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Lasem: A unique station in a unique town

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The first Chinese settlement in Java was most likely established in Lasem . Lasem is located on the north coast of Java, about three hours drive east of Semarang, the provincial capital of Central Java. Its current population is about 30,000. The Chinese settlers arrived in phases, the first one in the 15th century, then in 1740, 1743, 1842, and finally in 1881. These succeeding years marked important events in the history of Chinese-Indonesians. In 1740 there was an uprising of the Chinese in Batavia against the Dutch East Indies Company . Many Chinese were killed, while those who survived escaped to Lasem. These refugees established themselves north and south of the existing Chinese settlement. In 1743 the Chinese of Lasem revolted against the Company, in retaliation to the Batavia massacre. The Company reacted by forcing all the Chinese who where living in villages around Lasem to settle within the town, on the western bank of the Lasem River, across the earlier Chinese settlement.