Jakarta, IO – A fan of Chinese history, Bram Luska, 37, handed over ‘Bongpay‘, a Chinese tombstone, estimated to be from 1701 to Mount Carmel Memorial Park, Semarang regency in a bid to preserve Chinese culture that thrived in Semarang during the colonial era.
“From what is on the bongpay it is written the year of the metal snake during the reign of the Kangxi Emperor, if converted to the year AD, it means 1701. Then it says the grave of the late father Yan-guan (Yen Kuan) head of the Wu family (Go) in Chinese writing,” said Luska, per Kompas, Friday (16/6).
Luska explained that she accidentally found the bongpay in front of a friend’s house in 2020.
Initially, he heard the news that the tombstone measuring 160 cm long and 66 cm wide was being used by local residents as a footbridge.
After further observation Bram and his friend Pippo Agosto found a 19 cm thick Bongpay that weighed more than 500 kilograms.
According to him, items such as bongpay should not be kept at home. He said he would continue to collect similar items and hand them to Mount Carmel as a form of respect to his ancestors and paying homage to the history of Chinese community in Semarang.
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Semarang has many Chinese cemeteries scattered in several hilly areas from Bergota, Gayamsari, to Kedungmudu.
Peranakan is a popular term to refer to early assimilation of local cultures along the archipelago’s coasts and Chinese cultures in the 12th and 13th centuries. (bp)