Liem Thian Joe (1895–1962) was a late colonial Indonesian historian, newspaper editor, journalist and writer of Peranakan Chinese background.
[3] Born in 1895 in Parakan, Central Java, Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia), Liem Thian Joe received his earliest education at local Malay and Javanese schools.
[2] Liem wrote Riwajat Semarang as a series of articles for Djawa Tengah Review from March 1931 until July 1933, before having it published in book form by Ho Kim Yoe in 1933.
[1] In the book, he coined the term Cabang Atas, Malay for 'upper branch', to describe the baba bangsawan or the Chinese gentry of colonial Indonesia.
[1] He is also the anonymous author of Boekoe Peringetan Tiong Hoa Siang Hwee 1907-1937, an anniversary book of Semarang's Chinese Chamber of Commerce, published in 1937.