Ngo Ho Tjiang

The Ngo Ho Tjiang Kongsi (Chinese: 五虎将; pinyin: Wǔ Hǔ Jiàng; the 'Five Tiger Generals'), sometimes spelled Ngo Houw Tjiang, was a powerful consortium that dominated the opium pacht or tax farm of the Residency of Batavia, Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) in the early to mid-nineteenth century.[1][2] The pacht was an outsourced tax operation, collecting customs, excise and indirect duties on behalf of the Dutch colonial government.[3]

The five partners of the consortium were the pachters Lauw Ho, Gouw Kang Soei, Luitenant-titulair der Chinezen, Tan Ling, Khouw Siong Bo and Tan Kong Boen.[1][2] The name of the kongsi refers to the five generals of the 14th-century Chinese classic novel, The Romance of the Three Kingdoms.[1][2] Of all colonial-era pachten, opium was by far the most lucrative; and the five partners of Ngo Ho Tjiang were consequently among the wealthiest and most powerful tycoons of early to mid-nineteenth century Java.[1][2][3] Ngo Ho Tjiang had very close ties to the colonial Chinese bureaucracy. One of the partners, Luitenant-titulair Gouw Kang Soei, sat on the Kong Koan ('Chinese Council') of Batavia, while the consortium's administrator, Lim Soe Keng Sia, was a son-in-law of Tan Eng Goan, the 1st Majoor der Chinezen of Batavia and the city's most senior Chinese official.[4][1]

  1. ^ a b c d e Tambahsia. Suwatu Cerita yang Betul Sudah Kejadian di Betawi Antara Tahun 1851-1856 (1 ed.). Semarang: N. V. Hap Sing Kong Sie. 1915.
  2. ^ a b c d Benedanto, Marcus A. S. & Pax (2012). Kesastraan Melayu Tionghoa 5 (in Indonesian). Jakarta: Kepustakaan Populer Gramedia. ISBN 978-979-9023-75-9. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
  3. ^ a b Chen, Menghong (2011). De Chinese gemeenschap van Batavia, 1843-1865: een onderzoek naar het Kong Koan-archief (in Dutch). Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. ISBN 978-90-8728-133-5. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
  4. ^ Almanak van Nederlandsch-Indië voor het jaar ... (in Dutch). Batavia: Lands Drukkery. 1853. Retrieved 14 May 2020.