Lost Chinese Bong Tan Tjin Life’s Trace in Dukuh Semar
Lost Chinese Bong Tan Tjin Kie’s Trace in Dukuh Semar
Author, abahroy Chairman of DPC Aswin, Cirebon City
Cirebon has a long history of interaction between various ethnicities, including the Chinese community who have contributed to trade, economy, and culture since the Sultanate era.
However, traces of their existence are not always preserved. One of the relics that has almost disappeared from memory is the Chinese Bong in Dukuh Semar, Kecapi Village, Harjamukti District—a Chinese cemetery that used to be a witness to the history of their lives in Cirebon.
Searching for Traces of Tan Tjin Kie
One of the important figures in the history of the Cirebon Chinese community is Major Tan Tjin Kie, an influential businessman in the late 19th to early 20th centuries. His name is familiar in historical records, especially related to his role in trade and development in the Cirebon area. However, the whereabouts of his grave have become a mystery along with the change in the function of the Chinese Bong land in Dukuh Semar.
In the past, the Dukuh Semar area was the final resting place for many Chinese residents of Cirebon. However, the development of the city has drastically changed the land.
Since the 1980s, this cemetery area has gradually been replaced by various infrastructures, including terminals and housing. Many graves have been moved, but many of their traces have simply disappeared.
Bong Cina Faded from Memory
Bong Cina in Dukuh Semar used to be a large cemetery complex that reflected the strong existence of the Chinese community in Cirebon. Unlike public cemeteries, Bong Cina usually has the characteristic of large tombstones with Chinese character carvings and often faces a certain direction according to Feng Shui tradition.
However, currently, not many residents know about its existence.
A number of old residents in Dukuh Semar remember that there used to be many graves there, but most of them disappeared when the Bus Terminal and Flats construction projects were underway.
Said Abidin (75) who once lived at the location of the Chinese bong where the Al-Hidayah Mosque is now located
“There used to be a Chinese cemetery here, but now it has changed.
I still remember some large gravestones, but now they are gone,” he said, Wednesday, 12/03/2025
Between Preservation and Loss of History
The case of the disappearance of the Chinese Bong in Dukuh Semar is not the only one that has happened in Indonesia.
Many Chinese cemeteries in various regions have experienced a similar fate due to urban development and lack of attention to the preservation of historical sites.
Several Chinese communities in Cirebon themselves still question whether the relocation of the graves was carried out with the appropriate procedures or was simply forgotten by time.
The existence of the Chinese Bong in Dukuh Semar may have eroded, but traces of the history of the Chinese community in Cirebon can still be found in various aspects of the city’s life.
Old monasteries, the Chinatown area, and cultural influences in batik and culinary are proof that their role remains alive in Cirebon’s heritage.