SEAP Publications
THE CHINESE OF SUKABUMI:
A STUDY IN SOCIAL AND
CULTURAL ACCOMMODATION
GIOK-LAN TAN
MONOGRAPH SERIES
MODERN INDONESIA PROJECT
Southeast Asia Program
Department of Asian Studies
Cornell University
Ithaca, New York
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THE CHINESE OF SUKABUMI
A STUDY IN SOCIAL AND CULTURAL ACCOMMODATION
Giok-Lan Tan


MONOGRAPH SERIES
A
ϊ
Modern Indonesia Project
Southeast Asia Program
Department of Asian Studies
Cornell University
Ithaca, New York
19634
<·
(c) 1963 by Cornell Modern Indonesia Project
A
*111
PREFACE
The study of the Chinese minority in Indonesia has
formed a considerable part in the work of the Cornell
Modern Indonesia Project since its establishment in 1954.
The results of the valuable research undertaken by Donald
E. Willmott in this field have already seen publication. (1)
Miss Giok-Lan Tan’s study of the Chinese of Sukabumi
(centering on the Peranakan section of the community) re-
presents a significant addition to the published material on
this subject and an important contribution to the con-
tinuing work of the Cornell Modern Indonesia Project.
This study of a Chinese community in West Java
complements that of Dr. Willmott on the Chinese of
Semarang, Central Java, published three years ago, and
the forthcoming Μ. I. T. -sponsored study by Edward J.
Ryan of the Modjokerto Chinese of East Java. Having this
amount of published material available, we can begin to
comprehend the range of variation, and at the same time
the underlying unity, of Peranakan culture in Java. With
I	the publication during the next few years of Professor G.
William Skinner’s research (sponsored by the Cornell
Modern Indonesia Project in 1956-1958), the picture will
»	undoubtedly become even fuller and clearer.
Miss Tan, a Peranakan who lived briefly in Suka-
bumi during the Second World War, undertook this study
in 1956-1957 while a student at the Sinological Institute of
the University of Indonesia in Djakarta. Her research was
carried out under the direction of Professor Skinner, who
was then in Indonesia. After completing her research in
Indonesia, and following completion of her studies at the
Sinological Institute, Miss Tan came to Cornell University
to do graduate work in anthropology. She was awarded her
M. A. degree in 1961.
Following her return to Indonesia, Miss Tan has
undertaken further field research among the Chinese. She
has designed and directed a project which studied a number
(1) The Chinese of Semarang: A Changing Minority Commu-
ity in Indonesia (Ithaca., N. Ϋ. : Cornell University Press,
i960) and The "National Status of the Chinese in Indonesia,
1900-1958 (Cornell Modern Indonesia Project, Monograph
Series; Ithaca, N. Y. 1961).iv
of degas in the Tanggerang area (West Java) with special
emphasis on the social interaction between Peranakan and	1
indigenous farmers. Currently Miss Tan is an instructor
in sociology at the Catholic University in Djakarta, and
beginning in May 1963 was appointed research assistant in	'
the National Economic and Social Research Institute of the
Council for Sciences of Indonesia.
Ithaca, New York	George McT. Kahin
May 25, 1963	DirectorV
FOREWORD
This study is based on research undertaken between May 1956. and
December 1957 in Sukabumi, a Sundanese town in West Java about 75 miles
southeast of Djakarta. It has a population of about 65, 000 including 10, 000
ethnic Chinese, of whom 6, 000 are Indonesian citizens and 4, 000 are aliens.
The fieldwork was conducted under the direction of Professor G.
William Skinner within the larger framework of his research on the Chi-
nese in Indonesia, for which purpose he stayed in Djakarta from 1956 to
1958. It was sponsored by the Cornell Modern Indonesia Project in col-
laboration with the Sinological Institute of the University of Indonesia in
Djakarta.
During the first year of the fieldwork, the writer stayed in the
house of a Peranakan widow in the northern part of the town. Thereafter
she made extended trips from Djakarta to Sukabumi whenever necessary.
This long stay on the spot enabled the writer to observe a full year’s
cycle of activities in the Chinese community. The writer was not un-
familiar with the area of study as at the outbreak of the Pacific War her
family took refuge in Sukabumi. She went to school and stayed there for
about six months, from December 1941 until June 1942.
Asa member of the Peranakan group of the Chinese community,
i. e., the group made up of the socially, culturally, and politically non-
China-oriented part of the ethnic Chinese, of which the majority are
Indonesian citizens, the writer had no difficulty in establishing rapport
with the group in general and with the western-educated in particular.
Less rapport was achieved with the alien, Chinese-speaking part of the
community, mainly due to the fact that these aliens are mostly engaged
in occupations which are extremely vulnerable socially and politically,
rendering them suspicious of any outsider. This difficulty was aggra-
vated by the fact that the older generation Chinese speak only their local
Chinese dialect and the younger generation mostly Mandarin, while the
writer has no knowledge of the former and an inadequate command of the
latter.
As a student at the University of Indonesia, where she was doing
graduate work at the Sinological Institute, the writer received generous
cooperation from the Indonesian authorities; and being a native speaker
of Indonesian, she had no difficulty on that score in establishing rapport
with the Indonesian population.
The methods used in collecting the data were personal observation
and informal interviewing. She visited homes practically every day during
the research period; she participated in family celebrations and observed
meetings and programs organized by the government as well as by private
organizations; she also observed the activities in the temple and in the
Christian churches, and she visited schools and business enterprises.
Except in the case of observations in institutions, where there is a more
or less impersonal atmosphere, notes were usually not taken on the spotVi
but were recorded as soon as possible afterwards.	,
The language used was primarily Indonesian. Dutch or a mixture
of Dutch and Indonesian was used with western-educated Peranakans and	,
several of the western-educated Indonesians. Some Mandarin was also
employed with the younger generation alien Chinese.
Apart from these personal observations and contacts, the writer
made intensive use of statistical data on the alien Chinese acquired
from the Municipal Hall in Sukabumi and on the citizens of Chinese
descent, derived from the registration lists for the election of the
DPRD (regional assembly), acquired from the four Kelurahan (wards)
in the town. Other official data were also collected for the chapters
on occupations and enterprises and on education. It should be noted,
however, that these statistical materials should be viewed with caution,
for they were collected by inadequately trained personnel. The writer
also reviewed as much as possible of the existing body of published
material pertaining to the Chinese in Indonesia, especially those pub-
lications written by Peranakans.
The writer has attempted to be as consistent as possible in the
spelling of the Peranakan form of terms derived from the Hokkien.
Peranakan terms of Chinese origin are brought together at the
back of this volume in a glossary which also cites the Hokkien forms,
in transcription and characters, from which the Peranakan terms are
apparently derived.
A
The writer would like to express her gratitude to Professor	A
Tjan Tjoe Som of the Sinological Institute of the University of Indonesia
in Djakarta for her earlier training in sinology, which laid the founda-
tion for her further study of the Chinese, especially the overseas
Chinese.
Having been, at the outset of this study, a student without ex-
perience in fieldwork, she feels greatly indebted to Professor G.
William Skinner for the training she received while in the field, for
the subsequent organization of the data, and for valuable suggestions
and improvements in the final draft of the study.
To Professor Robin M. Williams, Jr., the Chairman of her
graduate committee at Cornell University, she is indebted for instruc-
tion and advice.
Despite the guidance and suggestions of these eminent profes-
sors, the writer is acutely aware of omissions and inadequacies in the
study. For all these, she alone takes full responsibility.	*
The writer would also like to extend her special gratitude to
Professor George McT. Kahin for his continuous moral support.
Thanks are also due to Mrs. Skinner for editing the major part of theVll
final draft of this study. To all her friends who have helped her in one
way or another with the completion of the work go her deepest gratitude
and appreciation.
Needless to say, the writer feels completely indebted to the
people of Sukabumi, especially the Peranakan community, without whose
cooperation this study could not have been made. It is impossible to list
here all the people in Sukabumi who were of substantial help, and so the
writer reluctantly refrains from mentioning any. Special gratitude is
nonetheless extended to each and every one.
Finally the author acknowledges her deep gratitude to the Cornell
Modern Indonesia Project for sponsoring the fieldwork, to the Cornell
Southeast Asia Program for providing her with a Southeast Asia Training
Fellowship, to the P. E. O. Sisterhood for the contribution to her living
expenses during the fall of I960, and to the Rockefeller Foundation for
providing her with a generous travel grant.AIX
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER	Page
PREFACE . ......................................... iii
FOREWORD.............................................. v
I.	HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT ............................... 1
Historical Background............................... 1
The Present Situation ............................. 21
IL	ETHNIC DISTINCTIONS IN THE ECONOMY................... 29
Occupations......................................   29
Enterprises........................................ 35
III.	PERANAKAN SUBSISTENCE PATTERNS....................... 41
Food .............................................. 41
Housing . ......................................... 45
Clothing .......................................... 48
IV.	FAMILY AND KINSHIP................................... 52
Socialization and Enculturation ».................. 52
Prenatal care and ceremonies ..................  52
Postnatal care and ceremonies................... 54
The growing child and his kin.................   63
Ancestor veneration..........................    72
The young adult ................................ 73
Courtship and Marriage ............................ 77
Ideas about marriage..........................   77
Patterns of marriage arrangement................ 79
Preferences in spouse selection .............. .	82X
CHAPTER	Page
IV. FAMILY AND KINSHIP
Courtship.................................... 83
The wedding........................................ 85
Kinship Terminology...................................   109
The Hokkien system...................................  109
The Sundanese system...............................    113
The Peranakan system.................................  116
Discussion and comparison............................. 120
V. RELIGION.................................................... 131
The Cycle of Public Worship............................. 131
The Chinese temple...................................  131
The significance of the temple........................ 138
The special offering to the neglected spirits	λ
in the seventh lunar month........................... 156
The Sam Kauw Hwee....................................    158	*
The Cycle of Domestic Rites ............................ 161
Summary.............................................   172
Funeral Practices and Mourning	Observances	.....	173
Funeral practices ...................................  173
The mourning period .................................. 191
The Influence of the Indigenous	Religious	Setting.	.	.	.	196
Activities within the framework of the
Moslem religion..............................    196
Beliefs and activities outside the framework
of the Moslem religion.......................... 200
The Christian Churches in Sukabumi............... 206
The Protestant churches .............................  206
The Roman Catholic church............................. 210
Summary
211XI
CHAPTER	Page
VL	EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES AND PREFERENCES . .	217
Development of Educational Opportunities................ 217
Contemporary Situation.................................. 218
Public schools....................................... 218
Private schools: Indonesian language................. 221
Private schools: Chinese language ..................  228
VII.	LIFE IN THE COMMUNITY...................................... 234
Administrative Structure .............................   234
Participation in Civic Activities......................  235
Citizenship .......................................   235
How do these WNI view their position as
Indonesian citizens ?..............................   237
Peranakan Participation in Political Affairs............ 239
External (Chinese) political affairs................. 240
Internal (Indonesian) political affairs.............. 243
The Baperki. ......................................   244
The election for the DPRD in August 1957	......... 247
Participation in Formal Organizations................... 250
Inter group Relations.................................   256
Totok - Peranakan..................................   256
Totok - Indonesian .................................. 263
Peranakan - Indonesian .............................. 265
VHI. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
276Xll
APPENDIX	Page
I. GENERAL GLOSSARY OF PERANAKAN FORMS ....	281
Chinese Terms Cited in Their Mandarin Form ....	287
II. A. OUTLINE OF OCCUPATIONAL CATEGORIES
AS DEFINED BY THE CENSUS OF 1930 .....	289
B. REGROUPING OF THE OCCUPATIONAL
CATEGORIES OF THE 1956 FIGURES TO
MAKE THEM COMPARABLE WITH THE
CATEGORIZATION OF THE 1930 CENSUS
FIGURES............................... 290
HI. HOKKIEN AND PERANAKAN CHINESE KIN TERMS . .	293
A.	Relatives Through Father, Father’s Father
and Father's Descendants.................... 293
B.	Relatives Through Mother and Father’s Mother . . .	302
C.	Relatives Through Spouses and Children’s Spouses . .	305
IV.	SUNDANESE KIN TERMS............................... 307
A.	Consanguineal Relatives and Their Spouses... 307
B.	Affinal Relatives...........................   309
V.	NAMES OF DEITIES.................................. 311
VI.	NAMES OF ORGANIZATIONS, SCHOOLS, AND
NEWSPAPERS....................................
313Xlll
MAPS
Page
1.	Administrative Division of West Java..........facing 1
2.	Residency Buitenzorg, Regencies
and Districts; 1932 - Present......................... 13
3.	Town of Sukabumi....................................... 20
4.	Town of Sukabumi....................................... 27
fi.
5
JAVA SEA
Map 1. Administrative Division of West Java.
(Based on:	U. S. Office of Strategic Services, Research and Analysis
Branch, "Java and Madura. Admonistrative Divisions," Washington, 1945.)1
CHAPTER I
HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT
The town of Sukabumi, the capital of the regency of the same name,
is situated in the Residency of Bogor in the Province of West Java, about
75 miles southeast of Djakarta along the southern route to Bandung. It has
a population of approximately 70, 000, including about 10, 000 ethnic Chinese.
The indigenous population is predominantly Sundanese, for Sukabumi lies
well within Priangan, the heartland of the Sundanese ethnic group of the
island of Java.
This chapter attempts to provide some of the salient historical facts
relevant to the settlement and growth of the Chinese population in Sukabumi
within the geographical framework of the western Priangan. (1) The con-
cluding section outlines the present composition of the population and the
position of the ethnic Chinese within the context of the larger contemporary
society.
Historical Background
The traceable history of the western part of the Priangan goes back
to the 15th century when it was ruled by the Sundanese Hindu kingdom of
' Padjadjaran. This kingdom, the remains of which were found in the vicini-
ty of the present town of Bogor, must have existed from around 1433-1434
until 1579, when it was conquered by the ruler of Banten. (2) As the last
and only known Sundanese kingdom, Padjadjaran has acquired a mythical
aura for the people of this area, as evidenced by the numerous stories and
legends that glorify its founder and other members of its court. It seems
that after the fall of this kingdom, the western part of the Priangan was
(1)	The material for this chapter is based primarily on the following sources:
Frederik de Haan, Priangan: De Praenger-Regentschapp onder het Neder-
lands Bestuur tot 18Ϊ1 (4 vols., Batavia, 1910-12); Pieter Johannes Veth,
Java, Geographisch, Ethnologisch, Historisch (4 vols., Haarlem, 1875-
1907); Otto van Rees, Qverzicht van de Geschiedenis van de Preanger
Rege nts chappe n (1877); Hdesein Djajadiningrat, Critische feeschoeuwing
van de SeJjarah Banten (Haarlem, 1913); Jacob Wouter de Klein, liet
Preanger-stelsel (1677~-1871) en zijn nawerlsing (Delft, 1931).
(2)	See Djajadiningrat, op. cit., pp. 135-139, 232-236. The exact dates
of the existence of Padjadjaran has been a source of much dispute among
the various scholars. The Geschiedenis van Nederlandsch Indie, ed., A.
Thomassen a Theussink van de htoop, N. J. Krom, &. A. Kern (1938), I,
276, mentions that it already existed in 1333, while the Encyclopaedic van
Nederlandsch-Indie (1899-1905), III, 167, states that it already existed
in the l2th century; see also Veth, op. cit, , Π, 275.2
left to go to waste with no clear indication of who nominally ruled over it.
Early Dutch travel reports of this area described it as extremely sparsely
populated and practically uncultivated. The people lived as semi-nomads
with the cultivation of dry ricefields, gaga, as the main source of living.
The cultivation of the wet ricefields, sawah, seems to have been a much
later development, probably influenced by the Javanese. As de Haan
pointed out, the technological change of the method of rice cultivation
from dry to wet fields must have been a crucial point in the life of the
Priangan people, for it changed the typical Sundanese from "a wanderer
to a settled cultivator, "(3)
Apparently all through the 16th century this area was a bone of con-
tention among the three kingdoms then ruling the western part of Java:
the Moslem kingdoms of Banten in the west and Tjirebon (sometimes also
spelled Tjeribon or Cheribon) in the northeast, and the kingdom of Galuh
in the southeast. At the end of this century a fourth contender came in
the form of the kingdom of Mataram, the Javanese kingdom which was at
that time rapidly expanding to the west. First, Galuh came under its
domination in 1595, then the area west of it to the borders of Banten, and
finally Tjirebon, which became a vassal around 1600. (4)
The 17th century saw a complete change of scene with the entree of
the Dutch East India Company in 1602. In 1619, after the conquest of
Jacatra (the present Djakarta, known during the colonial period as Batavia),
the first Governor, General Jan Pieterszoon Coen, declared the limits of
the Dutch territory to be as follows: Banten to the west, the Java Sea to
the north, Tjirebon to the east, and the Indian Ocean to the south. Thus he
included the western and central part of the Priangan, Actually, however,
Coen regarded this area of so little value that in practice he continued to
consider the area south of Jacatra as Banten's territory. (5) Mataram
ignored this Dutch claim completely, recognizing Banten as its western
neighbor, which is shown by the fact that Javanese migrants were sent to
settle in this area. Soon, however, the Company imposed its rule through
the treaties with Mataram in 1677 (with Amangkoerat II, who reigned from
1677-1703) and 1705 (with Pakoeboewana I, who reigned from 1703-1719),
thereby bringing into its possession the entire area of the Priangan:
Bogor (then called Buitenzorg), Krawang (the northern area between
Djakarta and Tjirebon), the western part of Indramaju (to the north of
Tjirebon), and the former regency of Tanggerang (to the west of
Djakarta). (6) Dutch influence was extended westward as the power of
Banten declined under Sultan Hadji (1682-1687), and in 1684 Banten be-
came a protectorate of the Dutch Company.
(3)	de	Haan,	op.	cit.	I, 31-32.
(4)	de	Haan,	op.	cit.,	I,	1-34.	See	Map	1.
(5)	de	Haan,	op.	cit.	,	I,	1,	*
(6)	de	Haan,	op.	cit.,	I,	69; van Rees,	op.	cit., pp. 50-55; and
de Klein, op. ext., pp. 10-12. See Map 1.3
We have already mentioned that early Dutch travelers found the
*	Priangan sparsely populated and practically uncultivated. Though initially
uninterested in this mountainous area, the Dutch Company before long dis-
covered its enormous possibilities and the cultivation of the be rg - culture s
♦	(mountain crops) was started. This occurred after the treaty oi 1677 when
they established effective rule over the western part of the Priangan, which
consisted of the regencies of Tjiandjur, Kampungbaru (Buitenzorg),
Tanggerang, Krawang, Tjiasem, and Pagaden (the last two areas situated
between Krawang and Tjirebon), by putting it under the direct administra-
tion of -a Dutch official, the Gecommitteerde tot de saecken der Inlan-
deren, (7) and referred to it as the so-called "Jacatrasche Bovenen
Benedenlanden."(8) As to the regency of Tjiandjur, we find that it was
established only in 1691 through colonization from Tjirebon and headed by
a member of this court. It was at that time an insignificant settlement.
The treaty of 1705 with Mataram marked the end of the Javanese
supremacy over the western part of Java which had lasted for almost two
centuries. This domination had a great influence on the Sundanese, even
to the point where Javanese became the official language, used among the
Priangan regents themselves in their correspondence. This influence is
still markedly apparent, especially among the upper class, which constitute
the former nobility, the menak, who "share many common parts of their ,
(7)	de Klein, op. cit., pp. 21-27, devotes an entire section to the task and
function of this official. Van Rees, op. cit., pT 97, described the Gecom-
mitteerde as the Oppertoezicht overae Preanger-landen (chief supervisor
/.	of the f*riangan lands). It seems that originally his main task was that of
opperkoopman (principal agent) for the government, charged with the pur-
chase of the products of the compulsory cultivation. Due to the fact that he
,	also functioned as moneylender to the regents, he acquired great power over
them, so much so that, as de Klein stated (speaking of the position of this
official in 1804 and counting its institution as from 1727): "in 75.years the
•gecommitteerde* developed from a petty official into a powerful despot.
The regents and their subordinates were entirely dependent on him for
their careers as well as their finances" (the present writer’s translation).
He was also the head of police and in charge of jurisdiction. His territory
had always been primarily the Benedenlanden of Djakarta, but also the area
between the rivers Tjisedane (to tbe west oi Djakarta) and Tjitarum (to the
east of Djakarta), thus including the regencies Tjiandjur, Bogor,
Tanggerang, Pamanukan, Tjiasen^ and Krawang.
(8)	de Klein, op. cit., pp. 130-134. The limits of the so-called
Jacatrasche orBataviasche Ommelanden, Benedenlanden en Bovenlanden,
seem to have been changed continually. Officially it seems that the boun-
daries of the Ommelanden (surrounding lands) were: from the Java Sea
southwards to the mountains, between the rivers Tjitarum, Tjisadane,
»	and Tjikaniki (an upstream river which forms one of the sources of the
Tjisadane). The limits of the Benedenlanden (low lands) and Bovenlanden
(uplands) were even more confusing. Some regencies, e. g., Bogor, were
_	shuttled back and forth, at one time incorporated in the one region and at
another time in the other.4
values, customs and beliefs with the upper class in the rest of Java."(9)
All through the 18th century the history of the Priangan area is char-
acterized by the cultivation of compulsory crops, i. e., crops for the world
market which were profitable for the Dutch Company and whose cultivation
was therefore forced on the population of this area. It was in the beginning
of this century, under Governor General Henricus Zwaardekroon (1718-
1725), that the cultivation of coffee was first introduced in the Priangan--
to be precise, in the regency of Tjiandjur which included the area which is
today Sukabumi. This cultivation proved extremely profitable also for the
regent Wira Tanoe II, who became one of the wealthiest men in the
Priangan. (10) Clearly, it was only with the coming of the Dutch that the
Priangan became a productive area. It is also obvious, however, that the
Dutch merchants represented by the East India Company viewed this region
as one vast estate to be exploited through the native rulers. Their only ob-
ject was to get coffee and other desired crops, regardless of the sacrifices
imposed on the cultivators in order to produce the desired quantity. As the
Priangan proved to be a veritable treasure chest, the Dutch consequently
guarded it like a miser guarding his hoard. Severe regulations were made
in order to prevent Europeans, Chinese, and even non-Priangan natives
from entering it. This involved the prohibition of travel, which of course
automatically precluded any form of settlement.
