Page 129 - JCAU-6-3

Journal of Chinese

Architecture and Urbanism

ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Chinese cemeteries in Indonesian colonial

and post-colonial urban areas: Resistance,
urban expansion, nationalistic aspiration, and

post-colonial governmentality

Kezia Eka Sari Dewi* and Bruno de Meulder
Department of Architecture, KU Leuven, Leuven, Vlaams-Brabant, Belgium

Abstract
Chinese quarters played a significant role in numerous Southeast Asian port cities,
with Chinese trading communities thriving for hundreds of years. The proof of the
importance of these communities is evident in the presence of Chinatowns and
Chinese cemeteries, serving as places for both living and death, in several coastal
cities in Southeast Asia. This study investigates Chinese cemeteries in Semarang’s
spatial city structure during the colonial period and the gradual transformation of
these cemeteries in post-colonial Indonesia amidst turbulent urban development
*Corresponding author: and political conditions. In post-colonial Southeast Asia, city development
Kezia Eka Sari Dewi serves as a platform for nationalistic aspirations. This article explores the roles of
(keziaekasari.dewi@kuleuven.be) Chinese cemeteries as an act of subversion against colonial laws and their gradual
Citation: Dewi, K. E. S. & de disappearance due to city expansion in post-colonial Indonesia. The exploration
Meulder, B. (2024). Chinese through the colonial policies concerning land and the placement of the Chinese
cemeteries in Indonesian colonial
and post-colonial urban areas: community, followed by post-colonial policies and urban governmentality on city
Resistance, urban expansion, development and real urban growth practices, provides an opportunity to discuss
nationalistic aspiration, and post- the roles of Chinese cemeteries for the Indonesian Chinese community in Semarang
colonial governmentality. Journal of
Chinese Architecture and Urbanism, and their fate in post-colonial urban areas of Indonesia.
6(3), 3254.
https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.3254
Keywords: Post-colonial urban areas; Southeast Asia; Chinese cemetery; Chinese-
Received: March 25, 2024 Indonesians
Accepted: May 29, 2024
Published Online: July 25, 2024
Copyright: © 2024 Author(s). 1. Introduction
This is an open-access article
distributed under the terms of the Chinese quarters played a significant role in numerous Southeast Asian port cities.
Creative Commons Attribution- Chinese trading communities thrived in Southeast Asia for hundreds of years. The
Non-Commercial 4.0 International
(CC BY-NC 4.0), which permits all significance of these communities in the region is evident from the existence of not just
non-commercial use, distribution, Chinese quarters with multiple Chinese temples, but also various Chinese cemeteries
and reproduction in any medium, located across cities. In Chinese culture, an auspicious site for the deceased is as essential
provided the original work is
properly cited. as a place for the living, as it is considered not temporal but eternal (Husain, 2015).
Publisher’s Note: AccScience Although the colonial powers allowed the Chinese community to design their
Publishing remains neutral with own places, it is clear that the Chinese did not follow a single developmental model in
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional such instances. This diversity can be explained by the fact that the Chinese presence
affiliations. in the ports was not part of a previously unified imperial expansion (Luengo, 2023).

Volume 6 Issue 3 (2024) 1 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.3254