{"id":11548,"date":"2025-05-25T11:39:18","date_gmt":"2025-05-25T03:39:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/?page_id=11548"},"modified":"2025-10-17T11:03:01","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T03:03:01","slug":"01-tan-peck-lian","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/wayfinder\/01-tan-peck-lian\/","title":{"rendered":"01 TAN PECK LIAN \u9673\u67cf\u9023"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Calendars\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

TAN PECK LIAN* \u9673\u67cf\u9023 (1897\u20131942)\u00a0 Place of<\/span> Ancestry: Unknown\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Showa (\u662d\u548c) reign began in 1925, and under Japanese Occupation (1942 – 1945), the calendar was used in daily and official life, including tombstones. The burial registry of Bukit Brown during the occupation, however, still used\u00a0 the Gregorian calendar to record entries.\u00a0 It may not have been an edict\u00a0 to use the Showa calendar on tombstones, but it was certainly expedient, given the harsh regime of the Japanese occupation, especially against the Chinese.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The dominant use of reign year calendars in the early years of\u00a0 Bukit Brown is a reflection of nascent ties with the motherland. The reign-year tombs uncovered here and in the greater Bukit Brown area\u00a0 include emperors from\u00a0 Daoguang ( <\/span>\u9053\u5149\u5e1d)<\/span>\u00a0 to Xuantong (<\/span>\u5ba3\u7edf\u5e1d<\/span>),\u00a0 the last emperor who stepped down in 1912. An emperor better known by his personal name Puyi (<\/span>\u6ea5\u4eea) popularised in the Oscar-winning epic <\/span>The Last Emperor (1987) <\/span><\/i>\u00a0by director Bernado\u00a0 Bertolucci. <\/span>In Bukit Brown, the oldest tomb discovered is dated to\u00a0 Daoguang\u2019s\u00a0 reign year six<\/span>.(\u9053\u5149\u516d\u5e74)\u3002<\/span> He ascended the throne in 1820.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In 1911, <\/span>Mingguo <\/span><\/i>(\u6c11\u570b), the Republican calendar replaced the reign years of the monarchy.\u00a0 It\u00a0 heralded\u00a0 a sea change that began with the collapse\u00a0 of the Qing dynasty, ending some four\u00a0 millennia\u00a0 of the <\/span>Mandate of Heaven. <\/span><\/i>\u00a0A new version of the\u00a0 Chinese character for \u201c<\/span>country<\/span><\/i>\u201d<\/span> \u56fb <\/span>\u00a0emerged with the character for \u201c<\/span>emperor\u201d<\/span><\/i> (\u738b<\/span>)\u00a0 replaced by \u201c<\/span>people\u201d <\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span>(\u6c11). <\/span>When the\u00a0 <\/span>Mingguo<\/span><\/i> calendar began to be\u00a0 used in Bukit Brown, it symbolised acceptance by the diaspora of a new China. How this would materialise is another chapter of Bukit Brown\u2019s history.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The concept of a calendar embodying ideology and identity\u00a0 is most\u00a0 evident in the use of the\u00a0 <\/span>\u201ctianyun\u201d<\/span><\/i> (\u5929\u8fd0) calendar translated as <\/span>\u201cheaven\u2019s reign\u201d<\/span><\/i>,\u00a0 a departure from the reign years\u00a0 and a clear signal of opposition to the established <\/span>Mandate of Heaven <\/span><\/i>– the Manchu led Qing dynasty. \u00a0 It can be found on\u00a0 #tomb16\u00a0 on Wayfinder, belonging to Madam Lu Shang Lian. Her tomb was erected by her sons, who had\u00a0 started\u00a0 a small\u00a0 secret society or triad, called Little Dagger Society (<\/span>\u5c0f\u5200\u6703<\/span>). It was part of the larger landscape of the Taiping Rebellion<\/span> (\u592a\u5e73\u5929\u570b\u8d77\u7fa9 1850 – 1864), which was <\/span>so widespread that it left a death toll estimated between\u00a0 20 and 30 million people.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Confucian calendar is based on Confucius’ birth year, 551 BCE, making the Confucian year for 2025 equivalent to 2576.\u00a0 In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Chinese leader Lim Boon Keng was a prominent advocate of the Confucian calendar as part of his efforts to revive Confucian teachings over Christianity – the religion of the coloniser. Lim, who received an\u00a0 English education\u00a0 at Raffles Institution was not schooled\u00a0 in Chinese until an encounter in Scotland where he was studying for his medical degree.\u00a0 Seeing that he was Chinese, a classmate asked him for help to translate a Chinese scroll. This moment served as an epiphany for Lim,\u00a0 that led him to reexamine\u00a0 his identity and roots. He later learnt Mandarin as an adult, to a proficiency level, sufficient for him to translate the classic <\/span>Li Sao (An Elegy on Encountering\u00a0<\/span><\/i>Sorrows)<\/span><\/i> into English.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Confucian\u00a0 calendar can be found elsewhere on\u00a0 W<\/span>ayfinder #tomb18 <\/span>\u00a0of\u00a0 Cheang Chong Hwi, the eldest son (adopted) of Cheang Hong Lim<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Confucius was a Chinese philosopher, politician, and teacher whose message of knowledge, benevolence, loyalty, and virtue were the main guiding philosophy of China for thousands of years.
(Illustration by Christophel Fine Art, UIG via Getty)<\/p><\/div>\n

