First visit to the Ban Ho mosque in Chiangmai (June 11, 2018)
The Ban Ho mosque sits in between Thae Phae gate of the old city to the east, and banks of the Ping River to the west. The term "Ho" supposedly was a Thai word that people used to refer to Chinese Muslims who had migrated from Yunnan to northern Thailand via Burma. At present, the term is used more generally to refer to Chinese populations who had migrated from Yunnan to northern Thailand by land.
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Location of the Ban Ho Mosque. Excerpt from Seiji Imanaga, The Research of the Chinese Muslim Society in Northern Thailand (1990), p.11. |
One of the most significant builders of the Ban Ho community was the trader and philanthropist Zheng Chonglin/ Cheng Chung-lin (郑崇林), who had come from Da Yingcun (大营村) village of Yuxi Prefecture (玉溪)in Yunnan Province. He built a branch office for his business in Wiang Ping, and in 1907, utilized his own housing as both a communal gathering site and an office. In 1916, he built the mosque in front of his house. While acting as the leader of the community, he also seems to have developed ties with the local governmental authorities. He is said to have helped building the railroad between Bangkok and Chiangmai, and contributed 100 rai (1,600 square meters * 100) of land for the construction of Chiangmai airport. For these reasons, he was conferred the title "Khun" by the King. (Seiji Imanaga, The Research of the Chinese Muslim Society in Northern Thailand, Hiroshima University in Association with Keisui-Sha, 1990, p. i-2).
Interestingly, Zheng Chonglin passed away in Mecca during his pilgrimage in 1964. Some interviews with his descendants are documented in Seiji Imanaga's research cited above. At present, I was told by an elderly person yesterday, all of his family members have passed away, and his house located directly opposite to the mosque has also been sold.
I visited the mosque for the first time on Monday afternoon around 1 pm, as call to afternoon prayers spread to streets around the mosque. Rain clouds covered the sky. The one alleyway right in front of the mosque is filled with small restaurants, shops and a bookstore that also sells ladies' scarves and dresses. Most of the books in the store were written in Thai language, with a small section filled with English language books.
We are near the end of Ramadan, with the 'Eid celebrations only three days away. People were busy preparing for food; the office was often empty and locked up; office staff seemed to be coming and going.
This I realized is the office where the Chairman of the Islamic Committee of Chiangmai stays. The sign, which I can't read, seemed to be saying that the office is open between 9 am and 3 pm.
Besides the engraving is the list of people who donated funds in 1995 for building of pavilion by the cemetery south of the mosque, which I later came to visit.
After a brief self-tour of the mosque, I had a chance to meet with the Chairman who returned to the office, and to accompany him to a funeral ceremony in a cemetery south of the mosque, which was about a five minute drive. Below is the pavilion, it seems, that had been built through donations in 1995. Next to it is the site of the cemetery.
The cemetery, also about a hundred years old, is to be expanded and reorganized this year, said a middle-aged person passing by. His father is buried on this side, his mother on the other, and his younger sister on another. So he walks by them from time to time. So did I.
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