Making History in Borneo: Ong Sum Ping and His Others During the Late Yuan and Early Ming Dynasties

Johannes L Kurz

doi:10.21315/ijaps2018.14.2.4

Abstract

Making History in Borneo: Ong Sum Ping and His Others During the Late Yuan and Early Ming Dynasties

Highlights

Since the inception of diplomatic relations between Brunei and the People’s Republic of China in 1991, official statements emphasise long standing relations between the two countries by referring to a number of “historical” key figures of which Ong Sum Ping is one, while the others are a certain Master Pu 蒲, an alleged Chinese envoy and his tomb, and Manarejiana 麻那惹加那, a presumed ruler of Brunei whose tomb is located in Nanjing
The Genealogy of the Sultans of Brunei (Silsilah Raja-raja Brunei) introduces an alleged Chinese ancestor whose name has been transcribed as Ong Sum Ping
The current paper examines Ong Sum Ping and his various appearances under different names in especially Chinese texts from the twentieth century

Summary

INTRODUCTION

Since the inception of diplomatic relations between Brunei and the People’s Republic of China in 1991, official statements emphasise long standing relations between the two countries by referring to a number of “historical” key figures of which Ong Sum Ping is one, while the others are a certain Master Pu 蒲, an alleged Chinese envoy and his tomb (dated 1264), and Manarejiana 麻那惹加那, a presumed ruler of Brunei whose tomb is located in Nanjing (dated 1408). Chen Liefu told the following story: According to Western historical works, the Yuan dynasty of China controlled the Southern Ocean, and emperor Shizu had dispatched troops on a distant journey to Brunei (1292, the 29th year of the Zhiyuan era) He sent an official to take charge of them whose name was Wang Sanpin 王三品 and Chinese went there in large numbers. If we disregard the wrong dedication of the particular Mingshi entry on Poluo/ Wenlai, the man from Fujian who established a royal family was not Ong Sum Ping either It should be noted though, that in a text of 1371 describing a mission from the Ming court to Borneo (Boni) in 1370, a close adviser of the Boni chieftain Mahemosha 馬合謨沙 appears to have been Chinese judging from his name Wang Zongshu 王宗恕.[70] Nothing further is known about this man. Another reason could be that her acceptance as a ruler would undermine the royal genealogy of male Muslim rulers that is otherwise and to a large degree based on the same Mingshi entry

MODERN BRUNEI WRITERS

CONCLUSION