Madame Pirate: Immersive VR Tale of Zheng Yi Sao's Legacy

In the absence of extensive literature and scarce research, how do we narrate the story of a character forgotten by history? This presents a complex dilemma for creators aiming to evoke memories in their audience. This year, the Kaohsiung Film Festival featured XR DREAMLAND screenings of "Madame Pirate: Becoming A Legend" and "Madame Pirate: Code of Conduct." These works beautifully answered through the narrative medium of VR: If there's scant information and a reluctance to fabricate, why not take the audience directly to the 'scene' for an immersive experience?

This character is none other than Zheng Yi Sao—a leader of the "Red Flag Fleet," a pirate collective from Guangdong during the 18th and 19th centuries. Originally a courtesan, she married the pirate Zheng Yi and became a fugitive on the seas. After her husband's death, she took over his pirate enterprise. Her power was so immense that the Qing dynasty had no choice but to offer her amnesty. Ultimately, Zheng Yi Sao commanded over ten thousand pirates and two hundred ships, making her the leader of the largest pirate confederation in China at the time.

Directed by Morgan Ommer and Huang Danqi, "Becoming A Legend" uses a bedtime story format where an elderly woman recounts to a child how Zheng Yi Sao was taken aboard a ship. To survive in harsh conditions, she aligned herself with Zheng Yi, training her mind and learning the ways of piracy. The film combines animation and VR180 real shots—the former depicting the ambiance of the bedtime story and depicting naval battles, and the latter capturing close-up scenes like life on the ship and Zheng Yi Sao's persona through immersive storytelling.

The sequel, "Code of Conduct," shifts both the protagonist and the technological approach, employing Volumetric Capture—cameras capture the 3D space from multiple angles, turning actors' performances into lifelike dynamic 3D models. With a VR headset, viewers can change perspectives, feeling as though they are in the room with the characters, and can look down upon ships and seascapes during scene transitions.

"Madame Pirate: Becoming A Legend" features Yao Yiti as Zheng Yi Sao, showcasing her vulnerability and fierceness. (Source: KFF)

New Perspectives on a Thrice-Forgotten Historical Figure

When thinking of real pirates today, most people recall Edward Teach, known as 'Blackbeard,' from movies like "Pirates of the Caribbean," games like "Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag," or the anime "ONE PIECE." Few know of Zheng Yi Sao. While 'Mistress Ching' in "Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End" is said to be modeled after her, this portrayal was far from accurate when she finally entered the public eye.

Mistress Ching sports geisha-like heavy makeup, a far cry from the typical pirate image. (Source: Disney Wiki)

While Blackbeard's fame is widespread, Zheng Yi Sao remains virtually unknown, as pointed out by French director Morgan Ommer: "Blackbeard had just two ships and his pirate career lasted only two years, yet he is the world's most famous pirate. But Zheng Yi Sao? Unrecognized and unappreciated, often just referred to as someone's wife." In 2016, when he proposed developing Zheng Yi Sao's story in France, he was told, "We don't tell stories about Chinese women."

Unrecognized, unappreciated, and distorted by popular culture, Huang Danqi believes Zheng Yi Sao fell victim to historical 'selective forgetting': First, in China, she was a rebel, unworthy of attention; second, among pirates, she was overshadowed by male figures like her second husband Cheung Po Tsai; and third, to foreigners, she was easily exoticized, becoming a mysterious embellishment in Western narratives, hence the heavily made-up 'Mistress Ching' highly deviated from historical accuracy.

For Zheng Yi Sao, who could defeat Qing dynasty fleets, how could she contentedly adopt the title 'Mistress Ching'? Moreover, this title erases her origins even more than the name Zheng Yi Sao. Faced with scant data and existing portrayals far from the truth, Morgan Ommer and Huang Danqi sought to retell her story—respecting historical facts. Huang Danqi pondered, "If we're telling this story today, we need to take the audience back to that era, and VR seems capable of that." Ommer added, "With 'Madame Pirate' already influenced by 'Pirates of the Caribbean's Mistress Ching,' we needed a different medium to tell this story. VR is exciting and creates an immersive storytelling experience."

