The Historical Facts of Princess Hang Li Po, Queen to Sultan Mansur Shah of the Melaka Sultanate!

If we were to exclude the knowledge of the existence and details of legends and myths from our history books, then, not only would Greeks, Egyptians, Jews, Chinese, Indians and others be robbed of a rich heritage, so too would the world. Legends and myths are not based on mere conjecture and the dreams of the Homers, Vyasas, Valmikis and the like. Much of their stories are based on actual places and events, though embellished with fantastic feats and stories of the adventures of Gods, supermen and super evil-men and women and of heroes, heroines and villains. Many of these stories while exploring universal human values, behaviour and themes, also give us glimpses of the world as it was thousand of years ago. Who really knows what happened in the past, in pre-historic times?

Archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann (CLICK HERE) believed that the Iliad and Odyssey were based on actual historical events and staked his life on it. He went on to discover in the 1870's near what is now modern Turkey, Troy, the 3,000-years old city of fabulous treasures where the married Greek Queen Helen of Sparta, of 'the face that launched a thousand ships' fame, had been taken to by her lover, Paris, who had seduced and/or abducted her. This one act by Paris triggered off the Trojan Wars and the 10-year long siege of Troy, resulting in its eventual destruction by the Greeks. How the pulse quickens at the mention of Achilles, Hector, Odysseus, Priam, Paris, Helen, Cassandra and the Trojan Horse, and how to "beware of Greeks bearing gifts!"

The boy Arthur Evans's (CLICK HERE) imagination had been fired by the stories from the Iliad and the Odyssey. As an archaeologist, he discovered the remains of the Knossos Palace on the Greek island of Crete and proof of the existence of the ancient Minoan civilization. Underground tunnels directly beneath the palace gives credence to the old story of the youthful and brave hero Theseus who was said to have defeated the half man, half bull and man-eating beast called the Minotaur!

Many towns such as Dwaraka, Ayodhya and Kurushetra are mentioned in the 5,000-year old texts of the Ramayana and Mahabharatha. (CLICK HERE) (AND HERE). Two sites explored in the 19th century by Hirananda Shastri and DR Bhandarkar of the Archaeological Society of India were declared to be of no historical significance. Later expeditions in the 1920's, led by Sahni, Banerji, Bandhyopadhyay and John Marshall, established Harappa and Mohenjodaro (Mound of the Dead), (CLICK HERE) (AND HERE) both now located in modern Pakistan, as two of the world's earliest urban settlement. The 5,000-over year old Indus Valley Civilization is possibly even older than that of Babylon and China.

Closer to home, the 2nd century Indian Hindu-Buddhist Bujang Valley (and also the Kedah Annals or Merong Mahawangsa) was discovered in the 1860's by Colonel James Low, and explored in detail in 1937-38 by Quaritch Wales from London and Professor Nilakanta Shastri of India. Since then, has any local historian searched for gold chariots and treasures mentioned in the Kedah Annals in the hills surrounding the Bujang Valley?

Such is the myopia our Professors Emeritus and historians suffer from. The are just too plain lazy to take a shovel and dig for the truth, preferring instead the more wholly agreeable and pleasurable pursuit of inertia and somnambulence in the cosy, air-conditioned offices of our sleepy halls of  'academia.'  History and myths and legends are only boring and dead subjects of no interest to our children if taught by professors and teachers on early retirement mode and snail-speed, and if 60-70 pages of 'Islamic Civilization Studies' are stuffed into our history books, to the exclusion of much of local and world history. 

I have said it before and I'll say it again. KEEP RELIGION COMPLETELY OUT OF ALL PUBLIC-FUNDED SCHOOLS AND INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER LEARNING AND EDUCATION!!

Which brings us to the legend of Princess Hang Li Po. According to the Sejarah Annals or Malay Annals (refer to my blog dated 2nd October 2013) she was the daughter of the Emperor of China and the 5th wife of Sultan Mansur Shah of Melaka (1459-1477 CE).

One of our "leading professors of history" created controversy and furore last year by suggesting that legends such as these ought to be excluded from our history books or a disclaimer issued. I suppose he would be happy with something along the lines of "Students Beware! Reading, talking about or discussing or teaching legends and myths may cause cancer!" Our poor impressionable, oh-so-delicate and innocent children must be protected from having their minds corrupted, fired and excited by  myths and legends. He has, as far as I know, never called for Superman, Batman, Spider Man, Iron Man, The Mighty Thor, the X-Men, Wolverine and Marvel comics to be banned either, but I'm sure that call is not far away.

