The Chinese Annals of Batavia, the Kai Ba Lidai Shiji and Other Stories (1610-1795)

In The Chinese Annals of Batavia, the Kai Ba Lidai Shiji and Other Stories (1610-1795) Leonard Blussé and Nie Dening open up a veritable treasure trove of Chinese archival sources about the autonomous history of Chinese Batavia. The main part of this study is devoted to the annotated translation of a unique historical study of the Chinese community of Batavia (Jakarta) written by an anonymous Chinese author at the end of the 18th century, the Kai Ba Lidai Shiji. This historical document and a selection of other Chinese contemporary sources throw new light on a tragic event in the history of Southeast Asia’s overseas Chinese: the massacre of Batavia’s Chinese community in 1740.

Leonard Blussé, Ph.D. (Leiden 1986), is Professor Emeritus of the History of Asian-European Relations at Leiden University. He has published many monographs, source publications and articles on the history of East and Southeast Asia.

Nie Dening, Ph.D. (Xiamen 1990), is Professor of the History of Sino-Foreign Relations at Xiamen University. He has published extensively in Chinese historical journals and has edited Chinese historical sources about Overseas Chinese including The Chinese Council of Batavia Archives Series (Xiamen University Press, 2002-2017).