Given that Southeast Asia has a relatively large population – as the diaspora process has been going on for centuries – it would not be wrong if Denys Lombard or Anthony Reid underlined the important role and position of the Chinese, apart from the Indians, in shaping the history and culture of Southeast Asia.
Chinese New Year celebrations are not much different from the celebration of the Christian New Year, as well as the Hijri New Year for Muslims. Chinese New Year is the new year of the Chinese ethnic calendar.
In mainland China , Chinese New Year is the most important holiday. In Chinese, Chinese New Year is known as ‘Nongli Xinnian’ (New Year). The word Chinese New Year is more commonly used by ethnic Chinese who are outside mainland China ( overseas China ).
Derived from the Hokkien dialect, Im = month, Lek = calendar, which means ‘month calendar’. The moment on New Year’s Eve is known as ‘Chuxi’ , which means ‘New Year’s Eve’. Chinese New Year is also called ‘ chunjie’ , which means ‘Spring Festival’.
This year the first day of the first month of the new year on the Chinese calendar system falls on February 5, 2019. Referring to this calendar count, this year is the year 2570. This means it is much older five and a half centuries than the Year AD. Shio who is in charge this year is the Land Pig.
Interestingly, Chinese New Year is celebrated from 1 in the first month and ends with the Cap Go Meh celebration on the 15th, which is when it enters the first full moon night of the year.
Interesting to see a page www.worldometers.info. This is the World Population Clock page managed by the United Nations, a world population clock that is updated every day. According to this source, as of January 23, 2019, the total ethnic Chinese population was 1,417,871,937, aka more than 1.4 billion people.
Meanwhile, the world’s population is recorded at 7,679,166,700, or to make it easier to call it 7.7 billion people. This means that the number of ethnic Chinese population is 18.41 percent or almost one-fifth of the total world population. With a very large population, China ranks first in the world, a position it has occupied more than half a century ago.
Not only large, but a small part of their population is diaspora almost all over the world. And because the Chinese ethnic group has a strong loyalty to the traditions and culture of their ancestors, then at the same time the spread of this ethnic culture enriches the color of world culture.
Meanwhile, according to the www.statista.com page, in terms of the number of overseas Chinese, Indonesia is in the top position with an estimate of around 7 million. The second position is the country of the White Elephant Thailand, with an estimated number of the same. Malaysia is in third position with a range of 6.4 million, the United States 3.8 million, and Singapore 3.6 million.
Given the relatively large population in Southeast Asia, whose diaspora has existed for centuries, it is not wrong if historigraphers such as Denys Lombard or Anthony Reid, for example, then underline the important role and position of this ethnic group, apart from the Indian nation, in the formation of history and culture. culture in Southeast Asia.
Interaction History
Speaking of ethnic Chinese culture, it can be said that they live and develop in rhythm with political developments in the country.
The tradition of celebrating Chinese New Year today is a blessing from the 1998 reform movement. During the New Order era, Chinese culture was not allowed to live and develop. Chinese New Year celebrations should not be celebrated openly in public spaces.
Gus Dur. Photo source: Special
Historically, of course, it is difficult to say when Chinese New Year celebrations have been held in Indonesia. However, it is suspected that along with the migration of Chinese people to the archipelago since the beginning of AD, since then the Chinese New Year celebrations have been carried out. This allegation is based solely on how strong the ethnic Chinese are in maintaining the traditions of their ancestors.
Although Denys Lombard notes that since the 3rd century Southeast Asia has been written in Chinese texts , the earliest record of the history of the archipelago only appeared in the 5th century.
Fa Hsien (Faxian), a Buddhist priest, often sails from China to India and India to China . Told in 412, Fa Hsien sailed from Sri Lanka but unfortunately the ship he was on was hit by a storm. At that time Fa Hsein had to land at ‘Ye-Po-Ti’ or ‘Yawadwi’ , which is the name of the island of Java in Sanskrit. In later historical phases, Chinese news sources also often noted the name of Java with the term ‘She-Po’ .
In his work Nusa Jawa: Cross of Lombard Cultures, he shows the importance of this Chinese cultural influence. Not only for the people of Southeast Asia but also the people of Java. The magnitude of this influence not only colors the formation of cultural aspects, but also daily life.
