Boenga Roos dari Tjikembang[a] ([buˈŋa ˈrus daˈri tʃiˈkəmbaŋ]; translated to English as The Rose of Cikembang) is a 1927 vernacular Malay-language novel written by Kwee Tek Hoay.

Inspired by the lyrics to the song "If Those Lips Could Only Speak" and William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, Boenga Roos dari Tjikembang was initially written as an outline for the stage drama troupe Union Dalia.

The novel has been interpreted variously as a promotion of theosophy, a treatise on the Buddhist concept of reincarnation, a call for education, an ode to njais, and a condemnation of how such women are treated.

After the marriage, Aij Tjeng finds in Gwat Nio all of the same traits which made him fall in love with Marsiti, but even more polished owing to her better education.

However, he did not begin the writing process until February 1927, when the Union Dalia Opera requested permission to perform his earlier work Allah jang Palsoe (A False God; 1919).

Union Dalia performed Boenga Roos dari Tjikembang on 5 March 1927, using an outline Kwee had written; the novel was not completed until 20 April.

[6] During a conversation with fellow writer Khouw Sin Eng, Kwee said that part of the story had been based on William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, particularly the appearance of a dead person coming back to life.

[9] Boenga Roos dari Tjikembang was written in vernacular Malay, as common for works by contemporary Chinese writers in the Dutch East Indies.

[10] Indonesian literary critic Jakob Sumardjo writes that Kwee's use of the language, one common within contemporary society, was more "modern" than most of the more formal Balai Pustaka publications (perhaps excepting Abdoel Moeis' Salah Asuhan [Never the Twain], published the following year): it remained focused on key events, those required to advance the story as a whole.

[12] During dialogue, diction is dependent on the character's social background: Sumardjo writes that Marsiti speaks as a poor villager with little education would, and that Aij Tjeng's father and father-in-law use constructions and give advice only plausible if coming from older people.

[13] In other instances Kwee builds suspense by extended use of ellipses, a form which Sumardjo suggests was inspired by contemporary silat (traditional martial arts) stories.

[14] As was conventional in contemporary novels such as Marah Roesli's Sitti Nurbaya (1922), Boenga Roos dari Tjikembang integrates poetic verse into its narrative.

[15] An example is one of three quatrains sung by Marsiti: Soesoekan djalan tjileungtjang, Dipengkong make kamalir; Isoekan koering rek leumpang, Pageto ngan bati watir Kali ketjil jalan air hoedjan mengalir, Dibatasi dengan galangan, Besok akoe akan pergi Loesa tinggal khawatir A stream with rain water swelling, Make a cut and turn its flow; Tomorrow I am leaving, Then only worries I will know In his foreword, Kwee wrote that Boenga Roos dari Tjikembang was intended to lead readers to consider how fate is often at odds with the wants of those involved.

He finds mysticism to be a common theme in Kwee's works, noting it as particularly well-developed in the later novel Soemangetnja Boenga Tjempaka (The Joy of the Cempaka Flowers).

[22] Eric Oey of the University of California, Berkeley, writes that the novel's mysticism builds into a promotion of theosophy and Buddhist ideals: Aij Tjeng and Gwat Nio read about both, then leave their materialistic lives to become more spiritual.

[23] Faruk of Gadjah Mada University also notes the novel's concept of reincarnation, drawing on its repeated emphasis on the parallels (both physical and psychological) between the half-sisters Marsiti and Gwat Nio, as well as Lily and Roosminah.

[24] Sidharta, considering the same interrelations between Marsiti/Gwat Nio, does not suggest reincarnation, instead writing that the novel showed that there is no difference in the love of a njai and a lawfully wedded wife.

He suggests that this was manifested in the character of Keng Djim's unnamed njai (Marsiti's mother), who is banished after rumours spread that she has been unfaithful.

[8] This print run of 1,000 copies, with the slogan "Roh manoesia djadi mateng dalem tangis / The soul ripens in tears" on its cover,[11] sold out.

[4] A new printing, adapting the 1972 spelling reform, was included in the second volume of Kesastraan Melayu Tionghoa dan Kebangsaan Indonesia, an anthology of Chinese Malay literature.

He noted the tendency of native troupes to emphasise Marsiti's role as one such change[30] and considered most such adaptations – excepting those performed by Dardanella – to be of poor quality.

He also found wrote that native troupes generally did not pay him for the right to use the story, and in the 1930 edition Kwee asked readers to help him enforce his copyright by informing Panorama of any illegal performances.

"[i][43] The Indonesian scholar of Indonesian literature Jakob Sumardjo writes that, though in most of his works Kwee appeared to be strongly impressing his point of view on the reader to the point of "tearing the novels' structural balance",[j] this flaw was not present in Boenga Roos dari Tjikembang; instead, Sumardjo finds it "truly good in its form and technique, though the ideals contained within may not be that significant".

[k][44] Fowler writes that the love between Aij Tjeng and Marsiti is handled with "unusual delicacy and tenderness" despite the social ostracism faced by njais.

[45] In a review of the English edition for The Jakarta Post, Linawati Sidarto describes it as "the ultimate weekend read", "tugging at emotions with the intrigues of love, lies and sacrifice" while at the same time providing an interesting insight into the now-forgotten society in which it takes place.