Lee Ann Jin 李安仁 (c. 1867 – 1928)
Bukit Brown Cemetery, Block 2, Division H, Plot 84
Summary: Lee Ann Jin 李安仁 (c. 1867 – 21 June 1928) was a Singapore Chinese of Kinmen 金門 (Quemoy) ancestry, buried at Bukit Brown Cemetery, Block 2 Division H Plot 84, on 23 June 1928. His Republican-era headstone (中華顯考) names two sons and a daughter. This record transcribes and translates the inscription, checks it against the burial register, and traces a probable link between his son Lee Guan Eng 李源榮 and the Kinmen associations of Singapore in 1938–41.
Tomb Inscription 墓碑銘文
| 碑文 | Transcription / Meaning |
|---|---|
| 金門 | Kinmen (Quemoy), the ancestral home (籍貫), carved at the top of the headstone. This records where the family hailed from, not necessarily where he was born. |
| 中華顯考諱安仁李公佳城 | "Tomb of our late honoured father, Mr Lee, whose taboo name was Ann Jin, of China (Republican era)" |
| 民囯十七年五月初四日吉 | Auspicious day, 4th day of the 5th lunar month, 17th year of the Republic = 21 June 1928 |
| 孝男 源泉 源荣 | Filial sons: Guan Chuan 源泉, Guan Eng 源荣 |
| 女 源福 | Daughter: Guan Hock 源福 |
Notes on the inscription:
- 中華 in place of the Qing-era 皇清 / 大清 marks this as a Republican-period tomb; the family identified with the new Chinese Republic rather than the fallen dynasty.
- 佳城 ("fine city") is the classical euphemism for a grave.
- 諱 ("taboo name") signals that the personal name Ann Jin is written with reverence and was not spoken casually by his descendants.
- The children share the generation name 源 (Guan), a common Hokkien / Kinmen practice of assigning one character to all members of a generation.
Burial Register 埋葬記錄
| Name (as registered) | Li Ann Jin |
| Age | 61 years |
| Date of interment | 23 June 1928 |
| Location | Bukit Brown Blk 2, Division H, Plot 84 |
The register entry is consistent with the headstone: Lee Ann Jin died on 21 June 1928 and was interred two days later.
Short Biography 生平簡介
Lee Ann Jin 李安仁 was born around 1867–68, in the Tongzhi reign of the Qing dynasty. His headstone records his ancestral home as Kinmen 金門 (Quemoy), the island off the Fujian coast; whether he was himself born there or was already Singapore-born of Kinmen stock is not stated, and the inscription should be read as a statement of ancestry rather than birthplace. Kinmen was a poor, wind-swept island whose men left in large numbers for the Nanyang from the 1860s onwards; Singapore received more Kinmen migrants than any other place in this period, and the community organised itself early, buying land on Smith Street in 1875 and founding the Hoo Chay Beoh 浯江孚濟廟, forerunner of today's Kim Mui Hoey Kuan 金門會館 (BiblioAsia; Kim Mui Hoey Kuan). Either way, Lee Ann Jin's family belonged to this first great wave of Kinmen settlement in Singapore.
He raised at least three children who survived him: two sons, Lee Guan Chuan 李源泉 and Lee Guan Eng 李源榮, and a daughter, Lee Guan Hock 李源福. That a daughter is named on the headstone alongside her brothers is worth noting; many tombs of the period record sons only.
Lee Ann Jin died in Singapore on 21 June 1928 (4th day of the 5th lunar month, Republic year 17), aged 61 by the register, and was laid to rest at Bukit Brown two days later on 23 June 1928. His children erected a headstone that proudly records the family's Kinmen roots and, with the prefix 中華, its allegiance to the Chinese Republic.
A probable trace of the son, Lee Guan Eng 李源榮
No newspaper obituary or notice for Lee Ann Jin himself has yet been found in the Singapore press. However, a Lee Guan Eng 李源榮 appears repeatedly in the Nanyang Siang Pau between 1938 and 1941 as an active member of Singapore's Kinmen community, which makes him a strong candidate to be the second son named on this tomb:
- In January 1940 he was elected Deputy General Affairs Officer 副庶務 of the Wu Sheng Li Jin She 浯聲勵進社, the society of young Kinmen men in Singapore (Nanyang Siang Pau, 30 Jan 1940). He had also stood in the society's annual elections in January 1938 (Nanyang Siang Pau, 4 Jan 1938) and seconded motions at its members' meeting in March 1940 (Nanyang Siang Pau, 11 Mar 1940).
- In August 1940 he was among the twenty-odd members present at the Kim Mui Hoey Kuan 金門會館 extraordinary general meeting that debated the Municipal Commissioners' proposed acquisition of the association's premises (Nanyang Siang Pau, 12 Aug 1940).
- He was also named among the ticket-selling committee members of the 1938 New World charity fun-fair for the China Relief Fund (Nanyang Siang Pau, 20 Jul 1938) and in later Kinmen society and relief-fund reports through 1941.
The Wu Sheng Li Jin She (1929–1941) was founded by Kinmen youths in Singapore to foster fellowship among fellow-villagers, run a library, and promote sport and culture; it worked closely with the Kim Mui Hoey Kuan and acted as its de facto youth wing (Kinmen Daily News, 浯江夜話). If this Lee Guan Eng is indeed the son buried here beside his father's name, then the family remained rooted in the Kinmen community of Singapore for at least a generation after Lee Ann Jin's death, and took part in the wartime China relief effort of 1938–41.
The identification rests on the shared name and Kinmen origin only; readers with family knowledge of the Lee family of Kinmen who can confirm or correct it are warmly invited to comment.
Sources 資料來源
- Headstone inscription, Bukit Brown Blk 2 Div H Plot 84 (field transcription).
- Bukit Brown burial register, entry for Li Ann Jin, interred 23 June 1928.
- Nanyang Siang Pau 南洋商報, 4 Jan 1938, 20 Jul 1938, 30 Jan 1940, 11 Mar 1940, 12 Aug 1940 (NewspaperSG, National Library Board).
- BiblioAsia, 跨境影响、情系侨乡: 新加坡金门会馆特藏 (Oct–Dec 2020).
- Kim Mui Hoey Kuan, 會館簡介.
- Kinmen Daily News 金門日報, 浯江夜話: 《南洋商報》中的浯聲勵進社.
About this record
This entry is part of the 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 (Kopi Sua 咖啡山) 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. "Lee Ann Jin 李安仁." Singapore Tombstones Epigraphic Materials (S.T.E.M.), tombs.bukitbrown.org, https://tombs.bukitbrown.org/2026/09/lee-ann-jin.html. Accessed [date].
Keywords: Lee Ann Jin, 李安仁, Bukit Brown Cemetery, 武吉布朗, Kinmen 金門, Quemoy, Kim Mui Hoey Kuan 金門會館, 浯聲勵進社, Republican era tomb 中華, Chinese tomb inscriptions Singapore, Singapore Tombstones Epigraphic Materials, S.T.E.M.
Comments
Post a Comment