It was especially towards the Chinese that this policy of exclusion
was applied. In the words of de Haan, to this group of people the Priangan
was ’’hermetically" closed. They were allowed to operate sugar mills in
the Ommelanden of Batavia, i. e., the area bordered on the west by the
river Tjisadane, on the east by the river Tjitarum, and on the south by
the mountains, but they were not permitted to venture beyond Bogor and
Tandjungpura (on the Tjitarum river). The reason for this special treat-
ment was that they were viewed as a potential danger to the monopoly
system; they were suspected of secretly buying the produce from the
native cultivators. To illustrate the policy towards the Chinese, we will
give a sampling of some of the regulations and measures applied to them. (11)
A decree issued in April 1764 prohibited Chinese from entering the
Priangan without a special permit of the government on penalty of being de-
ported, imprisoned, or sentenced to forced labor. (12) There are many
examples of the implementation of this decree. In 1754 a Chinese found in
Bandung was deported to Ceylon without any form of trial.
(9)	Samiati Alisjahbana, "A Preliminary Study of Class Structure among
the Sundanese in the Priangan" (M. A. thesis, Cornell University, 1954),
pp. viii, 7.
(10)	de Haan, op. cit., I, 22, 119-12C, 351.
(11)	de Haan, o£. cit., IV, 545-548, 550-553.
(12)	Wouter Brokx, Het recht tot wonen en tot reizen in Nederlandsch-
Indie (doctoral dissertation, Leiden University, s‘Hertogenfc>osch, 1925),
p732.5
In 1772 Governor General P. A. van der Parra (1761-1775) inserted
a clause on the lease of land in Bogor requiring the tenants to forbid
Chinese to travel on their lands and to allow them only within the boundar-
ies of the market place,
Chinese were allowed to settle in Bogor (within the limits of the
market place) but to travel beyond this place a special permit from the
Commissioner for native affairs (Gecommitteerde tot en over de zaken van
den Inlander) was required. In 1799» however/ the Opzlener (supervisor)
of ijiandjur requested the above Commissioner to cease granting permits
to Chinese to travel to this area because, as he claimed» they took away
the buffaloes and horses as interest to debts made to them» thus inter-
fering with the transportation of coffee.
In 1804 a Chinese of the market of Tjibinong» a village along the
highway about 9 miles north of Bogor, was arrested and sentenced to be
beaten with a rattan stick for traveling with commodities on the estate of
Bogor,
In 1806 a Chinese caught with commodities in Bandung was sen-
tenced to confiscation of cash and goods, which were then divided among
the persons who arrested him.
In addition to such illustrations of the prohibition on travel we
might look at examples of prohibition of residence.
In 1787 plans for the operation of sugar mills beyond Tandjungpura
were abandoned because the Dutch were afraid that they would lose control
over the Chinese who were to be the operators of these mills if they
settled so far from the center of the Company.
In 1792 several Chinese were deported to Ceylon because they had
settled in the area of the regency of Tjiandjur which was out of bounds for
them.
In 1797 a decision was made to establish markets in several places
in the Priangan, but it was stipulated that no gambling was to be allowed
and no Chinese admitted. (13) P, Engelhard, one of the Commissioners,
mentioned in his journal of 1802 that there was one Chinese at Tjiandjur
who had lived there for several years. We may assume, then, that at the
turn of the century there were no more than a very few isolated Chinese
in all of the Priangan,
The 19th century, precisely in 1800, saw the dissolution of the
Dutch East India Company and the beginning of rule under the Dutch govern
ment. A new policy was introduced with the appointment of Herman
William Daendels as Governor General (1808-1811). He started the sale
of large plots of land, thus terminating the exclusion policy and opening up
the possibility of private enterprise. This act was prompted by the de-
pleted condition of the coffers of the Indies which could not expect replen-
ishment from the Netherlands because it was at war with England. (14)
(13)	de Haan, op. cit., I, 401.
(14)	de Haan, op. cit., IV, 861-866; Veth, op. cit., Π, 603-604.6
Towards the Chinese the Governor General showed a more lenient attitude;
for instance, he appointed the Chinese lessee of the market at Bogor to tue
position of Kapitein der Chinezen (Captain of the Chinese) in 1810 and the
one at Tjikao (a place along the 'Tjitarum river south of Tandjungpura
which was an important storage place for the transportation of coffee along
this river) to Luitenant der Chinezen (Lieutenant of the Chinese) in 1811.
He decided to build villages for Chinese near the regency capitals, where
they were to cultivate tobacco, indigo, peanuts, and other crops. Thus in
1812 a small Chinese settlement was established in Tjiandjur with about
50 Chinese inhabitants. It is interesting to note that according to de Haan,
the Chinese were not at all eager to settle in the Priangan, because for
agricultural activities, they could just as well stay in the Ommelanden.
So, "only by force could he /T)aendels7 transfer about ten families to the
Priangan."(15) Daendels was a foreeful personality who managed to bring
about quite a few important changes during the brief period of his rule.
For instance, in the administrative field, he abolished the plots of land
that many regents had in each other's territory (and which were the cause
of many conflicts) by making each regency a geographic unit. In regard
to compulsory cultivation he introduced certain revisions in the system,
which curtailed the power of the regents over their subordinates. Daendels
was also responsible for the construction of the Grote Postweg, the main
highway running through the entire island of Java, but bypassing Sukabumi
to the north over the mountains to Tjiandjur.
In 1811 the British fleet stationed in India invaded Java and estab*·
lished British rule in the island under Lieutenant Governor Stamford
Raffles (1811-1816), His rule was characterized by major revisions and
reorganizations. Towards the Chinese he also showed a lenient attitude by
allowing Chinese traders to move freely in the Priangan, though not beyond
a certain distance of the market place. In the administrative field he re-
organized the Priangan area by incorporating the five regencies of Tjiand-
jur, Bandung, Sumedang, Garut (then called Limbangan), and Tasikmalaja
(then called Sukapura) in the Residency of Bogor. A major revision was
the introduction of the system of land rewnue in lieu of the existing system
of forced labor. He also attempted to abolish slavery, but succeeded only
in curtailing slave trade.
Raffles continued the sale of large plots of land which was started
by Daendels. These sales show how little actual power the regents pos-
sessed over their land. Though they did possess a certain amount of self-
rule relative to their people, relative to the foreign ruler they functioned
practically as "managers. "(16)
Thus, in 1813, the sale was concluded of a lazge area in the wes-
tern part of the Priangan, comprising the districts of Gunung Parang
(15)	de Haan, op. cit., I, 479-482, IV, 877-880; Veth, op. cit., II, 570;
de Klein, op. ext., pp, 64-66.
(16)	de Klein, op. cit., pp. 88-91; he points out that the regents had no
power of jurisdiction, the government could terminate the appointment
(which was made by the Governor General) unilaterally, while the compul-
sory cultivation involved radical measures encroaching on the power of
the regents over their people.7
(corresponding with the present district of Sukabumi), Tjimahi (which does
not exist as a district any more), Tjiheulang (corresponding with the pre-
sent Tjibadak), and Tjitjurug (corresponding with the present area of the
same name). The sale covered an area amounting to almost half of the
northern part of the present Regency of Sukabumi. The ownership of this
estate was shared by four persons, Raffles himself owning one-half, and
Th. Macquoid (then Resident of the Priangan regencies), N. Engelhard
(ex-Governor of Java’s northeast coast), and A, de Wilde (a physician in
government employ) owning one-sixth each. De Wilde acted as manager
of the estate. In 1815, due to devastating criticism of his participation in
private ownership of land in Java, Raffles sold his share to de Wilde, who
then became the largest share-holder.
This vast estate was referred to as a Vrijland (literally free land,
obviously indicating its status as being privately owned) and was divided
into three parts, the Vrije landen Sukabumi, Tjiputri, and Tjikalong.
The name Sukabumi seems to be a name which originally referred to the
hoofdnegorij (main village) only, which was situated in the district of
Gunung Parang. Apparently the Vrijland Sukabumi was called Tjicolle
before because, in a letter to N. Engelhard dated 13 January, 1815, de
Wilde wrote that at the request of the native heads he had changed the name
Tjicolle to Sukabumi. In the literature concerning this estate we find the
names Sukabumi and Gunung Parang (the name for the district) both used
to refer to it. (Today the names Gunung Parang and Tjikole--as it is
spelled now—are preserved in the names of two of the main streets in
Sukabumi. ) At that time landowners were virtual kings on their estates,
so de Wilde also lived in grand style. For his residence he had built a
mansion made of stone, which was so spacious (including a billiard room
which must have been unique at that time) that in 1827 it was transferred
to Tjiandjur to serve as the residence for the Resident. It was mentioned
that in 1814 he possessed 23 slaves and in 1816 several more. This ex-
travagance was made possible by the yield of rice and especially of coffee.
Apparently during the British rule de Wilde was on good terms with
Raffles, which was naturally to the benefit of his enterprises.
With the return of Dutch rule in 1816 a crucial change occurred in
the position of de Wilde and, as a matter of fact, in the position of land-
ownership in general. The new Governor General, G. A, G. Ph. Baron
van der Capellen (1816-1826) seemed to be strongly against private land-
ownership and consequently put out regulations which were aimed at ter-
minating, or at least reducing, this phenomenon. With de Wilde dis-
agreements arose in regard to the price of the coffee to be delivered to
the government and even in regard to the legitimacy of the ownership of
the estate. . De Wilde launched a big fight against what he considered unjust
treatment by the Indies government which, as we shall see later, was to
end only in 1823 when he admitted defeat and sold the lands back to the
government. The lands were then incorporated into the Regency of
Tjiandjur. The restoration of Dutch rule meant major changes again in
the field of administration, in the official attitude towards compulsory cul-
tivation, and in the regulation concerning the Chinese in the Priangan.
In the field of administration a new residency was created--
comprising the five Regencies of Tjiandjur, Bandung, Sumedang, Garut,
and Tasikimalaja (all of which, under Raffles, had been incorporated into8
the Residency of Bogor)--with the name Residency of Priangan Regencies,
thus leaving the Residency of Bogor as a separate unit. In connection with
compulsory cultivation, an exceptional situation came into being in the
Priangan in that the existing system of indirect rule was maintained, where-
as in the other parts of Java a European system of administration was
introduced with salaried indigenous civil servants, taxes, and increasingly
intensive control. Due to its continuation in this area alone, this system
became known as the Preanger stelsel. Essentially it contained the fol-
lowing: the people of this region were exempted from land revenue and
other taxes, but they were compelled to cultivate coffee and other crops
decided on by the government and to deliver them at a price lower than
that paid for them in other areas. The regents were not salaried, but they
were entitled to collect taxes from their people and they were also paid a
percentage of the value of the products they delivered. In return for these
deliveries and services, the Dutch government (and before its dissolution
in 1800 the East India Company) agreed not to interfere with the internal
government of the regency and also to confirm the hereditary position of
the regents. (17)
As to the attitude toward the Chinese, we have seen how under
Raffles Chinese traders were allowed to travel in the Priangan, though not
beyond a certain distance of the market place. However, on June 6, 1820,
a resolution of the Governor General in council put an end to all this. A
memorandum was sent to all the Residents in the surrounding area to dis-
continue the granting of a pass to "foreign orientals" (read Chinese) who
wished to go to the Priangan Regencies unless they were in possession of
a special permit of the Resident of this Residency. In regard to settlement
(or residence), this resolution stipulated a flat prohibition to all "foreign
orientals" against living in this area, if not in possession of a "proper"
permit to be issued in each case by the Resident. Those living there at
that time without this "proper" permit were ordered to move out "as soon
as their business was settled" and "insofar as the delivery of coffee would
not suffer from it." Exempted were a small group of artisans who were
allowed to live in the capitals of the regencies and those "Orientals" who
had come to be known as "good citizens." Those who did not comply vol-
untarily with this regulation were to be put outside the boundaries by
force. (18)
The negligible number of Chinese found in the Yrijland Sukabumi
in 1822 as documented in the "Preanger Statistiek 1822H(l9) Is undoubtedly
(17)	de Haan, op. cit., IV, 948-949; de Klein, op. cit. , pp. 1-9.
(18)	Brokx, op. cit., pp. 31-32, 53.
(19)	The "Preanger Statistiek 1822" are documentary materials (in man-
uscript) pertaining to the Priangan regencies, kept at the Arsip Negara	*
(State Archives) in Djakarta. According to this material, the Priangan
regencies in 1822 consisted of the following regions:
the regency of Tjiandjur
the Vrije landen Sukabumi, Tjiputri, and Tjikalong
the regency of Bandung
(cont. )9
a result of this stringent regulation. In the hoofdnegorij there were only
”	four Chinese: one adult male, one adult female, and two children, ob-
viously constituting one family only. In addition, de Wilde himself
seemed poorly disposed towards Chinese, as evidenced by his statement
•	that "unless they were needed as artisans, Chinese should be kept out of
the Priangan lands ,.. because as soon as they settle in any place, they
take away the profits that would otherwise be enjoyed by the natives. "(20)
As we have seen earlier, the resolution of 1820 was of course nothing new.
The timing and severity, however, are very significant. There is obvious-
ly a direct relationship between these prohibitions on travel and residence,
which were also applied to Europeans, though to a lesser extent, (21) and
- the policy of the restored Dutch government to reduce or eliminate pri-
vate landownership, which would mean a return to the monopoly system.
As far as the Chinese were concerned, this prohibition was also conducive
to the formation of monopolies among them; from 1820 retail business in
the Priangan was monopolized by a rich Chinese in Bogor through native
agents. (22)
In the fifty years following this regulation, however, lapses oc-
curred which were always followed by a renewal of this basic aim of
keeping travel and settlement of Chinese at a minimum. In 1835 (Stb. 1835
no. 37), for instance, a regulation on residence was issued to check
lapses which were observed to have occurred, ‘It was stated that the "old
custom" of segregating "foreign Orientals" in separate quarters or neigh-
borhoods under their own head should be maintained and that no deviation
the government land of Udjungbrung
the regencies of Limbangan and Sumedang,
These documentary materials are the result of an instruction by
the government to the heads of these regions to submit a detailed report
on the situation in their area. Thus the administrator of the Vrijland
Sukabumi, L. Steitz, submitted a very detailed report dated August 8,
1821, that is still kept in its original form at the Arsip Negara,
The population in the hoofdnegorij was as follows:
Europeans and their descendants
Javans* *
Slaves**
Arabs,' Malay, and others
Chinese
Total
Male
—Γ
186
21
4
1
TTT
Total
----
595
31
10
4
644”
Children
---j-_
202
3
1
2
Female
207
7
5
1
~ΣΖΰ~
* By Javans (Javanen) are meant the indigenous people of Java, but
in this case probably Sundanese only.
**According to the Encyclopaedic van Nederlandsch Post Indie, III,
805, 803, the slaves were Papuans, Balinese, Buginese, Macassers,
■Timorese·. Slavery was abolished in · i860 · (Indische Staatsblad ^Indies
Statutes, hereafter abbreviated Stb .7, i860 no. 46)?	‘
*
(20)	A. de Wilde, De Preanger Regentschappen op Java gelegen (Amster-
dam, 1830), p. 235 (the present writer’s translation); see also de Haan,
op. cit., IV, 878-880.
(21)	See Veth, op. cit., p. 624, and Brokx, op. cit., p. 36.
(22)	Veth, op. cit., p. 624.10
from this rule should be allowed* (23) In 1846, however, it was felt that
this regulation of 1835 was too severe,and by decision of the Governor	«
General an explanation was issued stating that this regulation should not
be interpreted as a complete prohibition of Chinese and other "foreign
Orientals" to settle in those places in the interior of Java where no quar-
ters exist, but only to see to it that they settle "separately in quarters to
be designated by the local authorities in the capitals of the residencies,
regencies and some of the districts which are strategically situated for
trade and where there is no danger for smuggling practices." Thus this
official explanation opened up the possibility not only of residence in al-
ready existing quarters as had been the case until then, but also the pos-
sibility of residence in quarters not yet established though with the limita-
tion that they would only be situated in the capitals. This more lenient
attitude lasted only until 1852 when those who had settled outside the places
where quarters had been designated were ordered to move into these
quarters, (24) This policy of restricted residence is reflected in the fact
that in 1857, for instance, there were only 373 Chinese in the entire Pri-
angan Regencies--.046 of the total population of that area. (25)
Brokx quite correctly pointed to the inconsistency of the Dutch
policy towards the Chinese in that, on the one hand, there were special
restrictions on travel and residence and, on the other hand, there was
the farming out to the Chinese of the collection of certain taxes from the
indigenous population which would, naturally, entail traveling to the vil-
lages, This tax system which farms the right to collect the taxes to non-
officials was a system adopted from the Dutch Company. To Chinese was
farmed the collection of taxes in market places, of fishponds, ferries,
cliffs of birds1 nests, slaughter, opium, and pawnhouses. This policy	*
seems even stranger if we consider the arguments of those supporting the
restrictions on the Chinese--that these restrictions were necessary to
protect the indigenous people from the "evil practices" of Chinese as
"bloodsucking moneylenders "--for the system of farming out the collection
of taxes put them in the very position of power from which the indigenous
population was supposed to be protected. (26) A positively lenient attitude
was finally manifest in the regulation of 1866 (Stb. 1866 no. 57) and explain-
ed in 1871 (Stb. 1871 no. 145) as follows: the Governor General desig-
nates the places where quarters will be permitted, while the head of the
local government decides the location of these quarters. There were
three clauses in this regulation which made it more lenient than the others
before: (1) residence in the designated quarters is obligatory, but with a
special permit from the head of the local administration it is possible to
live outside this area; (2) settlement in places without quarters may be
granted by the head of the Residential administration if in the interest of
agriculture, industry, or the levy of state revenue and of public works;
(23)	Brokx, op. cit., p. 29.
(24)	Brokx, op. cit,, pp. 30, 31.
(25)	Aar drijkskundig en Statistisch Woordenboek van Nederlandsch-Indie
(Amsterdam, 1869), I,' 6Ϊ2-615.
(26)	Brokx, op. cit., pp. 33-34.11
and (3) those who at the time of the issue of the regulation are residing in
villages, private estates or other places outside the designated quarters
are allowed to remain there.
Thus in 1872 (Stb. 1872 no. 9) both Tjiandjur and Sukabumi were
designated as places where quarters for Chinese would be permitted. Of
Tjiandjur we know already that during Daendels’ period (1808-1811) a
Chinese settlement was established consisting of about 50 persons. We
know also that it was an important place for the cultivation of coffee. Its
importance is indicated by the fact that until 1864 it was the capital of the
Residency of Priangan Regencies. The Regency of Tjiandjur also in-
cluded the districts that today make up the Regency of Sukabumi. Of
Sukabumi we have the information that in 1822 there were in the hoofdne-
gorij only four Chinese. Although we have no population figures of the
subsequent years until 1905, we may infer from the fact that it was a
district capital, situated along a good road with estates all around and
from the very fact that it was designated as the only place in the western
part of the Priangan besides Tjandjur to have a Chinese quarter, that it
must have had a Chinese settlement prior to this designation in 1872.
However, we can be sure that it was only then that large-scale settlement
was made possible. From investigations made into many families this
assumption is confirmed. It also appears that many of these first settlers
came from Bogor, for many of the oldest Chinese families in Sukabumi
today originated there. This is not surprising considering the fact that
Bogor had been one of the first places opened to Chinese and that for de-
cades it had been the farthest place southward where Chinese were per-
mitted to settle. It will be recalled that as early as 1810, under
Daendels, the title of "Captain of the Chinese" was conferred on the
Chinese lessee of the market at Bogor, which indicates that there must
already have been a fairly large settlement at that time. We may also in-
fer from this long settlement that those Chinese who migrated southward
to Sukabumi were for the most part Peranakans. Peranakan is an Indo-
nesian term consisting of the rootword anak (child), with the prefix per
and suffix an, generally used to refer to those Chinese born in Indonesia
whose home language is not Chinese but a mixture of Malay and one of
the local dialects (in this case Sundanese) and who in their diet, clothing,
and belief system have adopted elements of the local indigenous culture.