Chinese culture has not only influenced the development of production techniques and cultivation of various commodities such as sugar, rice, wine, oysters, shrimp, salt, and others, it has also had a major influence on the development of the joint venture system, maritime techniques, trade, and the monetary system in Indonesia. Java. Seeing the magnitude of this influence, Lombard came to the conclusion that, like India’s influence on Southeast Asian culture, he said that there was a continuum of Chinese culture that permeated the Javanese mentality.
Athony Reid in his work Southeast Asia in the Commerce Period 1450-1680 gives an equally interesting note. The trading period at that time, according to Reid, had changed Southeast Asia and made it possible for it to become an important player in world trade. At that time, cloves, nutmeg, pepper and sandalwood were the main commodities in intercontinental trade.
Interestingly, since the early 1400s, due to a surge in demand for spices from the Moluccas in the Mediterranean Sea, a large number of Chinese fleets were sent to Southeast Asia. The peak of the very profitable trade lasted around 1570-1630, and after that it began to decline until it reached its bottom in 1680.
It is thought that the arrival of the Western Portuguese in Malacca in 1511, and then followed by the military and economic victory of the VOC (Netherlands) in the 17th century, and the emergence of agrarian kingdoms in the interior that were not interested in trade such as the Mataram-Islamic Kingdom in Java, for example, has been cited by many historians, including by Reid, as a major factor in the decline of trade in Southeast Asia.
Another source worth mentioning is the hypothesis of the Indonesian historian, Slamet Mulyana. His dissertation The Collapse of the Hindu-Javanese Kingdom and the Rise of Islamic States in the Archipelago built a hypothesis that Islam was historically brought into Java by ethnic Chinese clerics. These ulama, who are popularly called “Wali Songo” in Java, are believed to have come from Champa (Kaboja or Vietnam).
According to him, initially preceded by the arrival of Admiral Cheng Ho, then the religious leaders entered to bring Hanafi Islam. This trend is then relatively widespread in the cities in the area inhabited by ethnic Chinese Muslims.
Call Sunan Bonang, for example, who has the alias ‘Bong Ang’ ; Sunan Kalijaga, ‘Gan Si Cang’ ; Sunan Ngampel, ‘Bong Swi Hoo’ ; and Sunan Gunung Jati, ‘Toh A Bo’ . Likewise Raden Patah, al Fatah , who has the alias Jimbun ( Check Ko Po ). The first sultan of the first Islamic kingdom on the island of Java was the son of the King of Majapahit, who married the daughter of Campa, the son of a Chinese merchant named Ban Hong ( Babah Bantong ).
It is not wrong if the former 4th President BJ Habibie even said: “The greatest gift of the Chinese nation to Indonesia is Islam”. This statement was made when Habibie gave a lecture at the Lautze Mosque, Pasar Baru, Jakarta, on Friday, August 29, 2013.
Chinese New Year
It must be admitted that there have been ups and downs in the history of the presence of Chinese New Year celebrations in Indonesian society. The state’s policy of segregation and co-optation of the social position of the Chinese, both during the colonial era and independent Indonesia, is certain to be the cause.
When Indonesia was colonized by Dutch colonialism, Chinese New Year was also banned. With its segregation policy, the Dutch government is worried that the festive Chinese New Year celebrations could spark inter-ethnic riots. In Japanese times, Chinese New Year was celebrated and even declared a national holiday.
Indonesian independence period. In the era of President Soekarno, the Lunar New Year was clearly celebrated. At that time, the Chinese were not only given free space for religious and cultural expression, but were even allowed to actively participate in politics.
History also records that President Soekarno had invited Zhou Enlai, the Chinese Foreign Minister at that time, to come to attend the Asia-Africa Conference in Bandung in 1955. A conference that gave birth to the “Bandung Principles”, in which universal principles were formulated to encourage the struggle of the nations. colonized peoples to gain independence.
Henk Ngantung. Photo source: Flickr
In the Kusno era—that’s the childhood name of “Mr. Proclaimer”—it was also recorded that an ethnic Chinese was the governor of DKI Jakarta, Henk Nuntung. A person with an artist background sketched the Welcome Monument in front of the Hotel Indonesia roundabout.
