Kongsi

Kongsi (Chinese: 公司; pinyin: gōngsī; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: kong-si) or "clan halls", are benevolent organizations of popular origin found among overseas Chinese communities for individuals with the same surname. This type of social practice arose, it is held, several centuries ago in China. The Chinese word Kongsi is used in modern Chinese to mean a commercial "company"; the modern term for such associations is 會館 (Pinyin hui guan, literally meaning "meeting hall").