Sia

Sia (Hokkien ; Mandarin ; ) was a hereditary, noble title of Chinese origin, used mostly in colonial Indonesia. It was borne by the descendants of Chinese officers, who were high-ranking, Chinese civil bureaucrats in the Dutch colonial government, bearing the ranks of Majoor, Kapitein or Luitenant der Chinezen (see: Kapitan Cina). History As with other Chinese honorifics, the title 'Sia' came at the end of the title holder's name: for example, as in Oey Tamba Sia (1827–1856). The title was used not with its holder's surname, but with his given name, so Tamba Sia instead of Oey Sia. In everyday speech, use of the title was often combined with other honorifics, such as Ako Sia ('elder brother Sia') or Baba Sia ('sir Sia'). Originally, the honorific was used in Imperial China to address certain senior mandarins, the relatives of a mandarin or descendants of the House of Koxinga, formerly the ruling dynasty of the Kingdom of Tungning. In colonial Indonesia, the honorific came to be used as a hereditary title for the descendants of Chinese officers, who were seen as the colonial Indonesian equivalent of the Chinese mandarinate and scholar-gentry.