Han Siong Kong (1673–1743) is best known as the founder of the

Han family of Lasem The Han family of Lasem, also called the Han family of East Java or Surabaya, was an influential, aristocratic family of Peranakan Chinese and Javanese people, Javanese descent in the Dutch East Indies (today known as Indonesia). The Peranakan bra ...

, one of the oldest dynasties of the ''

Cabang Atas The Cabang Atas (''Van Ophuijsen Spelling System'': Tjabang Atas)—literally 'upper branch' in Indonesian language, Indonesian—was the traditional Chinese establishment or gentry of Dutch East Indies, colonial Indonesia. They were the families ...

'' or the Chinese gentry (''baba bangsawan'') of colonial Indonesia. As government bureaucrats, landlords and politicians, his descendants played an important role in the colonial history of

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

History

He was born in Tianbao of

Zhangzhou Zhangzhou (, ) is a prefecture-level city in Fujian Province, China. The prefecture around the city proper comprises the southeast corner of the province, facing the Taiwan Strait and (with Quanzhou) surrounding the prefecture of Xiamen. Nam ...

, in

Fujian Fujian is a provinces of China, province in East China, southeastern China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capital is Fuzhou and its largest prefe ...

province of

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

. Han was from a long line of

scholar-officials The scholar-officials, also known as literati, scholar-gentlemen or scholar-bureaucrats (), were government officials and prestigious scholars in Chinese society, forming a distinct social class. Scholar-officials were politicians and governmen ...

. His first attested ancestor is Han Zhaode, a general in the army of the warlord

Tan Goan-kong Chen Yuanguang (; 657–711), courtesy name Tingju (), Art name, pseudonym Longhu (), was a Tang dynasty general and official. He was from Gushi County, Henan. The people of Zhangzhou, Fujian, along with the descendants of immigrants from Zhangz ...

(died 711), who pacified Fujian for the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

(618–907). Han Siong Kong's branch of the family is descended from Han Hong, who received the degree of Metropolitan Graduate in the

Imperial examination The imperial examination was a civil service examination system in History of China#Imperial China, Imperial China administered for the purpose of selecting candidates for the Civil service#China, state bureaucracy. The concept of choosing bureau ...

of 1121, then received an appointment as Secretary in the Ministry of Inland Revenue during the

Song dynasty The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...

(960–1279). Around 1700, Han Siong Kong left his native country for

Lasem Lasem (, also romanized as Lāsem and Lasm; also known as Lishan) is a village in Bala Larijan Rural District, Larijan District, Amol County, Mazandaran Province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also kno ...

, a port on the north coast of

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

island. By an unnamed woman of at least part-native ancestry, Han had five sons and four daughters. According to J. Hageman, Han's wife was the daughter of the regent of Rajegwesi (now part of

Bojonegoro regency Bojonegoro Regency (, older spelling is ''Kabupaten Bodjanegara'', ) is a regency in East Java Province of Indonesia, about 110 km west of Surabaya and 73 km northeast of Ngawi. It covers a land area of 2,307.06 km2 (890.76 mil ...

). Two of their sons, Ngabehi Soero Pernollo and Han Bwee Kong, Kapitein der Chinezen, would play a significant role in establishing and consolidating Dutch colonial rule in

East Java East Java (, , ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia located in the easternmost third of Java island. It has a land border only with the province of Central Java to the west; the Java Sea and the Indian Ocean border its northern ...

Death

Han Siong Kong died in 1743 in Rajegwesi, Central Java. Local legend has it that in the course of Han's funeral ceremony, there was a thunderstorm. As a result, Han's children abandoned their father's coffin in the forest in order to seek shelter. The displeased spirit of Han Siong Kong is said to have cast down a curse on his descendants who dared settle down in

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Han, Siong Kong . 18th-century Dutch East Indies people 1673 births 1743 deaths Businesspeople from Fujian Hokkien people Chinese emigrants to Indonesia Indonesian Hokkien people Indonesian people of Chinese descent People from East Java People from Zhangzhou Cabang Atas 17th-century Dutch East Indies people

History

Death

See also

References