Finding Cina

Abstract

[A central problem of early South Sulawesi historiography is the discrepancy between the portrayal of the ancient Bugis kingdom of Cina in historical and in literary sources. In the first, Cina is invisible; in the second, it looms large. This article uses Bugis genealogies and physical geography to reconstruct the extent of Cina and the location of its palace sites. In so doing it offers a new understanding of Cina and its northern neighbour Luwuq as complementary parts of a realm controlled by a single corporate cognatic descent group. This new understanding requires us to reconsider the origins of later Bugis kingdoms such as Bone, Soppeng, and Wajoq. It challenges us to consider Luwuq not as the cradle of Bugis civilization, but as part of a single economic and political complex focused on the fertile rice growing lands south of Lake Tempe.]