The Chinese in Borneo and Sarawak
This long article tells of the Chinese migrations into Borneo and examines the historians positions. I will chronicle highlights some of the major events.
The history begins with the Chou Dynasty in 300 B.C. where a historian noted the similarities between the designs on the Dayak shields and the art work of the Chinese. Heine-Gelden noticed similarities on the Dayak shields and Ngada of Flores that are clearly related to this design.
The next written contact among Chinese is sources is the arrival of Fa Hsien, a pilgrim who stopped in Borneo on his way back from India to China in the 400’s. He seems to have stayed for six months.
From available information we find contacts made in the history Liang Dyntasty (502-566 AD), the history of the Sui (589-618) and the T’ang Dynasty (618-906 AD). Tributes were sent in 517, 522, 616 and 669 AD. The reason for the large gap between 522 and 616 is the eruption of Krakatoa as postulated by us.
In 1077 Sri Vijaya sent a mission to China. The Chinese records show few embassies and commercial importance by Sri Vijaya. However in 1157 an envoy from Sri Vijaya who had lived in China for a long time was made a Chinese official. The tributary system where vessels from foreign nations were allowed to trade. The commerce was not open and free.
The Ming Emperors (1368-1643) strengthen their connection once again. In 1405, the Eunuch Cheng Ho was sent seven times to the south. Many ceremonial visits were paid by the Malay Archipelago to the Emperor of China. In 1408, the King of Puni (Santubong), Maradja Kala, visited and died. His mother and son returned to Santubong. Several more visits were made to China by the new King.
Tang Ksi K’au, a King of Brunei, is said to be a Fukien who followed Cheng Ho. The second Sultan of Brunei married the sister of Ong Sum P’ing. Pigafetta stopped in Brunei in 1521 did not mention a Chinese community but did tell of Chinese silks, Chinese weights, measures and coins stamped with Chinese characters. (This sounds more like Santubong) Another historian, said some Chinese had settled in Brunei.
The 17th century saw increased migration by the Chinese. They came to Brunei, Pontianak and an area of Banjermassin.
In the 18th Century, the focus on trade was on Pontianak and Banjermassin. The Dutch attempted to break the Chinese monopoly by forcing the Sultans to sign exclusive trade agreements with Amsterdam. However, these were unsuccessful as the Chinese collected the pepper before the Dutch ships could arrive.
In much smaller numbers, the Chinese arrived over a long period of time. From clearings at the mouth of the rivers they planted vegetables and pepper plants. As they increased in population, they moved inland though not far from the rivers outflow. They cut large trees and floated them down river to construct docks. From these small beginnings, skirmishes and small wars resulted from the different ethnic groups among the Chinese.
There is a long section on the Kongsi, about nine pages, that I will cover in another article.
The Chinese in Sarawak
As in most of Borneo, over many years, very small groups of settlers settled along the Santubong and Kuching Rivers. With the arrival of James Brooke, the Chinese migrations increased. The Teo Chews settled outside of Kuching where they cultivated gambier. In each case, one man led the migrations: Ong Ewe Hai, the Hokkien, Chan Kho, the Chao An and Lau Kien, the Teo Chew. These three men advised the Rajah Brooke and jointly consulted him as to Chinese affairs.
The arrival Ong Ewe Hai and his Hokkiens occurred shortly after the arrival of the first Rajah. They concerned themselves mostly with commerce.
The first of the Chao-an pioneers arrived in 1850 or 1851. Chan Kho signed on as a hand on a boat that brought salt from China to Sarawak. He moved to Bau where he grew vegetables. He found traces of gold on his property and from there opened a shop and became quite wealthy.
In the 1840’s, Law Kian Hunt and his Teo Chews arrived. He convinced the Rajah to allow him to bring other Teo Chews and to open a Gambier plantation along what is now Penrissen Road.
Since before Brooke, the Hakkas, fleeing Dutch persecution, set up a kongsi in the gold mining town of Bau. The kongsi was considered a separate nation organized around a headman. The system was already in place since 1780 in the gold mining districts of Kalimantan.
The Rajah tried to make economic inroads into the Kongsi at Bau. A method of taxation was resented. The Rajah determined how much opium they could use. Whether his numbers were correct or not did not make any difference. Smuggling of opium became a huge profit center for the Kongsi.
In 1852, the Kongsi tried to stop the Rajah from arresting a kongsi official. A force of Malays and Dayaks were sent to Bau and the man was turned over. They were forced to build and equip a fort at Belidah, near Siniawan, and pay for its upkeep. Sherip Matusain and a garrison of reliable Malays took over the fort.
The Canton incident brought an uprising in Singapore which was quickly squashed. Soon rumors spread throughout the Archipelago that the British had been massacred. Finally, Kuching was attacked by the Kongsi and nearly destroyed.
There is a long discussion in the article about the prejudices against the Chinese. We will cover it in another article
The 1902 the Foo Chow arrived in Sibu after an agreement was signed with the Rajah. In the 1906 census only 500 Foo Chows remained after 1,000 disembarked. The rest died of new and old diseases, drowned, got lost in the jungle or lost their heads. From this small nucleus, a commercial empire was built.
From The History of the Chinese Settlement in Borneo by James Hipkins in Sarawak Museum Journal December, 1977
This is a very important article which deals with the history of the Chinese. Since the Sarawak Museum Library will be closed for the next two years, I will copy the 44 page article and mail it to you. The cost is RM20 postage included. Send requests to To***@ao*.com
The Chinese in Borneo and Sarawak
