Lanfang Republic
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The Lanfang Republic (,
Pha̍k-fa-sṳ Pha̍k-fa-sṳ is an orthography similar to Pe̍h-ōe-jī and used to write Hakka, a variety of Chinese. Hakka is a whole branch of Chinese, and Hakka dialects are not necessarily mutually intelligible with each other, considering the large geogr ...
: ''Làn-fông Khiung-fò-koet''), also known as Lanfang Company (), was a Chinese kongsi federation and a
tributary state A tributary state is a term for a pre-modern state in a particular type of subordinate relationship to a more powerful state which involved the sending of a regular token of submission, or tribute, to the superior power (the suzerain). This to ...
of
Qing China The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu people, Manchu-led Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin (1616–1636), La ...
in Western
Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...
. It was established by a
Hakka Chinese Hakka (, , ) forms a language group of varieties of Chinese, spoken natively by the Hakka people throughout Southern China and Taiwan and throughout the diaspora areas of East Asia, Southeast Asia and in overseas Chinese communities around th ...
named in 1777 until it was ended by Dutch occupation in 1884.


Arrival of the Chinese

The sultans of Western Borneo, including Sambas,
Sukadana Sukadana () is a town and regency seat of North Kayong Regency (Kabupaten Kayong Utara), on the island of Borneo. North Kayong regency is one of the regencies of West Kalimantan province in Indonesia. The nearest airport is Rahadi Osman-Ketapang K ...
, and Landak all imported Chinese laborers in the 18th century to work in
gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...
or
tin Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn (from la, stannum) and atomic number 50. Tin is a silvery-coloured metal. Tin is soft enough to be cut with little force and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, t ...
mines. A number of mining companies enjoyed some political autonomy, but Lanfang is the best known thanks to a history written by
Yap Siong-yoen Yap ( yap, Waqaab) traditionally refers to an island group located in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, a part of Yap State. The name "Yap" in recent years has come to also refer to the state within the Federated States of Micro ...
, the son-in-law of the last
kapitan Capitan and Kapitan are equivalents of the English Captain in other European languages. Capitan, Capitano, and Kapitan may also refer to: Places in the United States *Capitan, Louisiana, an unincorporated community * Capitan, New Mexico, a villag ...
of the Lanfang Company, which was translated into
Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...
in 1885, and J.J.M. de Groot, a Dutch Sinologist who recorded Lanfang's history with the help of its last President, Liu Asheng. None of the other Chinese mining organization in western Kalimantan left written accounts; the records of the others were documented by Dutch sinologists.


Rule of Low Lan Pak

The founding father of the Lanfang Kongsi was Low Lan Pak, who hailed from
Meizhou Meizhou (, Hakka Chinese: Mòichû) is a prefecture-level city in eastern Guangdong province, China. It has an area of , and a population of 3,873,239 million as of the 2020 census. It comprises Meijiang District, Meixian District, Xingning City ...
in
Guangdong Province Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...
. Chinese settlers have long lived on
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, with most engaging in trading and mining. They formed their own companies, among which was the Southern Company headed by Low. As Dutch
imperialism Imperialism is the state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other areas, often through employing hard power (economic and ...
encroached upon modern-day Indonesia, Low established the Lanfang Company in 1777 (with its capital in Mandor) to protect the Chinese settlers from Dutch oppression. The settlers subsequently elected Low as their inaugural leader. Low implemented many democratic principles, including the idea that all matters of state must involve the consultation of the republic's citizenry. The Republic did not have a standing military, but had a defense ministry that administered a national militia based on
conscription Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...
. During peacetime, the populace mostly engaged in farming, production, trading, and mining. Lanfang's administrative divisions included three tiers (province, prefecture, and county) with the people electing leaders for all levels. Lanfang was allied with Sultan Abdurrahman of the Pontianak Sultanate. Although Low discarded the ancient institutions of
monarchism Monarchism is the advocacy of the system of monarchy or monarchical rule. A monarchist is an individual who supports this form of government independently of any specific monarch, whereas one who supports a particular monarch is a royalist. ...
and dynastic succession, he continued to adhere to many Chinese traditions that carried along to Borneo. For example, he established the founding year of the republic as the first year of the calendar. Moreover, he submitted a report to the
Chinese emperor ''Huangdi'' (), translated into English as Emperor, was the superlative title held by monarchs of China who ruled various imperial regimes in Chinese history. In traditional Chinese political theory, the emperor was considered the Son of Heave ...
notifying him about the Republic's founding and paid tribute to the Chinese
Qing Empire The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...
. Low served as head of state until his death in 1795. Afterwards, Lanfang members elected Jiang Wubo () as their next president. Lanfang citizens elected a total of twelve leaders, who helped improve agricultural techniques, expand mine production, develop cultural education, and organize military training.


Dutch conquest

In the mid-to-late 19th century, the Chinese
Qing Empire The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...
weakened substantially. Thus, the Lanfang Company's vigorous development suffered from the eventual expansion of the Dutch. The Mandor community waged a tenacious resistance, but ultimately failed due to poor weaponry. Lin Ah Sin was the last leader of Lanfang.Irwin 1955
p. 173. Many of Lanfang's citizens and their descendants made their way to
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or
Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
. The three campaigns waged by the Dutch East Indies Army against the Lanfang Company: *
Expedition to the West Coast of Borneo The Expedition to the West Coast of West Kalimantan, Borneo was a punitive expedition of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army against the Chinese Indonesian independence republic at Pontianak, Indonesia, Pontianak, Mandor, Indonesia, Mandor an ...
(1822–24) * Expedition against the Chinese in Montrado (1850–54) *
Chinese uprising in Mandor, Borneo The Mandor rebellion () in 1884 and 1885, also called the Third Kongsi War, was an uprising of ethnic Chinese, helped by the Dayaks, against the Dutch East Indies government. This was the Dutch view of events - i.e. as an area already under Du ...
(1884–85) This last one resulted in the subjugation of the Chinese and the loss of autonomy. Wary of Qing intervention, the Dutch did not openly annex the lands controlled by the Lanfang Company, and created another puppet regime. It was not until 1912, when the Qing Dynasty collapsed, that the Dutch proclaimed their occupation.


See also

* Kengwei Republic


References


Citations


Sources

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External links


Info at Asiawind.com