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