Hokkien: the traders of Melaka and Penang

On a hot afternoon in George Town, a visitor steps through a narrow alley and finds a great hall with a carved roof, a stage, and rows of old family houses around a square. This is a Hokkien clan house, and it has stood here for generations.

The story

The Hokkien (福建, from Fujian province in south-east China) are often described as the earliest Chinese settlers in this land. Their story starts in Melaka in the early 1400s. Traders from Zhangzhou, a port in southern Fujian, came to the busy harbour. Their leader was made one of four harbour masters (shahbandar) of the sultanate, so they were trusted partners in trade.

A second wave came between 1644 and 1670. Some southern Chinese left home after the fall of the Ming dynasty and sailed south. Most came from Xiamen (Amoy), Quanzhou and Zhangzhou. Early community heads in Melaka, called Kapitan (a headman who spoke for the Chinese community), were Hokkien.

When the British opened Penang in 1786, they wanted free ports that would draw traders. Koh Lay Huan, born in Zhangzhou, became the first Kapitan of Penang. He brought relatives and friends with him.

As families grew rich and numerous, they formed clan associations. In Penang the five great Hokkien clans were Khoo, Cheah, Yeoh, Lim and Tan. The Khoo Kongsi (邱公司) was formed in 1835. After sixteen years of fund-raising, its grand temple was built in 1851 to hold the ancestor tablets and honour the clan's protector deity.

Not everything was peaceful. In 1867 rival secret societies fought in Penang for ten days. A cannon was fired from the Khoo site, and today the square is called Cannon Square. Hokkien speakers call it Leong San Tong Lai (within Leong San Tong). Leong San Tong (龍山堂) means Dragon Mountain Hall.

Where you can still see it today

Khoo Kongsi in George Town, with its carved hall and 24 clan houses around the square.
More than 200 clan houses and district associations across Penang, many still helping their members.
Penang Hokkien, spoken with Malay words mixed in, still heard in the streets and in Peranakan homes.
Family names such as Khoo, Cheah, Yeoh, Lim and Tan.

What DNA can tell, and what it cannot

A mother line or father line can show that a branch of your family has deep roots in East Asia. A region estimate may point toward southern China. If your family lines are Hokkien, this fits the history of Fujian settlers. But DNA cannot name your dialect, your clan or your village, and it cannot say that you are "Hokkien". That comes from your family and your story.

DNA also does not decide race, religion or bumiputera status.