Ong Sum Ping () is a legendary figure. Identified as Pengiran Maharaja Lela of

Brunei Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely surrounded by th ...

. The

Hokkien The Hokkien () variety of Chinese is a Southern Min language native to and originating from the Minnan region, where it is widely spoken in the south-eastern part of Fujian in southeastern mainland China. It is one of the national languages ...

name implies that Ong Sum Ping was a native of

Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

Career and personal life

According to Wen Xiongfei 温雄飞 in the 《南洋华侨史》, Ong Sum Ping came to Brunei in 1375 during the early years of China's

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

.Muhammad Jamil Al-Sufri (1990). Tarsilah Brunei- Sejarah Awal dan Perkembangan Islam. Bandar Seri Begawan: Jabatan Pusat Sejarah The Brunei History Centre presents a rather incredible story in which Ong Sum Ping later married Princess Ratna Dewi, the daughter of Sultan

Muhammad Shah of Brunei Muhammad Shah (born Awang Alak Betatar) established the Sultanate of Brunei and was its first sultan, possibly from 1363 to 1402. The genealogy of Muhammad Shah is unclear, and is based on several historical sources and legends. Biography The ...

. For that he was conferred the nobility title of Pengiran Maharaja Lela and elected Chief of Kinabatangan.Muhammad Jamil Al-Sufri.(1990). Tarsilah Brunei- Sejarah Awal dan Perkembangan Islam. Bandar Seri Begawan: Jabatan Pusat Sejarah Local Brunei Malay folklore suggest that there was a Chinese settlement in present-day

Kinabatangan Kinabatangan ( ms, Pekan Kinabatangan) is the capital of the Kinabatangan District in the Sandakan Division of Sabah, Malaysia. Its population was estimated to be around 10,256 in 2010. Kinabatangan is mostly populated with the Orang Sungai ...

Sabah Sabah () is a state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indonesia to the south. The Federal Territory ...

. Linguistic evidence does not support the view held commonly by the Brunei History Centre that "Kinabatangan" could mean "Chinese river". According to early accounts which survive only in copies dating back to the 19th century such as ''Salasilah Raja-Raja Brunei'' (Genealogy of the Brunei Kings) which was possibly first compiled during the reign of

Sultan Muhammad Hassan Muhammad Hasan ibni Saiful Rijal Nurul Alam ( Jawi: محمد حسن; died 1598), also known as Marhum di Tanjung, was the tenth Sultan of Brunei from 1582 to 1598. Under him, the Bruneian Empire had apparently full control of the island ...

(1582–1598) and subsequently copied and updated from time to time and also the Sejarah Melayu (written by Tun Seri Lanang in 1612), Ong Sum Ping "succeeded his father-in-law. He was known as Sultan Ahmad and ruled Brunei". This version, however, contradicts later account engraved on the ''Batu Tarsilah'' (Genealogical Tablet of the Sultans of Brunei) founded in 1807 that Sultan Ahmad was a brother of Sultan Muhammad Shah and he was not Ong Sum Ping. The latter version is the accepted official history of Brunei. During the Brunei Civil War (1661-1673), Sultan

Muhyiddin of Brunei Muhyiddin was the fourteenth sultan of Brunei. He ruled from 1673 to 1690 and was succeeded by Nasruddin. He took the throne during the Brunei Civil War to avenge the death of his father-in-law Muhammad Ali. He was widely remembered for being ...

called for the assistance of Sultan of Sulu to help defeat Sultan Abdul Hakkul Mubin promising them independence as well as the territory of present-day (north-eastern) Sabah to be given to the Sultan of Sulu. The promised territory was or included Kinabatangan. In the early 20th century, a Chinese trader, Huang Zhuoru 黄卓如 claimed that he visited the tomb of Ong Sum Ping located on a hill 1 li (about half km) from the Brunei capital at that time and there were Chinese inscriptions 黄总兵之墓 on the tombstone which meant 'Tomb of Commander Huang'. In another version of this story a Chinese trader from Guangzhou, Huang Qhuo Qi, allegedly discovered the tomb of Ong Sum Ping by accident in 1942, during a business trip to Brunei. . However, the present whereabouts of this tomb is unknown and remains a mystery. In 1947, a reef in the

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Ph ...

for a short while was named 'Senping reef' 森屏礁 by the Government of the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeas ...

in honour of Ong Sum Ping. In the Brunei capital of Bandar Seri Begawan, there is a street named after him, Jalan Ong Sum Ping, which is the only street in Brunei with a Chinese name.

In popular culture

Ong Sum Ping has been repeatedly cited as one of the main subjects in the legend of

Mount Kinabalu Mount Kinabalu ( ms, Gunung Kinabalu, Dusun: ''Gayo Ngaran or Nulu Nabalu'') is the highest mountain in Borneo and Malaysia. With an elevation of , it is third-highest peak of an island on Earth, and 20th most prominent mountain in the wor ...

. The legend tells of two Chinese delegates of the Ming — Ong Sum Ping and his well-built assistant Wang Kong — sent to capture a precious

gemstone A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, or semiprecious stone) is a piece of mineral crystal which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. However, certain rocks (such as lapis lazuli, opal, ...

from the mountain which was being guarded by a

dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted a ...

. Using his wits, Ong Sum Ping swapped the pearl for a lit glass bottle. Wanting to get all the credit, Wang Kong snatched the retrieved treasure and ran away. Bitterly appalled by his trusted assistant's behaviour, Ong Sum Ping chose to stay behind in Brunei.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ong, Sum Ping Ming dynasty people Bruneian royalty Bruneian people of Chinese descent Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown