The Hakka Kongsis of Borneo (Part 1) | The China History Podcast | Ep. 278

The history of the Overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia is rich with all kinds of lesser-known or forgotten tales, like this one. A kongsi (公司) today means a company. But when Chinese immigrants from Eastern Guangdong and Southern Fujian were heading in the direction of West Borneo to engage in gold mining, kongsis were established as associations where its members were organized and led.
The Chinese migrants in West Borneo faced a constant barrage of challenges and these Kongsis, mostly Hakka, but also from the other main Chinese linguistic groups, were a mechanism with very democratic looking appearances, that took care of the needs of the group. This is Part 1 of an overview of their history.
I've taken the liberty of adding maps/images of the various regions/people/subjects discussed in this episode, here are the timestamps of when they show up for your convenience.
Overview of Borneo: 3:25
North-West Borneo: 5:22
Northern Borneo: 7:05
Borneo in Relation to Nearby Countries: 7:33
Major Cities of Borneo: 8:06
China Cities of Importance to Borneo Immigration: 11:00
Gods of the Hakka People Overview: 11:58
City of Mandor: 15:30
The Dayak People: 16:52
History of the Kongsi Republic: 20:58
The Rival Faction, Heshun Zongting: 26:12
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[@dangshorty2029]

The Hakkas are kind hearted, generous and very hardworking people!

[@ochinski3568]

💯💯💯

[@jokerxback2633]

Hi i’m hakka chinese from pontianak . West kalimantan (borneo) now i'm in jakarta In Kalimantan, the majority of Hakka Chinese are in Singkawang City (West Kalimantan Province) There they use Hakka language for their daily life and Indonesian is a second language Now their descendants in Monterado now live in Singkawang City and those in the Mandor are now in Sungai Pinyuh, and interestingly they have a different Hakka accent.

[@ChinaHistoryPodcast]

Thanks for all these info! I sure hope I can visit Singkawang one day.

[@jokerxback2633]

@@ChinaHistoryPodcast I hope you can visit The big celebration there is Cap Gomeh, the fifteenth day after Chinese New Year.

[@ChinaHistoryPodcast]

@@jokerxback2633 That would be a thrill I'm sure. Glad to have a local from Pontianak listening to my episode and giving me some expert feedback. Thanks Joker.

[@fredguo2538]

My dreams are realized! Looking forward very very much to this series! :)

[@ChinaHistoryPodcast]

This one's for you, Fred. Thanks for the inspiration sir.

[@sungyenling]

I am of Hakka descent living in Vancouver, BC, Canada :). My great grandparents from both sides of my parents are from Meixian. My great grandmother from my mom's side first immigrated to Mauritius then to Jakarta, Indonesia. My great grandfather from my dad's side migrated to West Kalimantan, Indonesia. I was born in Jakarta, but my parents migrated to Canada. I like to think of them and myself as modern day nomadic Hakka people :').

[@bensantos3882]

I recently discovered your channel 2 months ago and absolutely love the channel. I hope you share more Chinese and Asian history sir. You deserve 10 million subscribers by the amount of effort with the richness you rightfully obtained with said knowledge.

[@ChinaHistoryPodcast]

Thanks Mr. Santos, I'm so glad you discovered my channel. I don't do much of anything to promote it. It's always my hope that good people such as yourself will manage to find it. Maybe with your help passing the word around, I'll reach 10 Million subscribers. Right now I'm shooting for 24,000. Thanks again Ben. Glad you liked this one in particular. I was actually having dinner at a place called Borneo Kalimantan in Alhambra, California when your comment came through. Over 300 hours of stuff on this channel. I hope you keep liking what you hear.

[@huzhuiwei]

Fascinating history, many thanks. I spent a good deal of time in eastern, central and southern Kalimantan during the 1990s, but never made it to the west, so this CHP episode filled in a lot of background for me. Was offered a fair amount of filched celadon grave goods, and lectured by a caretaker about the Australian bombing his temple in WWII, but otherwise found very little Chinese culture evident in the rest of Kalimantan... unless you count the Dayak as part of a Vietnam-Guangxi diaspora some two thousand years ago...