One of the main attractions of this area must have been the pos-
sibility of acquiring land "in erfpacht" (long lease--75 years--of unculti-
vated land belonging to the government) established by the Dutch govern-
ment after 1870, (27) In the early 1880’s, in the Afdeling (corresponding
to the present regency) Sukabumi there were already several estates
owned and/or managed by Chinese (the earliest was a lease concluded in
1878) (28) and around 1900 there were 15 Chinese-owned rice mills in the
area. This preoccupation of the Chinese with the exploitation of estates
(27)	Based on the Agrarian Law passed in 1870 (Stb. 1870 no. 55); see
Brokx, op. cit., pp. 79-80,
(28)	Regerings Almanak van Nederlandsch Indie (Batavia, 1898), Vol, 1,
under the title fearticuliere Landbouw Qndernemingen op gronden afges-
taan in erfpacht.12
and the processing of their products is still reflected in the fact that at the
time of this study about 10 per cent of the employed people among the WNI
(Warga Negara Indonesia, Indonesian citizen, generally used to refer to
Indonesian citizens of foreign and, primarily, Chinese descent) earned a
living as members of the staff of estates and factories» (29)
Another commercial activity which brought Chinese to Sukabumi
was the trade in native products (hasil bumi). Chinese traders went the
rounds of the villages to buy the products ot the native population to sell
them in Sukabumi itself or to transport them to larger places. One of the
wealthy Peranakans in town today, the owner of one of the large textile
factories, spoke with admiration of his grandmother, an Indonesian-born
Chinese, who, with her husband (a Chinese born in Bogor of a China-born
father), was the first of his family to settle in Sukabumi. He mentioned
her as an extremely industrious tukang dagang (businessman or woman)
who every day went the rounds of the markets in the villages around
Sukabumi. Today this particular occupation is also reflected in the great
number of stores selling native products which are especially concentra-
ted along the main street running through the south of the town.
The quarters designated for residence of Chinese in Sukabumi
comprised the area around the market place, along the main street leading
to Djakarta and Bandung, and the area south of the present railroad. Today
this section of the town is still the center of the Chinese population and it
is only here that we find old two-story houses with Chinese style roofs.
The town of Sukabumi, which had developed from the hoofdnegorij
at the center of the Vrijland Sukabumi, had continued its important posi-
tion as a servicing center for the surrounding plantations and as a storage
place for further transportation. Its growth was accelerated by the con-
struction in 1882 of the railroad which connected it with Djakarta, via
Bogor, and again in 1883 and 1884 when connections were made with
Tjiandjur and Bandung (see Map 2). In 1901 a connection by sea was
opened via Plabuanratu in the south with Djakarta and with Tjilatjap in
central Java, but this never became of much importance. Undoubtedly
the great influx of Chinese must have occurred during and after this faci-
litation of communications, which also indicates the growing prosperity
of the town. It must have been during this period also that Sukabumi be-
gan to overtake Tjiandjur in importance. In 1905 there were more Chi-
nese and Europeans--both there because of business opportunities--in the
former than in the latter:
Sukabumi	Tjiandjur
Indigenes	12,000	15, 100
Chinese	2, 100	1, 200
Europeans	600	170
Arabs	--	+30
Source:
Encyclopaedic van Nederlandsch-Oost Indie (8 vols.,
hage, l	voii in, iv;------------
s’Graven-
(29) Data on occupations acquired at the Municipal Hall in Sukabumi,
Districts of Buitenzorg:
Γ TJjasinga
2	Leuwilang
3	Paroeng
4	Tjibinong
5	Buitenzorg
6	Tjiawi
7	Tjibaroesa
Soekaboemi:
—o	PaTaboehan
9	Tjitjoeroeg
10	Tj ibadak
11	Soekaboemi
12	Djampang-koelon
13	Djampang-tengah
Tj iandjoer:
14	Patjet
15	Tjikaiong-koelon
16	Tj iandjoer
17	Tjibeber
13 Tjirandjang
19	Soekanegara
20	Sindangbarang
LEGEND
-------- Residency
- - - - Regency
........ District
zzzzzzzzzzzzz Regency of Soekaboemi
■	Capital of Residency
o Capital of Regency
*	Municipality
·*·» M » «·■ Railroad
Scale:	1 : 1,000,000
Map 2. Residency Buitenzorg, Regencies and Districts; 1932 - Present
(Based on:	Volkstelling 1930, vol. I.)
co14
Another indication that the major growth of the Chinese population
in Sukabumi must have occured in this period is the fact that the first	"
"Captain of the Chinese" was appointed in 1892. (The first one appointed
in Tjiandjur was in 1883.) This person, Sim Keng Koen, came from
Djakarta and was appointed February 7, 1892. None of the later officers	*
was held in such high esteem as this kapitan (Malay) and his family, in
no small part due to his wife, a European woman (according to one in-
formant, an Armenian) with the surname Zecha, who must have been quite
famous in town. Kapitan Sim was her second husband, whom she married
after the death of her first husband, also a kapitan (in Djakarta) with the
surname Lauw. (Her second husband had been the secretary of the first
one. ) She was a remarkable woman who, as one informant described it,
ruled over her family and the people around her like Tzu-hsi, the last
empress of the Ch’ing dynasty. The family resided in a large mansion
on the Djalan Raya (the main street) and lived in grand style. Several
old people recall the feasts, especially on Chinese New Year, which used
to be held at the kapitan's residence. According to one of the informants,
one of the reasons why the Lantern Festival, which should be held on the
15th of the first lunar month, is always held on the 20th and 21st in
Sukabumi is that one of those days had been the birthday of the kapitan,
and the festival was postponed till that date to make a double celebration,
a custom that has been kept since. At the time of this study only two
members of the family still lived in Sukabumi, a daughter-in-law of the
kapitan, who was then over eighty and her daughter of over fifty.
After the kapitan^ death, he was succeeded by luitenant and later
(in 1924) kapitein titulalr (titulary captain) Tan Tiam Leng, appointed on
May 14, 1900, who came originally from Djuana (a place in the Residency	*
of Semarang in Central Java). It was around this time (probably in 1910)
that the position of wijkmeester (Dutch term for a neighborhood ward), or
bek (a corruption of the Dutch word wijk), as it was called by the Chinese
and Indonesians, was instituted in Sukabumi. His function was that of
registrar of the Chinese population. He registered births, deaths, and
changes of residence, acted as witness in important transactions, and
gave information and advice on matters related to government regulations.
In addition he collected the taxes of the small warongs (small grocery
stores selling everyday household necessities), of which he received a
certain percentage. The town was divided into two wijken or sections,
called A and B. Section A comprised the eastern part of the town, north
of the railroad westward to Djalan Tjiwangi and Plabuan II (see Map 4,
District B, page 27 below), making a dividing line in the middle of these
two streets, while section B consisted of the western part of the town,
starting from the houses on the left-hand side of the two above-mentioned
streets, and the area south of the railroad. Each section had its own
wijkmeester.
These characteristics indicate the existence of a sizeable, well
established, and stable Chinese community, and this conclusion is, of	<
course, upheld by the fact that there were more than 2, 000 Chinese in
1905. The assumption that this community must have been predominantly
Peranakan is also supported by the existence, though short lived, in the	,
first decade of this century of a "Chinese-Malay" weekly paper put out
by adherents of the teachings of Confucius to express their views. The
paper was published in the kind of Malay typical of Peranakans; this15
language is strongly influenced by Hokkien vocabulary and is very similar
to the Malay spoken by the Straits-born Chinese in Singapore. We will
give an explanation of the use of this language shortly.
This brings us to a brief explanation of the revival of Confucian-
ism which accompanied the so-called "Chinese movement" which became
strongly vocal at the turn of the century with the foundation of the Tiong
Hoa Hwe Koan organization. Vie will not go into the details of this move-
ment (a study of its genesis and further development is made by Lea E,
Williams in his Overseas Chinese Nationalism ^Jlencoe, Ill., 19607)
but we will examine the participation of the Chinese in Sukabumi,
This organization found immediate response from Chinese all over
Java and on the other islands, bringing about the establishment of local
chapters or other organizations with a similar aim, i. e,, the promotion
of Chinese culture as based on the teachings of Confucfrus. From the
beginning, the Chinese in Sukabumi have been connected with this organi-
zation. It was a Peranakan from this town who generated the study of
funeral practices, the results of which we can read in the anniversary
book of the Tiong Hoa Hwe Koan organization put out in 1940 to commem-
orate its fortieth year. (Riwajat 40 Tahoen Tiong Hoa Hwe Koan Batavia,
1900-1939, by Nio Joe Lan^ Further details of the role of this Peranakan
in connection with funeral practices are found in Chapter V. ) It was this
same Peranakan who was probably the first among all Chinese in Java,
and possibly in the other islands too, to cut off his queue. This act,
accomplished in 1901, also generated a lively discussion through the
Tiong Hoa Hwe Koan organization as to its correctness. This organiza-
tion concentrated its activities on education, Chinese-language schools for
boys and, in the first few years, Malay-language schools for girls. In
Sukabumi a Chinese-language elementary school was established by the
above Chinese organization around 1906.
We have already mentioned the existence of a special kind of
Malay which is typical of Peranakans, This Malay, usually referred to
as Melayu Tionghoa (Chinese Malay) or Melayu Pasar (Bazaar Malay, in
contrast to Klelayu 1'inggi, high or refined Malay, the prototype of the
present Indonesian language), is a special development among the Chinese
of the Malay spoken in the trading areas along the coasts of Java and
other islands. We know that Chinese have always been, and still are,
concentrated in these coastal trading towns where they learned the local
language, Malay. The inclusion of a Hokkien vocabulary is not surprising
and only substantiates the well-known fact that the early Chinese immi-
grants were predominantly Hokkiens. As they moved inland they brought
with them the knowledge of this language, soon adding the local dialect of
their new area of settlement. Thus, among the Peranakans in Sukabumi
both Malay and low-style Sundanese are spoken at home. In some families
Sundanese predominates, in others Malay. (30) Even when Dutch was
(30) The ability to speak Malay was reinforced through the existence of
small, private Malay-language schools prior to the foundation of the
Tiong Hoa Hwe Koan schools. The Chinese Protestant Church for instance
operated such a school.16
introduced among the Chinese through the children who had the opportunity
to attend Dutch-language schools, (31) the language at home remained the
same. One generation later, in the families of these Dutch-educated Chi-
nese who, for the most part, sent their children to Dutch-language schools
also, Dutch was sometimes added to the low-style Sundanese and Malay,
making a mixture of the three languages.
Thus far we have made no mention of the large group of China-born
Chinese we find in Sukabumi today. We may safely assume that there were
also immigrants among the first Chinese settlers in this town. But they
were part of the then already established Peranakan community. This in-
clusion was due to the fact that they formed a numerical minority, they
were Hokkiens (a factor which almost immediately guaranteed their accep-
tance because most of the Peranakans are of Hokkien origin), and, if mar-
ried, their wives were usually Peranakan women. Thus, for instance, the
father of the present temple keeper of the Chinese temple, a Peranakan
woman of over 70, was a China-born Hokkien. He was the person who
took the initiative around 1910 to build the temple. The man who donated
the plot of land on which this temple is built was also a China-born
Hokkien. So were the first settlers (grandfathers of the present adult
generation) of two of the wealthy families in town (and incidentally also
the maternal grandfather of the present writer). Λΐΐ these men had one
thing in common: they had Peranakan wives--the link which made them
part of the Peranakan community and ensured the rapid Peranakanization
of their children. It would appear that in that earlier period China-born
men were favorably looked upon as sons-in-law because of their reputed
industriousness, theirthiiftiness, and their general ability to work hard.
The China-born men on the other hand looked upon Peranakan women as
valuable assets in their commercial pursuits because of their general
familiarity with the local language and the local customs.
The emergence of a distinct Totok community separate from the
Peranakan community did not occur until the end of the second decade of
this century, concurrent with the general influx of Chinese immigrants
into the Indies. (32) Files available at the Municipal Hall in Sukabumi
show that of the town’s registered alien Chinese 73 per cent were born
outside Indonesia. Of these, 79 per cent came to Indonesia in the period
between the two World Wars, with the peak (35 per cent) falling between
1926-1931.
This influx of the Chinese even into the interior was no doubt
facilitated by two important developments: the pass system (passenstelsel),
(31)	The first Dutch-Chinese schools--Hollands-Chineze school, abbre-
viated HCS--i. e., schools for Chinese children with Dutch as the medium
of instruction, were established in 1908. We notice here the timing
which coincides with the establishment of the Chinese-language, China-
oriented Tiong Hoa Hwe Xoan schools set up around 1900 by the Chinese
themselves. The establishment of the HCS is generally interpreted as
a countermove of the Dutch government to prevent the Chinese in their
territory from becoming China Oriented.
(32)	See G, William Skinner, "Java’s Chinese Minority: Continuity and
Change," Journal of Asian Studies, XX, No. 3 (May 1961), 357-358.17
whereby Chinese were required to obtain a special permit from loca1 auth-
orities to travel outside their town of residence, was finally abolished in
1914; and in 1919 the restriction on residence, which has been discussed
in detail earlier in this chapter, was also removed.
Two crucial factors contributed to the formation of this separate
community: first, with this influx female immigrants also came to the
Indies; and, second, a change in the speech-group composition of the im-
migrants occurred. In the earlier period the Chinese population in Suka-
bumi was predominantly Hokkien, It is indicative in this regard to note
that of the V7NI the spelling of the surnames of only 5 per cent cannot be
identified as positively Hokkien. However, an analysis of the data on
alien Chinese available in the files at the Municipal Hall (33) shows clearly
that by 1926-1931,the peak period of immigration between the two World
Wars, a major shift had occurred in the composition of the immigrating
population: the figures for the Hokkiens are minimum 36 per cent and
maximum 43 per cent, and for the Hakkas (the largest non-Hokkien group),
minimum 44 per cent and maximum 61 per cent. Thus among the more
recent arrivals there was a marked shift in favor of non-Hokkiens. This
phenomenon is substantiated by a distribution of students in the three
Chinese-language schools according to the speech group of the parents,
where we find that 50. 3 per cent are Hakka and 36. 6 per cent Hokkien,
while of the smaller speech groups there are 8. 9 per cent Hokchia, 3.1
per cent Cantonese, and less than one per cent each of the Teochiu,
Hokchiu, Henghua, and Mandarin speakers.
During the present century, Sukabumi's size and importance
steadily increased. In 1914 it was raised to the status of an autonomous
gemeente. In 1921 the A f deling Sukabumi, which was part of the Regency
of Tjiandjur and had only a patih (second in rank to the Bupati, or regent)
as its highest indigenous official, was made a separate Regency with its
own regent. In 1925 the gemeente Sukabumi received the status of a
(33) The speech groups found among the Chinese in Sukabumi are the
Hokkien, Hakka, and Cantonese. The identification of the speech group
is based on the Latin spelling of the surname as registered. Most of these
surnames can be positively identified as either Hokkien or Hakka or
Cantonese, but some can be Hakka or Cantonese but not Hokkien, others
Hakka or Hokkien but not Cantonese, and still others can be any one of the
three. For each of these distinctions we have made a category, from
which we were able to conclude that among the aliens there is of the
Hokkiens a minimum of 44 per cent and a maximum of 58 per cent, while
of the Hakka a minimum of 32 per cent and a maximum of 54 per cent and
of the Cantonese a minimum of about 1 per cent and a maximum of about
15 per cent. Among the citizens, the WNI, not surprisingly, there was
only 5 per cent of which the surname could positively not be Hokkien. The
fact that such a majority of the citizens, virtually all Peranakans, have
Hokkien surnames does not mean that all of them are positively of Hokkien
origin, because there are definitely non-Hokkiens among them who have
adopted the Hokkien spelling of their name. This reflects the preponder-
ance of the Hokkiens among the early immigrants and the predominance of
the use of Hokkien.18
stadsgemeente (municipality). Also in 1925 electricity was introduced
and in 1^27 waterworks. During the quarter century between 1905 and
1930 the population of the town more than doubled:
Indigenous	Ethnic Other non- Grand
Indonesians Ethnic Chinese** Europeans indigenes Total
Annual	Annual
Year*	Rate#	Rate#
1905	112, 000	- ·	+2, 100	-	1600		114,700
1920	19,495	3. 3%	2,766	1.9%	1,261	11	23,533
1930	27,183	3.4%	4,587	5. 2%	2, 259	162	34,191
1956	56, 027	2. 8%	10, 033	3.1%	489	255	66, 804
*1905 estimates from the Encyclopaedia van Nederlandsch-Oost Indie,
vol. ΙΠ, under heading "Soekaboemi, "
1920 and 1930 figures from the Volkstelling 1930, vol. 7.
1956 figures from the Municipal Hall, Sukabumi.
**The Chinese figure for 1920 excludes the so-called gelijkgestelde
Chinese, i. e., those assimilated to the legal status of the Dutch.
The Chinese figure for 1930 includes the gelijkgestelde Chinese as
well as non-Chinese women married to Chinese men, but excludes
Chinese women married to non-Chinese men.
#The rates given are the average annual growth in the population during
the period since the preceding date.
In the above table the growth rates of the Chinese and indigenous
Indonesian populations are compared. Whereas the Indonesian population
of the town grew more rapidly than the Chinese during the fifteen years
preceding the 1920 census, during the decade of the twenties the Chinese
population increased far more rapidly than did the Indonesian* The 1920’s
was the period of peak Chinese immigration into the Indies as a whole,
and it would appear that several hundred of these immigrants settled in
Sukabumi, the capital of an area which, with the demise of the pass and
quarter systems, seemed ripe for Chinese penetration.
It will be noted, in fact, that the rates of increase of the Chinese
population during the 1920’s are even higher in the outlying districts of
the regency than in the town itself. As the figures below show, there is
very nearly a perfect positive correlation between the rate of increase
from 1920 to 1930 and the density of the Chinese population in 1930: the
lower the density in a district, the higher its rate of increase.
Districts*	Area in km.	Tot. Chin, pop.	% Chin, of total	% Incr, 1920-1930	Density Chin, pop. 1930 (sq. km. )
Djamp. Kulon	1311. 2	329	0,39	411	0. 25
Djamp. Tengah	1105.0	681	0.61	226	0.62
Pelab. ratu	778. 8	453	0. 63	256	0.58
Tjitjurug	361.4	915	0.98	216	2.53
T jibadak	365. 3	1,364	1. 26	252	3.73
Sukabumi	292. 1	5, 638	2.93	183	19. 30
*See Map 2, page 13 above.19
This table shows clearly the inverse relationship between the two
variables we are concerned with. This situation reflects the demise of
the quarter system. In the western part of the Priangan, Chinese had
been allowed to reside only in the Chinese quarters of the towns of Suka-
bumi and Tjiandjur. This restriction created a population vacuum as far
as the Chinese were concerned, and when it was abolished in 1919, a
rapid movement of Chinese traders into the countryside occurred.
In 1925 the Residency of Priangan Regencies was split into three
Residencies: West Priangan, Central Priangan, and East Priangan.
However, this split did not alter the existing regencies which were rein-
corporated in their entirety. The Regencies of Sukabumi and Tjiandjur
became parts of the first, the Regencies of Bandung and Sumedang parts
of the second, and the Regencies of Tasikmalaja, Garut and Tjiamus
parts of the third Residency, In 1932 this division was again reorganized:
Sukabumi and Tjiandjur were incorporated into the Residency of Bogor
and the Residencies of Central and East Priangan were united under the
name Residency of Priangan,
It is clear that when speaking of Sukabumi, we have to make a dis-
tinction between the Regency (Kabupaten) of Sukabumi, the District
(Kawedanan) of Sukabumi and the Town (S tads gene ente or Kota) of Suka-
bumi. The latter is the seat of the capital of the Regency, but since 1925
it has been in itself a separate administrative unit headed by a mayor.
In this study we are concerned with the Town of Sukabumi only.
Situated on the southern slope of the volcanic mountain Gunung
Gedeh, 2, 007 feet above sea level, Sukabumi has a cool, constant, and
fairly dry climate with mean temperatures ranging between 73-88
Fahrenheit and an average annual rainfall of 124 inches. The landscape
is marked by fertile rice fields, dark-green tea plantations, and an
abundance of other vegetation. There are no big rivers flowing through
the town, but there are a great number of small streams with clear,
rapid-flowing water. The only sizeable river close to the town is the
Tjimandiri, which flows a few miles to the south,
There are people who claim that Sukabumi has the best climate in
all of West Java. Before the war it was a favorite vacation and health
resort for the Dutch population of Djakarta and also a center for retired
Dutch civil servants. Just before the outbreak of the Pacific war there
were three luxurious hotels, a public hospital (built in 1923, but in 1932
transferred to the Catholic mission), two machine factories (there were
then about 116 estates around the town), a printing plant, modern for its
time, and 26 educational institutions, among others the State Police
Training School. (34)
The system of appointed Chinese officers was abolished around
1938 with the last officer Luitenant Tan Giem Hok (from Djatinegara--
then called Meester Cornells--near Djakarta) who had succeeded
(34) Encyclopaedic van Nederlandsch-Oost Indie, vol. VII, under
heading "Soekaboemi."	‘	'21
Kapitein Titulair Tan Tiam Leng in 1926 after the latter's resignation.
At the outbreak of the war with Japan in December 1941, Sukabumi was
one of the evacuation areas of people from Djakarta. Ironically enough,
however, while Djakarta did not suffer any bombing, one clear morning
in March a few Japanese planes dropped a few bombs on Sukabumi,
causing casualties in a school and the destruction of several private
residences, During the occupation period from 1942 to 1945 no changes
were made in the administrative structure except that names were
changed into Japanese,
During the revolutionary period, the area of the Regency of
Sukabumi was the last in the Residency of Bogor to be occupied by the
Dutch, being invaded only in July 1947. Asa result of the scorched-
earth policy followed by the revolutionary troops before they left the
town, the three luxurious hotels were destroyed, as were the largest
school operated by the Protestant mission and the storage places of
estate products, causing damage to adjacent Chinese residences.
