In 1996, when archaeologists in Fujian were digging an ancient tomb, they accidentally received a call from a mysterious woman.
The woman claimed to be the owner of the ancient tomb, and the person buried in the tomb was the prince of Ceylon who had been exiled in China.
If this is the case, then this mysterious woman is the "Princess of Ceylon", and Ceylon is what is now Sri Lanka.
When the Sri Lankan government learned about it, it immediately sent experts to investigate, and this investigation uncovered the secret of this family that had been hidden for hundreds of years.
The secrecy of the family
The ancient tomb excavated by archaeologists is called the "Shijia Pit", and when the archaeologist Liu Zhicheng saw the "Shijia", he immediately realized that this was the ancient tomb of the prince of Ceylon.
The mysterious woman who called was named Xu Shiyin'e, a native of southern Fujian.
When she learned from the newspaper that the "family pit" had been discovered, she had been sitting on her laurels because it was their family's ancestral grave.
Since she was a child, Xu Shiyin'e has listened to elders talk about the history of the family, and the elders often say that their family comes from far away.
Although she heard about her life experience when she was a child, Xu Shiyin'e still had a lot of questions.
Because she looked up her surname on the hundred family names, she never found "Xu Shi".
Until one time, her father called her to his side and gave her some advice.
It was also from this conversation that Xu Shiyin'e learned the secret that the family had hidden for 500 years.
It turned out that during the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Di, the ancestor of the Ming Dynasty, sent Zheng He to the West to show the world the powerful national strength of the Ming Dynasty.
Zheng He had been to Ceylon and was warmly received here, and at the same time, the king of Ceylon also recognized the strength of the Ming Dynasty, so he had a lot of reveries about the Ming Dynasty.
In order to further learn the knowledge of the Ming Dynasty and at the same time improve his son's ability, the king of Ceylon sent the prince Seliba to China.
After the prince of Ceylon came to China, he met Zhu Qizhen, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and when Zhu Qizhen saw the rare treasure brought from Ceylon, he was overjoyed, so he asked the minister to take the prince of Ceylon on a tour himself.
Zhu Qizhen also issued a holy decree allowing the prince of Ceylon to live in China for a year to inspect the customs and customs.
But China and Sri Lanka are different after all, and there are big differences in terms of diet and climate.
Because of the unaccustomed water and soil, the prince of Ceylon fell ill in bed, and then chose to recuperate and rest in Quanzhou, which has a pleasant climate.
When he recovered, the prince of Ceylon prepared to leave for his homeland, but it was at this time that the bad news came.
Settle in China
Someone sent news to the prince of Ceylon that the king of Ceylon had died suddenly of illness, but because Seriba had not returned to his homeland, there was a coup d'état in the palace.
The prince's cousin usurped the throne and slaughtered all the royal children in the imperial city, and even went to China to inquire about the prince and wanted to kill him as well.
Hearing that all his relatives had been killed, the Prince of Ceylon knew that he would be greeted with death when he returned home, so he stayed in China, where he married and had children.
1. Information source: China Industry Network, the link has been attached at the end of the article
The wife of Seripa Lapa was also an Arab aristocratic woman who settled in China, and in order to conceal his identity as a prince, he used the first character of his name as his surname.
The descendants of the princes of Ceylon also took "Shi" as their surname, and even many descendants took the imperial examination, and became a famous local family after becoming famous.
However, there was a break in the inheritance of the surname, because Xu Shiyin'e's great-great-grandfather only had three daughters and no sons.
So he asked his daughter to recruit a man from the Xu family, so the child born later was given the surname "Xu Shi".
When she heard this information from her father, she was shocked, she did not expect that the family was actually a descendant of the prince of Ceylon, and she was the "princess of Ceylon".
After his father told Xu Shiyin'e the secret, he went to Hong Kong to inherit the family business, and he repeatedly told his daughter to protect the family's "family pit" before leaving.
Therefore, when Xu Shiyin'e learned that the family's cemetery was excavated, she revealed her identity to the outside world.
