[1][3] Through his father, Tan was a grandson, great-grandson and great-great-grandson of previous Kapiteins der Chinezen of his hometown of Cirebon.
[1][2][4] In 1897, at the tender age of 17, Tan Gin Ho was raised to the post of Luitenant der Chinezen, serving under his father.
[5][4] This, Tan’s best-known work, details the days leading to his father’s death, the funeral arrangements and ceremonies, as well as the messages of condolences and visiting dignitaries.
[5][4] A newspaper article from 1919 put the estimated total costs of the late Majoor’s funeral and mausoleum at 580,000 guilders – in today’s currency (2019), a multimillion-US dollar sum.
[4] Tan’s book proved a kind of eulogy to his family’s status as the preeminent and oldest dynasty of the Cabang Atas in the Residency of Cirebon.