Firstly, Bukit China (Chinese Hill) with its numerous graves, actually still exists close to the city centre in Melaka, as does Hang Li Po's well, three of the Muslim eunuch Chinese Admiral Cheng Ho's (Zheng He) 'Seven Dragon Wells' and Sam Poh Teng Temple (found also in Perak and I think, in Penang). So, they are not a figment of the wild imagination of Sejarah scribes, or the creation of some Chinese chauvinist's fertile imagination. The same professor who created the furore should, as a matter of professional integrity, offer us a logical alternative explanation as to where these names and relics came from if not from the fifteenth century. After all, he's been a professor of history for well nigh 30-40 years, much of it on taxpayers's funding, and has had lots of time to research and reflect on it.

So, what does the Sejarah (Raffles Ms 18) written in 1535 CE and updated on 13th May 1612, actually say about Hang Li Po? Refer pg. 116-124 of the Sejarah. 

The Chinese Emperor had apparently, (ahem!) heard of the greatness of the Raja of Melaka, and sent an envoy bearing gifts to the royal court of Melaka. Sultan Mansur Shah then reciprocated with his own delegation to (presumably Peking, I'll clarify later) China, headed by one Tun Perpateh Puteh, younger brother of Bendahara Paduka Raja. On arrival in China, they are received by Chief Minister Ling Ho, who conducts them to an audience with the "Raja of China." So delighted and impressed with the Melaka envoy was the Chinese Emperor that:

"....when the season of the year for the return voyage to Melaka was come, the Raja of China bade Ling Ho make ready ships to convey Ling, (and ) his daughter to Melaka. Ling Ho did so, and when the ships were nearly ready, the Raja of China chose out five hundred youths of noble birth (? sons of ministers) with a high officer in command, to escort his daughter (Princess Hang Liu; and several hundred beautiful women-attendants accompanied her)......and when she appeared, Sultan Mansur Shah was astonished by the beauty of Princess Hang Liu, daughter of the Raja of China, and he gave orders that she embrace the faith of Islam......and married the princess.

And by her he had a son...Paduka Mimat...who had a son Paduka Sri China who in turn had a son named Paduka Ahmat, father of Paduka Isap.

And the five hundred (sons of Chinese ministers) were bidden to take up their abode at Bukit China; and the place goes by that name to this day. It was they who made the well at Bukit China, and it is their descendants who are called "the Chinese yeoman". And Sultan Mansur gave robes of honour to the Chinese ministers who had brought the princess, and the minister then sought leave to return to China."

The same from Pg.178-180 of the Sejarah translated in English by John Leyden in 1810:

"The Raja of China...said..desire the Raja (of Melaka) to pay me a visit, in order that I may marry my daughter, the Princess Hong Li-po to him....Then, the Sultan directed the Princess Hong Li-po to be converted to the religion of Islam......and the raja appointed the hill without the fort for their residence, and the hill got the name of Den-China or the Chinese residence, (in Siamese)); and the Chinese formed a well at the foot of this China Hill. The descendants of these persons are denominated beduanda China, or the Chinese personal attendants. Sultan Mansur Shah bestowed a honorary dress on Di-po, and all the rest of the mantris who had conducted the Chinese Princess..."

Can it be clearer than that? There are slight variations in spelling and names, but remember Leyden's translation was done with assistance from a Tamil Indian Muslim Munshi some 200 years ago when Jawi, Malay and Arabic were Greek to Leyden in particular. I also suspect that the word 'Hang' in the Sejarah has Sanskrit origins, and is just an honorific term and not related to the Han Dynasty (206BCE-220CE) of China. Likewise, for Hang Tuah, Hang Jebat, Hang Lekir, Hang Kasturi, Hang Lekiu etc.

Contrary to all sorts of speculation designed to insult and denigrate, the Sejarah is crystal clear that Hang Li Po was not the daughter of some concubine of the Chinese Emperor, or of some high or low ranking nobleman, passed off as royalty. The fact that Chinese historical records do not mention either Hang Li Po or these events, does not mean they constitute mere legend. Chinese records were deliberately destroyed, or lost as a result of floods, fire and other natural and man-made disasters.

