Khouw Tjeng Tjoan

Khouw Tjeng Tjoan, Luitenant-titulair der Chinezen (Chinese: 許淸泉; pinyin: Xǔ Qīngquán; born 1808 — died in 1880) was a Chinese-Indonesian magnate and landlord.[1][2][3]

Luitenant Khouw Tjeng Tjoan
Born	1808 Batavia, Dutch East Indies
Died	1880 Batavia, Dutch East Indies
Occupation	Luitenant der Chinezen, community leader, tycoon, landowner
Years active	mid-nineteenth - late nineteenth century
Spouse(s)	Lie Sek Nio
Children	Khouw Kim Po, Luitenant der Chinezen (son) Khouw Kim Tjiang, Kapitein der Chinezen (son) Khouw Kim An, Majoor der Chinezen (son)
Parent(s)	Luitenant Khouw Tian Sek (father)
Relatives	Khouw Tjeng Kee, Luitenant der Chinezen (brother) Khouw Tjeng Po, Luitenant der Chinezen (brother) Khouw Yauw Kie, Kapitein der Chinezen (nephew) O. G. Khouw (nephew) Khouw Oen Hoei, Kapitein der Chinezen (nephew)

He was born in 1808 into the Khouw family of Tamboen, part of the 'Cabang Atas' or Chinese gentry of colonial Indonesia. Khouw was the oldest of the three sons of the landlord Luitenant Khouw Tian Sek (died in 1843).[3] From the mid-nineteenth century until his death, the younger Khouw and his brothers, Luitenant Khouw Tjeng Kee and Luitenant Khouw Tjeng Po, were widely acknowledged as the wealthiest Chinese in their native hometown of Batavia (now Jakarta, capital of Indonesia).[4] Prior to his Chinese lieutenancy, he had the hereditary title of Sia as the son of a Chinese officer. He was raised in 1856, together with his brother Khouw Tjeng Kee, to the honorary rank of Luitenant-titulair der Chinezen, but without any of the entailed responsibilities in the civil administration.[4][5]

Luitenant Khouw Tjeng Tjoan lived with his wife, ten concubines and twenty-four children at Candra Naya, one of the three mansions on Molenvliet belonging to the Khouw family of Tamboen.[3] His funeral in 1880 attracted - according to contemporary newspapers - thousands of onlookers who thronged the whole stretch of Molenvliet, all the way to Kebon Jeruk.[6][4] Nonetheless, at least one writer commented that the late magnate was, in fact, unpopular among the general populace due to his "conceit, wrathfulness and twisted character".[7]

Six of the Luitenant's sons later served as Chinese officers in the colonial bureaucracy, most notably Khouw Kim An, the fifth and last Majoor der Chinezen of Batavia.[2][3]

References

1. Wisata kota tua Jakarta: panduan sang petualang (in Indonesian). Jakarta: Gramedia Pustaka Utama. 2010. ISBN 9789792263015. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
2. Knapp, Ronald G. (2013). Chinese Houses of Southeast Asia: The Eclectic Architecture of Sojourners and Settlers. Singapore: Tuttle Publishing. ISBN 9781462905874. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
3. Monique, Erkelens (2013). The decline of the Chinese Council of Batavia: the loss of prestige and authority of the traditional elite amongst the Chinese community from the end of the nineteenth century until 1942. Leiden: Leiden University. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
4. Sugiastuti, Natasya Yunita (2003). Tradisi hukum Cina: negara dan masyarakat : studi mengenai peristiwa-peristiwa hukum di Pulau Jawa zaman kolonial, 1870-1942 (in Indonesian). Jakarta: Universitas Indonesia, Fakultas Hukum, Pascasarjana. ISBN 9789793115115. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
5. Chen, Menghong (2013). De Chinese gemeenschap van Batavia, 1843-1865: een onderzoek naar het Kong Koan-archief (in Dutch). Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. ISBN 9789087281335. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
6. "Begrafenis van den overleden Luitenant titulair der Chinezen Khouw Tjeng Tjoan. [The funeral of the late Luitenant-titulair der Chinezen Khouw Tjeng Tjoan]". Bataviaasch handelsblad. W. Bruining. 15 November 1880. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
7. "NEDERLANDSCH-INDIE. BATAVIA, 18 OKTOBER". Java-bode : nieuws, handels- en advertentieblad voor Nederlandsch-Indie. Bruining. 18 October 1880. Retrieved 21 July 2017.