Chong Bin Kong 張明光 (d. 1930): a 同善堂 大先生 in the Seah Whye Liang Family Cluster
Hainanese 海南 (Wenchang 文昌); headstone dated Republic 18 (lunar year 己巳), died 20 January 1930
Bukit Brown Cemetery 武吉布朗坟場, Block 3B, plot 371 (reserved plot)
Tomb inscription:
民國十八年歲次己巳十二月廿一日 (20 Jan 1930)
儒門修道
諱明光張大先生
廣東琼洲府
文昌縣
Summary: Chong Bin Kong 張明光 died on 20 January 1930 (Republic 18, year 己巳, 12th lunar month, day 21), aged 42, and was buried the next day, 21 January 1930, in Bukit Brown Block 3B, plot 371, a reserved plot. His headstone is headed 同善堂, the Tong Sian Tng, the men's hall of the Eastern Dragon Mountain 東龍山 Xiantian vegetarian halls on Devonshire Road. It gives him the title 儒門修道 and calls him 大先生, and names his home as Wenchang county, Qiongzhou prefecture, Guangdong (Hainan Island). His plot lies next to that of Mrs Seah Whye Liang, who died 28 days later, on 17 February 1930, and whose headstone was set up by disciples of the Chek Sian Tng 積善堂, a women's hall of the same division. The Tong Sian Tng is also the hall whose donor list names her late husband, Seah Whye Liang 佘懷亮, as a manager and its largest donor. This record transcribes the stone, converts the date, and places the tomb in the Seah family cluster at Block 3B.
Key Facts at a Glance
| Name | Chong Bin Kong (burial register); 張明光 (headstone) |
| Title | 同善堂 儒門修道 大先生 (Tong Sian Tng, cultivator of the Way within the Confucian gate, Da Xiansheng) |
| Origin | Wenchang county 文昌縣, Qiongzhou prefecture 琼洲府, Guangdong (Hainan Island) |
| Died | 20 January 1930 (Republic 18, 己巳, 12th month, day 21), aged 42 (born about 1887 or 1888) |
| Interred | 21 January 1930 |
| Burial place | Bukit Brown Cemetery, Block 3B, plot 371 (reserved plot) |
| Neighbouring tomb | Mrs Seah Whye Liang (Goh Choon Kee Neo; 陳南英姑太 on her headstone), Block 3B, plot 396 / 421, died 17 February 1930 |
| Religious link | Tong Sian Tng 同善堂, Eastern Dragon Mountain 東龍山 division of the Xiantian Dao 先天道 |
| Last updated | 8 October 2026 |
Tomb Inscription 墓碑銘文
| 碑文 | Transcription / Meaning |
|---|---|
| 同善堂 | Top: "Tong Sian Tng", the men's hall (乾堂) of the Eastern Dragon Mountain division on Devonshire Road. The stone is headed by the hall rather than by the division name 東龍山 that heads Mrs Seah's stone. |
| 民國十八年歲次己巳十二月廿一日 | "Republic year 18, year 己巳 (jisi), 12th month, day 21." The lunar year 己巳 ran until 29 January 1930, so the date falls in the Gregorian year 1930. Converted with an astronomical calendar library, it is 20 January 1930, and the burial register records his burial on the following day. |
| 儒門修道 | "Of the Confucian gate, cultivating the Way; This is the formula Show Ying Ruo reports on the ancestral tablets of the Eastern Dragon Mountain halls, where names are headed 儒門修道 or 儒門皈依. Mrs Seah's stone carries the second formula, 儒門皈依. The sources seen here do not say what the difference signifies. |
| 明光張大先生 | "Mingguang (明光), Zhang (張), Da Xiansheng (大先生)." 大先生 is a respectful title for a senior teacher, and how it ranks within the Tong Sian Tng is not established by the sources seen. |
| 廣東琼洲府文昌縣 | "Guangdong, Qiongzhou prefecture, Wenchang county." Hainan Island was administered as part of Guangdong province until Hainan became a separate province in 1988. 琼 is the character as transcribed from the stone (the standard form of the prefecture name is 瓊州). The stone gives his origin, and the register spelling Chong Bin Kong suggests a Hainanese reading of 張明光. |
Notes on the inscription:
- One person in the tomb. The burial register records a single burial in plot 371, Chong Bin Kong, aged 42, and the date of death on the stone fits the register entry. No wife or children is mentioned on the tomb
- A Hainanese in a Teochew-linked cluster. Show Ying Ruo notes that the Xiantian halls were not organised by dialect or clan, so a Hainanese member of the Tong Sian Tng is not unexpected. The Seah family, by contrast, were Teochew from Chenghai county.
