Chapter 1

EARLY DAY IN BORNEO: THE ARRIVAL OF THE CHINESE

THE PEOPLE of most lands know much of what happened in their own countries many years ago. They look back on the great events and people of their country's past as a part of their heritage or, in other words, as something which belongs to them and their fellow citizens. The Egyptians are proud of their great kings who lived thousands of years ago and who left behind them famous buildings and pyramids. All the world knows about these kings, because their story was written while they were still alive and has been passed down through the centuries. In later years clever men wrote histories of all the European countries. We have all heard of English kings like Alfred who died more than a thousand years ago. Indian and Chinese people likewise can talk to you about the history of their two countries, because year by writers recorded great events as they happened. What Chinese boy knows nothing about Confucius, although he died more ignorant of the growth of the ancient Chinese provinces. They are proud of China's past and know that it forms a part of their Chinese culture. The names of the great emperors of China are as familiar to them as the names of their friends.

Unfortunately, of all the people who now live together as citizens of Sabah, those whose races have been here the longest know the least about their past. The Dusuns, the Muruts and other Bornean races have little written history and none which goes back a long way through the centuries. As a result, hardly anything is known about the early history of Sabah, which is of Cause our country, whatever our race may be.

We know very little about the early inhabitants of our land or what great events may have taken place. If there were great kings in Borneo 2,000 years ago, we know nothing about them, and it is not likely that we ever shall know anything. We cannot even give the name of a single person who lived in this country 1,000 years ago, although in other lands there are many accounts of the people of the people of that time. The people who lived in Borneo at that time could neither read nor write, and they left us no information about themselves.

This is very sad, for it is good for all people to know about their country's past; it helps them to know themselves better and to behave better.

The fist stories we know about Sabah were those told in Europe after Marco Polo went home from the court of Kublai Khan just before the year 1300. Marco Polo had spent many years as an officer of this great Chinese emperor. He had travelled far and wide in his service. Many a strange tale of mysterious lands beyond China did he tell when he returned to Europe. Adventurous travellers began to explore the mysterious East and soon they were talking about a huge island called Borneo.

They said that it was the biggest island in the world and that its wealth was enormous. Probably few of these travellers ever reached Borneo, but perhaps that made them more eager to pretend that they had. They had endured great hardships in travelling thousands of miles through unknown countries, and perhaps we should expect them to exaggerate their adverse a little. Rightly or wrongly, people in Europe heard of Borneo as a land bursting with gold, full of precious stones and fragrant eith spices such as event a king would love to have on his table.

Yet it was not curious Europeans who settled in Borneo at that time. The journey was too long and dangerous for any but the bravest to make. The people of China were much nearer to this unknown land. Perhaps they too had heard tales of its great wealth, and certainly the Chinese were not lacking in courage as pioneers.

Shortly after the year 1300 a Chinese expedition sailed through the Sulu Sea to the great river of Sabah, the Kinabatangan. There they came ashore and founded a Chinese province. And from that time dates our first knowledge of the history of Sabah. We do not know very much about these early Chinese settlers. They may have been peaceful men or they may at first have been warriors. We do not know; but we do know that these Chinese people became farmers and brought with them their own Chinese methods of farming. Until quite a short time ago primitive faring tools used on the east coast were very much like those used in China when Kublai Khan was alive.

Some people say that it was at this time that the Kinabatangan River got its name, They say that "Kina" means "China" at all, and perhaps they are right. One thing is certain: over 600 years ago the Chinese colonists had organized a province around the Kinabatangan. They left many relics behind them, especially beautiful pottery. Pagan people in the eastern past of our country saw these beautiful jars and were astonished at their lovely appearance.Their own pottery was crude, so they thought that the Chinese pottery must have a magical power. For many hundreds of years simple pagan people have kept those Chinese jars which they have been able to preserve, and they have treated them with reverence. The Dusuns until quite modern time used such jars for burying their dead, because they believed that the spirit of a dead person had a better start in its new life if a ceremonial jar was used for a coffin.

We must remember that the Kinabatangan Chinese came to a land that was very primitive and very difficult to penetrate. There were no proper roads and no machines for clearing the jungle. Even if all the stories of the wealth of Borneo were true the people would not have profited by it very much. It was very difficult to travel away from the rivers; therefore people were not able to gather and move valuable things. Only along the rivers was travel fairly easy. Nevertheless with great energy their authority inland, and for a time their province flourished.

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