[@ChinaHistoryPodcast]

Lucky you! That's always been such a mysterious place to me. Much less so now. Hope I can visit one day but the clock is ticking down for me.

[@mjlee5617]

Only 133 likes? This is one of the under rated pod casts. Fact, the Sultans whether in West Malaysia and even Borneo, were really clueless about ruling their countries, allowing the Dutch and English to take over their land. Btw in Pontianak, the Teochews and Hakka were the ruling communities over the land.

[@yogiepermana2623]

If the teochews and hakka are the ruling communities of Pontianak, The Mayor of Pontianak must also one, but....not, since the first Mayor of Pontianak until now 2022 it always the javas, melayu. Maybe you are mistaken with Singkawang. I think what you are trying to say that the tionghoa are one of the biggest community in Pontianak

[@ChinaHistoryPodcast]

Thanks Yogie, for clarifying.

[@liongkienfai104]

Chinese Indonesian here. My dad is from Pontianak. Thanks for covering a bit of our history. Just wanna make a correction that the second largest Chinese group after Hakka in the area is Tiociu, not Hokkien. Also wanna add that many Chinese can be found outside of the Sambas to Pontianak zone. Ketapang is far south of province, and Putussibau is far inland, but you can still easily find Chinese in those places.

[@ChinaHistoryPodcast]

Thanks very much for that local expertise. Much appreciated.

[@jy221series4]

So thee Chinese are mostly in West Kalimantan? How about rest of Kalimantan?

[@kevinjonathanli]

@@jy221series4 not many

[@clementyang3249]

Your pronunciation of Chinese words is pretty precise, much to my surprise. Great podcast with in-depth research, will definitely sub to hear more!

[@ChinaHistoryPodcast]

Thanks for subscribing. Hope you find more on the channel that you like.

[@thewisetzar5363]

Lovely series

[@prettypurple7175]

WHAT AMAZING HISTORY////

[@loochunboon1615]

This series will be a gem..👍👍

[@ChinaHistoryPodcast]

Glad you think so. We'll finish it up in Part 2 next time.

[@magicmomo2498]

Sweet!! It’s lowered

[@nadiawong6550]

Tugged hakkas are hard working peaceful people. They often get bullied by other cultures that were more manipulative and jealous of the hakkas

[@kenxu4824]

Good illustration! Please make an episode of the Guangdong Hakkas migration to today's Saba Malaysia.

[@ChinaHistoryPodcast]

On the list

[@kenxu4824]

@@ChinaHistoryPodcast can't wait, bro!

[@maken8908]

Can you point out of the hoklo groups that migrated to the south? Hakka, Cantonese, Toisan, Teochew, and Hokkien and any others?

[@mhow4967]

Love to know more 💞. I'm Hakka lost in the bushes in South East Africa in Indian Ocean. but I'm still Hakka! Please help me!

[@jy221series4]

Mauritian?

[@Martijn_Steinpatz]

Interesting. The word kongsi in Dutch means a club of people who band together in order to enrich themselves (usually to the cost of others). There's a sense of irony there... (The word is out of use btw.)

[@ChinaHistoryPodcast]

Heel erg bedankt voor dat inzicht

[@Martijn_Steinpatz]

@@ChinaHistoryPodcast graag gedaan!

[@Mewzyque]

7:07 "Comprised of the two Malay* states of Sabah and Sarawak" Correction: Sabah and Sarawak are not Malay states. They are Malaysian states. Try not to get this mixed up because there was massive political struggle to rename British Tanah Melayu (lit. Land of the Malays) to Malaysia when Sabah and Sarawak and Singapore joined forces with the newly independent Malaya to form the new nation of Malaysia.

[@ChinaHistoryPodcast]

Very thankful for that input, my friend.

