MALAYSIA will work with China’s history experts to collect and sort material related to the country’s history, particularly the Old Kedah civilisation, said National Unity Minister Aaron Ago Dagang.

He said the history of ancient Malaya was widely recorded by a Chinese figure, Yi Jing, who set foot in the Bujang Valley in the seventh century.

“Our objective is to track records, conduct research and reproduce relevant archival material related to Malaysia’s history, particularly from the perspective of Chinese scholarly sources.

“The National Unity Ministry is committed to supporting all initiatives to track and research overseas archival material about the history of Malaysia, including in the People’s Republic of China,” he said during a meeting with historians at China Culture Centre in Beijing today.

He said the collaboration would involve Han Culture Centre Malaysia, the National Archives and the National Museum.

Han Culture Centre Malaysia president Goh Hin San said incomplete historical facts could be sorted through knowledge exchanges and the experts’ assistance.

“In the school history textbook in our country, there is a story about Yi Jing’s visit to Kedah, but due to insufficient resources, there are only a few sentences.

“The historical material recorded by Yi Jing’s on his second trip to Gujeda (Old Kedah) have yet to be collected and excavated. This job is huge and requires the attention and promotion of the government,” he said.

Goh proposed for China and Malaysia representatives to host an exchange seminar and translate the historical material into Malay and English to support the effort. – Bernama, September 4, 2023.