The Chinese in Brunei

Since the 10th century ce , the Brunei polity had trading links with Quanzhou, a cosmopolitan port city in southern Fujian facing Taiwan. Besides trade and commerce, there were Sino-Brunei diplomatic relations then. As trading activities in Quanzhou were mainly handled by Chinese Muslims, their compatriots too settled in Brunei overseeing commercial transactions. Not only were trade goods brought and exchanged, religious beliefs, that of the Islamic faith, were conveyed to Brunei. From this early antecedent, subsequent developments of economic and sociocultural interactions between the Chinese mainland and Brunei are detailed. The intention is in tracing the growth, progress, and changes of the Chinese community in Brunei over the centuries, viz. pre-Islamic period (c. 10th–14th centuries), Malay Muslim Brunei sultanate (c. 14th–19th centuries), colonial era of the British Residential system (1906–1959), Japanese occupation (1941–1945), immediate post-war and self-rule period (1959–1984), and post-independence years (1984–present). Particular focus is on the community’s survival, sustainability, and adaptability of a mainly non-Muslim Chinese minority within a Brunei Malay Muslim majority sultanate that steadfastly upholds its national philosophy of Melayu Islam Beraja (MIB, Malay Islamic Monarchy).