In 1949 when the transfer of sovereignty finally occurred, the
Dutch troops left the town. For a brief period the Sukabumi area was
part of the Pasundan State, but it soon withdrew its allegiance and
pledged loyalty to the Republic of Indonesia in Jogjakarta,
Administrative divisions were determined by the Law of 1948
(Undang-undang no. 22, 1948) at three levels: propinsi (province),
kabupaten or kota besar (regency or municipality with second level auton-
omy), (cola ketjii or desa (municipality with third level autonomy or vil-
lage), In 1951 the town of Sukabumi received the status of kota ketjii
because its population was below the required number of lOO, 000 for a
kota besar. The area of the town is 7, 6 squard miles and comprises
four kelurahan, Kota We tan, Kota Kaler, Kota Kulon, and Kota Kidiil. (35)
(See Map 3,) Asa kota ketjii Sukabumi was an autonomous region Of the
third level and administratively under the kabupaten.
In January 1957 the town received the status of a Kota Besar, or
Kotapradja, an autonomous unit of the second level, with the same status
as a Kabupaten. Internally the administrative structure remained the
same, but responsibility was no longer to the Kabupaten, but directly
to the Keresidenan in Bogor,
The Present Situation
At the end of June 1956 the composition of the population of
Sukabumi was as follows:
(35) Kota is the Indonesian word for town, but in Sukabumi it refers to
a section of the town. Wetan, Kaler, Kulon and Kidul are Sundanese
words for east, north, west, and south, respectively.22
Nationality	Male	Female	Total
Ethnic Indonesians	26,450	29, 577	56, 027
Indon. citizens of Chinese descent	3, 055	2,951	6, 006
Indon. citizens of other Foreign			
Oriental descent	13	7	20
Indon, citizens of Arab descent	57	43	100
Indon. citizens of Dutch descent	139	110	249
Indon, citizens of other European descent	1		1	2
Foreign Chinese	2, 343	1,684	4, 027
Foreign Arabs	22	22	44
Other Foreign Orientals	46	45	91
Foreign Dutch	100	no	214
Other European aliens	10	14	24
Total	32, 240	34, 564	66, 804
Ethnic Indonesians are sometimes called Asli, an Indonesian word
meaning original which has the meaning of indigenous when applied to
people. A sli is commonly used to distinguish indigenous citizens from
Indonesian citizens of foreign descent. Indigenous Indonesians are other-
wise referred to and refer to themselves as orang Indonesia (Indonesian)
or bangsa Indonesia (Indonesian national), while the citizens of foreign
descent are referred to and refer to themselves as warga negara Indo-
nesia (Indonesian citizen) or simply warga negara (citizen) or the ahbrevi-
ation WNI from Warga Negara Indonesia^ This designation has come to
be applied specially to Indonesian citizens of Chinese descent, probably
because they constitute by far the majority of the Indonesian citizens of
foreign descent.
Since the present study is focused on the Chinese population, little
attention can be paid to the Dutch and other non-Indonesians and non-
Chinese. In any case, these other minorities are negligible in size. The
table shows that the Dutch form only 0. 7 per cent of the total population,
compared to 6 per cent in 1930. Before the war they occupied the beauti-
ful residences in the northern part of the town. When the Japanese came,
they were all put in concentration camps. At the end of the war, when the
revolution started, the Indo’s (Dutch Peranakans) were also gathered in
camps to protect them against the wrath of the young revolutionists.
Dutch troops occupied the town in July 1947, and the Dutch people who had
properties in and around the town came in their wake. Due to the insecur-
ity which continued in the area, caused in large part by illegal armed
bands of the Darul Islam (organized adherents of a Moslem state of Indo-
nesia), a considerable number of estates were abandoned by their Dutch
owners. Those who were able to do so sold their lands and residences
to Indonesians and Chinese. The former Dutch section of the town is now
occupied by Indonesians and Peranakans. Actually, very few Totok Dutch
people have remained. The majority of those registered as Dutch citizens
are Indo’s, These people are mostly connected with estate management.
They form a rather exclusive group with their own unofficial club.
The Arabs, who form a mere 0. 2 per cent of the total population,
are concentrated in a single street close to one of the smaller mosques.
According to one of our informants, they have considerable influence in
this area in Moslem religious practice.23
Next to the Indonesians, who form 84 per cent of the total popula-
tion, the Chinese, with 15 per cent, constitute the largest ethnic group.
Between 1930 and 1956 the Chinese population more than doubled--from
4, 587 to 10, 033--though in proportion to the total population the increase
in these 26 years was slight, from 13 per cent to 15 per cent»
This increase can be explained partly as natural increase, but
partly also as a result of the postwar insecurity in the areas outside the
town, resulting in the concentration in the town itself. This postwar
flight away from the outlying districts, the reverse of the movement
which occurred between the two World Wars, can be demonstrated by
comparing the population figures for 1930 with those for 1956:
1930*	1956**	
Tot. ethnic	Tot, ethnic	Alien	WNl	% of
Districts	Chinese	Chinese			1930
Djamp, Kulon	329	58	8	50	18
Djamp, T engah	681	165	118	47	24
Pelabuhanratu	453	271	185	86	60
Tjitjurug	915	661	342	319	72
Tjibadak	1,364	1,098	850	248	81
Sukabumi*	5,638	10,561	4, 332	6, 229	187
*Volkstelling 1930, vol. 7.
**Biro Pusat Statistik: Penduduk Indonesia. 1958,
***Town included.
It will be noted that the smaller the Chinese population of a district
in the prewar period, the greater the proportionate postwar exodus of
Chinese from the district. Also relevant here is the advantageous position
of Tjibadak and Tjitjurug, situated along the main communications lines
(see Map 2, page 13 above), as compared with the first three district^
which are not.
Administratively the Chinese population is distinguished into
A sing (alien) and WNI (citizen). There are Peranakans among the A sings
(those who rejected Indonesian citizenship during the option period 1949-
1951), but there are virtually no Totoks among the WNI. The proportion
between the two groups is 6 to 4 (6, 006 WNI, 4, 027 aliens).
Of the 984 A sing family heads registered at the Municipal Hall in
Sukabumi, 27. 0 per cent were born in Indonesia, and 72. 8 per cent in
China, the remaining 0. 2 per cent having been born in Malaya and Singa-
pore, Although, of those born in China, 29 per cent were registered as
born in China without further specification, we may safely assume that
many of them came from Fukien Province. Of the 511 family heads who
indicated their area of origin clearly, it could be ascertained that 52, 6
per cent came from Kwangtung Province (mostly Hakkas, people from the
northern part of this province), 45, 7 per cent from Fukien Province
(mostly Hokkiens, people from the coastal area around the bay of AmoyX
and 1, 6 per cent from areas outside these two provinces. We have noted
earlier that there is a higher proportion of Hakkas than Hokkiens.24
Another speech group living in Sukabumi is the Cantonese or Kongfu, who
form about 1 per cent of the alien population. Then there is another 1 per
cent consisting of people from Hopeh and Shanghai.
The alien Chinese are strongly concentrated (70 per cent) in the
Kelurahan Kota We tan, the location of the former Chinese quarter. Of the
rest, ll per cent reside in Kota Kulon, 10 per cent in Kota Kidul, and 3
per cent in Kota Kaler. There appears to be no marked residential con-
centration according to speech group. According to the registration lists
(available at the Kelurahan offices) for the election of the DPRD (regional
assembly) which was held in August 1957, there were 1, 000 WNl family
heads registered.
The WNI Peranakans are more widely distributed in the city.
Only half of them live in Kota We tan. Their distribution in the other
three Kelurahan is as follows: Kota Kulon 26 per cent, Kota Kidul 17 per
cent, and Kota Kaler 6 per cent.
These population data should be viewed with reserve in the light
of a system of registration which is not quite reliable or efficient. Each
Lurah (village head in charge of a Kelurahan) must submit a monthly re-
port to the Tjamat (subdistrict head) in the Municipal Hall concerning the
population changes in his area. The registration at the Kelurahan level
should not be accepted at face value, however, because there are no
sanctions for failure to report. In addition, for .citizens of foreign descent
there is a special section at the Municipal Hall called Bagian Penjelesaian
Urusan Golongan Ketjil (section for settling the affairs of the minority
groups). Those who have reported to this office need not go to the Kelura-
han. Then too, until July 1957, most Chinese, Totoks as well as Perana-
kans, reported to the office of the wijkmeester. (To the writer’s know-
ledge, the office of wijkmeester was maintained in Sukabumi longer than
in any other place in West Java. We have mentioned earlier that Sukabumi
had two wijkmeesters. In 1937 the two sections were united into one under
the very same person who held this function until its abolition in 1957).
Thus, up until that date citizens of Chinese descent could report at three
places: in the order of preference, the wijkmeester, at the Municipal Hall,
and at the Kelurahan. Naturally this procedure does not help to provide a
clear and reliable picture of the situation.
The town of Sukabumi can be divided into several areas: a com-
bination business and residential area, a purely residential area, and a
kampong area. Due to the character of business in the town, mainly re-
tail and operated in "shophouses" (which also serve as a residence for the
owner and his family) we cannot speak of a specific business area. Like-
wise there are no special areas for government buildings--these are
scattered along Djalan Raja and throughout the central part of the town--
or for factories, situated for the most part around and south of the railroad.
(See Map 4.) However, we do find a concentration in certain parts of the
town of shophouses, residences, and kampongs.25
According to the data collected at the offices of the four Kelurahan,
the population in each of them is as follows:
Number of Indonesian Citizens in the 4 Kelurahan
of the Town of Sukabumi
Kelurahan	Indonesians			WNI of For. Descent			Total
	Male	Female	Subtotal	Male	Female	Subtotal	
Kota Kulon	" 7, 222	8,245	15,46?		55T"		6U2-	1,160	16, 62?
Kota Kaler	6, 592	6.781	13, 373	89	77	166	13,539
Kota Wetan	5, 832	7, 252	13,084	1,441	1,770	3, 211	16, 295
Kota Kidul	7,328	7,770	15, 098	448	348	796	15,894
Total	26, 974	30, 048	57,022	2,536	2, 797	5,333	62, 355
Although Kota We tan is not the most populous Kelurahan, it is by far the
most densely populated, (Note its relatively small size on Map 3, page
20 above) It includes the former Chinese wijken, whence the fact that 60
per cent of the Chinese of Sukabumi still live in this area today. (To
facilitate further description of the town, Map 4 is provided on the following
pages, showing 14 districts labeled A through N.)
Districts B and C, both in Kota Wetan, are the center of business.
It is here that we find Chinese shophouses, mostly two stories, lining
Djalan Raja, the main street which runs straight through the center of the
town, and its side streets, Djalan Raja is also the amusement center,
for all six theaters are situated along this street. (Districts B, C, and D
on Map 4) There are a great number of side streets and alleys coming
out on this main street, some of the latter only a small opening between
two shops. Quite often, however, they lead to a complex of houses,
mostly occupied by Chinese. District C, for instance, is almost exclus-
ively occupied by Chinese.
South of the railroad, along Djalan Pla buan II (District J on map),
there are also shophouses, but here none has a second floor. Also, these
shops are mostly food stores, selling rice, peanuts, salted fish, cooking
oil, cheap cakes, etc. Further south on Djalan Plabuan II is a cluster of
separate houses, occupied by those Peranakan families who are regarded
as the old, respected families, the descendants of the first Chinese settlers
in town. Beyond this group of separate houses, the line of small houses
occupied by Chinese is continued almost to the border of the town. Some
are residences only, other shophouses. These shops are called warongs
(small grocery stores selling everyday necessities such as rice, cooking
oil, salted fish, spices, sugar, tea, coffee, charcoal, firewood). We
also find Chinese houses close to the entrance of the alleys along this
street. They are mostly small two-room petak houses (housing is
treated in detail in Chapter III) and the occupants can be regarded as re-
presentative of the lower-class section of the Chinese population. There
is also a concentration of Chinese along Djalan Pedjagalan, but only from
the beginning of the street at Djalan Plabuan II to the Chinese temple
(District J).26
Key-Map 4
Aliens				
150 -	C-J'-D	J	
100 - 149	F	G	
50 - 99	B	B-C-E-F-I-K	
25 - 49	A-G-K	A-M	
0-24	E-I-L-:	M-N-H	H-L-N	
Public Buildings		
1. Court of Justice	7, Telephone Office	13. Mayor’s Residence
2. Regent’s Residence	8, Public Meeting Hall	14. Police School
3. Bank Rakjat Indonesia	9. Regency Office	15. Jail
4. Post Office	10, Municipal Hall	16. Railway Station
5. Bus Station	11. Public Hospital (new)	17, Abattoir
6. Police Headquarters	12, Catholic Hospital	18. Pawn house
Private Schools		
1. "Bethel" (Protestant)	9. Catholic	
2. Hsin Hua (Chin. lang. ,	10. School of the "Taman Siswa"	
Peking oriented)	11. Protestant	
3, Ping Min (Chin, lang,,	12. Moslem	
KMT oriented)	13. Protestant	
4. Catholic	14, Chung Hua (Chin. lang.,	
5.	Public Primary School, for WNI
6.	Catholic
7,	Protestant
8,	SMA "Pembina"
Peking oriented)
15.	School of the "Parki"
16.	Chung Hua (Chin, lang,, Peking
orientedj new building)
17.	Chung Hua (Chin, lang., Peking
oriented)
0 Factories
1.	Rice Mill
2.	Ice plant
3» Machine factory "Sukabumi"
4, Machine factory "Braat"
/fk Places of Worship
1, Catholic Church
2» Big Mosque
3.	"Sidang Kristus"
4.	Protestant Church
5.	"Pantekosta"
5.	Textile factory "Oey"
6.	Rubber factory "Sunrub"
7.	Tea factory
6.	"Kie Tok Kauw Hwee"
7.	Adventist
8.	"Geredja Indjil Sepenuh"
9.	"Pinkster"
10. Chinese Temple
* Marketplace
□ Office of the BPIT, Baperki and Sam Kauw Hwee
X Movies
From West to East: Indra, Rex, Flora and Garuda, Royal, Raya128
Starting from Djalan Gunung Parang (center of Districts F and G)
to the north, the residential area begins. These residences are all separ-
ate houses with a spacious yard in front and usually also at the sides and
in the back. Up to Djalan Tjikole (northern limits of Districts F and G),
the occupants are a mixture of Chinese (virtually all Peranakans, the
few Totoks in this area are warong keepers) and Indonesians (government
officials and wealthy business men). Further to the north in District I
the occupants are virtually all Indonesians.
To the west, Chinese residences are also found along Djalan
Tjipelang (northern limits of District A) and the southern part of Djalan
Gunung Pujuh (District E). At the northern part of this street (northern
limit of District E) is the large complex of the State Police Training
School.
All other areas of the town consist of kampongs, surrounded by
rice fields and fish ponds. North of the railroad: in the west from Djalan
Gunung Pujuh to the north (District H), the large patch (District E) between
this street to the south till Djalan Tjipelang, Djalan Kaum and Djalan
Selabatu; in the east the whole area east of Djalan Selabatu, Djalan Bunut,
Djalan Kebondjati, Djalan Pintuhek (Districts I, G, D). South of the
railroad: the entire area comprised of Districts K, L, M. These
kampong areas are all occupied by Sundanese. They are characterized
by well-kept stone-paved paths and separate houses, of which many are
built above ground, resting on low stone pillars about five feet high.
Most of these kampong houses are surrounded by a yard, and many have
a small fish pond as well.29
CHAPTER II
ETHNIC DISTINCTIONS IN THE ECONOMY
We have already mentioned that the importance of the town of
Sukabumi flows in large part from its functions as the administrative,
supply, storage, and social center of the estates in the surrounding area.
The number of estates has declined since 1942 in response to prolonged
insecurity, in particular the operation of illegal, armed groups in the
area. A report of the Municipal Hall mentioned that before the war there
were approximately 120 tea and rubber estates, of which about 80 were
in operation after the war. Many of the town’s major enterprises are
directly related to the estates: two large machine factories, a consider-
able number of blacksmith shops and ironware shops, several rice mills
and tea processing factories, a rubber processing factory, several
tire retreading shops, and electric services workshops. After the culti-
vation of tea and rubber, the cultivation of rice is the next most important
occupation of the population. Even within the boundaries of the town,
much of the land that is not built on is planted with rice.
Another important function of the town is that of administrative
center of the Kabupaten. It has two sets of civil servants, that of the
Kabupaten and that of the Kotapradja.
Asa result of the particular resources of Sukabumi, we find that
most of the ethnic Indonesians are mainly engaged as farmers, estate
workers and civil servants. Next to this there is a sizeable number who
work in the factories in town.
Most of the Dutch, or rather the Indo’s, as well as the few Dutch-
men, are connected with the management of estates and several factories.
As to the ethnic Chinese, we find that of the 1000 WNI family heads
registered for the August 1957 election, 77, 2 per cent were gainfully
employed. The occupation of the remaining 22. 8 per cent was not stated,
but half of them (11.4 per cent of the total) consisted of female family
heads.
The corresponding figure for ethnic Chinese of foreign citizenship
as registered at the Municipal Hall-was 91 per cent gainfully employed.
Less than a quarter of the family heads whose occupation was not stated
(2 per cent of the total) were females.30
As noted for other areas in Java, (1) in Sukabumi the Chinese often
state their occupation as simply that of da gang, that is, trade. We must
keep in mind, however, that this term encompasses all forms of trade,
starting from the street hawker selling his commodities on a small mat
on the curb to the stall owner in the market place, the warong owner in
the back alleys, to the shop owner in the business section and also the
middleman, who acts as liaison between the producer or importer and the
retail store. The main characteristic that distinguishes the people in this
type of occupation from the others (except the professionals such as medi-
cal doctors, dentists, lawyers) is that they are independent enterprisers,
however small their capital may be.
The proportion of those stating their occupation as such is 66. 6 per
cent. Separating the A sing from the WNI, however, we find this preoccupa
tion with trade more pronounced among the former (74, 5 per cent) than
among the latter (44. 6 per cent). Distinguishing the A sing again into
foreign-born and Indonesian-born, the percentage of the former engaged
in trade is 80. 5 per cent and that of the latter 57. 1 per cent. (See table
on next page.)
Hence in accounting for the difference in occupational distribution,
the length of the period of exposure to Indonesia appears to be the crucial
factor. The degree of occupational diversification increases steadily as
we progress from the China-born who arrived since 1925, to the China-
born who arrived prior to 1925, to Indonesia-!-born alien Chinese, to
Indonesian citizens. Taking the group of alien Chinese only and corre-
lating four types of occupation with the period of first arrival in Indonesia
in the prewar period, we note that the longer the immigrant has been in
Indonesia, the less likely he is to be in business for himself and the more
likely he is to be employed. Furthermore, the longer he has been in Indo-
nesia, the less likely he is to be employed as a laborer and the more likely
he is to be employed as a shop assistant or staff member of a large enter-
prise. These distributions are suggestive as to the normal career pattern
of Chinese immigrants,
Percentage Distribution of Gainfully Employed Alien Chinese
According to Period of JFirst Arrival in Indonesia**
Period of first	Retail shop	Unskilled	Staff large	Shop
arrival	and business	labor	enterprise	employees
Born in Indonesia	21.4	43. 8	51. 9	64.0
Prior to 1925	26.2	12. 5	11. 1	12.0
1925-1941	52.4	43, 8	37. 0	24. 0
Total	ιΟο, ό	Ί'όόοό	ΓοΟ	ιΟο. ΰ
Number of cases*	(618)	(32)	(27)	(25)
*Cases for whom country of birth and/or period of arrival is known.
**Derived from the registration files at the Municipal Hall of Sukabumi.
(1) Cf. Donald E. Willmott, The Chinese of Serna rang; A Changing
Minority Community in Indonesia (Ithaca, N. Ϋ,, i960), p, 38,31
Occupational Differentiation of the Three Subgroups among the
Ethnic Chinees in Sukaburni (Percentages)
All Ethnic Occupation of family heads cm«#»«#»		All Asing	Asing F oreign born	Indonesia born	WNI
1,	Owners large factories 2.	Owners saw mills, trans.	1.4	0.3	0.3	0.4	2.7
companies, contractors	1.5	0. 8	0.5	1.7	2.3
3.	Owners goldshops 4,	Shop owners (unspec.),	0.6	0,9	1.2	0. 0	0.3
businessmen	60. 6	74.5	80. 5	57. 1	44. 6
5. Owners restaurants	0. 3	0.6	0.5	0.9	0. 0
6, Tooth artisans, trad. doct.	0.5	0.9	0.9	0.9	o,i
7, Owners photo shops	0.5	0.9	0.9	0.9	0. 0
8,	Owners repair shops 9.	Professionals, semi-prof.	1.0	0. 8	0.9	0.4	1.2
govt, officials	2.6	2. 6	1.8	4. 8	2. 6
10. Staff large enterprises	8.9	3.3	2. 2	6. 1	15.4
11.Students	1.3	1.1	0. 0	4, 3	1.6
12. Shop employees	3. 8	3.4	2. 1	6.9	4.4
13. Drivers	4.1	1.2	0, 3	3,9	7.4
14. Artisans, service workers	2, 1	2.1	2.6	0.9	2. 1
15. Laborers	6.3	2.9	2.2	4.8	9.8
16. Unskilled labor for hire	3. 8	3.9	3.2	6.1	3,6
17. Policemen and army rankers 0. 7		0.0	0. 0	0.0	1.4
Total	100.0	100. 0	100. 0	100. 0	100. 0
Number of cases	(1, 669)		(897)	(666)	(231)	(772)
Λ sing figures derived from the registration files at the Municipal Hall of
Sukaburni, WNI figures derived from the registration lists for the DPRD
elections available at each of the Kelurahan offices.
