Faced with the enemy with strong ships and powerful guns, the Qing army, which had long been self-proclaimed for many years, was no match for the entire Qing government. The corrupt Qing government had to sign the Treaty of Nanjing with the British government, and gradually becam

In the 20th year of Daoguang in the Qing Dynasty (1840), a British fleet composed of 47 ships and 4,000 troops arrived outside the estuary of the Pearl River in Guangdong, and the Opium War broke out. Faced with the enemy with strong ships and powerful guns, the Qing army, which had long been self-proclaimed for many years, was no match for the entire Qing government. The corrupt Qing government had to sign the "HTM1 Treaty of Nanjing " with the British government, and gradually began to become a semi-colonial semi-feudal society.

When the country was in danger, a group of progressive people stepped forward. They advocated learning from the West and gradually developed from advocating the introduction of artifacts to following the system. In 1911, the Revolution broke out, the feudal monarchy was overthrown, and the first bourgeois democratic republic in my country's history was finally established. It is worth mentioning that as early as 134 years ago during the Xinhai Revolution, a scholar who failed the of the Qing Dynasty was forced to leave Nanyang and established the first democratic republic in Asia in Borneo. What he said is Luo Fangbo and the Lan Fang Republic he established.

In the third year of Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty (1738), Luo Fangbo was born in Shisanbao, Jiayingzhou, Guangdong Province, which is today the area of ​​Shisan Town, Meizhou City, Guangdong Province. Luo Fangbo's original name is Fangbo . He is the eldest of the three brothers in the family. Perhaps it is out of his sense of responsibility as the eldest son that he has worked diligently in studying and practicing martial arts since he was a child and has become the best among his peers in the ten miles away. In his early years, he even participated in the Heaven and Earth Association with the purpose of "following the heaven and following the way". At first, Luo Fangbo wanted to take the imperial examination, but after passing the imperial examination, he failed the provincial examination many times and could not go further.

Seeing the career of the government seems to be destined to be ineffective, Luo Fangbo changed his direction. He was born free by nature and caught up with the craze of " going to Southeast Asia to open a gold mountain". So, after some preparation, Luo Fangbo set out from Humen with many fellow villagers in the 37th year of Qianlong (1772) and took a boat to the distant Nanyang. According to his self-report in "Jinshan Fu", he was full of ambition at the time and encouraged himself in his heart: "Since you come out of the Humen, you will definitely go directly to the Dragon Palace."

Luo Fangbo's destination is Kalimantan Island, Indonesia today Pontianak, located at the mouth of the Kabuas River, is now the capital and largest city of the West Kalimantan Province. At that time, Kalimantan was called "Borneo", while Pontianak was directly called "Golden Mountain" by Chinese because it produced a lot of gold mines. When he arrived in Jinshan, Luo Fangbo met Wu Yuansheng , who were also , Jiayingzhou . Wu Yuansheng also participated in the Tiandihui . He was forced to flee to Nanyang because of his failure to plan for an uprising. At this time, a mining company called "Jusheng" had been established.

Luo Fangbo quickly showed outstanding leadership as the elder brother and peer model in his family over the years. He was upright and intelligent, with clear rewards and punishments, and soon gained a high prestige. Wu Yuansheng was even impressed by him and voluntarily gave up his position as leader. Luo Fangbo is a very far-sighted person. He used the income obtained from gold mining to purchase weapons, trained a combat-effective army, and used it to confront the Dutch East India Company, which was rampant in the South China Sea.

In the 41st year of Qianlong's reign (1776), Luo Fangbo followed the system of the East India Company and formally founded the "Lanfang Company". The reason for this name is that Luo Fangbo also has a partner named Chen Lanbo. He took the two names one word, which gave the name " Lanfang ". The following year, Lanfang Company was renamed " Lanfang Grand Regulatory Republic ", with Chen Lanbo as the first honorary head of state, while Luo Fangbo was the actual head of state.

In order to indicate the distinction from the Qing Dynasty, the head of the Lanfang Republic called " general system ", also known as "the chief of the Tang Dynasty". At the same time, Luo Fangbo is also known as " Pontianak ". What is commendable is that Luo Fangbo did not do the feudal empire in the name of a democratic republic like the future Yuan Shikai and others. Under his rule, the domestic mining industry developed steadily, and also led to the development of farming, commerce, transportation, education and other fields.

, who did not forget his roots, strongly supported Chinese merchant ships to the Lanfang Republic for trade, so a route connecting Guangzhou, Chaozhou and Borneo was soon formed. In addition, it is said that Luo Fangbo actually sent Chen Lanbo to meet Emperor Qianlong at the beginning of the founding of the country, expressing his willingness to be a vassal state of the Qing Dynasty, but Emperor Qianlong was unwilling to stand against the opposition of Western powers such as the Netherlands in order to maintain this small country. Ignore it.

In the 60th year of Qianlong's reign (1795), Luo Fangbo died of illness at the age of 58. Before his death, he recommended Jiang Wubo to succeed him. After the election, the latter, which was originally intended by the people, successfully took office as the general system. Unfortunately, in the 12th year of the Guangxu period (1886), the Lanfang Republic was unable to resist the fierce attack of the Dutch colonists and was eventually declared destruction and enjoyed the country for 110 years.

To sum up, as the first democratic republic in Asia, the Lanfang Republic was established by Chinese Luo Fangbo, and indeed showed the characteristics of democracy, republic and other systems to a certain extent. Entering modern times, Liang Qichao used it as an example in "Hiddenly Biography of the Eight Great People of China's Coloniality" to inspire the Chinese people to actively forge ahead. In addition, the 1793 " Times " also reported the story of Luo Fangbo and Lan Fang's Republic. All of these shows the great influence and far-reaching significance of Luo Fangbo and Lan Fang Republic.