by Catherine Lim<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

*: In Tan Peck Lian’s signage, it should be “his tomb”, instead of “her tomb”.<\/p>\n

Further Readings:<\/strong><\/p>\n

https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/2013\/the-reign-years\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Calendars\u00a0 TAN PECK LIAN* \u9673\u67cf\u9023 (1897\u20131942)\u00a0 Place of Ancestry: Unknown\u00a0 The Showa (\u662d\u548c) reign began in 1925, and under Japanese Occupation (1942 – 1945), the calendar was used in daily and official life, including tombstones. The burial registry of Bukit Brown during the occupation, however, still used\u00a0 the Gregorian calendar to record entries.\u00a0 It may not have been an edict\u00a0 to use the Showa calendar on tombstones, but it was certainly expedient, given the harsh regime of the Japanese […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1489,"featured_media":0,"parent":11412,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-11548","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n01 TAN PECK LIAN \u9673\u67cf\u9023 - Bukit Brown: A World Monuments Watch Site in 2014<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/wayfinder\/01-tan-peck-lian\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"01 TAN PECK LIAN \u9673\u67cf\u9023 - Bukit Brown: A World Monuments Watch Site in 2014\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Calendars\u00a0 TAN PECK LIAN* \u9673\u67cf\u9023 (1897\u20131942)\u00a0 Place of Ancestry: Unknown\u00a0 The Showa (\u662d\u548c) reign began in 1925, and under Japanese Occupation (1942 – 1945), the calendar was used in daily and official life, including tombstones. The burial registry of Bukit Brown during the occupation, however, still used\u00a0 the Gregorian calendar to record entries.\u00a0 It may not have been an edict\u00a0 to use the Showa calendar on tombstones, but it was certainly expedient, given the harsh regime of the Japanese […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/wayfinder\/01-tan-peck-lian\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Bukit Brown: A World Monuments Watch Site in 2014\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-17T03:03:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/wayfinder\/01-tan-peck-lian\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/wayfinder\/01-tan-peck-lian\/\",\"name\":\"01 TAN PECK LIAN \u9673\u67cf\u9023 - Bukit Brown: A World Monuments Watch Site in 2014\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/wayfinder\/01-tan-peck-lian\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/wayfinder\/01-tan-peck-lian\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/02-confuciusConfucius-was-a-Chinese-philosopher-politician-and-teacher-whose-message-of-knowledge-benevolence-loyalty-and-virtue-were-the-main-guiding-philosophy-of-China-for-thousands-of-years-807x1024.avif\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-25T03:39:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-17T03:03:01+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/wayfinder\/01-tan-peck-lian\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/wayfinder\/01-tan-peck-lian\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/wayfinder\/01-tan-peck-lian\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/02-confuciusConfucius-was-a-Chinese-philosopher-politician-and-teacher-whose-message-of-knowledge-benevolence-loyalty-and-virtue-were-the-main-guiding-philosophy-of-China-for-thousands-of-years-807x1024.avif\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/02-confuciusConfucius-was-a-Chinese-philosopher-politician-and-teacher-whose-message-of-knowledge-benevolence-loyalty-and-virtue-were-the-main-guiding-philosophy-of-China-for-thousands-of-years-807x1024.avif\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/wayfinder\/01-tan-peck-lian\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Bukit Brown Wayfinder (2025) : The Scoop!\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/wayfinder\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"01 TAN PECK LIAN \u9673\u67cf\u9023\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/\",\"name\":\"Bukit Brown: A World Monuments Watch Site in 2014\",\"description\":\"All Things Bukit Brown\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"01 TAN PECK LIAN \u9673\u67cf\u9023 - Bukit Brown: A World Monuments Watch Site in 2014","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/wayfinder\/01-tan-peck-lian\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"01 TAN PECK LIAN \u9673\u67cf\u9023 - Bukit Brown: A World Monuments Watch Site in 2014","og_description":"The Calendars\u00a0 TAN PECK LIAN* \u9673\u67cf\u9023 (1897\u20131942)\u00a0 Place of Ancestry: Unknown\u00a0 The Showa (\u662d\u548c) reign began in 1925, and under Japanese Occupation (1942 – 1945), the calendar was used in daily and official life, including tombstones. 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