Pirates and Privateers

These scholarly essays examine the connections and history of piracy and smuggling in Asian waters, both of which have long been a way of life in this region. These authors show how pirates and smugglers – different, yet related – play key roles in how society develops. The information unveiled clearly shows the link between the past and the present, especially in light of issues of maritime security and national sovereignty.
 
Often given short shrift, these two groups involve themselves in an illicit or shadow economy, which coexists with legal trade. Searching through documents in many different languages and representing a variety of perspectives, the historians share what their research reveals about piracy and smuggling in the greater China Seas region over a period of 600 years. They also discuss the integral and essential roles both groups play in shaping the history of China, Japan, and Southeast Asia.
 
The general arrangement of the ten chapters is chronological, although the first one provides somewhat of an overview.

“Violence at Sea: Unpacking ‘Piracy’ in the Claims of States over Asian Seas” is written by Anthony Reid, professor emeritus of Australian National University’s Department of Pacific and Asian History. Concentrating on the Chinese and Malay, he explores the differences between eastern and western piracy, and how Europe’s colonial expansion altered how people saw pirates.

Peter D. Shapinsky, assistant professor of East Asian history at the University of Illinois at Springfield, examines perceptions of piracy in “From Sea Bandits to Sea Lords: Nonstate Violence and Pirate Identities in Fifteenth- and Sixteenth-Century Japan.” By examining various historical and cultural contexts, he shows how these perceptions change from mercenaries and pirates to legitimate, state-sponsored sea lords.

A research fellow at the Centre of Asian Studies, University of Hong Kong, James K. Chin specializes in the history of maritime Asia. His use of contemporary Chinese and Portuguese accounts in “Merchants, Smugglers, and Pirates: Multinational Clandestine Trade on the South China Coast, 1520-50” shows not only the negative impact, but also the positive influences on these groups had on the Chinese economy.

“Pirates, Gunpowder, and Christianity in Late Sixteenth-Century Japan,” written by Maria Grazia Petrucci, a doctoral student at the University of British Columbia specializing in Japanese history, analyzes how Europeans, merchants, and pirates interacted to manufacture and smuggle gunpowder.

Igawa Kenji, associate professor of the Graduate School of Letters at Osaka University, discusses the impact Chinese and Japanese pirates have on sea routes that established the Philippine Islands as an important player in international trade in “At the Crossroads: Limahon and Wakō in Sixteenth-Century Philippines.” The key points examined are: a) when and why the Philippines become a crossroads; b) who the pirates are and what their role is in this development; and c) the relationship between piracy and trade in this period, especially as regards interactions between the Philippines and Japan.

Paola Calanca studies Ming and Qing navies and is an associate professor of history at the École Française d’Extrême-Orient. In “Piracy and Coastal Security in Southeastern China, 1600-1780,” she explores how government bans on maritime trade forced people to become pirates and smugglers. She then demonstrates how reversals in state policies turned supporters of piracy into opponents.

Professor of Chinese and comparative history at the University of Macau and author of Pirates in the Age of Sail, Robert J. Antony examines the rise of piracy and the roles these bandits play in “Piracy and the Shadow Economy in the South China Sea, 1780-1810.” He demonstrates how this illicit trade impacts the economy from both a negative and positive perspective.

Robert Hellyer’s case study, “Poor but Not Pirates: The Tsushima Domain and Foreign Relations in Early Modern Japan,” scrutinizes how and why Tsushima, an island and piracy haven in the 16th century, changes through the intervention of agreements with Korea. He also considers how and why the people refrain from reverting to their piratical ways when beset by economic hardship in the 17th century. Hellyer is an assistant professor of history at Wake Forest University, whose specialty is early modern and modern Japanese history.
      
Ota Atsushi, assistant research fellow at the Center of Asia-Pacific Area Studies, Research Center for Humanities and Social Sciences, Academia Sinica in Taipei, studies Southeast Asia’s maritime history. His essay, “The Business of Violence: Piracy around Riau, Lingga, and Singapore, 1820-40,” focuses on how pirates worked, their military and commercial networks, and how the Europeans and locals dealt with piracy.

“Smuggling in the South China Sea: Alternate Histories of a Nonstate Space in the Late Nineteenth and Late Twentieth Centuries” concludes this collection. Eric Tagliacozzo – an associate professor at Cornell University who teaches Southeast Asian history and Asian studies – examines smuggling in two centuries to show how the past influences the present.