The following percentage differences are clearly significant at the
level indicated:
Category 1
WNI vs. All A sing (.05)
WNI vs. A sing Foreign born (.05)
WNI vs. All A sing (.01)
WNI vs. A sing Foreign born (.01)
WNI vs. All A sing (.01)
WNI vs. A sing Foreign born (.01)
WNI vs. A sing Indonesia born (.01)
A sing Foreign born vs, A sing Indonesia born (. 01)
10 : WNI vs. All Asing (. 01)
WNI vs. Asing Foreign born (.01)
WNI vs. Asing Indonesia born (. 01)
12	: Asing Foreign born vs. Asing Indonesia born (.01)
13	: WNI vs. All Asing (. 01)
WNI vs. A sing Foreign born (. 01)
15 : WNI vs. All Asing (, 01)
WNI vs, Asing Foreign born (, 01)32
The figures for the Indonesia-born A sing give an indication of some
diversity, primarily in the wage-earning section. The 42. 9 per cent not
engaged in trade and business include 6. 9 per cent shop employees, 6. 1
per cent staff of large enterprises, 6. 1 per cent unskilled labor for hire,
4. 8 per cent professionals and semi-professionals, 4, 8 per cent laborers,
4. 3 per cent students, and 3» 9 per cent drivers.
The WNI figures show a still greater movement away from over-
concentration in trade and business. The 55,4 per cent not so engaged
include: staff of large enterprises 15.4 per cent, laborers 9. 8 per cent,
drivers 7,4 per cent, shop employees 4.4 per cent, unskilled labor for
hire 3, 6 per cent, and owners large factories 2, 7 per cent.
If we look at each occupational category separately, we can note
the relative representation of the three groups of ethnic Chinese (see table
on next page). We find the China-born A sing dominating as independent
enterprisers: owners of goldshops (80. 0 per cent), photo shops (75. 0
per cent), restaurants (60, 0 per cent), shop owners and businessmen in
general (53. 0 per cent), and also as traditional Chinese doctors and
tooth artisans (66. 7 per cent). The Indonesia-born A sing occupy a posi-
tion in between the China-born A sing and the WNI; they do not dominate
in any of the occupations listed.
The WNI are dominant among owners of large factories (87. 5 per
cent), the operators of sawmills, transportation companies and contrac-
tors (72, 0 per cent), but especially in the wage-earning section: staff of
large enterprises (80.4 per cent), drivers (83. 8 per cent), shop employees
(53. 1 per cent), laborers (75, 2 per cent), and policemen and army rankers
(100 per cent). This last category of occupation is, of course, only open
to citizens.
As far as professionals, semi-professionals and government
officials are concerned, we find western-trained medical doctors, den-
tists, Protestant ministers, and government officials only among the
WNI (one of each).
Thus the data indicate positively the greater variety in occupa-
tional distribution among the WNI. When we compare these figures with
comparable figures of the 1930 Census (see table on page 34), we find
little difference in the occupational composition, which indicates that
there has been a stable situation over time. The fact that by 1956 no
Indone sia-born Chinese were engaged in the production of raw materials
is doubtless explained by security considerations: Chinese have moved
away from the villages and the outskirts of the town, the areas where
it would have been possible to engage in this type of occupation as de-
fined by the 1930 Census.
It is in the comparison among those born abroad that we observe
striking differences. The proportion of those engaged in industry is
drastically reduced, while that of trade is increased by one-third. The
category of those with occupations described as "insufficiently described"
is also cut down to one-third, These differences indicate the restricted
opportunity since independence for foreign-born Chinese in occupations
other than trade. In particular, they reflect the government’s efforts to
reserve industrial activity for Indonesian citizens.
Occupation of the Occupied Family Heads of the Ethnic Chinese in the Town of
Sukabumi According to Citizenship and Birth-place*
(Percentages run horizontally)
			A sing				WNI		AH Ethnic	
Occupation of Family Heads	All A sing		For, -	•born	Indo.	-born			Chinese	
	No.		No.	%	No.	%	No.	%		
1,	Owners large factories 2.	Owners sawmills, trans-	3	12.5	2	8.3	1	4.2	21	87.5	24	100
port comp. , contractors	7	28.0	3	12.0	4	16. 0	18	72. 0	25	100
3.	Owners goldshops 4.	Shop owners (unspec. ),	8	80,0	8	80.0	0	0. 0	2	20.0	10	100
businessmen	668	66. 0	536	53,0	132	13. 0	345	34.0	1013	100
5, Owners restaurants	5	mo.	3	60. 0	2	40. 0	0	0.0	5	100
6. Tooth-artisans, trad. doc.	8	88.9	6	66. 7	2	22. 2	1	11.1	9	100
7, Owners photo shops	8	100.	6	75.0	2	25.0	0	0.0	8	100
8.	Owners repair shops 9,	Prof. , semi-prof., govt.	7	43. 8	6	37. 5	1	6. 3	9	56.3 46.5	16	100
officials	23	54.8	12	27.9	11	25.6	20		43	100
10. Staff large enterprises	29	19.6	15	10.1	14	9.5	119	80.4	148	100
11, Students**	10	45.5	0	0. 0	10	45.5	12	54.5	22	100
12. Shop employees	30	46.9	14	21.9	16	25.0	34	53.1	64	100
13. Drivers	11	16. 1	2	2.9	9	13.2	57	83.8	68	100
14, Artisans, service workers 19		54.3	17	48. 6	2	5.7	16	45.7	35	100
15, Laborers	26	24. 8	15	14. 3	11	10.5	79	75.2	105	100
16. Unskilled labor for hire	35	55.5	21	33.3	14	22. 2	28	44.4	63	100
17, Policemen & army rankers 0		0.0	0	0. 0	0	0. 0	11	100.	11	100
Number of cases	897	53.7	666	74. 2	231	25. 8	772	46. 3	1669	100
♦A sing figures derived from the registration files at the Municipal Hall of the town of Sukabumi. WNI
figures derived from the registration lists for the DPRD elections in August 1957, available at each of
the Kelurahan offices.
**Most of these students were counted as family heads, as they were single individuals living in a
dormitory.	w34
Percentages of Occupational Differentiation among the Ethnic
Chinese in the Town of Sukabumi in 1930
and 1956 by Place of Birth
Occupation®	Born in Indonesia		Born outside Indonesia	
	1930* (682)	1956** (981)	1930 (594)	1956 (666)
Prod, of raw materials	2.2	0. 0***	. 0. 2	0.0
Industry	19.4	18,0	23,4	3. 0***
T ransportation	6.6	6.7	1.5	0. 3
Trade	54.0	57. 2	57. 0	89.5***
Professionals	1.9	3. 5***	2.5	1.8
Public Services	1.0	1. 2	0.0	0. 0
Insufficiently described	14.9	13.4	15.4	5. 4***
* The category of those "living on their income" are excluded from the
1930 figures.
** The categories of "students," "female family head without occupation"
and "occupation unknown" are excluded from the 1956 figures.
*** The differences between these percentages within each subgroup are
significant at , 01 level.
@ For an outline of what is included in each of these occupational cate-
gories see Appendix 2·
©@ For the 1930 figures, the great majorityin this category consists of
"koeli roepa-roepa," which may be regarded as comparable with
the categories "laborers" and "unskilled laborers" in the 1956
figures. The 1930 Census explains "koeli roepa-roepa" as those
workers who are not permanently employed in any enterprise, but
who might be working in a sugar-estate today, for his neighbor
tomorrow, and in a factory the day after.35
Enterprises
The distribution of occupations has shown that the majority of the
ethnic Chinese, the A sing more so than the WNI, are engaged in retail
business. The office handling enterprise licenses in the Municipal Hall
listed no less than 636 retail shops for the town as a whole at the end of
1956--a number far larger than that of all other enterprises combined.
The retail shops are concentrated along Djalan Raja and several
of its larger side streets. During the time of the study it was not difficult
to distinguish the Totok-owned from the Peranakan-owned shops. The
former always had their sign in Chinese characters, usually accompanied
by a romanized transcription.
The Peranakan-owned shops do not use Chinese characters on
their signs, though the use of Chinese names is fairly common. In most
cases, however, it is usually the name (full name, personal name, or
surname only) of the owner or the founder of the shop. Thus, there are
shops called Toko Beng, T<?ko Tjeng (personal names of the founder);
Toko Lie (surname of the owner). Many of these shops have Indonesian
names, often names of places, as e, g., Toko Surabaja, Toko Bogor,
Toko Solo, also Toko Laris (laris is an Indonesian word meaning easily
sold, i. e., in great demand) or Toko Pengkolan (the corner shop,
pengkolan being a Sundanese word meaning corner). Some have western
names, usually personal names, as for instance, Toko Rita, Toko Clara.
As to the other types of enterprises, we found that in 1956 the
Sukabumi office of the Ministry of Industry listed 52 categories of enter-
prises (excluding retail shops), with a total of 385 enterprises. Accord-
ing to nationality (see tables below)	this list shows that almost
one-half (47. 5 per cent) of the enterprises are owned by Indonesians.
Business Enterprises Exclusive of Retail Shops Classified According
to the Ethnicity/Nationality of the Owners, Showing the
Number of Workers and Types of Equipment in
the Enterprises of Each Group*
Ethnicity and	Enterprises		Workers		Type of Equipment			
Nationality of					Meeh.		Non·	-Meeh,
Owners	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.
Indonesian	47.5	(183)	21. 8	(644)	15. 5	(ID	54. 8	(172)
WNI Chinese desc.	13. 5	( 52)	33.1	(980)	29.6	(21)	9. 9	( 31)
WNl Arab desc.	0.3	I 1)	1.5	( 45)	0. 0	( 0)	0.3	( 1)
TOI Indian desc.	0.3	( U	0o 5	( 14)	1.4	( 1)·	0, 0	( 0)
Dutch desc.	0.3	( 1)	0.5	( 15)	0. 0	( 0)	0.3	( 1)
Foreign Chinese	34.5	(133)	32. 6	(965)	45,0	(32)	32. 3	(101)
Other Foreigners**	3, 6	(14)	10. 0	(296)	8.5	( 6)	2,5	( 8)
Number of cases	100. 0	(385)	100. 0	(2959)	100, 0	(71)	100. 0	(314)
*Ministry of Industry, Sukabumi Office, September 1956.
**A11 Dutch owners.36
Type of Enterprise and Nationality**
Type of enterprise	Indonesian		WNI	For.		Chin.	Other For.		Total	
	‘ft)	No?	~J0—	No7	%	No.		No.		No.
I.	55. 3	(63)	14. 0	(15)*	29.8	(34)	1.8	( 2)	100	(114)
Π.	30. 0	( 6)	15.0	1 3L	55. 0	(ID	0. 0	( 0)	100	( 20)
III.	0.0	( 0)	70. 0	( 7)*	30.0	( 3)	0.0	( 0)	100	( 11)
IV.	72. 7	(16)	0.0	( 0)	27. 3	( 6)	0. 0	( 0)	100	( 22)
V.	50. 0	( 3)	33. 3	( 2)	16. 7	( 1)	0. 0	( 0)	100	( 6)
VI.	65. 5	(36)	14.5	( 8)	18. 2	(10)	1. 8	( 1)	100	( 55)
VII.	42. 3	(41)	4.1	( 4)	49.5	(48)	4. 1	( 4)	100	( 97)
VIII.	30. 0	(15)	24. 0	(12)* 36.0		(18)	9.8	( 5)	100	( 51)
IX.	50.0	( 1)	0. 0	( 0)	0. 0	( o)	50.0	( 1)	100	( 2)
X.	33. 3	( 2)	16. 7	( 1)	33. 3	( 2)	16. 7	( 1)	100	( 6)
Total	47.9	(183)	13. 6	(52)	34.8	(133)	3.7	(14)	100	(382)
*Excluded in Type I : One WNI of Indian desc.
Ill s One WNI of Arab desc.
VIII: One WNI of Dutch desc.
**Ministry of Industry Sukabumi Office, September 1956.
Classification of Enterprises
I.	Enterprises preparing food for direct consumption, including:
butchers, dairies, ice plants, bakeries, confectioneries, noodles,
krupuk (fish- and shrimp-chips), tahu (bean-curd), tempe (fungus-
fermented soya-bean cake), peanut oil,, soya-sauce, salted pea -
nuts, lemonade and syrup, ice cream.
II.	Enterprises processing food, including: rice mills, rice hullers,
remilling, tapioca, coffee packing, green tea, red tea,
III.	Textile and weaving factories, including: textile mills, knitting mills
IV.	Sawmills and tanneries.
V.	Printing plants and cardboard factories.
VI,	"Workshops making clothing and shoes, including: dressmaking,
making Indonesian caps, cobblers.
VII.	Enterprises making articles other than clothing or food, including:
musical instruments, furniture, soap, rubber goods, tiles, sheet
metal articles, measures and weights, precious metals and jewelry,
blacksmiths, toys, chops, seals and stamps, leatherware,
VIII.	Enterprises providing technical services, including: photography,
tire retreading, electric services, bicycle repair, clock repair,
car dealers, motor service.
IX.	Enterprises providing business transport services, including:
forwarding companies.
X.	Drug stores and traditional Indonesian and Chinese medicine
shops.37
Ranking of Type of Enterprise
and Nationality
Ranking	Indonesians	WNI	For. Chin.	Other For,
1	I, IV, V, VI	III	II, VII, VIII	--
2	II, VII, VIII	V	I, ΙΠ, IV, VI
3	~ -	I, Π, VI, VIII, VII	V
4	--	- -	i, vi, vii, vm
Next come the A sing Chinese with 34. 5 per cent, then the WNI-Chinese
with 13.5 per cent, ’’Other Foreigners," with 3. 6 per cent, and finally
the WNI of other than Chinese descent. For practical purposes this
last category of WNI of non-Chinese foreign descent will be excluded from
further examination of this subject.
Although Indonesian enterprises outnumber the others, by far the
majority of them must be considered as cottage industry. The average
number of workers is 3, 5» Most of the enterprises have between two
to five workers, a few between six to ten. The only Indonesian industrial
firms with more than ten workers have 18 and 38, respectively. As to
equipment, only 6, 1 per cent of the Indonesian-owned enterprises have
some form of mechanization. The preponderance of the cottage industry
type of enterprise is a clear indication of the lack of capital in this sub-
group, Consequently we will notice that Indonesians rank highest (see
tables on page 36 and above) in those enterprises that can be operated
on a small-scale basis with a minimum of capital, equipment and
workers: in enterprises preparing food for immediate consumption,
e, g„ bakeries, the production of tahu (bean-curd), and tempeh (fungus -
fermented soya-bean cakes), in dressmaking, making of Indonesian caps,
and in the production of articles made of sheet metal. They do not parti-
cipate at all in such large-scale enterprises as textile factories or
machine factories.
Next in number of enterprises are the Foreign-Chinese with
34. 5 per cent. The average number of workers among them is 7. 3. The
prevailing range is actually between one to five, but ftiere is a sizeable
proportion with from six to ten workers, while one of them employs 100,
another 83 workers, and five more have between 30 and 50 workers. The
proportion using mechanized equipment is 24. 1 per cent. This figure,
high by comparison with that for Indonesian-owned enterprises, is rather
misleading, however, because these enterprises are also for the greater
part small workshops, e. g,, for photography, mechanical repair and cof-
fee mills. The alien Chinese rank first in three types of enterprises:
processing food, making articles other than clothing or food and pro-
viding technical services. The food-processing enterprises are eight
coffee mills, small establishments where the coffee is ground and packed
in paper bags and tins. The enterprises making articles other than
clothing or food are eighteen furniture workshops and eight gold- and
silversmiths. Those providing technical services are eight photography
shops and six bicycle repair workshops.38
Among the WNI enterprises, ranking third in number with only
13. 5 per cent, the average number of workers is 18. 8, This average is
raised by one enterprise with 296 workers, one with 193, one with 133
and one with 100. Of the WNI enterprises, 40,4 per cent are mech-
anized, the most notable of these being textile-factories, tea-factories,
a rubber-factory, printing-plants, lemonade and syrup factories, and
confectioneries. In every instance, these WNI -owned mechanized plants
are among the largest enterprises in town. The WNI rank highest only
in one type of enterprise: textile factories, of which they operate seven
of the ten existing in Sukabumi.
The enterprises operated by "Other Foreigners" are few in num-
ber. All of the foreign owners in question are Dutch. Most of these
enterprises operate on a large scale basis. Six of the fourteen enter-
prises listed have twenty-five or more workers and the average number
(21.1) surpasses that of the WNI-owned enterprises. The proportion of
enterprises which are mechanized is highest of all (42. 9 per cent) for
enterprises owned by "Other Foreigners." This might be expected, con-
sidering the fact that they own the largest and best-equipped bakery and
confectionery and the only ice plant in town, the two largest machine
factories, the only electric supply company, the largest car dealer and
service station, and one of the largest dispensaries. Since the outburst
of anti-Dutch feeling in December 1957, however, these enterprises
have been put under the supervision of the military authorities.
The preponderance of large enterprises among the WNI is clearly
seen by examining the enterprises with 25 and more workers (including
management and administrative personnel). Of the 33 enterprises listed
as such, - thirteen were operated by WNI, six by Indonesians, eight by
Foreign-Chinese and six by "other Foreigners."
Type of	Ethnicity/Nationality of Ownership_________
Enterprise Indon, *	WNI A sing Oth. Aliens	Total
I
II
III
IV
V
VH
VIII
IX
Total
0
1
3
1
1
0
2
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
4
1
4
2
8
1
2
1
8
6
32
8
6
*Excluded one hotel.
Source: From the "Kantor Penempatan Tenaga," the Sukabumi office of
the Employment Bureau, a section of the Ministry of Labor,
files collected in 1956-1957.39
As to personnel, there seems to be a strong tendency for each
ethnic group to employ people of the same ethnic group in the manage-
ment and for administrative work. Thus, in Indonesian enterprises
there are practically no ethnic Chinese in the management, nor among
the clerical personnel, nor among the production workers. There
seems to be a mutual reluctance on both sides. The small size of most
of the Indonesian enterprises leaves little scope for the employment
of outsiders.
In WNI enterprises there are Indonesians among the adminis-
trative personnel, but all are clerks. We found only one case in one
of the large textile factories of an Indonesian employed in the manage-
ment. The production workers, however, are practically all Indonesians.
There are only a few Totoks employed in WNI enterprises and these are
also virtually all production workers. Thus the management and
greater majority of administrative personnel consist of WNI. We find
many WNI among the production workers, too, but in almost all cases
they are the supervisors or department heads.
In Foreign-Chinese enterprises the same situation exists,
though there are several with WNI clerical personnel. As for produc-
tion workers, here too they are usually Indonesians.
In regard to enterprises owned by ’Other Foreigners," the
management is usually entirely in Dutch hands, while in the clerical
section there is a mixture of Eurasians, Indonesians, and WNI, the
latter usually as bookkeepers. As in the case of the other sub-
groups, the production workers are all Indonesians.
This tendency for each ethnic group to use members of its
own ethnic group in the management and as administrative personnel
is clearly illustrated by the situation in three of the largest WNI-
owned textile factories, as shown in the table on the next page.tf»
ο
Composition of Labor Force in Three of the Largest WNI Owned
Textile Factories in the Town of Sukabumi
Enter-	Management	Clerical	Production																			T otal
prise*				WNI		for		Ind,			WNI	For,	•	IrTdT		WNI		For.	
	Ή		F			F	hi	r	M	£	hi	F	hi	F	M	F	Ki	F	M	F	
1	0	0	2		0	0	0	2	1	3	0	0	0	54	30	7	0	0 0	99
2	1	0	1		0	0	0	3	1	2	1	0	0	103	25	12	12	0 0	161
3	0	0	3		0	0	0	0	0	6	0	0	0	101	69	21	4	1 0	205
Total	1	0	6		0	0	0	5	2	11	1	0	0	258	124	40	16	1 0	465
*Enterprise 1 : C. V. Textiel Industri “Qey," Sukabumi.
Enterprise 2 : "T jiongboenhok11 P. T. Bagian Pabrik Tenun "Suka-Warna," Sukabumi.
Enterprise 3 : Perusahaan Tenun N. V. Handel Mij. Sin Lie Hin, Sukabumi.41
CHAPTER III
PERANAKAN SUBSISTENCE PATTERNS
In this chapter we will be concerned with that particular aspect of
acculturation which focuses on the adoption of the tangible, material ob-
jects, such as food, housing, and clothing. For each set of objects we
will describe the Peranakan pattern and then examine some of its specific
traits to determine whether their origin is Indonesian or Chinese, i, e.,
Totok, This will help us decide whether the subsistence patterns of the
Peranakans are closer to those of the indigenous people or to those of
the Totok Chinese.
Food
Rice constitutes the staple food of both Indonesians and Totok Chi-
nese, so the case could hardly be different with Peranakans. In cooking
rice Peranakans use the same equipment as the Indonesians: a large
boiler made of copper or zinc and a cone-shaped container made of
woven bamboo. This equipment works as a double boiler; therefore, when
done the rice is fairly dry. In this respect Peranakans are closer to
Indonesians than to Totoks, as the latter prefer soft-cooked rice, which
they usually cook in a regular pot. Rice forms the main ingredient for
the noon and evening meal in all three groups. There is not such a defi-
nite pattern for the morning meal, however. In the first place there are
quite a number of people, especially among the lower class in all three
groups who only take a snack, often bought from one of the numerous snack
vendors who go around in the morning hours. Also, among the western
educated of both Peranakans and Indonesians there is a trend toward
eating bread for breakfast. This trend doubtless arises from the habit
picked up in their schooldays, when, following the custom of the Dutch
children, they learned to eat a sandwich during recess. In general,
however, bread is considered a snack, something one eats like cookies,
Of those who do take a substantial meal in the morning, among the
Peranakans and Indonesians the main ingredient is also rice, while
among the Totoks it is often rice gruel.
