What are the historical origins of Brunei?

Brunei is a country with a long history and splendid culture. Located in the northwest of Kaliman Island, bordering the south coast of China and adjacent to Nansha Islands in China. On the earth, it lies between 4 and 5 5' north latitude, between114 2' east longitude and115 22' north of the equator. Brunei has a land area of 5765 square kilometers, coastline 162 kilometers and 33 islands. The full name of Brunei is "Brunei Darussalam", which means "land of peace", meaning peace and tranquility, also known as Brunei Islamic monarchy.

Brunei's tropical rain forest is dense, and 75% of the whole territory is covered with forest, which is lush, like a bright jasper embedded in the south bank of the South China Sea. Brunei has outstanding topographical features. Coastal areas are long and narrow plains, while inland areas are mountainous areas. The eastern part extends from the vast coastal plain to the inland into rugged mountains, and the western half is hilly and low-lying areas. Bagong Mountain is the highest mountain in Brunei, with an altitude of 184 1 km. There are four rivers in China: Brunei River, Dudong River, Bailai River and Tambulong River.

Brunei is a harmonious and beautiful country, and there is a classic fairy tale circulating in this beautiful country, which is the story of Brunei's first king. It is said that there is a magical bird's egg by the Menghe River in Brunei. Sultan I's father was born from this bird egg, and people called him a fairy. The fairy married a woman from a local tribe. After pregnancy, his wife likes to eat strange food. In order to find these foods for her, Sultan I's father left the palace with tools to look for them. When he reached a river, the father of Sultan I married a woman from the tribe here. After the woman got pregnant, he left a notebook and ring for the woman and her unborn child, and then continued to look for food on the road. In this way, in Brunei Bay, he married 14 wives and gave birth to 14 children, all of whom left the same keepsake. When these children grow up, they all want to find their father, so they take tokens to find their father. 14 The children got together. Although they are half-brothers, they are all United and harmonious. The wise and handsome Awang Arak Betatar was chosen as the leader, and the others were the leaders of the army. They won the trust of the people of Brunei Bay, conquered many surrounding islands, built many buildings, and formed many customs and social cultures that only belong to Brunei. Awang Arak Betatar also became the first president of Sultans Of Brunei.

From the establishment of Sudan to the independence of Brunei, politics, economy and culture have developed continuously and made great achievements. Brunei is a country that believes in Islam. Islam is harmonious and beautiful, so Brunei is also synonymous with tranquility. Brunei seems to be born with beautiful fairy tales, and its mysterious culture and art are slowly sprouting at this moment.

At present, there are not many written materials about ancient Brunei, and most of them are learned through archaeological materials or event argumentation. The earliest written records mainly came from China. As early as the 5th and 6th centuries, China's history books recorded the early history of Brunei. At that time, China called Brunei "Li Po", but it was renamed "Bernie" after 977 AD. At that time, Brunei led many surrounding islands and was regarded as a maritime power. /kloc-In the 4th century, the surrounding Boyi Dynasty of Manchu expanded outward, and Brunei was attacked and plundered, becoming a vassal country of Boyi Dynasty of Manchu. In order to get rid of the unfavorable situation, a man named Awang Arak Betatar turned to the Kingdom of Malaysia for help. Then he married the princess of this country and strengthened his national strength. He also became the first Sultans Of Brunei.

After the Sultanate was founded, King Awang Arak Betatar attached great importance to Islam. /kloc-Brunei in the 0/5th century has almost become a complete Islamic country, and it is precisely because of Brunei's absorption of Islamic culture that we can see the shadow of Islamic culture in many dance arts. Islam is a religion that believes in peace. Like Brunei dance, the spirit of harmony and kindness has always been its tradition and purpose. In ancient times, Brunei was influenced by China, Indian, Indonesian and Malacca. Among them, in terms of court etiquette, Brunei is mainly influenced by India, while in other aspects, it is more influenced by Malacca. With the replacement of several sultans and the prevalence of Islam, Brunei's national strength has become increasingly strong, and Brunei has also become the center of Islam in Southeast Asia. At the same time, with the help of Islam, many Arab and Indonesian Muslim businessmen gathered in Brunei, making Brunei a maritime trade center between the Arab world and Southeast Asia. During this period, Brunei dance absorbed the dance essence of Malaysia, Thailand and other countries, and the court dance in Brunei also developed rapidly, cultivating a large number of court dance artists.

With the disintegration of western feudal system and the germination of capitalist relations, commodity economy stimulated the pursuit of material wealth by western businessmen and nobles. At that time, the rich East became the ideal place for their invasion, and it was also from this period that Brunei's dance art was influenced by foreign cultures. Since the15th century, which is also the development period of Brunei court dance, some countries in western Europe began to look for sea routes eastward. First of all, Portugal, the Portuguese royal family constantly sent personnel to find sea routes to the east, and finally sent personnel to the east. The opening of this route also laid the foundation for Portugal's colonization in the East. Later, Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands and Britain all went to Southeast Asia and began colonial rule for hundreds of years. Brunei was also invaded by Portugal, Spain and Britain. Therefore, some costumes of Brunei dance that we have seen so far still retain some costume features of Spain, Portugal and other countries. During this period, the invasion of western powers involved not only politics and economy, but also the infiltration of culture and art, such as the popularity of dance in Spain and Portugal. The invasion of these national cultures has had a certain impact on Brunei's traditional dance.

From 65438 to 0950, the 28th Sultans Of Brunei devoted itself to Brunei's autonomy. He advocated Brunei's internal autonomy and parliamentary democracy to a certain extent. Apart from Sudan and the royal family seeking Brunei's autonomy, grassroots nationalists in Brunei are also striving for Brunei's independence. Sudan kept on negotiating with Britain and finally signed the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation between Brunei and Britain, which came into effect on 1983 12 3 1. The signing of this treaty guarantees Brunei's sovereignty over its own country and its freedom in many aspects. 1 984 65438+1October1,many people braved the rain to cheer the birth of their country in front of the mosque. The complete independence of Brunei marks a new journey for Brunei.

From the historical development of Brunei, the diversification of Brunei dance is related to the invasion of western powers and the influence of neighboring countries. Both Islamic culture and Indian culture have influenced Brunei's artistic culture. For example, Malaysia, Brunei's only land neighbor, has strong homology in ethnic composition, religious beliefs and cultural traditions.