Japanese manga and Hollywood movies often take pirates as the theme for their work: but does Taiwan have any exciting pirate stories? The most famous is perhaps Zheng Zhi-Long (also known as Nicholas Iquan Gaspard)‚ and his son‚ Zheng Cheng-Gong (more commonly known as Koxinga)‚ who had a half-commercial‚ half-pirate force at sea‚ and attempted to overthrow the Qing dynasty and revive the Ming dynasty. Besides these‚ the most famous pirates that have a connection with Taiwan are to be found during the Qing dynasty: Cai Quan‚ and his wife‚ Cai Quan Ma‚ with whom he crossed the Taiwan Straits and rampaged along China’s Southeast coast hand-in-hand. Cai Quan was from Tong’an‚ in Quanzhou‚ Fujian. He was born in 1761 (26th year of the Qianlong era‚ Qing dynasty) and become a pirate in approximately 1794 (59th year of Qianlong) because of poverty. Active initially in Minnan (southern Fujian) activities‚ from 1800 to 1805 (5th to 10th year of Jiaqing era)‚ his power reached Zhejiang‚ Fujian‚ Guangdong‚ the Taiwanese coast‚ and he worked in partnership with the great pirate Zhang Bao‚ who held his base in Hong Kong‚. Cai Quan would frequently attack and plunder places such as Lu’ermen‚ Tamsui‚ Dunggang and Wushi in Taiwan‚ and in 1805 (10th year of Jiaqing era) he proclaimed himself to be ‘king of the ocean’. From November 1805 until February 1806‚ more than 100 vessels transported over 20‚000 men to Taiwan‚ together with mountain bandits‚ attacking Fengshan‚ surrounding Chiayi and Juncheng‚ almost capturing southern Taiwan. Despite failing to capture Taiwan‚ and with his forces greatly reduced‚ Cai Quan continued to fight the Qing’s naval forces for three years‚ until he died in battle. At that time‚ in order to repel Cai Quan’s attacks‚ Taiwan constructed numerous city defences‚ many of which remain today and have become historic sites.
Dui Yue Gate: In the years of Jiaqing‚ the pirate Cai Quan attacked Tainan‚ and merchants suffered greatly. After these events‚ the Qing Court constructed a wooden fence outside of the Western Gate as an external defense of the prefecture.source
 Tablet Record Strictly Prohibiting objectionable Practices at the Seaport: In the Jiaqing era of the Qing dynasty‚ Taiwan experienced the chaos of the pirates Zhu Fen and Cai Quan. During this time‚ minor port officials solicited peng hao li monetary gifts from ship owners‚ an objectionable practice that caused public resentment. This tablet carries a warning given in the 17th year of the Jiaqing era (1812) by the Taiwanese prefectural magistrate Wang Nan‚ strictly forbidding objectionable practices such as shu peng and kan hao.source That Cai Quan’s strength could become so large over time is also in large part due to his wife‚ who was respectfully known by others as ‘Cai Quan Ma’. Her own story has grown even more legendary than that of Cai Quan. According to hearsay‚ Cai Quan Ma’s maiden name was Lu. She was from Pingyang in Zhejiang and born in the 1770s‚ making her at least ten years younger than Cai Quan. Historical records show that she was of a poor background‚ yet beautiful and cunning. She was sold as a wife to two men‚ but her fondness for wild behaviour in the evenings was unacceptable to both men‚ and she was bought for a large amount of gold by Cai Quan‚ thus entering the pirate world and going on to show she was a master of sea battle. Not only was she fierce in war‚ she directed cannon fire with great accuracy‚ and able to lead groups independently and quickly respond to changes in battle. She even plotted with Cai Quan to absorb other pirates‚ in order to expand their territory and become the most powerful pirates‚ even stopping Cai Quan from accepting an official invitation to surrender. On the other hand‚ she didn’t change her old habit and would select her favourites from the captured male hostages to serve her; if they pleaded and cried to her‚ she would release them‚ which went against pirate rules for dealing with hostages. Despite this‚ Cai Quan did not intervene. This woman‚ who was the exact opposite of traditional Confucian morality‚ died in battle at a time when Cai Quan’s strength had reached its peak. Within a year‚ Cai Quan had proclaimed himself king‚ attacked Taiwan and then was swiftly defeated. Had Cai Quan Ma still been around‚ perhaps the outcome may have been different. The tales of Cai Quan and Cai Quan Ma seem to come straight from a storybook: they were pirates through and through; of course‚ they followed the cruel ways of pirates to plunder civilians‚ slaughter hostages and resist troops. Yet through the experience of becoming pirates through poverty‚ they had gone from merely being consigned to their own fates and being minor‚ exploited characters‚ to entering the history books as great pirates. By their own design‚ they lived outside of traditional order and morality‚ but they have left us with much for us to imagine and to inspire us.
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