Desiring to narrate Zheng Yi Sao's legend while avoiding Western stereotypes, and rather than relying heavily on fictional plots, they utilized the immersive power of VR to offer a change in perspective. "In the first installment, the audience can objectively view her history, but the approach to history is different, starting with a bedtime story format, like the animations we created using the VR drawing tool Tilt Brush," said Huang Danqi.

Directors Huang Danqi (Left) and Morgan Ommer (Right) of "Madame Pirate: Becoming A Legend" and "Code of Conduct" showcase a Taiwanese-French collaboration.

The Sequel Reveals Zheng Yi Sao's Modern Significance Through Historical Retelling

The sequel, "Code of Conduct," differs significantly. On one hand, it uses Volumetric Capture, allowing viewers an aerial perspective, freely moving and observing ships and characters in a three-dimensional space. On the other hand, the protagonists have changed, with the story now told from the perspective of a female interpreter, Alin, who encounters Zheng Yi Sao post-fame. "In the second installment, what we do is sometimes make the viewer a giant, overseeing this historical segment, and sometimes they are right in the midst of the events," explained Huang Danqi.

Originally, the main character of "Code of Conduct" was Richard Glasspoole, a historical figure captured by Zheng Yi Sao who left firsthand accounts of the encounter. However, after discussion, the directors decided to change the protagonist to a fellow Asian woman, the interpreter. This change answers my biggest curiosity about the "Madame Pirate" series: Zheng Yi Sao is unique, but does her story still inspire ordinary people today? "Do you think Zheng Yi Sao's courage is 'replicable'?" I asked, expressing my doubts. Huang Danqi didn't hesitate to respond, "Yes."

"What attracts me to Zheng Yi Sao isn't just her identity as a woman, but whether you have the courage to stand up when facing unfair or unjust situations. Often, we encounter similar situations but may not have the courage to become a pirate," she explained. "Code of Conduct," focusing on the unnamed female interpreter's ordeal and growth, also profiles Zheng Yi Sao—seeing in the interpreter the same vulnerability and confusion she herself experienced when first stepping onto the deck, and through her own experiences, helping her grow. This is the replicable courage Huang Danqi spoke of. Beyond enriching Zheng Yi Sao's portrayal, choosing a female interpreter over Richard Glasspoole also aligns with their commitment to avoiding a Western perspective on her history.

The female interpreter protagonist of the sequel also connects with the first installment's use of animation to present a bedtime story, all serving to pass on Zheng Yi Sao's legacy: "If we can leave behind some stories of female heroes, their significance lies in someday a child seeing them and knowing their world isn't just filled with princesses, not just roles waiting to be rescued," Huang Danqi passionately explained to me.

Director Huang Danqi discusses transforming Zheng Yi Sao's story into a 'fairy tale' for future generations.

Imagining a Third Installment: Zheng Yi Sao's Retirement as an LBE Experience

Having developed two VR works, is there a desire to turn Zheng Yi Sao's story into an IP and develop more sequels? Morgan Ommer affirmed this vision, noting that even Zheng Yi Sao's 'exit' was extraordinary.

"This is the most interesting part, about how she retired. Pirates usually don't retire; they create chaos and plunder treasures until death. But Zheng Yi Sao was different: she went to the governor's mansion, accompanied by a group of women and children, and sat there for days, driving the governor mad until he negotiated and gave her everything she wanted. That's how she retired, allowed to keep her loot and even some ships and troops."

"We plan to make the third installment a large-scale location-based entertainment (LBE), allowing audiences to move freely within the space, becoming any character—be it a woman or child in the governor's mansion—to witness Zheng Yi Sao's retirement," Ommer shared. Committed to historical accuracy while avoiding excessive fictionalization, they aim to bring audiences directly into the scene. This approach by Huang Danqi and Morgan Ommer—using VR to recreate this legendary figure from various perspectives—enables audiences to witness and appreciate her courage firsthand. The immersive qualities of VR perhaps make it the ideal medium for narrating the story of such a charismatic yet historically underrepresented figure.