Another era of President Suharto. Following the issuance of Presidential Instruction 14 of 1967 concerning Chinese Religion and Customs, President Suharto forbade anything Chinese-related to be celebrated in public spaces. No exception, Chinese New Year. With this Presidential Instruction, the New Order intends to build a total assimilation process for Chinese descendants, namely by eliminating their Chinese identity.
That’s not enough. The New Order government also issued the Minister of Home Affairs Circular No. 477/74054/BA.01.2/4683/95 on November 18, 1978, which contained the government’s acknowledgment of the five religions, Islam, Protestant Christianity, Catholicism, Hinduism, and Buddhism. This regulation also meant the starting point for not recognizing Confucianism as a religion in Indonesia, a religion that was embraced by the ethnic Chinese majority at that time.
Not only that, Indonesia even cut off diplomatic and trade relations. But then when China ‘s economic growth began to captivate the world’s attention, a turning point emerged again. The political policy of normalizing diplomatic relations between Indonesia and China will be carried out immediately. The signing took place on August 8 through the MoU on the Resumption of Diplomatic Relations between the two countries, Indonesia and China .
Post-New Order. During the time of President BJ Habibie, through Law 29 of 1999, Indonesia ratified ICERD ( International Convention on the Elimination Of All Forms of Racial Discrimination ). Although the ICERD treaty was actually ratified by the United Nations in 1965, Indonesia only ratified it in 1999. Of course, this ratification cannot be separated from international pressure after the May 1998 riots.
Furthermore, in the era of President Gus Dur, Presidential Instruction 14 of 1967 was revoked through Presidential Decree 6 of 2000 concerning the Restoration of Civil Rights for Adherents of the Confucian Religion. As a result, if during the New Order everything was restricted, then with this Presidential Decree, the Chinese again had the freedom to embrace Confucianism and hold their cultural rites openly. Since then, Chinese New Year has been celebrated in cities all over Indonesia again.
Not only that. President Gus Dur re-issued Presidential Decree 19 of 2001 dated April 9, 2001 which inaugurated Chinese New Year as a holiday, although initially it still applied specifically to ethnic Chinese only. It was only in 2002, President Megawati issued Presidential Decree 9 of 2002 concerning Chinese New Year as a National Holiday. Since 2013, Chinese New Year has become a National Holiday.
As if not wanting to be left behind, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has also moved to improve. Through Presidential Decree 12 of 2014 concerning the revocation of the Ampera Cabinet Presidium Circular Number SE-06/Pred.Kab/6/1967 dated 28 June 1967, President SBY replaced the term “China” with “Chinese”. The consideration of revocation because of the term “Tjina” in the Circular of the Presidium of the Ampera Cabinet, so far, has clearly had a psychosocial-discriminatory impact on ethnic Chinese.
During the time of President Joko Widodo, the problem of regulatory discrimination against ethnic Chinese has practically ended. The record of the progress of Indonesian culture which is immune from racist prejudice is at least beginning to be illustrated by the rise of an ethnic Chinese, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama as the number two person in the Special Capital Region of Jakarta Province in the 2012 DKI Jakarta Pilkada.
And in line with the rise of the number one person in the area that used to be called Batavia to become President-elect through the 2014 Presidential Election, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama immediately became the Governor of DKI Jakarta. It is important to note that the position occupied by him has been counted for almost half a century since Henk Nuntung, who has an ethnic Chinese background, has been in charge of the capital city.
Now nearly two decades of Lunar New Year has been recognized again. Chinese New Year should not only be seen as a means of entertainment and celebration, but also contains important lessons for the nation to revitalize the values of the Indonesian nation’s diversity.
Lessons on the political policy of segregation and marginalization of ethnic Chinese by the state certainly deserve to be heeded as a lesson in Indonesian cultural politics in the future. The hope is that the history of past human tragedies will not be repeated because of the strong prejudice of racism. And the ups and downs of Chinese New Year celebrations teach a valuable lesson about that.
Now it is clear that there is still a lot of homework waiting to be done seriously. Identity-politics, whether based on ethnicity or religion, or a combination of the two, has since emerged and grown as a worrying recent political trend since the post-New Order era.
Facing the strengthening of ‘identity-politics’, Indonesia now and in the future, like it or not, must always join hands firmly to realize the “credo” of Bhinneka Tunggal Ika–an, as stated by President Joko Widodo: “I am Indonesian, I am Pancasila” .