Eng Chuan Tong Tan Kongsi (Chinese: 穎川堂陳公司; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Éng-chhoan-tông Tân-kong-si) 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.[1] The building is a place of worship devoted to Kai Zhang Sheng Wang (開漳聖王; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Khai-chiang Sèng-ông) or Tan Goan-kong (陳元光), the founder of Zhangzhou, and his two deputies, Generals Fushun and Fusheng. It was also the ancestral temple of Tan clansmen for the purposes of cultural integration. Members of the Tan family worship their ancestor, Tan Guan Kong.[2]
Reception and administration area.
This Kongsi represents what locals consider to be one of the ‘Big Five' clan surnames in Penang.[3] Founded under the name Tan Seng Ong Kongsi, it is claimed by its owners to be the oldest clan house in Penang. The clan house and its associated residences form a culturally embedded Seh Tan Court.
In the early 1900s, a Tan Si School was established, which was later renamed Eng Chuan School. It was one of several schools in Penang which taught Confucian classics as a main part of the curriculum.[5]
The main structure was erected in 1878, then renovated in the late 1940s, and again in the 1990s. The building is located at number 28 Seh Tan Court, George Town (off Beach Street).
^Ching-Hwang, Y. (1981). Early Chinese Clan Organizations in Singapore and Malaya, 1819–1911. Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 12(1), 62-91. doi:10.1017/S0022463400004999
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