The houses described in this book represent some of the finest and best preserved or restored in Southeast Asia.I have visited most of those in Malaysia and Singapore and a few others in Jakarta, Semarang, Bangkok, and Manila.But Ronald Knapp has examined all of them closely. His sensitive and meticulous descriptions have opened my eyes to points of transmission and adaptation that I had missed.Altogether, the book provides a feast of colors and designs that appeals both to my interest in their histories and to my suppressed desire to have a family home of my own.
The migration of Chinese from southeastern China to the Nanyang--the peninsular and insular region known today as Southeast Asia--is a significant component of the world's major cultural diasporas. After many of these migrants and their descendants became successful, they built architecturally eclectic homes--shophouses, bungalows, villas, and mansions--that combined Chinese, European, and local influences. It is the story of these hybrid architectural forms,built under different social and geographical environments than had been known at home in China and thus the products of cultural fusion, that is the focus of this book. While most of these old buildings have disappeared, scattered throughout Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand,and Vietnam, there still remain fine examples worth studying,documenting, and explaining.
Over a three-year period from 2007 to 2009, Ronald G.Knapp and A. Chester Ong made five field excursions to Asia in search of the old homes of Chinese sojourners and settlers,Chinese Houses of Southeast Asia, a fascinating account of architectural multiculturalism in the pre-modern world,presents the results of their research. An introductory essay portrays the historical circumstances that gave rise to Chinese houses overseas, and includes historic images, color photographs, paintings, and line drawings.
At the core of the book are stunning color photographs of nearly forty residences built from the late eighteenth into the early twentieth century. For each residence, background information about the individual and his family who built and then lived there is given. These tales reveal the entrepreneurial spirit of the immigrants as well as the social and economic circumstances in which they lived. Images and drawings from southeastern China help clarify similarities,and differences, and, in several cases, related family residences in China are also presented.
Chinese Houses of Southeast Asia complements Knapp and Ong's 2005 award-winning Chinese Houses: The Architectural Heritage of a Nation, which highlighted more than twenty of Chinas most significant historic residences.
Foreword by Wang Gungwu
PART ONE
The Architecture of SoJourners and Settlers
PART TWO
Chinese Heritage Houses of Southeast Asia
HEEREN STREET SHOPHOUSE
Malacca, Malaysia
TAN CHENG LOCK RESIDENCE
Malacca, Malaysia
CHEE MANSION
Malacca, Malaysia
CHEE JIN SlEW HOME
Malacca, Malaysia
TAN YEOK NEE MANOR
Singapore
SHOPHOUSES AND TERRACE HOUSES
Singapore
WEE RESIDENCE
[BABA HOUSE MUSEUM)
Singapore
CHUNG KENG 0UEE MANSION
[PINANG PERANAKAN MANSION)
Penang, Malaysia
SUN YAT-SEN SHOPHOUSE
Penang, Malaysia
KEE ANCESTRAL MANOR
Sungai Bakap, Malaysia
CHEONG FATTTZE BLUE MANSION
Penang, Malaysia
CHYN PRACHA RESIDENCE
Phuket, Thailand
TJONG A FIE MANSION
Medan, Indonesia
LOKE YEW MANSION
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
TAN BOON CHIA RESIDENCE
Rasa, Malaysia
KHOUW FAMILY MANOR
Jakarta, Indonesia
OEY DJIE SAN PLANTATION HOME
Tangerang, Indonesia
TJIOE FAMILY RESIDENCE
(ST MARIA DE FATIMA CATHOLIC CHURCH)
Jakarta, Indonesia
TAN TIONG IE HOME
Semarang, Indonesia
SIEK FAMILY HOME
(PRASADA MANDALA DHARMA)
Parakan, Indonesia
KWIK DJOEN ENG MANSION
(INSTITUT RONCALLI)
Salatiga, Indonesia
LIEM COMPOUND
Lasem, Indonesia
HAN FAMILY ANCESTRAL HALL
Surabaya, Indonesia
HAN AND THALIB RESIDENCE
Pasuruan, Indonesia
NA SONGKHLA RESIDENCE
Songkhla, Thailand
POSAYACHINDA RESIDENCE
Bangkok, Thailand
WANGLEE MANSION
Bangkok, Thailand
TRAN FAMILY HOME
Hoi An, Vietnam
PHUNG HUNG RESIDENCE
Hoi An, Vietnam
DIEP DONG NGUYEN HOUSE
Hoi An, Vietnam
AN HIEN GARDEN HOME
Hue, Vietnam
SYQUIA MANSION
Vigan, Philippines
YAP-SANDIEGO ANCESTRAL HOUSE
Cebu City, Philippines
QIU FAMILY RESIDENCES
Meixian, Guangdong, China
CHEN CIHONG MANOR
Chaozhou, Guangdong, China
DEE C. CHUAN VILLA
Gulangyu, Xiamen, Fujian, China
ZHANG BISHI MANOR
Dabu, Guangdong, China
Bibliography
Acknowledgments
Index