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Journal of Chinese
Architecture and Urbanism Chinese cemeteries in Semarang

Figure 1. The timeline of Semarang’s development during colonial times. Source: Drawing by Kezia Dewi based on literature review and Google Earth

Figure 2. The timeline of Semarang’s development in the post-colonial time. Source: Drawing by Kezia Dewi based on literature review and Google Earth

persons (Salmon, 2016a). Due to these restrictions, the 5.2. Chinese cemeteries as a circumvention to land
Chinese-Indonesians had difficulties providing burial and mobility restrictions
sites for the deceased. However, one Chinese family Every district of Java was documented in the Koloniale
cemetery was located on their coconut plantation. In Verslagen (the copious annual reports to parliament from the
other words, wealthy Chinese people could rent land for colonial ministers), with Semarang having the second-largest
plantation purposes while also obtaining permits to use Chinese population after Batavia (Rush, 1991). In 1905,
it as a family cemetery, or they might secure permits for demographic data showed that the Chinese made up 15% of
family cemeteries before renting the surrounding area. the population of Semarang (Wijono, 2015; Arifin, 2017).
Figures 3 and 4 show the illustrative picture of colonial and Although there were various wars and rivalries during
post-colonial agrarian laws that were introduced by the the VOC era, the relationship between the Dutch and the
colonial government along with the new concept of land Chinese community in the Dutch East Indies was largely
ownership. noted as positive during colonial times. The Dutch colonial

Volume 6 Issue 3 (2024) 5 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.3254