This noteworthy study contains an abundance of material that is enhanced with illustrations, maps, chapter notes, and a detailed bibliography and index. As Antony, who also edits this volume, writes in his introduction, “this is the first book to carefully examine piracy and smuggling from [in-depth historical and comparative perspectives] for the whole East and Southeast Asian region.”  Not only do these essays accomplish this goal, but they skillfully show that eastern piracy greatly differs from that of the west, and that we need to study it from that perspective, more so than that of the colonial powers who forced their definition of piracy onto this region.
 
The other strength of Elusive Pirates, Pervasive Smugglers is it explores the past, rather than focusing on the present, as many recent books have. In doing so, these scholars provide readers with a better understanding of “the problems of piracy and smuggling . . . [and] that they are deep-rooted, complex, and evolving phenomena.”

Review Copyright ©2010 Cindy Vallar

Outlaws of the Sea: Maritime Piracy in Modern China
by Robert J. Antony
Hong Kong University, 2025, ISBN 979-988-8876-77-8, US $65.00 / HKD $350.00
Also available in other formats

Anyone who reads my column knows there is a difference between Eastern and Western piracy. In fact, the concept of piracy is unknown until after Europeans venture into Asian waters. When I want to explore Chinese piracy, one of my go-to historians is Robert J. Antony, who has been researching piracy in the South China Sea and along China’s southern coast for forty years. Outlaws of the Sea is his latest offering and gathers this research into a single volume that covers the 1630s through the 1940s. Within the eleven chapters of this book, readers will find a balanced examination of pirates from multiple perspectives taken from a wide gamut of historical resources.

In “Introduction: The Pirate and the Historian,” Antony discusses the difficulties historians encounter when researching Chinese history. He makes clear that the names associated with specific pirates are not the names the pirates themselves used. For example, Zheng Yi Sao is mandarin, a language the pirates don’t know. They speak a language of South China, which makes her Cheng Yat Sou or Shek Yeung. Equally compelling is how Antony gives voice to these pirates, imagining what they may say if asked.

“The Sociopolitical Culture of South China’s Water World” explores the Qing dynasty and those who make their living on the sea in south China between 1740 and 1840. The chapter shows this society’s mercurial nature and provides a framework of understanding for the chapters that follow. This information gives credence to the governor of Fujian’s words in 1799: “People are not born pirates, but they become pirates because the land cannot support them.” (23) It is a time when three distinct groups of pirates consist of 80,000 people.

Piracy impacts and shapes history, a state’s legal regimes, and the state’s desire to build empires. In “Piracy, Empire, and Sovereignty,” Antony explains how piracy influences the development of the Qing Empire during a 300-year period. He also shares how Chinese officials view pirates and how those views differ from Western ones. Equally important is how officials’ attitudes toward and their handling of piracy changes between the days of Zheng Zhilong and his followers and the rise of the pirate confederation led by Zheng Yi and Zheng Yi Sao.

When three brothers stage a revolt in Vietnam in the 1770s, they eventually form alliances with Chinese pirates. This leads to a new state, and “Chinese Pirates and Tay Son Rebels” examines the dynamics of this relationship.

During a span of thirty years, socioeconomic conditions hold great sway in the development and upsurge in piracy in the South China Sea. Piratical attacks may be deemed illegal, but the pirates consider themselves justified in what they do. “Piracy and the Shadow Economy” explores pirate lairs, black markets, and ports friendly to pirates, as well as the detrimental and beneficial aspects of piracy as a business and the clandestine networks through which they operate.

The resurgency of piracy between 1780 and 1810, greatly impacts Canton trade. “Defending Canton: Chinese Pirates, British Traders, and Hong Merchants” looks at the effect this has on the relations between China and Britain, the repercussions on trade, and how merchants based in Hong Kong help defend the city against the pirates.

In “Pacification of the Seas,” the time comes when pirates can no longer be tolerated by the state, and Qing officials use a variety of techniques to suppress piracy. Although many disapprove the offering of “carrots,” Antony shows how pardons often prove more successful than “sticks.”

While the state sometimes uses violence to counteract piracy, the pirates also implement brutality and terror for economic and political reasons. In “Bloodthirsty Pirates?” Antony asks a number of related questions to delve into “the physical, emotional, and magico-religious aspects of pirate violence.” (139)

“Pirates, Dragon Ladies, and Steamships” focuses on piracy between 1840 and 1940, when steamships lead to hijackings becoming more the norm for pirates. Antony compares and contrasts piratical stereotypes in Western media and its depiction of Chinese piracy, even though it is never as simply defined or shown as Westerners are led to believe.

