From “Guanxi” to “Kongsi”: The Gathering of the Overseas Chinese under Social Relationships จาก “กวนซี” สู่ “กงสี”: การรวมกลุ่มของชาวจีนโพ้นทะเลภายใต้หลักความสัมพันธ์ทางสังคม

Abstract

This academic article aims to study the background of the “kongsi” of the Chinese in Southeast Asia from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries by discussing the patterns of “guanxi” (关系), or “relations”, of the members as reflected in the three groups of the kongsi, including the gold mining kongsis in Borneo during the eighteenth to the nineteenth centuries, the secret society kongsis, and the clan kongsis. It found that the Chinese kongsis were established for economic purposes of the overseas Chinese. They formed the kongsi under the fundamental principle of social arrangements grounded in the Confucian philosophy. The three groups of the kongsi reflected the fundamental principle of social arrangements in three characteristics, as follows: those between ruler and subject as reflected in the gold mining kongsis in Borneo, elder brother and younger brother as reflected in the the secret society kongsis, and father and son as reflected in the clan kongsis. The hierarchical social relationships led to the systematic management within kongsis that had an effect on the members’ harmony. The formation of many people under the condition of “guanxi” in the characteristics of the “kongsi” was considered to be a key factor building the strength of the overseas Chinese business groups in Southeast Asia from the past to the present.