This drive for exploration and achievement is captured in Xie Fusheng's "Meixian Essentials," which notes his desire to cross the sea in search of greater opportunities.

Wu Yuansheng was a Jiaying native and bandit who fled to Borneo Island for plotting to launch an uprising against the Qing government.

Social order on the island was extremely chaotic as bandits were rampant and pirates dominated, causing the people to live in poverty while the indigenous leaders were helpless.

In response, Luo Fangbo first united the Chinese and organized a "fellow countrymen association" (同乡会) where he assembled and personally trained guards in martial arts and arms to secure positions and fend off wrongdoers.

[14] During the battle, Luo Fangbo's outstanding organizational skills and brave fighting spirit made his companions admire him and unanimously elected him as the leader.

Wen Xiongfei once wrote;[15]"The Yue natives sought to rebel, the Sultan prepared for the military expenses, bequeathed to Luo Fangbo to conquer.

When the tribesmen living downstream of the Kapuas River insulted the Chinese, Luo Fangbo's subordinate Wu Yuansheng led an army to quell them and went southward.

[19] Luo Fangbo, who was skilled in diplomacy and seeking an opportunity, liaised with the newly created and weak Sultanate of Pontianak to fight against the Chinese bandits and rebellious Kongsis' in the east and the west together.

Initially persuaded by the Dutch, the Pontianak sultanate tried to build a palace on the fringes of the Mempawah kingdom's border on the upper reaches of the river.

[18][21][16] Inspired by the success of Heshun Confederation in negotiations with the local sultan through unified organization, Luo Fangbo began to establish a republican self-government with Dongwanlu Town (modern-day Mandor) as the capital.

[22] In 1941, historian Luo Xianglin noted that since the establishment of the Lanfang Grand General System, Fangbo's prestige, both internally and externally, could have led him to proclaim himself as the chief leader or King.

[11] When Lanfang was annexed by the Dutch colonial empire in 1884, the "Grand General System" created by Luo Fangbo had elected 12 governors over its 108-year existence in Kalimantan.

Upon receiving the news, Luo Fangbo immediately travelled to the affected area in person and commanded the people to expel the crocodiles successfully.

The local natives and overseas Chinese admired Luo Fangbo's crocodile cure and regarded him as an extraordinary person with magical ability.

He implemented independent laws and regulations in the area, collected taxes on his own, put troops in the people's hands, and vigorously supported the development of mining, agriculture, transport, culture and education.

Much to the dismay of Luo Fangbo, Emperor Qianlong did not took interest of the "abandoned people of the Celestial Empire" and did not recognize the country established by Southeast Asian Chinese.

Its significance is no less than the democratic and republican direction of the United States of America, where Washington was elected as the first President in 1787 and the Union was realized..."[13] For one final time, Luo Fangbo returned to his hometown in Sishan to visit his relatives.

As a guest elder, I will only guard the land and wait for the wise," so he recommended Jiang Wubo (江戊伯), who had meritorious achievements and excellent martial arts skills, to succeed him.

[25][26] Luo Fangbo is the earliest known author of Chinese ekphrasis in Indonesia, and his major works include "Ode to the Golden Mountain" (金山赋), "Dispel Anguish" (遣怀), and "Crocodile Writings" (鳄鱼文).

[27] He also wrote poems and stories during his tenure such like "Three Years of Suppressing the Barbarians and Bandits" (平蛮荡寇经三载) and "Sacrificial Offering to the Gods to Drive Away the Crocodiles" (祭诸神驱鳄文).

[5] The Hai Lu (Sea Records), written in 1820, was authored by Xie Qinggao, a traveller and navigator of the Qing Dynasty, who was known as China's "Marco Polo".

In the article "Kun Dian Guo" in the volume of "Hai Lu", it was said that Luo Fang Bo was a man of "great chivalry and is good at fighting.

The aim was to invigorate the spirit of the nation and inspire countrymen to promote the fine traditions of pioneering and enterprising to revitalize the country.

In 2004, a hundred Indonesian experts, scholars and local celebrities formed a special propaganda team to travel thousands of miles to commemorate the history of the Lanfang Republic.

Such like Singapore's founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, often simply compared himself to Luo Fangbo,[13] and is thought to have descended from Langfang Hakkas'.

In these memorials, a couplet that is commonly displayed in these temples reads, "Hundreds of battles to occupy rivers and mountains, to overturn the earth and the sky, one can imagine his spirit in those days; three chapters abide by the law, the classics and the military, the crown and etiquette of the old country are still preserved."

Every year on the ninth day of the second month of the lunar calendar, Luo Fangbo's birthday, people gather for a tomb sacrificial ceremony.

On his birthday and the anniversary of his death (the second day of the ninth month of the lunar calendar), locals consistently visit these temples to pay tribute to him.

Infuriated, followers of Luo Fangbo, ethnic Chinese, and some allying Dayaks' led a massive uprising under the name of the Third Kongsi War that ended only in September 1885.

[36] On 24 March 2018, the ribbon-cutting ceremony to commemorate the 280th anniversary of the birth of Luo Fangbo and the opening of Lanfang Garden was held in Mandor (Dongwanlu), Wana Regency, West Kalimantan Province, Indonesia.