And, why would the Sejarah's scribe - 100% non-Chinese - concoct a story about a Chinese princess marrying the Sultan of Melaka, when he also goes on to record the 1511 Portuguese invasion of Melaka and subsequent events, fairly accurately; events of historical fact? Why would he want to distort facts? What would have been his motive?

In so far as Chinese Ming records are concerned, visits by Parameswara (Pai-li-mi-su-la) and his sons who succeeded him as Rajas and Sultans commenced 1405 CE and ceased 1435 CE. The first few visits were to Nanking, and subsequently to Peking, where the Chinese capital was moved to circa 1421. These visits were beautifully reconstructed by Professor Wang Gangwu in his classic paper 'The First Three Rulers of Malacca' read out at the Annual Lecture of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (MBRAS) in 1968.

These voyages took place to cement a mutually beneficial relationship where China helped protect Melaka from Siamese invasion, and Melaka offered China a base for its fleets heading to and from the Indian Ocean and South East Asia. (You can get a copy of Prof Gangwu's paper from the MBRAS (google it) or leave a request at my blog with your email address).

But if recorded visits to China by Melakans ceased in 1435 CE, then how do we reconcile that with two (outside of the Sejarah) unrecorded journeys to China during Sultan Mansur Shah's (1459-1477) rule?

The fact that Chinese historical records do not mention either Princess Hang Li Po or these events,  does not mean they constitute mere legend and myths. China lost all interest in the outside world after about 1430 CE and even records of many of Cheng Ho's voyages were officially obliterated. 

Many records were also removed from Melaka and other countries to Singapore, India, Portugal, Batavia (Jakarta), Holland and UK following successive invasions by Europeans. E.g., found stashed away in an old warehouse in Amsterdam were crates containing manuscripts of the La Galigo. These narrate the thirteenth century pre-Islamisation fables of the creation of Middle Earth, legends, lives and heroism of the Bugis people in South Sulawesi, formerly Celebes, just east of Borneo. Nearby are the Moluccas or Spice Islands, the arena for the Spice Wars for thousands of years among the Chinese, Indians, Arabs, Europeans and British. These were the same Bugis who when attacked by the Dutch fled their homeland in droves mainly to Selangor, Perak and Kedah on the west coast of Malaya. What survives of the La Galigo is only 1/3 of the original leaf-parchment writings. At 6,000 pages and 300,000 lines it is longer than the Mahabharatha and Iliad by several miles! 

The ultimate truth can only be discovered by relentless investigations by our historians and archaeologists. Surely with official sanction and the help of Chinese priests, some of the older graves at Bukit China can be exhumed in a dignified and respectful manner, and DNA and carbon testing done to establish accurately the ethnic origins and the age of the bones there? Who knows what relics may be found there? Let them start tracing the descendants of Hang Li Po and members of her entourage who remained in Melaka (many returned to China after the Portuguese invasion in 1511), and gave rise to the Melaka Nyonya or Perakanan.

Similarly, can not studies and investigation be done on graves purportedly that of some of Hang Tuah's cohorts, and Hang Tuah himself? The Sejarah says Hang Tuah was buried at Tanjung Tuan or Cape Rachado near Port Dickson, a mere 45 minutes drive from KL. Emanuel Godinho De Eridia, born in Melaka in 1563, was the son of a Portuguese official and a Malay Maccarese princess. He wrote in 1613 CE that the remains of Parameswara's (Iskandar Shah) marble tomb were visible on the promontory of Tanjong Tuan!! This is in direct contradiction to the claims in Singapore (and I believe that S'pore is wrong) that Parameswara's remains are to be found at the Keramat Iskandar at Bukit Larangan (Fort Canning); it is more likely to be that of Sri Tri Buana and Demang Lebar Daun.

The Sejarah must therefore, NOT be dismissed as a hotch-potch of legends and myths and tattle-tales. It must be treated as a priceless starting point, and not a dead end.

So, the last word on Princess Hang Li Po (and Hang Tuah) has not been said or written, not by a long, long way, unless our lazy historians, professors and archaeologists get off their backsides and from behind desks, and start digging!