- Reserved plot. The register describes plot 371 as reserved, as it does the plot of Mrs Seah Whye Liang. The register does not say who reserved either plot.
Burial Register 埋葬記錄
| Final resting place | Bukit Brown, Block 3B, plot 371 (reserved plot) |
| Name | Chong Bin Kong (張明光) |
| Age | 42 years |
| Date of internment | 21 January 1930 |
| Note | The date of death, 20 January 1930, is converted from the stone. The plot is next to that of Mrs Seah Whye Liang, Block 3B, plot 396 / 421. |
The Seah Whye Liang Family Cluster 佘宜光家族
This tomb belongs to a small cluster at Block 3B that is described in the post on the Seah Whye Liang family. The two neighbouring plots show how two halls of the same division are represented side by side.
| Plot (Block 3B) | Person | Died / interred | Hall |
|---|---|---|---|
| 371 (reserved) | Chong Bin Kong 張明光, 大先生, aged 42 | 20 Jan 1930 / 21 Jan 1930 | Tong Sian Tng 同善堂, set out on his own stone |
| 396 / 421 (reserved) | Mrs Seah Whye Liang (Goh Choon Kee Neo 吳春德娘; 陳南英姑太 on her headstone), aged 66 | 17 Feb 1930 / 23 Feb 1930 | Chek Sian Tng 積善堂, whose disciples set up her stone |
| 396 / 421 (stone only) | Seah Whye Liang 佘宜光 (佘懷亮), stone dated 6 Aug 1911 | 6 Aug 1911 | Manager and largest donor of the Tong Sian Tng, per the donor list noted on his post |
- Weeks apart. Chong Bin Kong died 28 days before Mrs Seah and was buried 33 days before her.
- Both plots reserved and adjoining. A reserved plot suggests the places were arranged in advance. Who arranged them, and whether the Tong Sian Tng and the Chek Sian Tng did so together, is not recorded in the sources seen. It is a lead, not a finding.
- A link through the hall. The Tong Sian Tng appears in both stories. Seah Whye Liang gave to it in 1898 and 1904, and Chong Bin Kong carries its name on his stone. No source seen states a family or business tie between him and the Seah family.
Background: The Tong Sian Tng 同善堂
The Tong Sian Tng on Devonshire Road is the men's hall (乾堂) of the Eastern Dragon Mountain 東龍山 division of the Xiantian Dao 先天道, a Former Heaven vegetarian tradition. Show Ying Ruo traces the Singapore division to 馬純清 (Ma Chunqing, known as Beh Soon Ching), who built the hall. Its affiliated women's halls included the 善德堂 on Cuppage Road and the 積善堂 on Kramat Road, the Chek Sian Tng of Mrs Seah's disciples. The halls combined residence with worship, practised vegetarianism and were not organised by dialect. Show also reports that the tombs of residents of these halls have been rediscovered at Bukit Brown. The full background and the comparison of the three halls are in the Seah Whye Liang family post.
Leads to Check 待查線索
- The Straits Times, Malaya Tribune and Singapore Free Press for late January 1930, for a death or funeral notice under Chong Bin Kong or 張明光, which this record has not yet searched.
- The ancestral tablets and records of the Tong Sian Tng on Devonshire Road, for 張明光 and the meaning of 大先生 in the hall.
- The register entries for other reserved plots near 371 and 396 / 421 in Block 3B, to see whether more tombs of the two halls stand together.
- Hainanese clan and guild sources, for a Zhang family of Wenchang.
- Whether the Seah family or the halls reserved plot 371.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was Chong Bin Kong 張明光?
Chong Bin Kong, written 張明光 on his headstone, was a Hainanese man from Wenchang county, Qiongzhou prefecture, Guangdong (Hainan Island). His stone calls him 大先生 of the Tong Sian Tng 同善堂 and records his death on 20 January 1930. The burial register gives his age as 42.
