Chan Kim Boon (1851–1920) was a prominent

Peranakan The Peranakan Chinese () are an ethnic group defined by their genealogical descent from the first waves of Southern Chinese settlers to maritime Southeast Asia, known as Nanyang (region), Nanyang (), namely the British Empire, British, Portugu ...

translator in Singapore who occasionally published under the penname Batu Gantong. He translated various historical Chinese-language novels, including ''

Romance of the Three Kingdoms ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'' () is a 14th-century historical novel attributed to Luo Guanzhong. It is set in the turbulent years towards the end of the Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period in Chinese history, starting in 184 AD and ...

'' and ''

Water Margin ''Water Margin'' (), also called ''Outlaws of the Marsh'' or ''All Men Are Brothers'', is a Chinese novel from the Ming dynasty that is one of the preeminent Classic Chinese Novels. Attributed to Shi Nai'an, ''Water Margin'' was one of the e ...

'', into

Baba Malay In addition to its classical and modern literary form, Malay had various regional dialects established after the rise of the Srivijaya empire in Sumatra, Indonesia. Also, Malay spread through interethnic contact and trade across the south Ea ...

Early life and education

Chan was born in

Penang Penang is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia along the Strait of Malacca. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay Peninsula. Th ...

in 1851. His father was Chan Yong Chuan, a trader whose business interests were mostly in

Padang Padang () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province of West Sumatra. It had a population of 833,562 at the 2010 CensusBiro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011. and 909,040 at the 2020 Census;Bad ...

. He attended the

Penang Free School Penang Free School (PFS), located at Green Lane, George Town, Green Lane in George Town, Penang, George Town, Penang, Malaysia, is the oldest English-medium education, English-medium school in Southeast Asia. Founded in 1816, its academic achiev ...

and received private tuition in Chinese. He then attended the Fuzhou Naval School. In 1867, he began serving as a mathematics tutor to several military men, including Admiral

Sa Zhenbing Sa Zhenbing () (30 March 1859 – 10 April 1952) was a prominent Chinese admiral of the late Qing dynasty and the early Republic. He lived through four governments (Qing, Beiyang, Nationalist, Communist) in China, and had been appointed to var ...

and Chih Chen Lo Feng Luh, a Chinese diplomat.

Career

In January 1897, he returned to Penang to visit his widowed mother. In March, he arrived in Singapore and joined the legal firm Aitken & Rodyk as an administrator. After work, he would translate various Chinese novels into

. His best known work was ''Samkok'', a translation of the historical Chinese novel ''

'' which was published by Kim Sek Chye Press from 1892 to 1896. The novel was translated with the help of Chia Ann Siang and

Tan Kheam Hock Tan Kheam Hock ( zh, s=陈谦福; 18 June 1862 – 21 April 1922) was a Singaporean politician and businessman. He was a member of the Municipal Commission of Singapore and several other organisations and a director of various companies. Early li ...

. From 1891 to 1893, he published ''Hong Keow'', which he completed due to popular demand, as well as requests for the remaining volumes to be translated from Chia and Cheah Choo Yew. From 1891 to 1892, he published ''Gnoh Bee Yean'', a translation of '' Wu Mei Yuan''. From 1899 to 1902, he published ''Song Kang'', a translation of the novel ''

''. From 1911 to 1913, he published ''Kou Chey Thian pergi di negri Seh Thian C’hu Keng'', a translation of the novel ''

Journey to the West ''Journey to the West'' () is a Chinese novel published in the 16th century during the Ming dynasty and attributed to Wu Cheng'en. It is regarded as one of the Classic Chinese Novels, great Chinese novels, and has been described as arguably the ...

''. While some of his works were submitted to Kim Sek Chye Press, a majority of his works were self-published. Chan was a member of the Celestial Reasoning Association and a council member of the Chinese Philomathic Society. He was also a member of the Lee Cheng Yan Club.

Death

Chan had several children. He died in 1920. Following his death, the translation of stories into Baba Malay declined as the Peranakan community began to prefer English-language books.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boon, Chan Kim 1851 births 1920 deaths Writers from British Malaya