Traditions & Culture
25 – Attire of the Chinese Community in the Dutch East Indies – 4/10
Portrait of Oei Tiong Ham (1866 – 1924) Java, 1887 . See whole image below
Until early 20th century, Chinese men wore their hair in a Manchurian queue, a hairstyle where the front and sides of the head were shaved, and the rest of the hair gathered and plaited into a long braid that hung down the back.
This requirement was also enforced on overseas Chinese men by the Qing government.
Chinese men in the Dutch East Indies had queues as seen in a photograph of a young Oei Tiong Ham, who looked dapper in a modernised Chinese-style jacket with Western-style tailored trousers, cane and hat.
The wearing of queues was abandoned with the collapse of the Qing dynasty. A modern Chinese identity was established with the founding of Republic of China on 1 January 1912.
5 May 2018 to 3 February 2019 The Peranakan Museum, Singapore
January 2021
Christopher Ng
This article is part of a series of 10 articles. A new article will be published on the 1st day of each month from October 2020 to July 2021. The bibliography of the series can be found here.