Where is Chong Bin Kong buried?
He is buried at Bukit Brown Cemetery, Block 3B, plot 371, recorded in the burial register as a reserved plot. It lies next to the plot of Mrs Seah Whye Liang, Block 3B, plot 396 / 421.
What is the Tong Sian Tng 同善堂?
The Tong Sian Tng is the men's hall (乾堂) of the Eastern Dragon Mountain 東龍山 division of the Xiantian Dao 先天道 vegetarian halls, on Devonshire Road, Singapore. A donor list names Seah Whye Liang as a manager and the largest donor of the hall.
How is Chong Bin Kong connected to the Seah Whye Liang family?
His reserved plot is next to that of Mrs Seah Whye Liang, who died 28 days after him and whose 1930 headstone was set up by disciples of the Chek Sian Tng 積善堂. The records seen do not show a family relationship. The link is the neighbouring plots, the burials weeks apart and the shared Eastern Dragon Mountain halls.
What does 大先生 mean on this tomb?
大先生 is a respectful title meaning roughly senior teacher. How it ranks within the Tong Sian Tng is not established by the sources seen for this record.
Sources 資料來源
- Headstone of 張明光 and Bukit Brown burial register entry for Chong Bin Kong, Block 3B, plot 371 (field photographs, transcription and register, S.T.E.M.).
- Related post: Seah Whye Liang Family, tombs.bukitbrown.org.
- Show Ying Ruo, "Cultivating the Way in the Eastern Dragon Mountain", NSC Highlights 8, ISEAS Nalanda-Sriwijaya Centre, 2018, pp. 5–6. iseas.edu.sg
- 蘇芸若 (Show Ying Ruo), 〈在地化的女性宗教空間與性別實踐—新加坡、馬來西亞先天道齋堂的案例考察〉, 《華人宗教研究》第11期 (Jan 2018), pp. 37–100.
- Noreen Chan, "Cuppage Road Temple: The Sian Teck Tng Vegetarian Convent", and Tan Geok Koon and Tan Ban Huat, "Devonshire Road Chye Tng", The Peranakan (Peranakan Association Singapore), Jan–Mar 2002, issue 1, pp. 7–11.
- "Tong Xian Tng Temple", Roots.sg, National Heritage Board. roots.gov.sg
- Lunar–Gregorian conversion: the 21st day of the 12th lunar month of year 己巳 (1929) is 20 January 1930, computed with an astronomical calendar library.
About this record. This entry is part of Singapore Tombstones Epigraphic Materials (S.T.E.M.) 新加坡墓碑銘集录, a specialised digital documentation project and archive recording historical tomb inscriptions in Singapore, with a focus on Bukit Brown Cemetery 武吉布朗坟场, the adjoining Hokkien Huay Kuan burial grounds of Lao Sua and Kopi Sua 羔丕山, and other early Chinese burial grounds. Each record transcribes the original Chinese inscription, gives an English translation, cross-checks it against the burial register, and adds a short biography drawn from contemporary newspapers and archival sources.
Cite this entry as:
Raymond Goh. "Chong Bin Kong 張明光 and the Seah Whye Liang Family Cluster." Singapore Tombstones Epigraphic Materials (S.T.E.M.), tombs.bukitbrown.org, https://tombs.bukitbrown.org/2019/02/blog-post_45.html. Accessed [date].
Keywords: Chong Bin Kong, Zhang Mingguang, 張明光, 明光, 大先生, Da Xiansheng, 同善堂, Tong Sian Tng, Devonshire Road, Eastern Dragon Mountain, 東龍山, 儒門修道, Hainanese, 海南, 文昌, Wenchang, 瓊州府, Qiongzhou, Guangdong, Seah Whye Liang, 佘宜光, 佘懷亮, Goh Choon Kee, 陳南英, 姑太, Kor Tai, 積善堂, Chek Sian Tng, Xiantian, 先天道, vegetarian hall, 齋堂, reserved plot, Block 3B plot 371, Bukit Brown, 民國十八年, 己巳, 1930, Chinese tomb inscriptions Singapore, Singapore Tombstones Epigraphic Materials, S.T.E.M.