Luo Fangbo
Luo Fangbo, formerly known as Lo 'Fong Pak', was born in Sak-san-po, Guangdong Province. He was the first Chinese person to hold the government position of 'president' and the founding father of the Lanfang Republic.
Early life
Luo Fangbo, was born into a family of farmers and students in Meixian Shifan Town, Guangdong, with the birthname of Luo Fong Pak. As a teenager, he was described as generous and especially joyful about marriage. From a young age, he learnt literature and martial arts, earning recognition among his friends. He tried to study various subjects and practiced swordsmanship, while also trying to master farming and livestock management. Known for his ambition and diligence, the townspeople held him in high regard. Until he was 34 years old, Luo Fangbo was still a poor scholar in Jiaying Prefecture who was not appreciated for his talent for scholarly acts and "lived by working hard in the fields with his tongue and writing with his inkstone for a living."Southern Crossing
In 1772, Luo Fangbo had failed in the rural examination at 35 Years old. Luo Fangbo's Confucian beliefs and ambitions led him to seek a life beyond the countryside. Unwilling to spend his life confined to rural life, he "harboured the ambition to travel with great vigour" and sailed with more than a hundred relatives and friends to Borneo via Humen. Luo also wrote a poem entitled "The Journey to Jinshan" to recount the event. This drive for exploration and achievement is captured in Xie Fusheng's "Meixian Essentials," which notes his desire to cross the sea in search of greater opportunities. After multiple storms, he landed in Sanfa, Borneo.At that time, Borneo was already inhabited by many Chinese. At the beginning, Luo Fangbo made a living in Kundin in the west with the career of teaching. He actively contacted local Chinese and indigenous people and began to use his innate communication skills. Luo Fangbo, who had just arrived, was immediately respected by the Hakka community because of his knowledge of literature and his decisiveness in doing things. He was known as "Luo Fangkou." By the time when he arrived in Dongwanlu, modern-day Pontianak, he enjoyed high prestige among the Chinese in the Pontianak area and was elected as the leader by the local clansmen's associations. Thus establishing the Lan Fang Hui, an organization dedicated to protecting Chinese communities in businesses. Its main opponent was the Tiandihui and after many battles, the Tiandihui was destroyed, and the Lan Fang Hui grew stronger. He also had "one hundred and eight like-minded people" and began to try to make achievements. For his administrative skills, high cultural background, courage, Confucian education, and knowledge of martial arts, he was not only able to unite the Chinese, but also able to co-operate with the natives, and was very popular with the natives as well as the overseas Chinese. Later, in 1777, the reputation of the subordinate Luo Fangbo gradually surpassed that of Wu Yuansheng of the "Jusheng Company." Wu Yuansheng was a Jiaying native and bandit who fled to Borneo Island for plotting to launch an uprising against the Qing government. Due to this mass popularity, Luo Fangbo became Wu Yuansheng's superior and thus leader of the "Jusheng Company." Luo Fangbo then reestablished the company under the name, "Lanfang Company."
However, at that time, more than seven mining companies were fighting with each other in Borneo. Social order on the island was extremely chaotic as bandits were rampant and pirates dominated, causing the people to live in poverty while the indigenous leaders were helpless. In response, Luo Fangbo first united the Chinese and organized a "fellow countrymen association" where he assembled and personally trained guards in martial arts and arms to secure positions and fend off wrongdoers. Word later spread of an impending armed invasion of Borneo by the Dutch East India Company in Java. Luo Fangbo actively contacted the indigenous leaders of Sultan and the local people to set up an army combining the Chinese and the local people, which defeated the Dutch army twice and gained the jurisdiction of East Borneo. Leading a force of more than 30,000 troops, Luo Fangbo joined forces with the Sultan, believed to be from the Sultanate of Sambas, to pacify the rebellion. During the battle, Luo Fangbo's outstanding organizational skills and brave fighting spirit made his companions admire him and unanimously elected him as the leader. The Sultan prepared a banquet to celebrate the victory. Wen Xiongfei once wrote;
Family and genealogy
According to the Luo genealogy, Luo Fangbo's ancestors, from southern Jiangxi to Jiaying Prefecture ; after five generations, and then relocated to Shishan Town to open the residence and establish a business. From the founding ancestor of Luo Jiucheng to Luo Fangbo, after fourteen generations. Luo Fangbo's father Luo Qilong, his wife Yang, gave birth to three sons Fangbai, Kuibai, and Taibai. Luo Fangbo had a younger brother named Luo Zhenbo. Luo Fangbo's first wife, Li, gave birth to a son Luo Zizeng. Luo Zizeng married Guo and gave birth to sons Yuanhan and Yuanheng, the 16th generation, who are the descendants of Luo Fangbo left in Shishan. It is found that Luo Zizeng never went to Pontianak with his father, as there were little to no mention of Luo Zizeng in records in Pontianak. After Luo Fangbo pacified Dongwanlu, he married an indigenous person of Dayak ethnicity. It is not known whether Luo Fangbo's second wife gave birth to any children due to the lack of information. Throughout the ages, the Luo family has been engaged in farming and studying, and some of them have also been engaged in farming and trading. Luo Fangbo's Indonesian lineage however remains mostly a mystery, with many that connects lineages to Luo Fangbo scattered across Southeast Asia.Establishment of Langfang