In 1910, pirates kidnap and hold hostage children and adults on an island while they wait for the ransom to be paid. Finding this intolerable, the Portuguese send military expeditions against the pirates. In the ensuing fight, innocent civilians lose their lives. In “‘We Are Not Pirates’: Portugal, China, and the Pirates of Coloane,” Antony explores this incident and the interrelationship between the Portuguese and Chinese over four centuries. This incident also demonstrates why it is so difficult to define who is a pirate and what constitutes piracy. Perspective plays a key role in what transpires here.

Piracy is not stagnant. As time passes, it changes and shifts depending on who and what are involved. One region’s pirate may not be the same as another’s. The similarities and differences between Western and Eastern piracy are examined in “Conclusion: Piracy in China and the World.”

Each chapter stands on its own, but in reading the book cover to cover, readers gain a better understanding of 300 years of piracy and its role in shaping the history of both China and the world. The narrative incorporates numerous figures, maps, and tables, while a chronology, glossary, bibliography, and index complete the book. Footnotes are found throughout, providing citations and additional information.

This is an engaging, compelling, and informative examination of Chinese piracy. It is difficult for any reader to come away without learning something new. As Antony states in his introduction: “This book is about recovering the silences and seeking the truths about piracy . . . My focus is on piracy as historical, political, social, and cultural phenomena . . . My main aim is to explore the world of Chinese pirates and to explicate the integral role they played in shaping China’s maritime society in the modern age.” (9) He achieves all of this and more. I highly recommend Outlaws of the Sea to anyone who wishes to gain a better understanding of piracy in Asian waters and why western ideas of piracy fail to fully capture who these people are, what they do, and how they fit into and influence Chinese society as a whole. This volume deserves inclusion within any library interested in this region, and for any reader interested in comprehending the differences between Eastern and Western pirates.

Read an excerpt

Review Copyright ©2025 Cindy Vallar

Pirates in the Age of Sail
by Robert J. Antony
W. W. Norton & Company, 2007, ISBN 978-0-393-92788-7, US $15.00

Most books on maritime piracy focus on one region, particularly the Caribbean. This Norton Casebook in History examines piracy worldwide from 1500 to 1850. Major events and persons are examined in respect to the political, social, economic, cultural, and sexual changes occurring during this time period. Maps, pictures, and tables illustrate the material within the book, which is divided into three sections.

Part one presents an overview of piracy. The subsections cover: Pirates, Privateers, and Buccaneers of the West; Corsairs, Renegades, and Slaves of the Mediterranean; Pirates, Merchants, and Rebels on the China Coast; Raiders, Warriors, and Traders in Southeast Asia; and Global Piracy Today. Using these same divisions, with the exception of modern piracy, part two presents primary documents (or their translations) pertaining to each region. A sampling of these includes:

Deposition of Adam Baldridge, Taken May 5, 1699
John Dann’s Testimony against Henry Every
Captain William Snelgrave’s Captivity, 1719
European Renegade and Corsair John Ward
John Foss’ Captivity in Algiers, 1793-96
The Pirate Zheng Zhilong
Depositions in the Case of He Xing’s Gang, 1782
Narrative of Richard Glasspoole’s Captivity, 1809
An Oral History of Sea Dayak Raiding
Handbill of William Edwards, 1845

The final section of the book contains three essays. Jo Stanley writes on women pirates; Marcus Rediker discusses “Hydrarchy and Libertalia”; and Joseph N. F. M. à Campo examines piracy in colonial Indonesia from 1816 to 1825. The bibliographic essay, which appears before the index, recommends noteworthy journal articles and books where readers can obtain additional information.

This book contains one of the most readable, concise, and thorough overviews of piracy during the Age of Sail throughout the world that I’ve encountered. While many volumes provide quotes from primary resources and eyewitness accounts, this one provides readers with a wealth of examples, some of which are rarely found elsewhere. These documents also introduce readers to lesser-known pirates and piracy outside of the Caribbean. One particularly valuable chart lists the pirates in each region with the time periods in which they prey, allowing readers to compare who does what at the same time someone else pirates in another region of the world. Pirates in the Age of Sail is an indispensable addition to all pirate libraries. At $15 it’s a steal!

Review Copyright ©2007 Cindy Vallar

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