She even took out her own "Family Tree", and after some research by archaeologists, she found that all the timelines in the book were correct, and Xu Shiyin'e was indeed a real descendant of the prince of Ceylon.
When the news spread, people who knew Xu Shiyin'e were also very surprised, they didn't expect that their friend turned out to be a "foreign princess".
When a friend asks about Xu Shiyin'e, she will let others look at her ears, and she says that as long as she is a descendant of the prince of Ceylon, a small hole will grow in the pinna of the left ear, which is the family's enduring gene.
The incident also alarmed the Sri Lankan government, which took it very seriously and sent officials and experts to Quanzhou.
Here they visited the "family pit" and also visited the "Princess of Ceylon" Xu Shiyin'e.
Although the Kingdom of Ceylon is long gone, Sri Lanka values its history.
So Sri Lankan officials sent an invitation to the "princess" before returning home, hoping that she would return to China to have a look.
Xu Shiyin'e is also very happy, because she also wants to go to Sri Lanka to see the land where her ancestors once lived.
Soon, Xu Shiyin'e embarks on her own trip to Sri Lanka, and how will she be treated there?
Civilian Ambassadors
When Xu Shi Yin'e set foot on Sri Lankan soil, she found that it was not only a beautiful bay, but also a large number of Buddhist buildings, and the scenery was breathtaking.
Most of the people who accompanied Xu Shiyin'e were ministerial-level officials, and the car she was in was also a top-level luxury car, and there were many police officers around to protect her safety.
After hearing about it, the residents of Sri Lanka also came to the street to meet the "princess" and took a group photo with her.
Sri Lankan officials also wanted Ms. Xu to stay in Sri Lanka and inherit the throne, but she refused, saying that her ancestors had settled in China for hundreds of years and that China was her home.
2. Information source: China News Service, the link is attached at the end of the article
Although she refused the throne, Xu Shiyin'e left a sapling in Sri Lanka, and she planted the sapling in the park with her own hands, naming it "China-Sri Lanka Friendship Evergreen".
In the future, Xu Shiyin'e wants to stay in China and make her own contribution to China-Sri Lanka friendship.
Under the influence of Xu Shiyin'e, the capital of Sri Lanka, Kot, has also become a sister city with Quanzhou.
In 2022, Sri Lanka declared "bankruptcy", which made Xu Shiyin'e a little worried.
At this time, China has also demonstrated its responsibility as a major country by providing 500 million yuan in emergency humanitarian assistance to Sri Lanka.
3. Information source: Quanzhou Evening News, the link has been attached at the end of the article
Xu Shiyin'e said that every time she returns to Sri Lanka, she can feel the close relations between China and Sri Lanka, and as the "princess of Ceylon", she hopes to become a people-to-people ambassador to promote the healthy development of friendship between the two countries.
A "foreign princess" like Xu Shiyin'e, the family has been rooted in China for hundreds of years.
However, in the face of the temptation of the throne, she can still politely refuse, which shows her attachment and love for China.
It is precisely because of people like Xu Shiyin'e that people-to-people exchanges between China and foreign countries can be smoother, and the mainland's international influence can become greater and greater.
Information sources:
1. China Industry Network: "Chinese Legend of the Descendants of the Prince of Ceylon (Picture)"
https://baike.baidu.com/reference/7341340/533aYdO6cr3_z3kATPSOmPWjYCrDNdWqvLeFUuFzzqIP0XOpS4bkSIkx9NItsOBoBgDOoptsLtUb2evlCEtE7ugRcPI1RKojnXf-UzXDzL7i_dg2mNdAoohFWqoJ37Ws6g
2. China News Service: "Ceylon Princess" Lives in Seclusion in the Hometown of Fujian Overseas Chinese and Willing to Be a "China-Sri Lanka Civilian Ambassador"
https://news.cntv.cn/20120725/104388.shtml
3. Quanzhou Evening News: "Xu Shiyin'e, a descendant of the Prince of Ceylon: Sending Charcoal to Sri Lanka in the Snow, China's Responsibility as a Great Power is Touching"
https://www.qzwb.com/gb/content/2022-07/22/content_7153028.htm
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