text | Comrade Guevara
In the early and mid-term period of the Qing Dynasty, as Western colonists strengthened their invasion and expansion in Southeast Asia, the vassal states of the Celestial Empire asked for assistance from the Qing Dynasty when they were unable to protect themselves. The largest country on the Philippine Islands directly made a request to be incorporated into China, but were rejected by Emperor Qianlong . So the question is, what kind of country is Sulu? Why did Emperor Qianlong refuse to "eat" this piece of "fat meat delivered to his mouth"?
In the 19th year of Qianlong reign of Emperor Gaozong of the Qing Dynasty (1754), a delegation of Sulu came to the court of the Forbidden City in Beijing. After performing the kneeling ceremony in accordance with the tribute etiquette, they immediately presented the "Please accept the territory chart" written by Sudan Ma Yingwei Anrou Law to Emperor Qianlong, requesting that all the land and population of the country be included in the territory of China. Emperor Qianlong was surprised by this unexpected "great gift", so he always asked the basic situation of Sulu Kingdom and why it applied to join the Heavenly Kingdom through a general translation.
Sulu Country Map
Under the introduction of the envoy, Emperor Qianlong finally understood Sulu's national conditions and the reason for joining China. It turns out that Sulu Kingdom is located on Sulu Islands in the southwest of today's Philippines , and appeared in records of Chinese history books very early. For example, "The Great Destiny of the South China Sea" and " Island-Body History" written by scholars of the Yuan Dynasty both have detailed introductions to Sulu's basic national conditions. However, according to existing historical data, Chinese people arrived in the Sulu Islands as early as the 3rd century, and in the Tang, Song and Yuan dynasties, a large number of Chinese immigrants went to settle there.
In the early years of the Ming Dynasty, the Minangkabo people from the western Sumatra Island of Indonesia conquered the Sulu Islands and established a powerful Islamic country. When the territory was at its peak, in addition to the Sulu Islands, it also included Palawan Island in the southern Philippines and the province of Basil, central Tavitavi, as well as the archipelago in northern Borneo and the surrounding Sulu Sea . After the establishment of the Sulu Kingdom, the three kings jointly governed the country, with the Eastern King having the highest status, while the Western King and the Dong King were equivalent to the deputy kings, which was similar to the emperor and the co-governing emperor of the Roman Empire.
Portrait of Zhu Di, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty,
After Su Lu, who believed in Islam, immediately paid tribute to the Ming Dynasty, thus becoming a vassal of China. In order to express sincerity, in the fifteenth year of Yongle (1417), Sulu East King Badu Gebahala, Western King Mahala Gemading, and Dong King Badu Geba Labu were dispatched collectively to lead a large delegation to visit China and were grandly received by Ming Chengzu. The three kings of Sulu stayed in Beijing for 22 days, and then took a boat to go south along the Grand Canal . However, when the fleet sailed to Dezhou in Shandong, the Eastern King Badu Gebahala unfortunately fell ill and died.
Badu Gebahala loved the prosperity and prosperity of the Ming Dynasty, so he asked his family to bury him in China before his death. After the news reached Beijing, Ming Chengzu was both emotional and sad. In order to fulfill Badu Gebahala's last wish, Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty sent the doctor of the Ministry of Rites Chen Shiqi to Dezhou with the eulogy written by the emperor himself, and buried Badu Gebahala in Dezhou with the royal ceremony, and gave the title "Congratulations". In this way, Badu Gebahala became the only Philippine king buried in China.
Tomb of King Sulu
After the funeral, Badu Gebahala's eldest son, Ma Han, returned to China to inherit the throne. Princess Ge Muning, second son Wen Hala, third son Andulu and more than ten servants stayed in Dezhou to guard the tomb, and never returned to Sulu again. After Ge Muning, Wen Hala, Andulu and others passed away one after another, they were buried in the southeast corner of the tomb. Their descendants took over the responsibility of guarding the tomb and changed to the Chinese surnames Wen and An, and married and had children in the local area, and reproduction continued. However, although the Ming Dynasty gave special care to King Sulu's descendants, they always refused their application to naturalize in China.
By the early Qing Dynasty, the number of descendants of Badu Gebahala had become considerable, but their application for naturalization to China was also rejected for a long time. In the ninth year of Yongzheng (1713), Emperor Shizong of the Qing Dynasty considered that the descendants of Badu Gebahala had settled in China for hundreds of years and had long been the same as the Han people. If he refused their naturalization application, it would be contrary to his image as a kind king. Because of this, Emperor Shizong of the Qing Dynasty issued an edict allowing the descendants of Badu Gebahala to be naturalized by the surname Wen and An. This is also a good story in the history of the integration of the Chinese nation.
