Descendents of Ceylon Royal House in China

Xushi Yin’e， born in 1963， looks ordinary， but she is actually a descendent of the Ceylon Royal House now living in Quanzhou， a port city in southeastern China’s coastal Fujian Province. She kept the family secret for decades until 1996 when a scholar finally discovered her family’s ancestral tombs in a suburb of Quanzhou.

She grew up with her great grandmother and learned that their ancestors had come to Quanzhou from a place far away on the sea. The great grandmother often mentioned the family’s cemetery. The little girl was totally puzzled by the old woman’s muttering.

When she became a teenager， she asked her father why she could not find the family name in the famous “Book of Surnames”. Her father forbade her from being curious about the family name. He simplistically explained that Xushi was not a two-character surname and that it had two surnames， which both belonged to the family.

It was not until she was 16 years old that her father revealed the family secret to her. That year， the father and his three sons would move overseas to inherit a fortune and the eldest daughter was to stay in Quanzhou. The 16-year-old learned the secret and promised to keep it.

She got married and had children. But she never told her husband who she actually was and where her ancestors were from.

But she did not know that someone was trying very hard to track her down. Liu Zhicheng， an archaeologist with Quanzhou Museum for the History of Overseas Relations， had been combing hills around Quanzhou in search of the tomb of the Ceylon prince for more than a decade. A folktale was known to a lot of local residents that a Ceylon prince once lived in Quanzhou. Historical records support the same story. According to “A History of Ming Dynasty”， a crown prince of Ceylon was sent by the king to the Ming Dynasty. He came to China with the fleet of Zheng He when the fleet visited the island on its way back to China. After an interview with the Ming Emperor， the prince was to set out on a home journey to Ceylon from Quanzhou， a key port in southern China. He failed to return home after learning that a cousin killed his brothers and ascended to the throne. The new king was ready to kill him if he returned home. So the prince stayed in Quanzhou and adopted Shi as his surname， the first syllable of his long Ceylonese name.

In 1996， the archaeologist stumbled upon a stone slab in weeds in Mount Qianquan in the eastern suburb of Quanzhou. His ecstasy knew no bounds when he recognized “The Cemetery of the Shi Family” on the slab and realized that he had finally found the evidence.

Liu reported his discovery to the cultural authorities in Quanzhou. A team of archaeologists was sent to the spot. Dozens of tombs were found in the cemetery and the tombstones indicated the cemetery spanned the Ming and the Qing dynasties. Almost all the tombstones had the characters “Ceylon Envoy” engraved on them. The discovery convinced the experts that there must be some descendents in Quanzhou. The cemetery was officially designated as a key cultural heritage site and put under the protection of the city government. For fear of possible theft， the museum removed twenty-some tombstones and put them under lock and key in the city.

When the discovery was reported in the media and caused a sensation in Quanzhou， Xushi Yin’e became upset. The damage of ancestral tombs is an unforgivable offence in the local customs of southern Fujian Province. For several days， she was utterly at a loss and couldn’t sleep. Her husband Sun Yahong， a colleague of the archaeologist at the museum， did not understand why his wife was so fidgeted about a normal archaeological project. He was flabbergasted when she told him that her ancestors were buried in these tombs.

It turned out that the family did not have any male descendent when it came to the generation of Xushi Yin’e’s great grandmother. A man surnamed Xu was married into the family. His surname was merged with the surname Shi. From then on the family had the surname of Xushi. The Shi family used to be a big family in Quanzhou for a long while. It was after 1949 that the family thought it wise to keep a low profile and avoid any possible trouble.

Xushi Yin’e begged her husband to talk to his leaders and move the tombstones back to the cemetery. Sun Yahong turned the request down. He had been totally kept in the dark about his wife’s ancestors in the now 14-year-long marriage and he did not feel happy.

Hopelessly， Xushi Yin’e phoned the chief executive of the museum， explaining that she was a descendent of the legendary family from Ceylon. The family records in her hands described the family roots and these records fit with descriptions in the official local annals. The executive was astonished. He passed the house every day and the husband of the princess had been his colleague for more than ten years.

When the explosive news came out in a local newspaper， Xushi Yin’e’s friends， neighbors and former classmates flocked to her house. They wanted to see how she was different from the ordinary people. By now Xushi Yin’e had nothing to hide. She let people see a tiny hole on the edge of her left ear. She said most of the descendents of the Ceylon royal family in Quanzhou had had this unmistakable mark.

In 2002， Sri Lanka government sent officials and archaeologists over to Quanzhou to evaluate the archaeological discoveries. After studying the evidence， they were convinced that Xushi Yin’e was indeed a descendent of the prince lost in history. In June 2002， the Sri Lanka government officially invited Xushi Yin’e to visit her homeland. She went with the museum curator and some other people. She spent ten days in her homeland， visiting scenic spots and historical sites and the tombs of the parents of the Ceylonese prince who had ended up in Quanzhou. She was warmly welcomed by the local people. Specifically， she had brought a tree from Quanzhou and planted it in a Sri Lanka national park where friendship trees planted by visiting international leaders stand side by side with the one planted by Xushi Yin’e.

After the trip to her ancestor’s homeland， Xushi Yin’e did another thing that violated the ancestral instruction. Xushi Yin’e made a copy of the family genealogy and presented to the Quanzhou History Research Institute. Through various channels， she has come into contact with other descendents of the same ancestors now living in Taiwan， Philippines and Canada. The family genealogy book has helped relatives across the world identify each other and reestablish the blood relations. The family members have gathered in Quanzhou and held a memorial ceremony in honor of their common ancestor.

In July 2009， the Sri Lanka ambassador to China attended a Zheng He Festival in Quanzhou and met with Xushi Yin’e. They chatted happily. Shortly afterwards， Quanzhou and Colombo， the capital of Sri Lanka， became sister cities.

On July 18， 2010， Xushi Yin’e was invited to attend the Sri Lank National Day at World Expo Shanghai. She met with Sri Lanka Prime Minister D. M. Jayaratne. The prime minister asked about her family and other descendents of the prince. They had dinner together.

Though Ceylon changed its name to Sri Lanka and abolished the monarchy in 1972， many nobles and commoners in the country believe that Xushi Yin’e is entitled to a royal life and she should come back to Sri Lanka. Her father and three younger brothers hope she and her family should live with them in Hong Kong. But she chooses to stay in Quanzhou.

Her life hasn’t changed a lot. She runs a shop in the main street in the old downtown part of Quanzhou. And after closing the shop in the evening， she comes home to prepare dinner. The biggest event in her life now is to have overseas family relatives come to visit her and the ancestral tombs.□