Bukit China ( Malay: "Chinese Hill"; Chinese: 三宝山) is a hillside of historical significance in Malacca City, the capital of the Malaysian state of

Malacca Malacca ( ms, Melaka) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state in Malaysia located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, next to the Strait of Malacca. Its capital is Malacca City, dubbed the Historic City, which has bee ...

. It is located several kilometres to the north from the historical centre of Malacca (Dutch town and Chinatown), but these days, it's surrounded by the modern city on all sides.

History

Melaka Warrior Monument for the Chinese Victims of Anti-Japanese Occupation

According to the local tradition, in the mid-15th century, Hang Li Po was sent to be married to the

sultan of Malacca The Malacca Sultanate ( ms, Kesultanan Melaka; Jawi script: ) was a Malay sultanate based in the modern-day state of Malacca, Malaysia. Conventional historical thesis marks as the founding year of the sultanate by King of Singapura, Paramesw ...

, Sultan Mansor Shah, to seal relations between the two countries. The hill, Bukit Cina, a gift from the sultan, was established as their residence. Marine archaeology of a shipwreck (Royal Nanhai wreck from about 1460 AD) suggested royal gifts from China, shipped during Sultan Mansor Shah's reign. The

Well A well is an excavation or structure created in the ground by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The ...

of Perigi Raja, which is next to the

Poh San Teng Temple The Poh San Teng Temple ( is a Chinese temple located at the foot of Bukit China, next to the Malacca Warrior Monument and King's well in Malacca City, Malacca, Malaysia. The temple is dedicated to Tua Pek Kong and was founded in 1795 durin ...

) (also mistakenly known as Sam Po Kong Temple) at the foot of the hill (), was constructed by Hang Li Po's followers for her personal use but was also an important source of water for much of the town. It was also a prime target for opposition forces, which either poisoned it or tried to hold it for their own use. It was reputed never to have dried up even during droughts. Today, the well has acquired the reputation of a

wishing well A wishing well is a term from European folklore to describe wells where it was thought that any spoken wish would be granted. The idea that a wish would be granted came from the notion that water housed deities or had been placed there a ...

and it is believed that anyone who throws a coin into the well will return to Malacca. Poh-San-Teng-gable-relief-2274

Bukit Cina and two adjoining hills today form a Chinese graveyard covering over 250,000 square metres. With over 12,000 graves, some of which date to the Ming Dynasty, it is said to be the largest Chinese graveyard outside China.

Admiral Zheng He's Seven Dragon Wells

Admiral

Zheng He Zheng He (; 1371–1433 or 1435) was a Chinese mariner, explorer, diplomat, fleet admiral, and court eunuch during China's early Ming dynasty. He was originally born as Ma He in a Muslim family and later adopted the surname Zheng conferr ...

(Cheng Ho)'s Seven Wells lie in the foot of the Bukit China, beside the

. These wells were dug by Admiral Zheng He's expedition force during their stopover in Malacca during the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

. Bukit Cina was chosen by Zheng He to be used as the base for his expeditionary force. The Seven Wells are also known as the Dragon's wells according to fengshui principles. some of these wells were bulldozed during the 1950-60s for road building. To-date, only three wells are left intact and they have never been dried even in the worst of drought. Zheng He's visit is recorded in verified Chinese history as compared to the fabled lore of Perigi Raja wells. Zheng He, acting under the orders of the

Yongle Emperor The Yongle Emperor (; pronounced ; 2 May 1360 – 12 August 1424), personal name Zhu Di (), was the third Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1402 to 1424. Zhu Di was the fourth son of the Hongwu Emperor, the founder of the Ming dyn ...

, escorted Princess Hang Li Poh to be wed to Sultan Mansor Shah, in the 15th century. As a gift to Hang Li Poh and the Chinese settlers in Bukit Cina, Zheng He dug seven wells, which is originally known as the Perigi Raja and mistakenly called "Hang Li Poh's well". Due to the political and racial tension in the country since 2008, several rumours and disagreement regarding the history of the seven wells and also the existence of Hang Li Poh herself arose. This has contributed to many accusation being thrown to the local government by various NGOs and the opposition as the culprit of making the Malay history more colourful using it as a propaganda tool to gain support from the Chinese community. However, the accusation by certain parties that the historical details of Zheng He's expedition force puts the Malay kingdom's sovereignty in a bad light, appeared to be questionable as it is well recorded that Zheng He, who voyaged to Malacca several times, did establish a regional headquarters in Malacca in the 15th century to conduct regional diplomatic and entrepot activities in Southeast Asia due to the close relation between the Chinese empire and the kingdom of Malacca as well as the importance of Malacca as an entrepot in Southeast Asia.Cheng Ho and Islam in Southeast Asia, Tan Ta Sen, Dasheng Chen, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 19 October 2009 - 291 pages

References

Notations

External links

Discovery of Zheng He’s Guan Chang ( 官厂 )in Melaka
{{coord , 2.2000, 102.2577, display=title Cemeteries in Malacca Geography of Malacca Tourist attractions in Malacca

History

Admiral Zheng He's Seven Dragon Wells

See also

References

Notations

External links