Later, in the lower reaches of the Kapuas River, there was a native tribal chief who often separated the unity of the natives and the Chinese. When the tribesmen living downstream of the Kapuas River insulted the Chinese, Luo Fangbo's subordinate Wu Yuansheng led an army to quell them and went southward. Whist traveling south, the Kun Tien, also known as the Pontianak sultanate, was newly established after its leader, Syarif Abdurrahman Al Qadri had left the Kingdom of Mempawah to found his own Kingdom who was supported by the Dutch VOC. Luo Fangbo, who was skilled in diplomacy and seeking an opportunity, liaised with the newly created and weak Sultanate of Pontianak to fight against the Chinese bandits and rebellious Kongsis' in the east and the west together. With cooperation, they both won great victory. The sultan of Pontianak, Syarif Abdurrahman Alkadrie, realised that he was no match for the tribesmen and could not control them, so he split the land into separate territories, to which Luo Fangbo was given control over the land of Dongwanlu as a sign of gratitude and a way to administer the land much more effectively. The land under Luo Fangbo's jurisdiction was bounded by Molor in the east, Kapuas River in the west, Dayuan, Shanghou and Sekadau in the south, and Lara and Singkawang in the north.Luo Fangbo's alliance with the Pontianak Sultanate had brought great returns as in 1789, the Pontianak Sultanate with the help of the Dutch succeeded in capturing the territory of the Mempawah Sultanate, supported by Luo Fangbo. Initially persuaded by the Dutch, the Pontianak sultanate tried to build a palace on the fringes of the Mempawah kingdom's border on the upper reaches of the river. Dispute over the authority of the river and vagueness over the border eventually led to a war between the two. Historian Musni Umberan, suggested that Luo Fangbo himself persuaded Syarif Abdurrahman to attack Mempawah which at the time was led by Syarif Abdurrahman's own brother-in-law, namely Gusti Daeng Jamiril. The Mempawah Sultan lost the war and joined forces with the Dayak to counter-attack. Luo Fangbo again broke the Mempawah Sultan's power and was pushed further north to Singkawang, ending with the Sultan of Singkawang and the Mempawah Sultan signing a peace treaty with Luo Fangbo mediated by the Sultanate of Pontianak after a siege lasting 9 months. Soon after, at 57 years old, Luo Fangbo's popularity soared dramatically. As a result, since 1793, the Sultan of Pontianak gave Luo Fangbo even broader authority to manage the Chinese kongsi under his management. It is also said that the Sultan wasn't able to resist Luo Fangbo's military, so the Sultan himself sought protection from Luo Fangbo to ensure the longevity of the newborn nation. After that, the people, and the Chinese in the area joined Luo Fangbo to seek refuge and work for him.
Inspired by the success of Heshun Confederation in negotiations with the local sultan through unified organization, Luo Fangbo began to establish a republican self-government with Dongwanlu Town as the capital. Later renaming the Langfang company to the Lanfang Republic after successfully uniting 14 Kongsis'. In 1777, he organized the "Lanfang Grand General System" and introduced the Lan Phuong New Year. The people unanimously supported him and referred to him as the "Chief of the Tang Dynasty", later bestowing upon him the noble title of 'Bo'. As a result, he was no longer known as Lo Fong Pak but as Luo Fangbo. In 1941, historian Luo Xianglin noted that since the establishment of the Lanfang Grand General System, Fangbo's prestige, both internally and externally, could have led him to proclaim himself as the chief leader or King. WIth many wanting Luo Fangbo becoming the status of King or a Sultan. However, Fangbo remained humble, choosing to refer to himself as the headman, which reflected the spirit of people's rule. In addition to the Lan Fang General Administration, the Dai Yan Kingdom was also established. This kingdom was established purely for General Wu Yuansheng, where he ruled as a feudal state. The Lanfang system was one of the earliest attempts to establish a democratic system of government in Southeast Asia. It featured a general office at the top, supported by officials at all levels. Luo Fangbo organized local self-governing bodies and appointed overseas Chinese and native chiefs as heads of these bodies. The governance was virtuous and well received by the local populace. The land in Dongwanlu was fertile, suitable for farming and herding. The region also had mountains, forests, gold mines, and abundant resources, along with harbors and bays that facilitated the development of transport. During his reign, taking from what he learned back home, he led the people to improve farming techniques, expand mineral mining, develop transport businesses, roads, establish schools, and improve the material and cultural life of the people. To safeguard the area's security, he implemented military training for all people. He organized the young and strong to participate in military training, and they worked as laborers, farmers, and merchants in normal times, assembling to fight in times of war. He also set up an arsenal to manufacture guns, and built strong defenses. When Lanfang was annexed by the Dutch colonial empire in 1884, the "Grand General System" created by Luo Fangbo had elected 12 governors over its 108-year existence in Kalimantan.