Asia: 1000 Vicious Years of Chinese and Japanese Piracy // DOCUMENTARY 

BIBLIOGRAPHY Amirell, Stefan Eklof, and Mueller, Leos, Eds. (2014). Persistent Piracy. Maritime Violence and State-Formation in Global Historical Perspective. Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Andrade, Tonio, and Hang, Xing. (2016). Sea Rovers, Silver, and Samurai. Maritime East Asia in Global History 1550-1700. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Pr. Andrade, Tonio. (2011). Lost Colony: The Untold Story of China’s First Great Victory over the West. New Jersey: Princeton University Pr. Andrade, T. (2004). The Company's Chinese Pirates: How the Dutch East India Company Tried to Lead a Coalition of Pirates to War against China, 1621-1662. Journal of World History, 15(4), 415-444. Antony, R. (2014). Violence and Predation on the Sino-Vietnamese Maritime Frontier, 1450- 1850. Asia Major, 27(2), third series, 87-114. Antony, R. (1993). Aspects of the Socio-political Culture of South China’s Water World, 1740- 1840. The Great Circle, 15(2), 75-90. Antony, R. (1992). The Suppression of Pirates in South China in the Mid-Qing Period. American Journal of Chinese Studies, 1(1), 95-121. Bade, David. (2013.) Of Palm Wine, Women and War: The Mongolian Naval Expedition to Java in the 13th century. Singapore: Iseas-Yusof Ishak Institute. Blue, A. (1965). Piracy on the China Coast. Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 5, 69-85. Chin, Kim and LeBlang, Theodore. (1975). The Death Penalty in Traditional China. Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law, 5, 77-105. Clulow, Adam. (2011). Statecraft and Spectacle in East Asia. Studies in Taiwan-Japan Relations. London and New York: Routledge. Corr, William. (1995.) Adams the Pilot. The Life and Times od Captain William Adams 1564- 1620. Abingdon: Routledge. Elison, George. (1973.) Deus Destroyed. The Image of Christianity in Early Modern Japan. Cambridge, MS: Harvard university Press. Fujita, Kayoko, Momoki, Shiro, and Reid Anthony. (2013). Offshore Asia. Maritime Interactions in Eastern Asia Before Steamships. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. Kung, J., & Ma, C. (2014). Autarky and the Rise and Fall of Piracy in Ming China. The Journal of Economic History, 74(2), 509-534. MacKay, J. (2013). Pirate Nations: Maritime Pirates as Escape Societies in Late Imperial China. Social Science History, 37(4), 551-573. Murray, D. (1981). One Woman's Rise to Power: Cheng I's Wife and the Pirates. Historical Reflections / Réflexions Historiques, 8(3), 147-161. Ng, Chin-keong. (2017) "Trade, the Sea Prohibition and the “Folangji”, 1513-50." In Boundaries and Beyond: China's Maritime Southeast in Late Imperial Times, 101-46. SINGAPORE: NUS. Polenghi, Cesare. (2009). Samurai of Ayutthaya. Yamada Nagamasa, Japanese Warrior and Merchant in Early Seventeenth-Century Siam. Bangkok: White Lotus Press. Shapinsky, Peter. (2014). Lords of the Sea. Pirates, Violence, and Commerce in Late Medieval Japan. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Pr. Turnbull, Stephen. (2007). Pirates of the Far East 811-1639. Oxford: Osprey. 'East Indies: November 1593', in Calendar of State Papers Colonial, East Indies, China and Japan, Volume 2, 1513-1616, ed. W Noel Sainsbury (London, 1864), pp. 96-97. British History Online www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/colonial/east-indies-china-japan/vol2/pp96-97

Interesting how the Chinese also call westerners Folangii, in Thailand we still use that term as an umbrella term for foreigners of western appearance. A popular belief of the origins of the term is Persian word "Farangi" which in turn means Franks (French)

Kublai beckoned a eunuch officer “Call in the seamen” Poor eunuch, Kublai asking for things he can never give

"Indeed, that was an apt and true reply which was given to Alexander the Great by a pirate who had been seized. For when that king had asked the man what he meant by keeping hostile possession of the sea, he answered with bold pride, 'What thou meanest by seizing the whole earth; but because I do it with a petty ship, I am called a robber, whilst thou who dost it with a great fleet art styled emperor.' " - St. Augustine, City of God

From the Mongol invasions around 1220 to the Black Death 120-130 years later, I can understand why many people in Europe thought the world was ending.

As The History Guy uses to say, every good story has pirates in it.

Thank you so much your focus on foreign relations, and the interconnectedness of peoples in the past. I find sometimes that, especially in discussions of premodern history, the focus can become very insular and not overly discuss the interactions between nations beyond wars and larger battles. I appreciate the way you shed light on some lesser known exchanges from the past, as well as adding in mentions of other events which were going on congruently in different parts of the world.

You should release these longer videos as a podcast too, I'd love to be able to listen to these while travelling or working!