As to the dishes that go with the rice, Indonesian, or rather West
Javanese, food is clearly basic to the Peranakan menu in Sukabumi. We
have to emphasize this regional distinction, because there are differences
in the flavor of the food depending on the region. For instance, people of
West Java claim that food from Central and East Java has a predominantly
sweet taste and, conversely, people from the latter area claim that food
from the former area has a predominantly sour taste. This refers to the
food prepared by Indonesians as well as Peranakans.
The preference for Indonesian food is especially evident among
the lower-class Peranakans. As a matter of fact, there is little differ-
ence between the menu of lower-class Peranakans and that of lower-class42
Indonesians. In both cases a regular meal consists of a large amount of rice
with some vegetables (the indigenous, inexpensive kind), either raw or
cooked, sambel (a kind of dip, made with mashed, hot red pepper), salted
fish and often tempe (fungus-fermented soya-bean cake) and ontjoro (fungus-
fermented peanut cake). Occasionally fresh fish or buffalo meat is added.
We will list here some of the dishes of clearly Indonesian origin
which have become completely incorporated in the Peranakan menu. The
fact that they appear daily in Peranakan homes gives an indication of their
food preferences and provides a measure for their acculturation in regard
to food.
Of the vegetable dishes, one of the most favored is a vegetable soup
called sajur asem, (Sajur is Indonesian for vegetable and is used to refer
to most vegetable dishes; asem is Indonesian for sour. The name of this
soup is derived from the fact that it is made sour with young tamarind
fruit. ) Another popular vegetable dish is a kind of salad, consisting of
cooked, or a mixture of cooked and fresh, vegetables, garnished with
fried potato slices, fried tempe and tahu (bean curd), hard-boiled eggs
and shrimp or fish chips (called krupuk), .served with a sauce made of
peanuts, This kind of salad is called gado-gado, an Indonesian name
which is also used to designate something one eats without rice, a kind of
snack. There are numerous gado-^ado vendors in Sukabumi; they either
have a permanent stall on the curb in front of a shop, or they go around
carrying their stuff on a pole. One of them is quite well-known, even to
people outside the town. His stall is on the curb along the road leading to
Plabuanratu, the picnic spot to the south of Sukabumi. It has become al-
most a "must" among these picnickers to stop at his stall and buy several
packages of his gado-gado. The popularity of this dish is indicated by the
fact that it appears at the table of even the elaborate parties of wealthy
Peranakans, Two kinds of vegetables which are greatly favored by
Peranakans are pete and, to a lesser extent, djengkol. Both are varieties
of bean which grow on trees. They are eaten raw, cooked, fried or
roasted on a charcoal fire. A special characteristic is that they leave a
strong and even repulsive smell in one’s mouth. That it is considered re-
pulsive is indicated by the fact that most people take pains to neutralize
it by chewing betel leaves or the leaves of a certain fruit tree or by
smoking a cigarette. During the Dutch period, in Djakarta at least, the
consumption of these beans was associated with servants and other lower-
class Indonesians. Therefore, Peranakans who considered themselves
well educated never ate these beans or, if they did, never admitted it.
Today these feelings still exist in Djakarta. In Sukabumi, however,
there is none of this inhibition. On the contrary, the pete is a great
favorite also among the western-educated young people^ Dishes pre-
pared with these beans are a common feature at parties.
Of the Indonesian meat dishes, one of the most popular among the
Peranakans is sate, a kind of shishkebab, which can be made of any kind
of meat; chicken, goat, pork, or beef, though the latter is much less
used than any of the three other. Sate made of goat meat is considered
a treat by Indonesians and Peranakans alike and frequently appears at
parties, especially at the ones held after the usual offering performed
when a new building or a new house is finished,43
Chicken is one of the most expensive kinds of meat. To have a
chicken dish is therefore considered a treat* even among wealthy
Peranakans, The favorite way of preparing it is to fry or roast it on a
charcoal fire* Roast chicken is cut open at the breast and spread out
flat. Chicken prepared in this way is one of the indispensable dishes
at a traditional Sundanese wedding banquet.
The kind of meat one most frequently observes among Peranakans
is beef. It is almost always prepared in the Indonesian way with Indo-
nesian spices. Among the young women, however, especially the
western educated, it is fashionable to experiment with western recipes
for beef.
The frequency and the amount of pork in the menu of the
Peranakans in Sukabumi is much less than one would expect, consid-
ering the stereotype among Indonesians and other non-Chinese
associating Chinese food with pork. It may be used mixed with noodles
or vegetables, but seldom does a dish consist of pork only. According
to the head of the kongsi of porksellers, which monopolizes the sale of
pork, only two or three pigs are killed daily (for an ethnic Chinese popu-
lation of 10,000). Around Chinese New Year it increases to about
twelve a day and around the Lantern Festival to about eight a day. As
far as the price is concerned, next to chicken, pork is one of the most
expensive kinds of meat. This, of course, may very well be the
limiting factor to the frequency and amount of pork consumed. It would
appear, however, that Peranakans actually are not so fond of pork,
because even those who can afford to eat pork daily do not do so. Accord-
ing to a wealthy Peranakan woman, this is one of the reasons why the
special meat offering, still generally presented by Totoks, has almost
disappeared from the Peranakan offering table. Could it be that this is
also influenced by the Sundanese attitude towards pork? Pork is for-
bidden food for Moslems; consequently for the Sundanese, who are con-
sidered the strictest Moslems in Java, it is something one should not eat
or even touch. If one wishes to eat pork, one has to prepare it oneself
and even clean the equipment used, because the servant refuses to come
in contact with it. It seems not unlikely that perhaps unconsciously this
may have discouraged people from using pork,
Buffalo meat is hardly ever eaten by Peranakans, It is con-
sidered very inferior in quality and, according to some, it even has a
bad smell. It is the cheapest kind of meat and is usually eaten only by
lower-class Indonesians.
A significant characteristic of the Indonesian food prepared by
Peranakans is that the method of preparation and the spices are exactly
the same as those employed by the Indonesians, This is, of course, also
due to the fact that all the ingredients and the necessary equipment are
easily available, A Peranakan kitchen, for instance, looks in virtually
all aspects the same as an Indonesian kitchen: one finds the same equip-
ment and the same spices. Practically all households use charcoal ovens
made of earthenware, called an^lo, from the Hokkien hang-lo, which is
used by Peranakans and Indonesians alike to designate this kind of oven.
Only the wealthy can afford a modern oven with burners, which wortewith
kerosene. Sukabumi does not have a gas supply.44
In the more wealthy Peranakan homes we usually find Chinese and
western food added to the daily menu, However, the sub stance and flavor
of these dishes are often modified from the original to such a degree that
it would be more proper to refer to them as Peranakan dishes. Thus, for
instance, the Chinese food prepared by Peranakans does not taste the same
as that prepared by Totoks. In talking about Chinese food in Indonesia,
however, we have to keep in mind that the Hokkiens, the speech group
from which most Peranakans have originated, have never been known for
their good cuisine. Thus, Peranakans have no tradition of excellent
cooking to draw from as would have been the case had their ancestors
been Cantonese, for instance. (We might note that most of the Chinese
restaurants in Indonesia are operated by Cantonese or other non-Hokkiens.)
Moreover, the special Chinese spices and ingredients are very expensive,
because they are imported goods. It would appear, however, that
Peranakan taste differs from that of Totoks--from Hokkiens and Hakkas
in any case. Quite a number of Peranakans have told the writer, for
instance, that they cannot appreciate the food given at Totok banquets,
because it is too rich due to the great amount of pork and pork fat used.
As we mentioned earlier, Peranakans use pork and pork fat only in much
smaller quantities and mainly to give the food a special '‘Chinese" flavor.
One of the most popular Chinese ingredients is noodles. They are
either fried or made into a soup. Noodles are called mie, from the Hok-
kien mi, by all ethnic groups. As with most of the food of Chinese origin
a Peranakan noodle dish looks and tastes different from a Totok one. The
popularity of noodles is also indicated by the fact that the two Chinese
restaurants specializing in noodle soup always have quite a number of
Peranakan customers, (Asa matter of fact they are patronized by Indo-
nesians too, but inasmuch as Sundanese, being Moslems or nominally so,
are not supposed to eat in a Chinese restaurant, which reflects the
association of Chinese food with pork, they are likely to sit in a back
room, ) Other ingredients of Chinese origin which have become part of
the Peranakan diet are bean sprouts, called taoge, bean curd, called
taohu or tahu, bean sauce, called taotjio, soya sauce called ketjap,
dried shrimp, called he bi. These are inexpensive ingredients, locally
grown or locally made. Besides these there are the more fancy imported
foods. It is to be noted that all of these Chinese ingredients are known by
terms derived from the Hokkien, another indication of the Hokkien ori-
gins of the Peranakan population.
An interesting example of the influence of the Chinese diet on the
Indonesian diet is the incorporation of noodles, bean sprouts, and bean
curd in the daily Indonesian menu. The popularity of noodles is indicated
by the considerable number of Indonesian food vendors selling noodle
soup. There is a difference from both the Peranakan or the Totok type,
however, in that they use no pork and only occasionally chicken. Beef
is used instead, and coconut oil replaces pork fat. At banquets of the
more wealthy Indonesians a noodle dish is almost always included, pre-
pared with chicken and shrimp. Bean sprouts and bean curd are inex-
pensive, and even the poorest Indonesians can afford to buy them. The
bean sprouts are consumed in great quantities, either raw or cooked,
while the bean curd is usually fried, A good measure of how completely
bean curd has been assimilated in the Indonesian diet is the fact that of45
the 16 producers (all small cottage industry with at the most four workers
each) registered at the office of the Ministry of Industry in Sukabumi, all
'but one, a Peranakan, are ethnic Indonesians. Another indication is the
great number of food vendors selling cooked bean sprouts with fried
sliced bean curd and a sauce made of ontjom, the fungus-fermented
peanut cake.
To sum up, food among the Peranakans is basically Indonesian
in origin with important elements of Chinese origin, plus a few western
items. The significant thing is that these elements have in almost all
cases been modified from the original, although the origin is still
recognizable. It would appear that western items are most radically
modified, Totok Chinese items next, while items of Indonesian origin
have been modified the least. We might also say that Peranakans have
reintegrated the influences they have encountered so that something
new has been created, which might very well be called Peranakan food.
We have also noted that in the realm of food we find one of the few
clear instances of reverse acculturation, whereby traits of Chinese
origin have been incorporated into the Indonesian way of life.
Housing
In this section we will describe the types of houses that exist in
Sukabumi and examine the relationship between house type and the
ethnicity of the residents. In selecting their houses, do Peranakans
follow Totok or indigenous preferences?
The houses in Sukabumi can be distinguished into four categories:
rumah toko (shop houses), rumah petak (petak houses), rumah kampong
(kampong houses), rumah gedong (separate residences of the more well-
to-do situated along the main streets in the specific residential area
especially in the northern part of the town).
Rumah toko (shop house)-- As the name implies this type of
dwelling is a combination of shop and living quarters. The shape is usu-
ally a deep rectangle with a narrow frontage on the street. The front
part constitutes the shop, consisting of one room only, while the living
quarters are to the rear, A number of those situated on Djalan Raja and
Djalan Plabuan II have a second floor where the bedrooms are situated.
The floor is covered with stone slabs or cement tiles. In virtually all
cases the lower part of the walls is built of brick, while the upper part
consists of plastered wooden planks. The ceiling and the beams are
also made of wood, while the roof has earthenware tiles, A character-
istic of these dwellings is the structure of the roof which, in many
cases, has the curved lines typical of Chinese architecture. Another
characteristic is that the entire front wall consists of vertical planks
on either side of a central door. The planks are put in place every
night and removed every morning. The wooden door which has an
upper and lower section that can be opened independently, is also re-
moved during the day. Thus, passersby have a view of the complete
interior of the shop. These houses are built so close to each other that
hardly any sunlight can enter. Therefore there is usually an open
space inside in the living quarters which is open to the sky. This is46
the place where the well is situated and where the laundry and dishwashing
are done. The part of Djalan Raja which constitutes the business section,
as well as the main side streets close to it, are lined with these houses.
Similar to those in Chinatowns all over the world, these shop houses are
the typical dwellings of the China-born Chinese shopkeepers. In Sukabumi
not all the occupants are Totoks, however; a number of the Peranakan
shopowners also live in them,
Rumah petak (petak house)--The term petak is an Indonesian word
meaning plot in the sense of plot of land or plot oi ground. A rumah petak
consists of a number of complete residences built under one roof. In this
sense the structure is comparable to an American apartment house. The
entire building as well as each component part of it is referred to as a
rumah petak. When speaking of the number of residences in such a house
type, however, they are referred to as so many pintu, ie., doors. As to
the construction we may distinguish three "classes1’ of rumah petak:
first, those made of the same material and constructed in much the same
way as the shophouses, but with no curved roof or second story; second,
those which have walls partly made of plastered planks and partly of
plastered woven bamboo, a floor covered with stone slabs, and a roof
construction made of bamboo with earthenware tiles; and third, those
which have walls entirely made of plastered or plain woven bamboo, a
dirt floor, and a roof also made of bamboo with earthenware tiles. Simi-
lar to the shophouses, these houses usually have a front door consisting
of two sections which can be opened independently, A favorite way of
looking out on the street is to open the upper half and lean on the lower
half. This type of house complex can be very large, consisting of up to
twenty residences, as, for instance, the one of which the Chinese temple
forms a part. As the front comes right up to the street, they have no
space for a yard.
The first type of rumah petak is found mostly in the side streets
of the business area and along Djalan Plabuan II and its side streets.
They are usually occupied by Peranakan skilled workers such as factory
supervisors, drivers, and other low-income wage-e arners, and by Totoks
who have no regular shop but sell their goods in stalls inside or outside
the market place. The second and third types are clustered in the back
alleys, especially in the area south of the railroad. The occupants repre-
sent the lowest class of Peranakans and Totoks: unskilled workers,
street hawkers, food vendors. This type of house seems to be highly
popular with the Peranakans as well as the Totoks (an entire complex of
these rumah petak have recently been built on a plot, of land right behind
several shops on Djalan Raja which is mostly occupied by Totok shop
owners). The name itself indicates an Indonesian origin, however, and
it is not unlikely that it originated in the proto-Malay "longhouse."
Rumah kampong (kampong house)- - Kampong refers to those
areas of town where the lower-class Indonesians live: in the back streets,
in the alleys, and in the outskirts of the town. The streets in this area
are very narrow and usually inaccessible to any motor vehicles or even
a betja (trishaw). There is only room for bicycles, but since children
usually make the street their playground, it is often wiser to walk the
bicycle than to ride it. By comparison with kampongs in such big cities47
as Djakarta, those in Sukabumi are clean and neat. The houses are built
of plastered woven bamboo or planks for the walls, wood or bamboo for
the beams, woven bamboo for the ceiling, and earthenware tiles for the
roof, while the floor is either tamped earth, or covered with stone slabs
or, in the case of houses which are off the ground, made of strong woven
bamboo. A characteristic of the kampong house in Sukabumi--in fact of
the Sundanese area in general--is the open space under the floor, the
kolong. The house rests on stone pillars, about two feet high, placed
at regular intervale. It is customary not to use chairs in these houses;
people sit on the bamboo floor. A floor which is shiny from the rubbing
of clothes on the bamboo is a source of pride to the occupant; it sug-
gests that many people came to visit him and hence indicates his popu-
larity. These houses are usually small, but separate, and surrounded
by a yard which is generally kept neat and planted with flowers. Many
of them also have a fishpond, The residents of these houses are vir-
tually all ethnic Indonesians: factory workers, petty officials, operators
of cottage industry and farmers.
Rumah gedong (separate residences of the more well-to-do,
situated along the main streets) - -Of this type of house we distinguish
three '‘classes’1: first, the residences built in prewar times by Dutch
people which have been abandoned since the war broke out and which
through lack of care have become dilapidated and shabby looking;
second, the big residences also built in prewar times, by Dutch as
well as Peranakan owners, which have been kept in good care (those
owned by Dutch people having come into either Indonesian or .Peranakan
hands); and third, the modern residences of wealthy Indonesians and
Peranakans built shortly before and after the war.
Residences of this type are concentrated along the main streets
in the northern part of the town, while clusters of them are also found
in a section of Djalan Plabuan II and along Djalan Tjipelang, the main
street coming from Djakarta, before it goes over into Djalan Raja.
Rumah gedong of the first type, built long before the war, were
constructed basically in the same way as the better-class shophouses:
the walls made of plastered bamboo or plastered wood, sometimes the
lower half made of brick, the floor covered with cement tiles, the roof
framework made of wood and the roof tiles made of earthenware. A char-
acteristic of these old residences is that they are closed on all sides
without terraces, and that they ka-ve shutters and doors made of wood.
Several old inhabitants informed the writer that the rather flimsy con-
struction of these houses is due to the fact that people were afraid to build
houses of brick after the big eruption of the Gunung Gedeh around 1900.
Some of these old houses are occupied by the small number of Eurasians
still in town, others have been turned into government offices, while still
others have become army barracks. In the second decade of this century
houses with walls entirely built of brick started to appear, A number of
these large sturdy-looking residences can be seen along Djalan Gunung
Parang and Djalan Tjikole (see Districts F and G on map, page 27 below).
They are mostly occupied by Peranakans. The growth of the town can
be traced from the style of the houses. North of Djalan Tjikole one finds
the houses of "modern" appearance, built shortly before the war: low48
structures with big doors of colored glass opening on wide patios» big
windows of plain or colored glass also, spacious rooms, bathroom facili-
ties including a flush toilet adjoining the bedrooms (in the old houses
bathing facilities were always situated in the rear near the kitchen and
the well or in a special structure in the back yard, while the toilet was a
hole in the ground with a cement rim on which to squat), a kitchen with a
kerosene oven instead of the open charcoal oven, a sink, and cabinets
against the wall. After the war the building of these "modern" houses
has been continued. A characteristic of all these houses, both the old
type as well as the "modern" type, are their setting amidst spacious
flower gardens, and many of them including several fruit trees.
Thus we find that in regard to housing the wealthy Peranakans re-
semble the wealthy Indonesians in their aspiration towards the "modern"
outlook. This seems to be true for some wealthy Totoks too, but the
majority of them appear to prefer houses constructed as a petak house,
though with each component part designed in "modern" styled The less
wealthy and lower-class Peranakans appear to resemble the Totoks in
their preference for the rumah petak style houses; the less wealthy in the
"first-class" petak houses and the lower class in the "second-" and
"third-class" petak houses. Practically no ethnic Chinese live in the
typical Sundanese kampong houses.
Clothing
In dealing with this topic we will first discuss the clothes of men
and then those of women.
Clothes of men--As we might expect, there is little difference
among the cothing of Indonesian, Totok, or Peranakan men, at least as
far as the townspeople are concerned. The daily wear of all men is slacks
and shirts, sometimes with long sleeves, but usually with short sleeves.
A strictly Indonesian item of clothing is the black cap, petji, worn by
many, though not all, Sundanese men. In addition, it is the custom among
Indonesian men to wear a kain. Kain is an Indonesian word used in a
specialized sense to refer to the length of material worn by men or women
as a wrap-around shirt. For men it is generally of striped or plaid woven
design and is usually sewn into a tube. It is especially worn by men for
the communal prayer in the mosque on Fridays and on the occasion of the
celebration of Lebaran, This kain is worn with a shirt, tails out, or
with shirt, tie and coat. At home the favorite clothes of Peranakan and
Totok men are pajamas, usually of striped design. Indonesian men
seem to favor the kain, although they often also wear pajamas.
Clothes of women--In discussing the clothes of women there is
first the broad distinction to be made between younger and older women;
or, perhaps better, between the not-yet married and those who have
already been married,
In all three communities the younger women wear western clothes;
a dress or a combination skirt and blouse. It is only on national holidays
such as Independence Day that Indonesian school girls wear the national
dress of kain and kabaja. (A description of this dress follows shortly.)49
Asked why they do not wear it every day» they invariably answer that it is
impractical. As for Totok girls» the writer has not observed any wearing
the Chinese dress with the slit on the sides» not even at the reception on
the Chinese National Day, the first of October. Asked why, they usually
answer that it is too conspicuous and often too fancy, (This attitude might
be attributed to the influence of the drive towards simplicity in women’s
clothes in Mainland China. The girls in Chinese schools in Sukabumi,
for instance, often wear uniformly grey slacks or skirt and white blouse.)
Peranakan girls almost always wear western dress. However, on
various occasions the writer observed a total of five Peranakan girls and
young women wearing the Chinese dress with the slits: at a Peranakan
wedding, a young girl belonging to one of the old wealthy families; at a
charity concert two young women also belonging to wealthy old families;
on Chinese New Year a young widow (of the fourteen families visited by
the writer, she was the only one in Chinese dress); in the wardrobe of
a young girl who had attended the Peking-oriented Chinese senior high
school (these were made of batik material). It would appear that although
they would like to wear it, Peranakan girls are hesitant to put on a
Chinese dress, partly because they claim it does not suit them and partly
because they think it too conspicuous. As to the Indonesian national
dress, the writer has never observed any Peranakan girl wearing it.
If they do wear a kain and kabaja, it is always the Peranakan style,
which will be discussed shortly, and it is put on only at home. It seems
that especially girls of school age are embarrassed to be seen in this
dress, presumably because it is considered old-fashioned and therefore
fit only for older women.
