Your base for this sight is the historic city of Malacca, in Malaysia. For travel information about Malacca, go to Malacca. To prepare for a trip to Malaysia, read Exploring Malaysia. Looking for accommodation? Find Hotels in Malacca and Hostels in Malacca.
Bukit China is the largest and oldest Chinese graveyard outside of mainland China. It is located on the northeast of Malacca town. By various accounts, there are between 5000 to 12500 graves in Bukit China, some dating to the late 17th century. Some has attributed the founding of this hill to the time of the Malacca Sultanate, but recent studies by contemporary historians suggests that the Chinese first used this hill much later than that.
The graves at Bukit China.
The oldest tomb in Bukit China is said to be the double burial, of Mr & Mrs Huang Wei Hung, situated near the basketball court of Sekolah Rendah Jenis Kebangsaan Pay Fong III. It was built during the second year of Tian Hee of the Ming Dynasty, which coincides with the near 1622. Most of the illustrious members of the Chinese community of Malacca has an afterlife home in Bukit China. This includes the Chinese Kapitans of Malacca. In 1685, the hill was purchased by Kapitan China Lee Wei King and donated to the Cheng Hoon Teng Temple for its continual use as a burial place for the Chinese.
Since the time of the British administration until recently, there have been several attempts to acquire Bukit China. The latest, most blatant, wanted to level the hill and use the earth for landfill. The government had not imposed any rental on the hill in all the years before, and now decided to bill the trustees RM2 billion in back arrears. Of course, the Cheng Hoon Teng Temple was not at all amused and refused to pay a single cent. They receive supported in the form of massive protest from the Chinese community, taking the local authorities by surprise. The plan was eventually dropped, and it was decided that the Malacca waterfront would be developed instead. Bukit China is not the typical Chinese cemetery, it is more a park within the city, a place where Malaccans go jogging in the evenings while others practise their martial arts movements while enjoying the view.
Although Bukit China is the place where early Chinese were buried, there is an erroneous belief that the used of the hill was the official settlement of the Chinese entourage that arrived with the so-called Princess Hang Li Poh when she was sent to Malacca to marry the Sultan. I said so-called princess because recent studies indicates that the Ming Dynasty Emperor of China (who are all surnamed Zhu) did not have a daughter by that name (surnamed Hang?), and no Chinese record to substantiate her existence. What is generally accepted, however, was that the hill was where early Chinese traders were buried, and that the temple at the foot of the hill, the Poh San Teng Temple.
I visited Bukit China on a rainy Sunday afternoon, on 10 July 2005, with local historian Josephine Chua and members of the AsiaExplorers team. We were taken around to view the graves. I am impressed with the general upkeep of the entire place - in comparison, the Chinese cemeteries in Penang are in a horror-inducing state.
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