Protection and Research of Tomb of The King of Boni
In conjunction with the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Brunei Darussalam, Universiti Teknologi Brunei (UTB) hosted a talk on 12 October 2016 entitled ‘Protection and Research of Tomb of The King of Boni’ by Mr. Yang Xinhua. Also present at the talk were Pg Dr Hj Md Esa Al-Islam bin Pg Hj Md Yunus, Assistant Vice-Chancellor (Industry and Services) and Ms Wang Yan, Director of Political and Cultural Section at the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Brunei Darussalam.
In 1408, Maharaja Karna (Sultan Abdul Majid Hassan), King of Boni arrived in Nanjing, capital of China's Ming Dynasty, with a 150-member delegation and was warmly welcomed by China's Emperor. After his unfortunate illness and passing away in Nanjing, the King was buried there. The King's tomb was rediscovered in 1958 and the Chinese government carried out a series of renovations to the tomb. Nowadays, the Tomb of the King of Boni has become an important symbol of the traditional friendship between China and Brunei Darussalam.
Mr. Yang Xinhua is the Director of the History and Culture Research Centre of China and Brunei. Mr. Xinhua is a leading culture and museums research expert in China, and a former Deputy Director of National Relics Department of Nanjing Municipal Government. His accomplishments include 68 books on various topics relating to Chinese history and culture, he has devoted himself to the protection and research of the Tomb of The King of Boni for over 30 years, and has published two books; ‘The History of Tomb of the King of Boni’ published in 1991’, and ‘Brunei: A Pearl on the Crown of the Tropical Kingdom’ published in 2005.
