Cheung Po Tsai

Cheung Po Tsai
Born	Xinhui, Jiangmen, China
Piratical career
Type	Pirate
Allegiance	Qing Dynasty
Years active	c. 1800-1810
Rank	Colonel (naval)
Base of operations	Hong Kong

Cheung Po Tsai
Cheung Po Tsai Cave Cheung Chau.
Traditional Chinese	張保仔
Simplified Chinese	张保仔
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhāng Bǎozǎi Wade–Giles Chang Pao Tsai IPA [ʈʂáŋ pàu̯tsài̯] Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Jeung1 Bou2 Jai2 IPA [tsɵ́ŋ.pǒu.tsɐ̌i] Jyutping Zoeng1 Bou2 Zai1

Cheung Po Tsai (simplified Chinese: 张保仔; traditional Chinese: 張保仔; pinyin: Zhāng Bǎozǎi; Wade–Giles: Chang Pao Tsai; 1783 – 1822) was a 19th-century Chinese pirate. He was also known as Cheung Po/Chang Pao/Zhang Bao ("Cheung Po Tsai" literally means "Cheung Po the Kid").

Several places in Hong Kong are linked to Cheung Po Tsai:

A famous pirate in Hong Kong, he was a son of a Tanka fisherman who lived in Xinhui of Jiangmen but was kidnapped by the pirate Cheng I and his wife Ching Shih when he was 15. He was adopted by the kidnappers as their son. Cheung Po later took over the pirating business from his adoptive parents.

Cheung Po Tsai was active along the Guangdong (Canton) coastal area during the Qing Dynasty. His followers are said to have reached 50,000+ and his fleet said to have possessed 600 ships. His piracy mate was Cai Qian and the two worked together until Cai Qian was destroyed by the Qing government, making Cheung decide to surrender. Cheung Po capitulated to the Chinese government in 1810 and became a captain in the Qing imperial navy, receiving the rank of navy colonel and an appointment in Penghu, far away from Hong Kong. He spent the rest of his life helping the government fight other pirates.