Thus, in the case of girls and young women, all three communi-
ties present a similar picture in regard to clothing. Differences among
the three communities appear much sharper, however, when we turn to
the matrons--older women who have already married.
Totok women basically wear either a western dress or Chinese
jacket and trousers. Dressed in the latter one can usually tell from the
material and the colors what speech group they belong to. Hakka women
practically always, even at weddings, dress in simple cotton trousers
and jacket of plain or printed design. Their hair is usually short and
straight, held in place with a pin at the sides. Hokkien women, ,od,the
other hand, often have a combination of black trousers, made of s'atin
for dressy occasions, and a plain or printed jacket of fine cotton or silk.
Their hair is always neatly combed in a bun low in the neck, often with
tiny gold pins stuck in it, A characteristic among the old Hokkien
women are the bound feet, clad in tiny shoes or embroidered slippers.
Indonesian women wear kain and kabaja, though they often also
wear western dress, at least the younger ones among them. The kain,
as worn by women, is a piece of batik cloth with a length of about
2-1/2 yards and a width of about 1-1/4 yards, reaching down to the
ankles. Batik refers to the particular process of dyeing cloth, which
is essentially a technique of covering with wax those areas which are
to be a certain color while the material is being dyed another color.
Then some or all of the wax covering the first area is removed, and the50
material dyed a different color, perhaps after certain other areas have
been protected with wax. This can go on for as many different colors as
desired. There are kains which are made entirely in this way, with the
wax "painted·1 by hand on the cloth. There are two other techniques for
acquiring the batik design, however: one is to stamp the design on the
cloth and the other is the regular print. Needless to say, the kains made
according to the first technique are very expensive, since they are real
pieces of art. Traditionally the kains of Sundanese and Javanese are of
simple design and predominantly brown in color. This type of kain is
usually referred to as batik Solo and batik Jogja, because Solo and Jogja
(in Central Java) are the center of their manufacture.
The kain is worn wrapped tightly around the hips and fastened
around the waist with a kind of cumberbund called angkin, which is made
of plain, rather stiff material, about six to seven yards long and about
six inches wide. It is wound around the body from low on the hip around
the waist up to the breasts. Often, especially for dressy occasions, a
colorful piece of cloth is fastened on top of it.
The kabaja is a kind of jacket worn like an overblouse over the
kain and reaching down to the hips. It is open in the front from top to
bottom and fastened in several ways; sometimes a V-shape opening is
left in the neck, sometimes a square-shaped opening by attaching a rec-
tangular piece of cloth to the front. The sleeves are long and narrow,
sometimes tight, sometimes wider at the wrist. It can be made of many
different kinds of material; depending on whether for use at home or for
special festive occasions, it ranges from cotton to silk and lace. For
accessories a veil or stole called selendang is draped over one shoulder
or around the neck. This selendang was originally meant to cover the
head as protection against the sun. It still has this function for the people
in the villages and in the kampongs, but for the higher-class women it
serves merely as a decoration piece. It is usually made of sheer
material: embroidered tulle or nylon or lace. To complete the outfit,
high-heeled slippers made of wood or leather are worn.
The dress of Peranakan women is basically similar to that of
Indonesian women: kain and kabaja. But there is a clear difference in
design and style. The kains of Peranakans are usually of plain back-
ground with large flower and/or bird design, and of bright colors--red,
pink, blue, purple, or green, for instance, one of these being clearly
dominant. Furthermore, the ends of the Peranakan kain are sown to-
gether so that it is like a skirt. It is not wrapped around the hips; one
steps into it and folds it over in the front. This type of kain is usually
referred to as a sarong. The cumberbund is the same as that of the
Indonesians and is called angkin by the Peranakans too, but it is worn
by them only around the waist, not from low on the hips up to the breasts.
For dressy occasions a broad belt, made of brocade or some other fancy
material is fastened on top. The Peranakan type of kain is usually re-
ferred to as kain Pekalongan, for Pekalongan (the capital of the Resi-
dency of Pekalongan in the northern part of Central Java) is the center
of their manufacture. Except for those who have become Peranakanized
through marriage with an ethnic Chinese, ethnic Indonesian women al-
most never wear this kind of kain. This indicates the existence of the
association of certain types of kain with certain ethnic groups. There51
is a trend among Peranakan women, however, to wear kains which resemble
the Indonesian kind in color and which in design show a combination of the
simple Indonesian pattern and the birds and flowers of the Peranakan
pattern.
In addition to colorful kains, Peranakane have a special one which
is just a blue design on the original white piece of cloth. This is always
combined with a plain white cotton kabaja without embroidery. It is the
dress worn during the mourning period after the heavy mourning clothes
of unbleached cotton are discarded (discussed in detail in section on
mourning in chapter on religion), when visiting bereft people and when
participating in the funeral procession.
Thus we come to the general conclusion that the subsistence
patterns of Peranakans are closer to those of Indonesians than to those
of Totoks. But we have to make certain qualifications in respect to
socio-economic status. In regard to food we find that whereas the menu
of the lower-class Peranakans hardly differs from that of the lower-
class Indonesians, the more wealthy Peranakans have incorporated
Chinese and western food in their daily menu, which, however, have
been reintegrated in such a way that it would be more proper to refer
to it as Peranakan food. In regard to housing, wealthy Peranakans
live in houses similar to those of the elite Indonesian administrators
and wealthy businessmen, whereas the less wealthy and the lower-
class Peranakans live in houses which are more similar to those
favored by the Totoks. As to clothing the difference is primarily
found among the older women; in this regard the difference is greater
between Peranakan and Totok women than between Peranakan and
Indonesian women.52
CHAPTER IV
FAMILY AND KINSHIP
The first part of this chapter deals with the socialization and en-
culturation of the Peranakan child, including prenatal and postnatal cere-
monies, infancy and childhood, kinsmen as the child differentiates them,
and ancestor veneration as the child meets it. This part will also extend
into young adulthood, covering relations with parents and relatives out-
side the family environment.
The second part will deal with marriage and associated ceremonies,
while the third part is concerned with kinship terminology, comparing
Peranakan kin terms with those of the Hokkiens and the Sundanese.
Socialization and Enculturation
Prenatal Care and Ceremonies
Newly married couples are a center of interest for relatives and
friends for some time after their marriage. When several months have
passed, women who know them will start wondering whether the young
wife is expecting yet. If she is, the news will be spread immediately among
her relatives and friends. By the time her condition becomes visible, the
female members of her environment will discuss it openly when they meet
her, inquiring as to how long she has been pregnant. Among those most
happy about the event are her mother and mother-in-law because this
means that soon they will have a grandchild, a possession in which women
especially take great pride. Both these women and other older female
relatives will start giving a great deal of advice pertaining to her food
and behavior. She has to observe a number of precautions that are essen-
tially aimed at preventing the coming baby from falling into harm through
her. Some of these are recognized by the Peranakan women themselves
to be of Sundanese origin. For instance, she is not allowed to eat pine-
apple and salak. Because of its biting acidity, pineapply is considered
harmful to the Bowels and therefore also to the womb. Some older women
among Sundanese and Peranakans alike even prohibit the young girls in
their family from eating of this fruit. Several Sundanese women told the
writer that it is possible to induce abortion by eating a great number of
pineapples as soon as one suspects pregnancy. Salak is also regarded as
potentially harmful to the bowels because it can cause constipation, and
a pregnant woman must avoid everything that resembles a difficult birth.
Generally, however, people around her are very indulgent in regard to
her wishes, as it is considered normal for a woman in the first few months
of her pregnancy to have cravings for particular things or certain kinds of
food, especially sour young fruit. The craving for the latter kind of
fruit is considered typical of pregnant women among Sundanese and Per-
anakans alike. Her relatives will take great pains to gratify her wishes53
as quickly as possible· When a child continues drooling longer than is con-
sidered usual* people will say this is an indication that the mother was not
given a certain kind of food she craved during her pregnancy.
She will also be advised to avoid looking at ugly people or animals;
she must not mock others nor get upset when others mock her. On the
other hand she is encouraged to look at handsome people or at their por-
traits. The belief behind these precautions is that whatever happens to
the mother may affect the child in her womb.
The first ceremony that may be observed on account of the coming
baby takes place when the woman is seven months pregnant. Then a
salametan is held. (1)
This obviously Sundanese custom is only one of a whole series of
ceremonies which are traditionally observed during the entire pregnancy
period. The one that takes place in the seventh month is the most im-
portant one and even has a special name; tingkeban. Moestapa (2) de-
scribes this ceremony as being more elaborate than those held every
month (during the pregnancy period). He mentions that this tingkeban,
originally a Javanese custom, is observed by many rich people and
members of the nobility* especially in the big towns. This ceremony
involves also rituals that are aimed at securing an easy birth and the
good health of mother and child. For this the woman has to submit to
several acts that symbolize an easy childbirth. The wife of the head of
one of the government offices* who has eight children* of which the
eldest is about sixteen years old* told the writer that today among the
Sundanese in town* the observance of these ceremonies is disappearing.
She herself* a Sundanese with practically no formal education who does
not speak Indonesian fluently* observed the tingkeban up till the fifth
child only because* according to her, when you have many children
there is somehow not much time to think of those ceremonies.
Among the Peranakans who observe this custom (usually those
who have an old mother of around sixty in the house)* the ceremony is
very simple, consisting of a food-offering only.
During pregnancy, grandmothers-to-be among the Peranakans
also like to speculate as to the sex of the coming grandchild. One of
the ways to find out* which seems to be of Hokkien origin* they believe
to be as follows: on the day of the feast of the winter solstice* which
(1)	Hadji Hasan Moestapa's book on the customs of the Sundanese* in the
Dutch translation by R. A. Kern, Over de Gewoonten en Gebruiken der
Soendanezen (s ’Gravenhage, 1946)* pp. 86* 215* uses salametan as a"
synonym for sidekah* both referring to the meal or banquet that' is always
part of a ceremony. He explains it as derived from the word salamet*
which is of Arab origin, meaning security or well-being; R. ivi. Koen-
tjaraningrat in A Preliminary Description of the Javanese Kinship
System (New Haven* 1957), p. 19* says: ^Behind the salametan seems to
be the idea of giving away sacred food which will give security (slamet)
to the host and family.”
(2)	Op. cit., p. 20.54
they call tang tjeh from the Hokkien, they will take one of the small balls
made of rice flour that is eaten especially on that day and put in on a fire
made of charcoal; if the ball becomes stretched out lengthwise then the
child will be a boy, and if it breaks open then it will be a girl. These
shapes are believed to indicate the genitals of the coming child.
Postnatal Care and Ceremonies
Childbirth today usually takes place in the public hospital run by
Catholic nuns, in the private clinic of an Indonesian doctor, or in the
private maternity home of a qualified Indonesian midwife, About twenty-
five to thirty years ago, however, childbirth took place at home with the
help of a paradji, (3) an old Indonesian woman who acts as midwife and
has a considerable knowledge of medicinal herbs. She looks after the
young mother and the baby until it is forty days old. She makes extracts
of herbs to restore the mother’s strength and increase her production of
milk. It is primarily from these women, also called dukun, (4) that
Peranakan women have acquired their knowledge of Indonesian .medicinal
herbs, called djamu, and their knowledge of Indonesian, or rather
Sundanese, customs and beliefs.
One of these beliefs is connected with the special treatment given
to the placenta, called bali or ari-ari in Sundanese. This is buried with
a special ceremony, because according to traditional Sundanese belief
it is the brother of the baby. (5) A Peranakan woman who was helped by
a paradji when she gave birth to a girl about thirty years ago told the
writer that the placenta was cleaned and then put in an earthenware jar
together with a needle, thread, and a piece of cloth and buried in a cor-
ner of the yard. A simple food-offering is put on top and incense burned.
When it is the placenta of a boy, other articles, like a pencil and a sheet
of paper are put in the jar. The entire procedure was taken care of by
the paradji, the mother provideig her only withfae money needed for the
requisites.
Another Peranakan woman who has two sons of about thirty-five
has the following story; the placenta of her sons were thrown into the
(3)	Moestapa, op. cit., pp, 43, 51, 214. The word paradji is explained
by. Moestapa as referring to a person who has a profound knowledge of
adji’s, prayers or formulae to ward off something evil. This person can
be a woman as well as a man. The female paradji performs the work of
a midwife, while her male counterpart is the person who performs the
circumcision,
(4)	A dukun is a person, either male or female, who is believed to have
the powers and the means to cure sickness of which the cause is difficult
to explain and also to help people who cherish desires which are difficult
to realize. They belong to the category of people to whom one goes with
one’s problems, because they are old and honorable: dukun, pandita (a
religious man, a wise man), ulama (a Moslem scholar), kuntjen (guard
of the cemetery), paradji (midwife" or a man who performs the circumci-
sion. See Moestapa, op. cit., pp. 141, 214.
(5)	Moestapa, op. cit., p. 36.55
river Tjimandiri, the only big river in the vicinity of Sukabumi. This was
done by a Sundanese man, a person used to doing this kind of work.
According to this informant, the Sundanese believe that children whose
placenta are thrown in a big river will later follow it, that is they will
make far and long trips across the sea. She explained that she had fol-
lowed this belief because her husband is a very home loving man and she
wanted her sons to be different. Of course, this could very well be an
explanation after the event occurred, because her sons indeed spent quite
a number of years abroad for study purposes and have only recently re-
turned from a long stay in Europe.
These Peranakan women confessed to be ignorant of the precise
cause for this special treatment of the placenta; they only say to have
heard that it is regarded by the Sundanese as a brother of the baby, A
statement commonly given to the writer is: "We just follow the customs
that are prevalent here, because we live in this country.”
As mentioned above, today almost all childbirths among Peranakans
take place either in the public hospital, the clinic, or the maternity home.
People prefer the public hospital because, besides being the largest and
best equipped, it is well known for the excellent care given by the nuns.
So, during visiting hours, Indonesians, Peranakans, and Totoks of all
social strata can be seen visiting sick relatives and friends. The private
clinic rates second in preference and the maternity home third. The
latter is mostly patronized by uneducated lower-class women, partly
due to the lower rates and partly also to the fact that they seem to feel
more at ease with a midwife than a western-trained doctor.
In regard to the placenta, Indonesian as well as Peranakan women
who have been treated in these places, told the writer that they do not
know what is done with it. They assume that it is simply thrown away,
and by the way they talk about it they do not seem to be concerned about it
at all. This is the case even in the maternity home, where it is most
likely that this custom would be observed. A Peranakan woman who had
almost all her babies born there, said that she does not know what hap-
pened to the placenta, but she assumes that it is buried, although
whether according to Sundanese custom or not she was not sure. She
does not seem to care much about it either.
After the baby is born, the mother normally stays in the hospital
for five days to a week. Her husband, her mother, and her mother-in-
law usually have been waiting during the delivery. If her mother does not
live in Sukabumi in almost all cases she will make it a point to be with her
daughter at this hour, especially if it is the first child. These three are
the persons who turn up at virtually all visiting hours. One of the things
they will not fail to bring along is a chicken soup called ajam mayou
(ajam is the Indonesian word for chicken and mayou is from the Hokkien
for sesame seed oil), a soup in which sesame seed oil and red or white
Chinese wine is mixed. This is the main diet of Totok and Peranakan
women for a month to forty days after giving birth because it is considered
excellent for recovering strength and increasing the quantity of mother’s
milk. None of the young women asked about it like this soup, but they
all agree that they should eat it.56
The arrival of a baby is always immediately known to all relatives
and friends because, besides the fact that they know when the baby is about
due, the news is spread around very rapidly. It is obvious that the coming
of a new baby is considered a happy and joyful event. Among the western-
educated Peranakans it has become a fashion to send flower baskets to the
hospital and to bring gifts when they come to visit the new mother. These
gifts mostly consist of things for the baby, such as blankets, baby sets,
toys, and so on. Many of the Peranakans also follow the western custom
of giving articles in blue color when a boy and in pink when a girl. As
can be expected, the visitors are mostly women. Although men are not
excluded from these visits, those who come are sure to be close relatives
or friends accompanying their wives.
In the public hospital as well as in the private clinic the baby is
kept separate from the mother and only brought to her for feeding. Vir-
tually all mothers who are able to do so breast feed their children. This
is considered the normal way of feeding a baby. Peranakan women speak
with great disapproval of "modern'‘ women who do not want to breast feed
their babies. They claim that this refusal is usually based on trivial con-
siderations as, for instance being forced to keep to a rigid schedule which
will make it difficult for a mother to leave her baby for a long time or
being afraid that her figure will suffer. The mothers who are really un-
able to feed their babies speak with obvious regret and quite apologetically
about it.
Generally the diet is as follows: in the first three months the baby
is fed exclusively on mother’s milk every three hours; then the number of
breast feedings is reduced and mashed banana and orange juice are added
to the diet. After about six months the number of breast feedings is re-
duced and mashed soft steamed rice mixed with vegetables and chicken
liver is added to the diet and, usually, powdered milk. Weaning starts
between the tenth to the twelfth month. Often, however, feeding is con-
tinued as long as the mother has milk. When in the hospital feeding is
strictly according to schedule. When home again, however, the mother
often relaxes the regimen and suckles the baby whenever it cries. These
mothers are of the opinion that when a baby cries it surely means that it
is hungry. They claim that when suckling a baby there is no way of knowing
how much it has drunk; therefore, when it cries, it is quite possible that
it has not had enough.
A baby is usually clad in diapers (among the poor these are often
pieces of cloth torn out of an old kain) and flannel or cotton jacket and
then wrapped loosely in a small blanket. Under the diaper the umbilical
bandage, called by the Indonesian name gurita by Peranakans, is used
during the first month or even longer. The purpose is to keep the baby
warm and to prevent it from catching cold in the stomach. This bandage
may be changed to a binder or oto (6) when the baby is a little older and
starts toddling around. It has the same purpose of keeping warm and
(6) A word which seems to be of Hokkien origin, according to Francken
and De Grijs, Chineesch-Hollandsch Woordenboek van het Emoy-dialekt
(Batavia, 1882).	~	f......57
preventing cold. Today, however, we find these binders only worn by the
babies of some poor Peranakan, as well as Sundanese, women living in
the kampong area. Those who have had a western education consider this
old fashioned and adopt the western method of dressing the baby in as few
clothes as possible, to the horror of the grandmothers who predict that
the baby will certainly get sick from being so lightly clad.
Babies generally have a separate bed in the parents* room or,
in a few cases, in a separate room next to it. Recently those mothers
who have had a western education decorate the baby bed: blue for a boy
and pink for a girl. Poor families who obviously cannot afford a
special bed for the baby have it sleep in the same bed with the parents.
When the baby is one month old, the first ceremony on its be-
half may take place. It is called sembahjang potjia (sembahjang is the
Indonesian word for offering or praying, thus offering to potjia) or
sembahjang randjang (randjang is the Indonesian word for bed, thus
offering to the bed. This refers to the fact that the table with offerings
is put in front of the bed. ) Judging from the name potjia this cere-
mony must be of Hokkien origin. According to a second generation
Lam-oa (Hokkien for the Mandarin Nan An, a district in southern
Fukien province) woman, married to a second generation Eng Tjhun
(Hokkien for the Mandarin Yung Ch'un, a district in central Fukien pro-
vince) man, the Eng Tjhuns call this an offering to po bu (po means bed
and bu means mother). The Chinese-Dutch dictionary of tne Emoy
dialect mentioned above has the term po tsia bu, meaning ’good genius
of children, nurse*. Indeed, according to Peranakan women, the
potjia is believed to be a kind of guardian angel of the child. They pic-
ture her as an old woman who looks after the child, keeping it from
hurting itself, getting sick, and so on. When a baby makes sounds or
smiles to itself, they will say it is playing with or smiling to its
potjia. (7) As to the position of the potjia, we may infer from the fact
that three incense sticks, three cups of tea, and kim tsoa (from the
Hokkien for gold joss paper) are used, that it is not regarded as an
ancestor because for these two incense sticks, two cups of tea, and
gin tsoa (from the Hokkien for silver joss paper) are used. Asa matter
o£ fact, the first type of items is used in praying to deities, so apparently
the potjia is considered in the same category with them.
For the sembahjang potjia a table with food offerings is put in
front of the bed where the baby sleeps. In Peranakan families the
offering usually consists of the following:
1. A small quantity of cooked rice kneaded in a cone shape
put on a saucer together with a cooked chicken egg.
(7) It is interesting to note that Moestapa, op. cit., p. 39, mentions
a similar figure playing a role in the life ofinfanfcs. This figure is
called nini maranak. In a rote of the translator this term is translated
as meaning "guardian (’goede genius*) of infants." The original
meaning of the term is a combination .of the terms for grandmother and
grandchild. Nini is the Sundanese term for grandmother, but also for
any old woman who could be one’s grandmother.58
2.	One kue mangkok (kue is the Indonesian word for cake and
mangkok for bowl). This is the Indonesian name for a Chi-
nese cake called hoat koe in Hokkien. It is made of rice
flour mixed with brown or white sugar only, or given a pink
color, and yeast. These cakes are steamed in small bowls
until they break open on top like a flower. Therefore the
name hoat koe and therefore also these cakes are used as a
symbol of prosperity. The Peranakans use the name hoat
koe for a similar kind of cake, but of a bigger size and used
only for the New Year offerng.
3.	One bunch of bananas,preferably of the kind called pisang
radja (pisang is banana and radja means king in Indonesian).
4.	One small bowl of kue onde. This is also the Indonesian
name for a Chinese cake especially eaten on the feast of the
winter solstice. It is made of rice flour mixed with water.
