Kongsi federation

The Chinese kongsi federations of Southeast Asia, also known as kongsi democracies or republics, were political entities that functioned like self-governing states.[1] They were formed from the unions of mining kongsi (Chinese: 公司; pinyin: gōngsī), commercial organizations consisting of members that provided capital and shared profits.[2] By the mid-nineteenth century, the kongsi federations were the only states governing western Borneo. The three largest Kongsi federations in Borneo were the Lanfang Republic, the Fosjoen Federation, and the Samtiaokioe Federation.[3]

Commercial kongsis are common in Chinese diasporic communities throughout the the world, but the kongsi federations of Borneo were unique in that they were sovereign states that controlled large swaths of territory. This characteristic distinguishes them from the sultanates of Southeast Asia, which held authority over their subjects, yet did not control the territory where their subjects resided.[3]

The kongsi federations competed with the Dutch over the control of Borneo, culminating in the Kongsi Wars from 1822 to 1885. The Dutch defeated the kongsi federations and absorbed their former territorial possessions into the Dutch colonial state.

Kongsi federations were named democracies and republics by nineteenth century authors.[4] However, the republican nature of the kongsi federations is still debated by modern scholars. There are different views as to whether they should be regarded as rudimentary Western republics or a completely independent Chinese tradition of democracy.[5]

History

Background

Kongsis were first established in the 18th century as the Chinese emigrated to Southeast Asia. They emerged with the growth of the Chinese mining industry, and were based on traditional Chinese notions of brotherhood. The majority of kongsis began on a modest scale as partnership systems called huis (Chinese: 會; pinyin: huì; literally "union").[6] These partnership systems were important economic institutions that existed in China since the emergence of a Song dynasty managerial class in the 12th century.[7] A hui became known as a kongsi once it expanded into a sizable institution that comprised members numbering in the hundreds or thousands.[6]

There are scant records of the first Chinese mining communities. W. A. Palm, a Dutch East India Company representative, reports that gold minse had been established in 1779 around Landak, but the ethnicity of its workers is unknown.[8]

Rise of kongsi federations


As democracies or republics

Nineteenth century historians and observers categorized the kongsi federations as republics or democracies.[3] The Dutch sinologist Jan Jakob Maria de Groot was in favor of this interpretation, calling the kongsis "village republics" that partook in the "spirit of a democracy."[4] In response to comparisons with Western republicanism, historian Wang Tai Pang has cautioned that "such an approach to the history of kongsi is evidently Eurocentric." He concedes that the federations were similar to Western democracies insofar as they involved the election of representatives. However, Wang argues that the uniquely Chinese characteristics of kongsi federations are overlooked when historians only emphasize the connection between kongsis and republicanism in the West.[9] Instead, kongsis should be viewed as authentically Chinese democracies that developed independently from the influence of Western political institutions.[5] Mary Somers Heidhues stresses that the 19th century understanding of the word "republic" is not identical to the modern interpretation of republicanism. A Dutch commentator from the 19th century would have called any political system without a hereditary ruler a republic.[4]

Citations

  1. ↑ Heidhues 1996, p. 176.
  2. ↑ Heidhues 2003, p. 54.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Heidhues 2003, p. 55.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Heidhues 2003, p. 60.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Wang 1979, p. 104.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Wang 1979, p. 103.
  7. ↑ Wang 1979, p. 105.
  8. ↑ Heidhues 2003, p. 61.
  9. ↑ Wang 1994, pp. 4–5.

References