[@DanielSuguwa]

This. Tbh, I'm still baffled on how foreigners tend to label us East Malaysian as Malay state in context of history, when in fact, we've a separate history from West (Peninsular) Malaysia, despite the same colonial ruling. We know that we aren't dominating the news or headlines whatsoever, but please, at least get that part right. Looks like I might have to do an extensive video about our history at some point, though when release is unknown as I do need to do a lot of research. Can't 100% promise, but hope so.

[@Tyronius_Maximus]

Great video dude, is there any chance you’ll ever do a series on the taiping rebellion?

[@ChinaHistoryPodcast]

Absolutely. Coming in 2021.

[@Tyronius_Maximus]

@@ChinaHistoryPodcast nice

[@ChinaHistoryPodcast]

@@Tyronius_Maximus In fact, you convinced me to make this the next topic. After being requested dozens of times over the years...I think the time has come at last..

[@Tyronius_Maximus]

@@ChinaHistoryPodcast YOOOO thanks dude

[@ChinaHistoryPodcast]

@@Tyronius_Maximus You and a hundred others have been asking for this one for ten years. Should run 8 to 10 episodes. Thanks.

[@Poke-lg4fz]

Mantap

[@lilydev2808]

21:30 Why this ancient 100 yuan dated in 2012? Or this number represented something else?

[@ChinaHistoryPodcast]

That banknote was issued by The Provisional Government of the Lanfang Republic. Today they are an unrecognized government in exile, opposed to the Indonesian rule in West Kalimantan. Their goal is to bring back the Lanfang Republic. Their HDQ is located in Manchester's Chinatown in the UK. They're also active in Liverpool, Newcastle, and Birmingham. I only used it to show Luo Fangbo's image and the Lanfang Republic. They printed their own similar money but obviously not with 2012. It's not an ancient 100 yuan note. And besides, this time period being discussed is not from ancient or even medieval times. Thanks for listening Lily Dev. Was the video content any good?

[@aciteh5427]

I have a question… I was told there was a small Chinese kingdom built around the Kuching area in 1300 or 1400. Is that true?

[@lunaria3542]

1700s actually

[@aciteh5427]

So u have any video or sources about that?

[@mikewallice2795]

A republic, not a kingdom

[@aciteh5427]

@@mikewallice2795 I’m trying to find any video about this republic, any link?

[@mikewallice2795]

@@aciteh5427 Lan Fang Republic

[@maken2405]

Was mandarin a Manchurian language? And how did it become Chinese?

[@ChinaHistoryPodcast]

Different language branch. Chinese is Sino-Tibetan. Manchu is an East Asian Tungusic language.

[@hiworld1191]

In simple, Mandarin language was basically formed by Manchurian language which is using Chinese characters/script (thousands years existed longer time than Mandarin language).

[@hessroyalesfamilydedmaken2484]

When was Mandarin a language?

[@hiworld1191]

After ended of Qing Dynasty (the final dynasty of China ruled by minority race which was called Manchurian).

[@sylvesterfong9275]

👍👍👍

[@magicmomo2498]

👋

[@Hakka_Marthendy]

Foto yg ditampilkan ini bukanlah lukisan asli jaman Lo Fong Pak, lukisan ini dilukis oleh orang Pontianak pada tahun sekitar 1980 lebih dan boleh dikatakan sama sekali tidak ada miripnya dengan lukisan asli yang ada di dinding altar pemujaan di Sei Purun.

[@ChinaHistoryPodcast]

Sayangnya saya tidak bisa mendapatkan salinan lukisan aslinya. Saya minta maaf. Saya harap Anda menikmati episode podcast ini.

[@Hakka_Marthendy]

@@ChinaHistoryPodcast saya bisa mengirim untuk anda lewat Line, facebook atau bisa juga WA

[@midnightsun1728]

7:07 The Borneon states are not Malay states. They're Dayak in Sarawak and the KDMR in Sabah.

[@ChinaHistoryPodcast]

Sorry, I only mentioned the Malaysian States.