Not to mention the Republic of Singapore Navy, Indonesian Navy and Malaysian Navy have been modernised and strengthen to deal with piracy problem that plague the 20th century along the Straits of Malacca and the South China Sea around the Riau Islands. Jobs creation in these countries have helped to lower the livelihood issue sand provided for a dignified way of life as fishermen or other trades.

That's it! I'm declaring myself Pirate King in the Philippines.

Your series on Asian history is truly eye-opening. Much of this history is hidden, especially if you've been educated in "the west". A must watch for sure.

If you ever visit Shanghai, there's a diary written by an English naval officer, sitting under a glass case in the Shanghai History Museum (I'm probably remembering the name wrong) - the page that's open is very entertaining, recording his experience meeting the Chinese at the docks and calling them liars. I'm sure it's open to that page on purpose. Maybe you'll find that diary and read it sometime.

I’m surprised the big networks have not asked to purchase your program and broadcast it. The quality is incredible,narration is captivating as are the graphics. Bravo!

I guess that with the limited technology, sailing off the coast during those ages were like gambling with your life every day. It gives me chills just to imagine what kind of mindset would have been built under such a condition, life.

56:30 some irony to note here: until the Spanish started circulating Incan silver across the Pacific and Atlantic, China had used copper-based currency (silk for higher denominations or salaries).

Piracy and thassalocratic thought was so prevalent around pacific at that time that even Malacca Sultanate would rule under what they call "The Laws of Allah AND the Captain" Big part of this push towards naval life was also heavily spurred on as a reaction to Ming's, and then Qing's expansionist tendencies towards the eastern seaboard. Also it is a very interesting story of Koxinga and Kingdom of Tungning that most in the west do not know. It is basically how Taiwan got in the hands of the Chinese

Entire history!? Alright, time to get comfy and enjoy the ride. Amazing work, thank you for sharing this one.

I keep trying to grasp what the traces of Japanese, Chinese, Khmer, Punjabi, and Bengali DNA mixed in with Peruvian and Colombian Native DNA from my Acadian ancestry of Nova Scotia means. They had to be pirates exiled from their ports of operation to become crewmen on a European spice trader's ship. It had to be a tale with a lot of twists and turns. I've been looking for this kind of information, but according to one source it was the Portuguese pirate, Capt. Pinto that made a pact with the Japanese pirates around 1550 that began an era of cooperation. and trade.

This was a phenomenal episode, folks. Thanks for producing!

Amazingly done documentary of piracy. I’ve enjoyed all of ur voices from the past and find the combination of solid research, underlie unt graphics and calm narration quite enthralling. Can’t wait for more 🤓

When I was a kid there was a comic strip in the Sunday newspaper called "Terry And The Pirates," which was about pirates in Asian waters.

You guys have like my favorite channels on RU-vid these days. These documentaries are incredible. Major kudos. Somebody could write an epic about some of these figures. Stay well out there everybody, and God bless you friends. :)

Wow, you really put a lot of work into this. Great work!

One of the best short histories I have watched, and I've watched quite a few in the last year or so. Very well done with an amazing narrator.

One correction here: you wrongly attribute the "three rules" to Madam Zhang; she enforced those rules and likely agreed with them but they came from her husband, not from her. This is a common mistake, since most scholarship on her traces at least partly back to an earlier book about her by a British sensationalist author. Wikipedia actually has good info on this.

And here I am needing some inspiration/research for my Wokou inspired Pirate Republic in D&D XD

Wow, what a treat; thank you again for the high quality content.

Totally engrossing, and absolutely fascinating. Thanks for all your hard work; this was excellent.

You missed the part where Opium had been used as currency in Southern China hundreds of years before the arrival of the British. Peasants would go to the market with a cake of opium under their arm, and shave off a few grams to pay for their vegetables. It was currency. What the British did was to import a more potent strain of opium from India, and traded on that value. Still their trade advantage only lasted about ten years, until the Chinese were able to replicate that more potent strain.

This one got you my sub. Thank you! Absolutely amazing, the depth of research that went into this combined with the awesome imagery was just amazing. Again, thank you!

Your videos are typically great, this one is especially. Fantastic work.

This was great! The narration is perfect- calm, clear, not over-dramatic- engrossing! I really enjoyed listening to this. Thanks!

This is one of my favourite channels. I especially like to hear the descriptions of foreign peoples how the travellers saw them.

Great documentary, a whole lot information gathered for this. Well done! I enjoyed this very much.

I do not know if this is related, but i've been reading Malay folk stories that border the Malacca Strait and boy do they fear their "Lanun" (Pirates). Some communities, especially ones that were outside the protection of strong Malay States, even placed their settlements as far as they could from the shores, place watch on hills, and keep water close to extinguish fire when signal is raised, all because of the fear of being raided.

I had to hold off on watching this. I save these for when Im in the middle of work A treat 🥰

In Japan was similar situation like with Slavs in Europe . Slavic tribes have nostop war with other Slavs .In old Russia only Viking can unite them and stabilise them when they join with them.

Imagine how many people were stopped by that one pesky mosquito...

