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Kongsi () is a
Hokkien The Hokkien () variety of Chinese is a Southern Min language native to and originating from the Minnan region, where it is widely spoken in the south-eastern part of Fujian in southeastern mainland China. It is one of the national languages ...
transcription term meaning " company", especially businesses which have been incorporated. However, the word has other meanings under different historical contexts. ''Kongsi'' were most commonly known as Chinese social organizations or partnerships, but the term was also used for various Chinese institutions. Amongst overseas Chinese, the word ''kongsi'' was applied to reference both clan organizations, whose members shared a common descent, and to district-dialect clubs, for Chinese immigrants originating from the same district speaking the same dialect. In the late 19th century, these district-dialect associations came to be known as ''wui gun'' (''huiguan''; ), especially in
San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
where many Chinese from eight districts on the west side of the Pearl River Delta near the City of Canton went for the California gold rush.


Southeast Asia

In Southeast Asia, the
kongsi republics The kongsi republics (), also known as kongsi democracies () or kongsi federations (), were self-governing political entities in Borneo that formed as federations of Chinese mining communities known as kongsis. By the mid-nineteenth century, the ...
were made up of
Hakka The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka Han, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas are a Han Chinese subgroup whose ancestral homes are chiefly in the Hakka-speaking provincial areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan, Zhej ...
Chinese mining communities that united into political entities that functioned as self-governing states. By the mid-nineteenth century, the kongsi republics controlled most of western
Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and ea ...
. The three largest kongsi republics were the
Lanfang Republic The Lanfang Republic (, Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: ''Làn-fông Khiung-fò-koet''), also known as Lanfang Company (), was a Chinese kongsi federation and a tributary state of Qing China in Western Borneo. It was established by a Hakka Chinese named in ...
, the Heshun Republic (Fosjoen), and the Santiaogou Federation (Samtiaokioe).


Functions of the Kongsi system

The system of ''kongsi'' was utilized by Cantonese throughout the diaspora to overcome economic difficulty, social ostracism, and oppression. In today's
Cantonese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding ar ...
communities throughout the world, this approach has been adapted to the modern environment, including political and legal factors. The kongsi is similar to modern business partnerships, but also draws on a deeper spirit of cooperation and consideration of mutual welfare. It is believed by some that the development and thriving of Cantonese communities worldwide are the direct result of the kongsi concept. A vast number of Cantonese-run firms and businesses that were born as ''kongsi'' ended up as multinational conglomerates.


See also

*
Chinese ancestral worship Chinese ancestor veneration, also called Chinese ancestor worship, is an aspect of the Chinese traditional religion which revolves around the ritual celebration of the deified ancestors and tutelary deities of people with the same surname or ...
*
Ancestral shrine An ancestral shrine, hall or temple ( or , vi, Nhà thờ họ; Chữ Hán: 家祠户), also called lineage temple, is a temple dedicated to deified ancestors and progenitors of surname lineages or families in the Chinese tradition. Ances ...
& ancestral tablets *
Zupu A Chinese kin, lineage or sometimes rendered as clan, is a patrilineal and patrilocal group of related Chinese people with a common surname sharing a common ancestor and, in many cases, an ancestral home. Description Chinese kinship tend to b ...
&
Chinese lineage associations A Chinese kin, lineage or sometimes rendered as clan, is a patrilineal and patrilocal group of related Chinese people with a common surname sharing a common ancestor and, in many cases, an ancestral home. Description Chinese kinship tend to ...
*
Penghu Shuixian Temple Penghu Shuixian Temple ( zh, t=澎湖水仙宮, p=Pēnghú Shuǐxiān Gōng), is a Taoism, Taoist temple in Magong, Magong, Penghu. Built in 1696 by Xue Kui (薛奎), a military officer of Penghu Navy, it mainly serves the Shuixian Zunwang, f ...
(Taixiajiao Kongsi) *
Eng Chuan Tong Tan Kongsi Eng Chuan Tong Tan Kongsi () is a Hokkien clan house at Beach Street in George Town, Penang, Malaysia. It was founded in the early 19th century by a Tan family from the Fujian province of Zhangzhou in China. The building is a place of worship de ...
, Malaysia *
Khoo Kongsi The Khoo Kongsi is a large Chinese clanhouse with elaborate and highly ornamented architecture, a mark of the dominant presence of the Chinese in Penang, Malaysia. The famous Khoo Kongsi is the grandest clan temple in the country. It is also on ...
, Malaysia *
Ngee Ann Kongsi The Ngee Ann Kongsi () is a charitable foundation located in Singapore and governed by the Ngee Ann Kongsi Ordinance of 1933. It is one of many Overseas Chinese Kongsi, or clan associations, that were set up by immigrants from China in the late ...
(義安公司), Singapore *
Kongsi republic The kongsi republics (), also known as kongsi democracies () or kongsi federations (), were self-governing political entities in Borneo that formed as federations of Chinese mining communities known as kongsis. By the mid-nineteenth century, the ...
(
Lanfang Republic The Lanfang Republic (, Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: ''Làn-fông Khiung-fò-koet''), also known as Lanfang Company (), was a Chinese kongsi federation and a tributary state of Qing China in Western Borneo. It was established by a Hakka Chinese named in ...
) *
Tong (organization) A ''tong'' ()Chin, Ko-lin. "Chinatowns and Tongs". ''In Chinese Subculture and Criminality: Non-Traditional Crime Groups in America''. New York: Greenwood Press, 1990 is a type of organization found among Chinese immigrants predominantly living i ...
*
Hui (secret society) Hui () is a Chinese word, generally meaning 'conference', but which is sometimes used to refer to a secret society. It is often mutually interchangeable with terms like kongsi (), a term generally used to mean 'corporation' or 'company'. For ...
*
Ghee Hin Kongsi The Ghee Hin Kongsi () was a secret society in Singapore and Malaya, formed in 1820. Ghee Hin literally means "the rise of righteousness" in Chinese and was part of the Hongmen overseas network. The Ghee Hin often fought against the Hakka-domi ...
(義興公司) *
Ngee Heng Kongsi of Johor Ngee Heng Kongsi of Johor ({{zh, t= 義 興 公司, p=Yì Xīng Gōngsī; Teochew Pêh-uē-jī: ''Ngĭ Heng Kong-si''; 1844–1916) was a Teochew secret society that founded the earliest Chinese settlement in Johor. However, it did not have a cl ...
*
Hai San Secret Society The Hai San Society (), which had its origins in Southern China,Encyclopædia Britannica was a Penang-based Chinese secret society established around 1820 and in 1825 led by Low, Ah ChongTriad Societies: Western Accounts of the History, Sociology ...


References


External links


The Clan Associations or Kongsis of Penang, Malaysia - via FamilySearch

Khoo Kongsi Official Website
{{Authority control Chinese clans Chinese culture Chinese diaspora Chinese secret societies Family associations Hokkien-language phrases