[@prettypurple7175]

What did the Dutch East India company colonize? The company was formally dissolved in 1800 and its colonial possessions in the Indonesian archipelago (including much of Java, parts of Sumatra, much of Maluku, and the hinterlands of ports such as Makasar, Manado and Kupang) were nationalized under the Dutch Republic as the Dutch East Indies.  en.m.wikipedia.org › wiki Dutch East Indies - Wikipedia

[@paullai1583]

Only in singkawang pontianak hakka kongsi is used...most hakkas call such as "kung sze" same as in mandarin.

[@ChinaHistoryPodcast]

Thanks, Paul for that additional info.

[@swindle888yamani2]

We call.them cina bukit

[@prettypurple7175]

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontianak_incidents

[@jimmylam1232]

We are all hakka La Rochelle France

[@ChinaHistoryPodcast]

Merci beaucoup M. Lam d'avoir écouté cet épisode.

[@ApostleOfDarkness]

Kongsi should be pronounced as Gong Shi.

[@hatchegg80]

gong si, there is no h rolled tongue

[@skiihigh12real]

You Americans stop trying to think you know about Asian and black cultures. You all messed a lot of things about south China Hakka people that’s the Guangzhou. They came to Jamaica to have business and be safe and they had kids in Jamaica where I’m from and they had mixed kids too. My great grandmother that’s born the year 1920 is a quarter south Chinese Hakka Guangzhou . Still looking for my family. You all messed a lot of history. A lot of other Chinese people don’t even know about this . They also need to know .

[@CandraSurya-um9yt]

Kongsi is Hokkien words not Cantonese.....

[@ChinaHistoryPodcast]

Yes, you are correct. I didn't have any Hokkien friends handy at the time so I went ahead and used the Cantonese pronunciation of 公司 to the best of my ability. Thanks for mentioning this Candra.

[@4KSnSLifestyle]

The pronunciation is the same.

[@ChinaHistoryPodcast]

@@4KSnSLifestyle Thank you for that clarification.

[@pandabear153]

@@ChinaHistoryPodcast In our dialect(Hoisan Vah) we pronounced it gong thlu.or company

[@prettypurple7175]

Search Results Featured snippet from the web In the 19th century, most of the Jews in the Dutch East Indies (now called Indonesia) were Dutch Jews from the Netherlands. The rest of the Jews in Indonesia were mainly immigrants from Iraq and Aden.Dec 20, 2017  theindoproject.org › the-jewi... The Jewish community of the Dutch East Indies - The Indo Project

[@hendrah7162]

Seharusnya orang China terus Melayu dan Dayak bikin satu negara merdeka di Kalimantan barat pasti negara yg di pimpin China pasti maju. Seperti Singapore

[@bestenemies4520]

Makar u.. 😒Knapa tk pindah aja u ke Singapore?

[@cudacularry2720]

Maju dengan menghancurkan khazanah alam yg ada di borneo. Akan datang Borneo menjadi sapi perah buat mainland china yg memerlukan bahan mentah buat survival mereka.

[@mangtr71]

China 👈👉🇸🇬🇲🇾 👉bonreo👑🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@bestenemies4520]

Bonreo right? NOT "BORNEO"😅bcs 65%land of borneo's Indonesian part, now it's called "Kalimantan"

[@mangtr71]

🇺🇲👑🐖🐖🐖👈🤣🤣🤣🤣 bonreo king

[@jairishpachamuthu2944]

I’m from Indonesia and I hate my countr…I wish I could be American or Chinese

[@bestenemies4520]

Yeah Go back to Chinese then.. Or u can moving to the USA.. 😆Shameless

[@prettypurple7175]

What did the Dutch East India company colonize? The company was formally dissolved in 1800 and its colonial possessions in the Indonesian archipelago (including much of Java, parts of Sumatra, much of Maluku, and the hinterlands of ports such as Makasar, Manado and Kupang) were nationalized under the Dutch Republic as the Dutch East Indies.  en.m.wikipedia.org › wiki Dutch East Indies - Wikipedia

[@prettypurple7175]

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontianak_incidents

[@prettypurple7175]

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontianak_incidents