The introduction had me hooked, great writing

Great job! I enjoyed this one. Nice and lengthy

Just learned about everything I never understood throughout my history classes in middle school & high school in a about 1hour. It was like connecting the dots in all the little parts I had no idea how or when they fit exactly. Wow Thanks for sharing this captivating & fascinating video 👌👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👏🏼😉 ✌🏼

Bro the quality on this is impeccable, I love it, can't wait to see more of it 🔥

Absolutely brilliant and a delight to listen to.

This was outstanding! Thank you.

Excellent vid dude and such smooth narration, keep em coming!!

Excellent documentary I thoroughly enjoyed watching and learning.

Thank you for posting such fantastic content on youtube.

So well done, thank you for sharing.

This video is magnificent. Amazing work, incredible channel.

Incredible work. Very well, congratulations!

Great video - thank you for making this!

Thank you for this great history lesson!!

Excellent presentation. Informative as it is educational. Thanks for posting and be safe 🙏

WoW that was an eye-opener. Wonderful ending too. I'm in awe.

Excellent, thanks for this.

I'm sailing through Indonesia right now and this story has shed a whole new light on my sense for this region and nearby. This is remarkable

I just discovered you folks. You make history interesting. Thanks for your informative and well-researched documentary.

Just excellent 👌 It was so nice to stumble upon a telling of the history & complexities of piracy & international diplomacy that wasn't the usual go-to content of 'the Golden Age of European/Caribbean Piracy' or 'Barbary pirates'... especially since the 'conflicts' over & around these waters are still going on to this day. Now I'm off to follow a 'Zheng Shi/Asian pirate' research rabbit-hole... immediately subbed! 👍

Fascinating and brilliantly presented.

This was an awesome documentary (and excellent voicework as usual). Would you be able to do a follow-up one on Indian Ocean/Indonesian piracy next?

Better than almost any history class I’ve had… and I only say almost cause a couple of my best teachers were history teachers honestly

Finally! A history lesson with a perfect narrator voice. You really are cut out for this type of content. Subbed

I studied in Vietnam as a grad student under the auspice of my Japanese university. The ancient Vietnamese slang word for a Japanese person was “ Tattoo face “ or “ Wide toes “ no doubt from Japanese pirates who were heavily tattooed and wore wide geta sandals.

The pirates in Eastern coastal of china were mostly chinese, they were called wako(japanese pirates) by the Ming imperial court, but when Ming officials captured many of the fleets, 7 out of 10 are Chinese from Fujian, only 30 percent are real Japanese. zheng chenggong also called Koxinga, who conquered Taiwan, and his father is also from a Fujian pirate Zheng clan. Hakkanese people are good sailers.

thanks for the upload just found this channel its awesome

I've been subscribed for a while, but this is the first thing that's made me see it and go, I have to watch this

Wow. Amazing scholarship. We study Cheung Bou (Tsai) in Hong Kong, & Koxinga is very revered in both Taiwan & Japan, but the details are scant. Thank you for giving us back the full picture.

Fantastic video! Thank you!

Truly impressive work sir. Now only to wait until the great space pirate age.

I learned a lot from this one. Bravo!

Ahhrrrr! I like the the cut of your gib! Excellent vid. Thanks.

Keep up the good work. Excellent documentary. 👍

lovely presentation!! One about Barbary corsairs and Maltese corsairs please :)

This is the third documentary of yours that I have watched and each has been totally brilliant 👍👍so well researched and wonderfully commentated. You have me👍👍👌👌well done👍👍

Ive never clicked a video so fast, love all this channels video, i listen to them daily while I shower and get ready for work.

A beautiful and well done documentary. Unfortunately, it seems that the Portuguese are not given their due share in it. There's a full story on the first English encounter with pirates in the East, yet Fernao Mendes Pinto's many first hand accounts of violent actions have been ignored. Likewise, the way Macao was given to the Portuguese (a reward to pirate fighting) was not mentioned...

“Tsushima and Iki” HE SAID IT, HE SAID THE THING

a great hour!! many thanks

Absolutely superb, great job!

Nice video about these very unique pirates.

This was fantastic, thank you so much. As a fan of Asian history it can be hard to find quality videos to watch, so this was like opium to my soul 😀. Thank you.

Yeah I never saw a video on this thanks for making it!!!

Amazing work!

Best documentary channel!

This chanel is pure GOLD ! :)

10:27 Nobody noticed the seagull missing one leg and the other one just dangling there very limply?!

Great channel....kip it coming!

Wow, excellent job with this one. Thanks. I was reminded of an old C64 game I used to play called Taipan.

Keep it up mate. top documentary.

Truly terrific video

Wonderful narrative on a fascinating subject. I would posit that in her own time and place, Grace O'Malley gave Madame Zhang a run for the "baddest pirate queen" title, lol.

this..is awesome, thanks!

”Jurchens, like the danes, dwellers of inhospitable icy lands” As a swede this cracked me up good

Great documentary thank you.

A wonderful overview!

well done, thank you

A beautiful piece of storytelling

390k subs. Why am I not surprised? Good job bro. Keep plugging. You will get to 1 million.

There are a lot of memoirs of famous japanese fighters, it would be interesting to see a video featuring them or their letters.

You've outdone yourselves!