{{Short description|Burmese Chinese herbalist}} {{No footnotes|date=December 2022}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}} {{family name hatnote|Aw (胡)|lang=Chinese}} '''Aw Chu Kin''' (Chinese: 胡子钦 ? – 1908 in Rangoon, British Burma) was a Burmese Chinese herbalist. He is best known as the original inventor of Tiger Balm.
Aw's father was a Chinese herbology practitioner in Xiamen and a Hakka Chinese with ancestry in Yongding County. Being of a poor background, Aw first immigrated to Singapore where he stayed at the ''kongsi'' of his clan. He then moved to Penang and started to work as a practitioner of Traditional Chinese medicine, known as a ''sinseh'' ({{zh|t=先生}}) in Penang Hokkien. Afterwards, he moved to Rangoon where, with the help of his uncle, founded his apothecary named Eng Aun Tong ({{zh|t=永安堂|l=The Hall of Eternal Peace}}) in 1870.
Aw Chu-Kin got married in Rangoon. He had three sons, the eldest of whom, Boon-Leng (Gentle/Refined Dragon) died young. He was survived by his two sons, Boon-Haw (Gentle/Refined Tiger) and Boon-Par (Gentle/Refined Leopard). In 1892, Aw sent Boon-Haw to his grandfather's village to be instructed in traditional Chinese methods while Boon-Par stayed in Rangoon to receive British education. He left his business to younger son Boon-Par who then called his elder brother to run Eng Aun Tong together.
== References== {{reflist|30em}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20090207062336/http://www.hawpar.com/heritage.htm Our Heritage] Haw Par Corporation website *[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn6207/is_20030701/ai_n24906484/ The Power of the Tiger] Clarence Y K Ngui, ''Malaysian Business'', 1 July 2003 *[https://books.google.com/books?id=255mdUaAXiwC&q=%22Eng+Aun+Tong%22 Hong Kong apothecary: a visual history of Chinese medicine packaging] Simon Go, Princeton Architectural Press, 2003 *[https://web.archive.org/web/20211202155344/http://cstc.lib.stu.edu.cn/chaoshanzixun/lishiwenhua/4419.html 胡文虎父女的汕頭緣]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aw, Chu Kin}} Category:1908 deaths Category:Burmese people of Chinese descent Category:People from Xiamen Category:Chinese emigrants to Malaysia Category:Chinese emigrants to Singapore Category:Chinese emigrants to Myanmar Category:Aw family Category:Year of birth missing