Portrait of Emperor Yongzheng
And it is said that after returning to China, Ma Han succeeded the King of East and ruled Sulu with the King of West Mahala Gemading and King of Dong Badu Geba Labu, their descendants also maintained this pattern for a long time. However, more than 30 years later, the situation in Sulu changed drastically. In 1450, the leader of the Arab merchant Sayed Abu Bokel seized the Sulu regime and announced the end of the pattern of the three kings' co-governance and created a system in which Sudan held the power alone. However, although Sulu changed his political system and rulers, he still maintained his status as a vassal state and still sent envoys to China to pay tribute regularly.
The purpose of Sulu paying tribute to China is not only economic interests, but also the desire to obtain the protection of the Celestial Empire, but the latter obviously did not fulfill his due responsibilities. Starting from 1578, Spanish colonists began to invade Sulu, forcing the Sudan to give them trade privileges, and pay tribute to the Spanish king . In response, in addition to organizing military and civilians to resist tenaciously, Sulu Sultan also sent envoys to China for help. However, due to serious internal and external troubles, the Ming Dynasty had neither the ability nor the willingness to assist Sulu, which made the situation worse.
Spanish colonists invaded Sulu and encountered tenacious resistance
After the Qing Dynasty entered the pass, Sulu stayed in China's tribute system and continued to pay tribute to the Qing court, but because the bullying of the Spanish colonists became increasingly aware of the trouble of the country's destruction. By the time Emperor Qianlong was reigned, the Qing Dynasty's national strength reached its peak, ranking first in Asia in terms of territory, military, economic strength, etc., and even had the ability to crush Spain. In view of this, Sulu Sultan sent an envoy to China to express his expectations to Emperor Qianlong to join the Chinese territory to relieve the suffering of Spain's aggression.
After listening to Sulu's instructions, although Emperor Qianlong felt deeply sympathy, he issued an edict saying that Sulu was taken care of by Emperor of the Qing Dynasty and did not have to contribute land or population, so he rejected the request of Sudan ("In the 19th year, King Sulu Ma Yingwei Anrou sent envoys to pay tribute to the local goods and tribute a pack of land, and asked to include the Chinese picture library as the household registration. The emperor's edict: 'The Sulu country is in a favorable mood, and the people of the country's land will be in the throne of the throne, and there is no need to send the picture album again.'" See "Drafts of Qing History·Volume 528").
Portrait of Emperor Qianlong
The reason why Emperor Qianlong politely rejected Su Lu's request to be incorporated into China was that the Qing court was implementing the "close-off country" policy and was extremely reluctant to deal with foreign countries, especially Western countries, in order to avoid causing unnecessary "trouble". In this case, once Sulu is included in China's territory, the Qing Dynasty will have to send troops to station in Southeast Asia and directly fight with the Spanish army. At that time, the war will be a disaster, which will greatly damage China's strength and even drag down the Qing Empire. It will not cost-effective in any case.
Although Emperor Qianlong rejected the Sultan's request, he reiterated in his edict that Sulu's vassal relationship with China remained unchanged, and the Qing Empire was also willing to help Sulu morally. However, Emperor Qianlong's promise was nothing but a "blank check" and had no substantial effect at all. About 100 years later, the Spanish colonists occupied the capital of Sulu, and the Sudan was forced to express his surrender and cut off the vassal relationship of absolute China. It was in the first year of Xianfeng (1851) .
Spanish-American War
Spain maintained colonial rule for less than 50 years in Sulu, and was then forced to ced the entire Philippine Islands, including Sulu, to the United States after the Spanish-American War (1898). In 1903, the United States set up Moro in Sulu and deprived Sudan of most of its real power. 1915, the US Governor in Moroe forced Sulu Sultan Kiran II to sign an agreement, announcing his resignation of secular rule and only retaining the status of religious leaders. At this point, Moro Province was officially incorporated into the Philippines, and Sulu Sultanate became the destruction of .
Reference Books
1. Zhang Tingyu [Qing Dynasty]: " Ming History ", Zhonghua Book Company 1974 edition.
2. Official historical materials compiled by the Qing Dynasty: " Qing Dynasty Records ", 2008 edition of Zhonghua Book Company.
3. Zhao Erxun [Qing Dynasty/Republic of China]: " Qing History Draft ", 1998 edition of Zhonghua Book Company.
4. China's No. 1 Historical Archives: "Ming Dynasty Archives Summary", Guangxi Normal University Press 2001 edition.
5.Wang Shoudong : "Research on the Tomb of King Sulu in Dezhou", China Drama Publishing House 2009 edition.
6. Xi Lingzhi: "Research on the History of Tribute in the Sulu Kingdom of Qing Dynasty", Journal of Dezhou University, 2010.
