Liu Shan Bang

Liu Shan Bang (1800 – 1857) was a Chinese gold miner in Bau, Sarawak. He was best known as the leader of the 1857 Chinese Uprising against the White Rajahs.

History
A Hakka born in Lufeng, Guangdong of the Qing dynasty, around 1800, Liu left for Sambas, Borneo, at the age of 20. He is said to have worked at the Sam Tiau Kow gold mine there until mistreatment by the Dutch caused him to lead a group of miners to the Bau area of Sarawak (perhaps Pangkalan Tebang). He organised the 'Twelve Kongsi' company which operated the Mau San gold mine and made the mining town of Mau San (or Bau Lama) effectively self-governing.

They unearthed a 24 carat gold deep under the ground and turn the Mau San become a prosperous thriving gold town. Events took a wrong turn, when The White Rajah James Brooke eyeing the gold mine by imposing a high tax on Mau San gold mine business.

Revolt and massacre
On 18 February 1857, Liu Shan Bang led 600 Chinese by the Sarawak River to attack the White Rajah in Kuching. Five Europeans were killed, properties burnt, and the town in disarray, with most Europeans sheltering in the grounds of the Anglican Church. However, the insurgents did not want to assume the government; they offered it to Helms the manager of the Borneo Company and another trader called Ruppell, with the Datu Bandar administering the Malays, and withdrew upriver.

Death
On 23 February Charles Brooke led a force of Ibans to join up with the local Bidayuh tribes in retaliation. Liu was killed together with 3,000 villagers including children and old folks in a massacre in Bau.

Legacy
A stone was placed to mark his grave, and a small temple erected by it, although the reason was kept secret for over a century. Liu was elevated by the community to a deity named “Shin”.

On 27 July 1993, Liu Shanbang was included in the 'freedom fighters, liberators, and martyrs' unveiled on the new Heroes' Monument in the Sarawak Museum Garden.