Kongsi
The concept of Kongsi began in the towns of South Borneo in the late 1700’s where the Hakka Chinese immigrated, at the request of the Sultan, to mine the gold from the hills in central Borneo. The concept spread throughout the mining district and later to Bau and into Kuching.
Before that period, Van Noort, a noted Durch historian, stated the Chinese were established in the textile market in 1600 in South Borneo. They were extremely influential in the area. They were competing with the Dutch for the pepper trade. In 1712, the Dutch signed an agreement with the Sultan for pepper but found it had been sold to the Chinese and loaded on Chinese ships two weeks before the Dutch arrived to claim the shipment.
In 1772 De Groot, another Dutch historian, noted on arrival of a Chinese vessel said ” that the Chinese were pale and exhausted by the misery of the long and difficult crossing of the sea, directed their steps humbly towards the Sultans palace and threw themselves on the magnanimity, praying for the grant of a small portion of his territory where they may settle.” Their prayer was answered and they were given a small portion of the district of Lark.
De Groot and Barbra Ward, both historians, state “the Kongsi was a natural development out of the experience of the Chinese immigrants, coming in a compact clan and village groups to a strange land in which they had to fend in all matters completely for themselves.”
The Lan-fang Kongsi consisted mainly of Hakka Chinese. De Groot suggests the Hakka, who lived in China surrounded by others, may have developed a strong tendency to organize among themselves.
Lo Fang-hai organized a group of Hakkas called the Brotherhood Society of Eighteen because of troubles between the Hakkas and Teochew in Pontianak. He was elected as an elder in the new society because of his education.
Lo moved his group to a new location and attacked the community containing Tap’u Hakkas. Chanag Ah Ts’ai fled with his followers and Lo set up the Shan Sin area. In less than four years, Lo had helped the Sultan deal with the rebels. This coupled with the prestige of his own people, helped him become the leader of this area.
By 1775, Lo set up the Lan-fang presidential system in Western Borneo. It is estimated that about 20,000 Chinese and 20,000 local natives had joined the organization by 1777. It has been said that he had acquired magical powers where he could control the crocodiles and other legends and myths.
Lag Mando, near Pontianak was the capital. The early government consisted of tightly bound group of Hakkas. There was no written constitution, just an understanding among the members. The president was elected by the people but there is no records of voting. However, De Groot points out it was the richest and most influential members that were elected.
In addition to the Lan-fang, a separate kingdom (Ta-jan) was established under the direction of General Wu Yuan-sheng who ruled it as a feudal state. Locally, Lo divided the kingdom into provinces which were divided in prefectures which in turn were divided into counties. This was similar to the Hakka speaking districts of Kwangtung and Fukien in China.
The Kongsi Administration
The President had to discuss all matters of importance with the officers of lesser rank. The district heads had the power to elect and depose of lesser officials. Obviously, this gave them the most power in the Kongsi. A second important consideration was the authority flowed from the village up and not the President down.
The officials were responsible for their own areas and for law and order. They decided local disputes with the family heads. Judgements regarding robbery, murder and political crimes had to be consulted with the Kongsi head in Mandor. Gold mines, arsenals and farm expansion were ruled by the Lanfang Corporation. In times of war conscription was enforced. Clearing and building of roads and exploitation of the jungle as well as opening of new markets were all under the control of the Corporation.
In July, 1850, the most powerful kongsi in Western Borneo, Takong, attacked members of the rival San-Ti-Ou kongsi whose capital was Sipang. The Takong drove the rivals San-ti-Ou out of the town of Seminis. Some of the San-Ti-Ou fled north while others fled to Pamangkat begging for help from the Dutch at Pontianak. The Dutch, who already held the town of Sambas, had military problems with the Takong. The Dutch dispatched infantry to Pamangkat only to arrive a day late and found the San-Ti-Ou house blown up. Some escaped to Sambas where they were taken care of by the La Fang while other Hakkas fled to Sarawak where they joined their fellow immigrants from Seninis. Interestingly, the head of the San-Ti-Ou in Bau, Liu-Shan-pau, was credited with opening up the Bau area.
The Kongsi lasted from 1775-1884. The first 45 years were the golden era of the Kongsi. The kongsi was managed by able presidents. The fifth president, Liu Tai-irk , signed a non aggression pact with the Dutch at Batavia. From then on, inner rebellions became common and the Lanfang was too weak to deal with them. Lo’s regime was finally overthrown by the Dutch in 1884 immediately following the death of the tenth president. Rule was turned over to the native rulers but it was not until 1912 that Western Borneo became part of the Dutch Colonial empire.
From: The History of the Chinese in Borneo in the Sarawak Museum Journal December 1971 by James R. Hipkins p. 115-123
For an update see: Heidhues, Mary Golddiggers, Farmers and Traders in the “Chinese Districts of West Kalimantan Indonesia” Ithaca: Southeast Asia Program Publications, 2003
Our book “History of the Sarawak River Valley Early Times to 1840” is available at Amazon.com and Lulu.com. There are scattered copies in both English and Malay in Smart Bookstores in Kuching
