“Righteous Yang”: Pirate, Rebel, and Hero on the Sino-Vietnamese Water Frontier, 1640–88

This paper is a case study of a little known but important pirate named Yang Yandi, alias “Righteous Yang” (Yang Yi), who operated in the Gulf of Tonkin in the turbulent Ming-Qing transition of the late seventeenth century. Based on written historical documents, including Qing archives, the Veritable Records of Vietnam and China, local gazetteers, and travel accounts, as well as fieldwork in the region conducted over the past four years, Antony argues that piracy, in its multiple forms, was a persistent and intrinsic feature of this water frontier and that it was a dynamic and significant force in the region’s history and development. Yang Yandi, who began his outlaw career as a local, petty pirate in the 1640s, became the most influential and formidable pirate chief in the gulf between the 1650s and 1680s. In the 1670s, he collaborated with the Zheng regime in Taiwan, and after the latter’s demise Yang led several thousand followers back to the gulf where they established bases on Longmen and nearby islands. In 1682, when the Qing military drove the pirates from their bases, Yang led about 3,000 followers to Vietnam, finally settling around My Tho. Simply put, in the late seventeenth century the Gulf of Tonkin became a haven for pirates and political refugees. It was a time when pirates were the dominant power and authority in the region.