Huang Senping

Huang Senping (Chinese: 黃森屏), Pengiran Maharaja Lela of Brunei. He is better known by his Hokkien name Ong Sum Ping to Bruneians. The Hokkien name implies that Huang Senping was a native of Fujian, China. This also finds support in the account of Brunei in Chapter 211 of the official History of Ming.^[1]

According to Wen Xiongfei 温雄飞 in the 《南洋华侨史》, Huang Senping came to Brunei in 1375 during the early years of China's Ming Dynasty.^[2] Huang Senping later married Princess Ratna Dewi, the daughter of Sultan Muhammad Shah of Brunei, and was conferred the nobility title of Pengiran Maharaja Lela and elected Chief of Kinabatangan.^[3][4] Oral traditions indicated that there was a Chinese settlement in present-day Kinabatangan, Sabah. "Kinabatangan" could mean "Chinese river". "Kina" (kee-na) is used by Kadazan Dusun which similar to "Cina" (chee-na) used by Malay which refer the Chinese. According to early account such as Salasilah Raja-Raja Brunei (Genealogy of the Brunei Kings) which was first written from oral traditions during the reign of Sultan Muhammad Hassan (1582–1598) and subsequently copied and updated from time to time and also the Sejarah Melayu (written by Tun Seri Lanang in 1612), Huang Senping "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) written in 1807 that Sultan Ahmad was a brother of Sultan Muhammad Shah and he was not Huang Senping. The latter version is the accepted official history of Brunei.^[5] Chapter 211 of the official History of Ming^[1] recorded the following: "万历时，为王者闽人也。或言郑和使婆罗，有闽人从之，因留居其地，其后人竟据其国而王之。" (During the reign of Ming emperor Wanli 1573–1620, the King of Brunei was a Hokkien. Some said a Hokkien followed Admiral Zheng He to Brunei and stayed behind. His descendants later became the rulers of the country). This passage is an apparent reference to Huang Senping, the only Chinese in the Bruneian royal genealogy (although his arrival in Brunei predated Admiral Zheng He's first voyage by 30 years), and suggested that his descendants continued to rule the fiefdom of Kinabatangan up until the reign of Ming emperor Wanli 1573–1620. During the Brunei Civil War (1661-1673), Sultan Muhyiddin of Brunei 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.^[6]. The promised territory was or included Kinabatangan.

According to an early 20th century Chinese trader Huang Zhuoru 黄卓如, he discovered the tomb of Huang Senping 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'.^[2][7] However, the present whereabouts of this tomb is unknown.

In 1947, a reef in the South China Sea was named 'Senping reef' 森屏礁 by the Government of the Republic of China in honour of Huang Senping.^[8] In Brunei capital Bandar Seri Begawan today, there is a street named after him, Jalan Ong Sum Ping, which is the only street in Brunei with a Chinese name.

Huang Senping has been repeatedly cited as one of the main subjects in the legend of Mount Kinabalu. The legend tells of two Chinese princes or envoys of the Ming sent to capture a precious gemstone from the mountain which was being guarded by a dragon.^[9][10]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} 《明史－列传第二百十一》http://shuku.net:8082/novels/history/msqztyz/ms323.html
2. ^ ^{a b} Muhammad Jamil Al-Sufri (1990). Tarsilah Brunei- Sejarah Awal dan Perkembangan Islam. Bandar Seri Begawan: Jabatan Pusat Sejarah
3. ^ Pusat Sejarah Brunei http://www.pusat-sejarah.gov.bn/sultanbrunei.htm
4. ^ Muhammad Jamil Al-Sufri.(1990). Tarsilah Brunei- Sejarah Awal dan Perkembangan Islam. Bandar Seri Begawan: Jabatan Pusat Sejarah
5. ^ Muhammad Jamil Al-Sufri.(1990).Tarsilah Brunei- Sejarah Awal dan Perkembangan Islam. Bandar Seri Begawan: Jabatan Pusat Sejarah
6. ^ Rozan Yunos (2008).Civil war wrecks chaos in the country http://www.bt.com.bn/life/2008/08/24/civil_war_wrecks_chaos_in_the_country
7. ^ 《马星华人志》http://www.intimes.com.my/yeo-html/yeo591a.htm
8. ^ Sun Donghu 孙冬虎 (2000). The background and influence of the exotic toponyms in the South China Sea Islands 南海诸岛外来地名的命名背景及其历史影响. In Geographical Research 地理研究 http://www.nansha.org.cn/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=75&view=unread http://d.wanfangdata.com.cn/Periodical_dlyj200002015.aspx
9. ^ Saunders, Graham E. (2002), A History of Brunei, RoutledgeCurzon, p. 40, http://books.google.com/books?id=SQ4t_OJgSjAC&pg=PA40&lpg=PA40&dq=ong+sum+ping+dragon+kinabalu&source=bl&ots=oyQrtrRJH4&sig=d9cuUhprj_X3e2JkAnkeVpVdhC0&hl=en&ei=VALXSsSlNcmIkAXbu8nRCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAwQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=ong%20sum%20ping%20dragon%20kinabalu&f=false, retrieved 2009-10-15 
10. ^ W. H. Treacher (1891), British Borneo: Sketches of Brunai, Sarawak, Labuan, and North Borneo, The Project Gutenberg eBook, p. 55, http://www.gutenberg.org/files/27547/27547-h/27547-h.htm, retrieved 2009-10-15 

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