The dough is then divided into three parts: one part is given
a red color, another green color, while a third part remains
white. Usually, however, only red and white dough is used.
This dough is kneaded into tiny balls and after cooking in
boiling water, they are put into white sugar-syrup. In the
section on marriage, we will see that this cake is a very im-
portant item in the wedding ceremony, because it is con-
sidered a symbol of fertility.
5.	Te liao, from the Hokkien for sweets especially used for of-
ferings, consisting usually of three kinds of sweets made of
fruit or candy.
6.	Three cups of tea,
7.	Two small red candles.
From the information given by the second generation Nan An
woman mentioned above, we gather that the Totoks present a different
kind of food offering. The Eng Tjhuns, for instance, use the following
offerings:
1.	One whole cooked chicken, of which the legs, wings, and head
are fastened in such a way that it remains in a sitting position
with head upright resting backwards on its body. For this
offering the chicken is cooked with sesame seed oil and Chi-
nese wine,
2,	Glutinous rice mixed with small cubes of chicken meat, fried
onions, fried peanuts and oil. This is a special Hokkien dish,
called iet peng.
3» Kue mangkok or kue ku (ku is Hokkien for turtle). This is a
round cake made of rice.Sour mixed with water and given a
red or green color, pressed in a wooden mold in which the
shape of a turtle is carved. Since this animal is considered59
a symbol of longevity, the cake is also considered as such;
however, even without this design on top, it is still called
kue ku. It is stuffed with sweetened white beans.
4. Red painted chicken and duck's eggs.
Looking at the Peranakan offerings, we notice two items that seem
alien to the Hokkien custom: the cooked rice kneaded in cone shape, called
tjongtjot by the Peranakans, following the Sundanese name for it. Also the
fact that it is kneaded in a cone shape; rice served in this way is one of the
main items at a salametan. The other extraneous item is the banana;
apparently this fruit is used as a symbol of fertility.
Praying is done by the mother only. Here again there is a slight
difference between the Totoks and Peranakans in that the Peranakan
mother prays with incense sticks, while for the Totok mother this seems
to be optional. She may do without them and pray only with her hands
clasped together. The prayers they utter, however, have the same con-
tent, Both invoke from the potjia all the blessings a mother may wish for
her child. The offering over, usually when the incense sticks are burned
out, gold joss paper is burned. This burning of joss paper is sometimes
also done when the baby cries and the mother is unable to make it stop.
She then burns a few sheets of this paper behind the door where the
baby sleeps.
For this offering the baby is dressed in bright colored clothes,
for instance, red pants and red jacket or a combination of red and green
or red and blue; at any rate, they should be new clothes and in bright
colors. Among the Hokkiens it is customary to send red painted eggs
and kue ku (the cakes symbolizing long life) to relatives and neighbors.
When it is the first son, they may even give a banquet, inviting relatives
and friends. Peranakans do not have this custom of sending eggs and
cakes, neither do they give a banquet on this occasion. With them it is
usually a simple family affair.
Older Peranakan women informed the writer that the hair of the
baby used to be cut for the first time on this occasion, but apparently
today most mothers do not think this necessary and wait till the baby is
three or four months old. Some even wait till much later.
The offering to potjia may again be held on the first birthday of
the child. In a few families it is repeated every year until the child is
seven years old or even until marriage. The writer has come across
only one instance, however, where the grandmother insisted on her
grandchildren, including the oldest one, a girl of around twenty, making
this offering every year. This occurs on New Year’s Eve for all children
simultaneously on one offering table set up in front of the bed of one of
the smaller children.
The next ceremony that may take place occurs when the baby is
forty days old. The Sundanese origin of this ceremony which is called
salamet beberesih (literally, safe purification) is beyond doubt. (8)
(8) This is a custom which has its roots in the Moslem religion. Women60
The name indicates that after forty days the lying-in period of the woman
is considered over. She is then allowed to resume her duties as a wife
and housekeeper. Before that» however, she has to be cleaned completely
of the impurities that are considered to be connected with childbirth. This
purification is performed with water made fragrant with seven kinds of
flowers over which a prayer is uttered by the leader of the ceremony.
These flowers may consist of any kind available; among them are roses
and other sweet-scented flowers and also fine cut pandanus leaves. These
flowers, used especially for offerings, are called collectively kembang
rampe (literally, assortment of flowers). It is an essential requisite at
every salametan. The young mother washes her hands in this water and the
baby is bathed in it. Traditionally this is also the occasion when the hair
of the baby is cut for the first time. This has to be performed by seven
honorable men, versed in reciting the Koran. One after the other, each
of these men has to cut some of the hair of the baby while uttering a prayer.
Among the Peranakan families who observe this custom the writer
has found that it is usually a simple affair, consisting of the food offering
only. The procedure is then to ask two or three persons to perform the
praying. These are quite often the male servant and his friends or rela-
tives of the female servants or just several men from the kampong nearby.
Some families make a small party of it, asking more people for the food
offering and inviting relatives and friends to participate in the meal after
the offering.
The food for the offering as observed by the Peranakans usually
consists of the following:
1, Nasi tumpeng, cooked rice mixed with a meat dish (chicken,
beef, or buffalo meat) that is cooked with string beans, coco-
nut milk and spices, among which is turmeric. This meat
dish is called begana, so the rice mixed with it is called nasi
begana. The name nasi tumpeng refers to the shape in which
the rice is served, Rice is commonly cooked in a kukusan, a
basket made of split bamboo which has the shape of ah over-
turned cone. This basket is put in a special rice boiler which
has a narrow neck and a wide belly. In this way the rice is
steamed, the basket not coming in contact with the water.
When it is done, the meat dish that has been cooked separately
is put in the center of the rice. After waiting a while for the
meat and the sauce to soak the rice, it is turned over on a big
plate, with the kukusan kept on top and only taken off when the
praying begins, It is considered well cooked when, after the
kukusan is taken away, the rice does not collapse, but remains
in a cone shape. Instead of nasi tumpeng, nasi kuning (yellow
rice) can be used as the main offering. This is rice cooked
are considered "ritually impure," during menstruation and during the
forty days after a childbirth. In these periods she is prohibited to per-
form the salat, to go to the Ka'abah, to fast, to touch the Koran, to cite
verses from it and to enter a mosque. See Theodoor W. Juynboll,
Handleiding tot de Kennis van de Mohammedaansche Wet (Leiden, 1930),61
with turmeric, therefore the name yellow rice, served with
meat, fried peanuts, eggs, cucumber, fried onions, and the
young leaves of a strong-smelling plant called kemangi.
2.	Fried fish, large, edible goldfish or any other kind of fish.
3.	Cookies of the cheap kind made of sago, tapioca flour or
rice flour.
4.	Bananas, preferably pisang radja, but usually pisang
ambon, the kind most available in Sukabumi.
5.	Coffee and tea.
The salametan usually takes place in the dining room or the back
porch. A mat is spread on the floor and the offerings are arranged in
the center of it. The participants, men only, sit around it cross-legged.
The incense pot is placed in front of the man who is to lead the praying,
usually the oldest man in the group. Before beginning the praying, the
mother of the baby informs this person of the purpose of the salametan.
He then sprinkles the incense on the charcoal in the incense pot arid
starts the doa (prayer or invocation). The other men join in the praying
by saying at regular intervals amin, amin. The praying over, they
eat of the food placed on the center of the mat. Usually, however, the
nasi tumpeng is not touched, but for each person a small container made
of split bamboo filled with this rice that has been cooked separately is
made ready to be taken home. After the praying they only eat the cookies
anddirnkthe coffee and tea. The nasi tumpeng is then taken away to be
eaten by the family.
As an illustration we will give here the account of a forty-day
ceremony as told to the writer by a yonng Peranakan woman who observed
this ceremony for her third child, a boy. The older children are a boy of
about five and a girl of about four. Both she and her husband are in their
early thirties. They are second cousins, both coming from Bogor and be-
longing to one of the rich old families in that town. Both have had a Dutch
secondary school education. At the time of the study they had been living
in Sukabumi for about two years. The man is manager of several estates
around the town. They live in a large house with no other relatives around.
The baby was born in the public hospital. When she was home
again the woman used the services of a bibi orok. Bi bi is the Sundanese
term for father's or mother's younger sister, but also the usual term
for addressing older female servants,and orok is Sundanese for baby.
Thus we may regard this person as the equivalent of a nurse. Actually
she is more than that, for she also takes care of the mother, preparing
djamu1 (Indonesian medicine made of herbs) for her and giving her a special
massage treatment with the purpose of getting the womb back in its ori-
ginal position. She told the writer that this bibi orok, who comes from
Bogor, is much in demand and all her relatives use her services. She
therefore had given her a down payment to ensure her coming.
The offering for the baby took place in mid-afternoon. In the
morning the head of the baby had been shaven by an Indonesian barber she62
had requested to come. During the shaving the baby was held in the arms
of kibi orok. Some of the hair was wrapped in a piece of white cloth
and buried in the yard in the front of the house. She told the writer she
was informed that when the child is a girl, the hair is buried at the back
of the house.
For this occasion the couple had invited several friends, Peranakans
as well as Sundanese, to have lunch with them after the offering. None of
the baby’s grandparents, who live in Bogor (about an hour’s drive away),
were present because they were unable to come.
The food consisted of yellow rice, sate kambing (a kind of shish-
kebab made of goat meat), Indonesian vegetable dishes made with coconut
milk, seven kinds of cake, seven kinds of fruit, water with seven kinds of
flowers and incense. These were all laid out on the dining table. The
woman told the writer that she was unable to find a man to do the doa for
the baby, so the bibi orok performed this ceremony. When all the guests
were assembled around the dining table, the bibi orok, with the baby in her
arms, started the doa, while sprinking incense on the charcoal in the small
pot. After that the young woman herself uttered a doa. She had received
this prayer from her mother who used to do it. This doa, which she showed
to the writer, starts with the explanation of the purpose of this offering
and continues by invoking the blessings of a great number of prophets of the
Moslem religion, among others, Nabi Mohamad and Nabi Soleman,
radja Galoe, which obviously refers to the ruler of Galoeh of the Padjadjaran
period, malaikats (angels), female deities, among which are Nji Pohatji(9)
and karuhun-karuhun (ancestors). This prayer is a clear evidence of the. .
mixture of Moslem and pre-Moslem beliefs that is inherent in the salame-
tans in general. When asked, the young woman explained that the meaning
of this prayer is only to invoke the blessings and protection from evil of
the above persons. She confessed, however, that she does not know who
these persons really are. When the bibi orok was consulted about the
meaning of the prayer, she also said that the purpose is only to invoke
blessings, but she added that because on that day she stops caring for the
mother and child, the special blessings and protection of good spirits
have to be asked. This indicates that she attributes to herself certain
abilities to ward off evil spirits.
The significant factor in this account is the fact that both the
woman and her husband are western-educated young people living on their
own, with no older relatives around who would induce them to observe
this ceremony. It is important to note, however, that the woman appar-
ently was raised in an environment where it was still customary to observe
these ceremonies. Clear evidence of this is the fact that her mother seems
to know the appropriate prayers and apparently even performs the cere-
monies herself. The attitude of this young woman seems to deviate from
the attitude the writer has found prevailing among most young women,
especially those who have had a western education, who usually do not
care for these precautions and ceremonies. They state that they regard
them as superstitions; out of respect to their mothers, they agree to ob-
serve them but leave the arrangements to her.
(9) In Moeetapa, op. cit., p. 234, we find poehatji as referring to female
deities in general.63
The first birthday of a child may also be an occasion for celebra-
tion, In fact, for many western-educated women, this is the first time
something on behalf of the baby is done. They may give a small party in
western style, with a birthday cake decorated with one candle, and they
invite relatives and intimate friends with their children. After his first
birthday, no ceremonies mark the life of a Peranakan child until he gets
married.
The Growing Child and his Kin
The preference for sons as found in traditional China seems to
have disappeared. Of course, when a couple has two daughters, they
would like the next child to be a son, but the reverse is also true. A
couple with children of only one sex is often the subject of teasing by
friends, who will ask them when they will have a son or daughter, de-
pending on the sex of the children they already have. One of the jokes
is to advise the husband of a couple with daughters only to exchange
belts with the husband of a couple with sons only. The ideal combina-
tion is to have two sons and two daughters, and a couple whose second
child is of the opposite sex of the first child is considered extremely
fortunate.
Relations with parents- - The person most intimate with the child
is naturally its mother. Due to the difficulty of getting servants, it is
now very rare to have one specially to look after a child, a situation
which was fairly common in prewar times. In most families, even
among those who would be able to afford the high wages demanded by
servants at the present time, the care of a baby is entirely in the hands
of its mother. The mothers say this is no problem when the baby is
still very small and does nothing but sleep. Trouble begins when the
baby starts toddling around. Then there must always be someone to
prevent it from falling, pulling at tablecloths, putting things in its
mouth, and so on. Here the presence of other relatives in the house
becomes a great advantage. Usually it is the grandparents who func-
tion as babysitter when the mother is busy with the household chores. It
is also very common for girls of six or seven to look after their baby
brother or sister. Even girls of five can be seen carrying a baby around
in a sling. Not only girls, but boys also are expected to look after a
baby, expecially in poor families without daughters. If she has no one
at all to help her, the mother does her household chores carrying the
baby on her hip, supported by a kain, used as a sling. The practical
solution of a baby pen is increasingly resorted to. Introduced by the
Dutch it was first adopted by western-educated Peranakans, but now even
in poor families living in the kampong, one may see a baby pen.
Fathers, especially those who have acquired this status for the
first time, pay a great deal of attention to their baby. After coming
home from work they invariably take a look at the baby and when it is
awake they play with it, putting it on their knee, and so on. When it is
big and strong enough to be taken along on visits--not before the forty
days are over, however--it is usually the father who carries the child,
while the mother carries the bag with the baby’s extra clothes. Changing
diapers or even giving the milk bottle, however, is seldom done by the64
father, at least not when outsiders are around, because this is regarded
as a purely female task. In this attitude they seem to be supported by the
women themselves who consider it odd for a man to take care of a baby.
The usual term for addressing the mother is mammie or mie,
which is an indication of Dutch influence, or mama or ma which is re-
garded as the more traditional Chinese form. The term for father is
pappie or pie when the mother is called mammie, and papa or pa when
the mother is called mama.
Insofar as child training is concerned, there seem to be few
notions about toilet training. The mothers leave it to the child and
"nature,” as they put it, to learn cleanliness. No conscious efforts to
train the child seem to be made. This lenient attitude applies more to
urinating than to defecation. When a child begins talking, it is expected
to warn its mother or anyone near when it feels a need to defecate. Should
the child fail to do so, it might receive a scolding or even a slight
spanking. The writer has found, however, that mothers who have had a
western education do make attempts to train the child in this respect, for
instance, by putting it on the chamber pot after every meal and making it
urinate at regular times. These mothers usually have a special stool,
a small chair with a hole in the seat to put the pot in, for the baby. The
most common procedure, however, is to put the baby on an ordinary pot
or, in the kampong area, to take it to the well over the gutter.
Parents and especially mothers are also very indulgent about
food. A mother practically never refuses a child food, cakes, or sweets
that he asks for. The writer observed many examples of this. For in-
stance, while the writer was visiting a young widow, her small son of
about five came home from kindergarten. As he always has his lunch
after school, his mother asked him what he wanted to eat with the rice.
The boy said he would like to have fried chicken; the mother answered
that she had not bought chicken that day. Then he asked for fried chicken
egg, whereupon the mother said she had only duck eggs. The boy refused
this and insisted on having chicken egg. So the mother ordered the ser-
vant to buy one chicken egg in the grocery shop about one block away. In
another family, when the daughter of four refused to eat the food cooked for
that day, the mother asked what she would like to have and then she pre-
pared it for her. To buy prepared food from the numerous vendors in the
street is quite common. Often the food served for every meal is partly
cooked by the wife herself, partly bought from food vendors. It is also
common for children to ask for money to buy something from these vendors
The writer observed an example of this, for instance, when visiting a poor
Peranakan family in the kampong area. A vendor of cheap ice cream
passed the house. One of the children, a boy of about four, immediately
asked the mother for money to buy some. The mother at first objected,
saying that his younger brother was just having a slight diarrhea. This
indicates that the mother is aware of the danger of such food, yet when
he continued asking for it, she finally gave in.
Language in Peranakan homes in Sukabumi is a mixture of Malay
(so-called bazaar Malay) and low style Sundanese (basa kasar). (10) As
(10) The style here refers to the three levels of speech in Sundanese: basa
kasar (low style), basa panengah (middle style) and basa lemes (high style).
What style one uses is determined by the social status of the addressee as
related to the speaker.65
several informants have told the writer» unlike many Peranakans in
Tjiandjur who are able to speak high style Sundanese exactly as the high-
class Sundanese do» few Peranakans in Sukabumi are able to do so, This
situation in Tjiandjur can be attributed to the fact that the settlement of
Chinese there is of much older date. We have noted earlier that during
the time of Daendels (1808-1811) a number of Chinese were ordered to
settle in this area. Although older people almost always speak Sundanese»
it is the low style or at the most the middle style. Younger people» even
those who have attended Dutch schools» also seem to prefer to speak
Sundanese» although mixed with Malay. When they speak Malay» it is
always mixed with Sundanese exclamations and interjections. This is
the way Peranakans speak to friends and acquaintances; to strangers,
Indonesians, as well as other Peranakans, they try to speak Indonesian.
The extent to which Sundanese is the home language can be measured by
the fact that most baby talk is Sundanese. For example: nong or enong,
to sleep; emam or mamam, to eat; nenen, to drink, in the sense of to
suckle at the breast or from a bottle; ies, to urinate; e-e, to defecate.
These words are used by the Sundanese and they have come to the
Peranakans through Sundanese servants.
Another indication of the incorporation of Malay and Sundanese is
in the choice of nicknames and housenames. Housenames are different
from nicknames in that they are used exclusively by the members of the
family with whom one lives and those relatives who live outside but with
whom one has intimate contact, while a nickname is used also by friends
and outsiders.
Both types of names are in many instances very unflattering be-
cause they often refer to physical irregularity; often also they refer to an
event that occurred on the day of birth. Many persons retain their given
name mispronounced, however, as they themselves or an older sibling
mispronounced it in their childhood. To mention a few examples: there
are women in Sukabumi who are called Tanda (mark, because she has a
birthmark on her face), Tinta (ink, because she has a dark skin),
Bulan (moon, because of her round face), Empong (from ompong, tooth-
less, because as a child she lost all her front teeth), Onde (the name of
the cake eaten on the feast of the winter solstice, because she was born
on that day), Bebe (a mispronunciation of the Hokkien name Bwee); and
there are men and boys with the name Tompel (because of a big black
mark on his face), Idup (from hidup, Indonesian for to live, because be-
fore this person was born, his mother had a couple of miscarriages and
to make him stay alive she called him Idup), KLintji (Indonesian for
rabbit, because of his smallness), A-ie (a mispronunciation of the
Hokkien name Heng Ie), Bibit (Indonesian for seed, a name usually given
by Peranakans to the oldest son). All these persons have a Chinese
(Hokkien) name, but this turns up only on formal occasions. In school,
for instance, the teacher calls them by their Chinese name. In the
house, among relatives and friends, they are usually known by their
housename or nickname. Often the Chinese name is so seldom used
that people do not even know what the Chinese name of a person is.
Thus, the language a child hears and learns at home is Malay
and Sundanese, and this mixture is the language he speaks with his sib-
lings and playmates.66
When about five years old, a Peranakan child starts a new period
in his life. His parents send him to kindergarten. Here he comes in con-
tact with children his age who are not his siblings or cousins or neighbor-
hood friends, and here he learns Indonesian songs and games. In almost
all cases parents choose the school run by the Protestant or Catholic mis-
sion because these are regarded as the best schools with the best teachers.
In the Catholic kindergarten there is a mixture of Indonesian,
Peranakan, and Eurasian children. Most of these children belong to the
well-to-do families in town. There are both boys and girls.
The language used in school is Indonesian. The Eurasian children
who talk Dutch at home speak this language among themselves, but with
the Indonesian and Peranakan children (none of whom can speak Dutch)
they speak Indonesian.
Kindergarten is only two or three hours a day. The children are
usually brought and fetched by one of the parents, one of the grandparents,
or any other relative in the house who happens to be free at the moment.
At home they have their lunch, usually alone, because the older siblings
are still in school and the mother has lunch with the father after he comes
home from work or during the break for lunch. After the meal, the chil-
dren play by themselves or with other children in the neighborhood. They
seldom take a nap in the afternoon. At about four o’clock they will be
given a bath and then they play again until about five or six o’clock when
supper is served. Usually when twilight falls mothers call their children
into the house because it is believed that at this time of the day the evil
spirits start roaming about, After supper they play in the house, make
drawings they have learned in kindergarten, or look at picture books, and
at about seven or eight o’clock they go to bed.
This daily schedule does not change much when they enter elemen-
tary school. They may have lunch a little later because school is over at
a later hour and they usually go to bed a little later too, but generally their
contact is still limited to the relatives in the house and the children in the
nei ghborhood.
Relations with siblings--The traditional Chinese pattern of dis-
tinguishing between older and younger siblings is still apparent among the
Peranakans, To his older siblings a child is expected to show a certain
respect. This is plainly evidenced by the fact that he has to address them
by the proper older sibling term and never by their personal name only.
The term for older brother is engko, koko, or ko and for older sister atji,
tjitji or tjie. (11) Indeed the writer has found noTamily where younger
siblings call their older siblings by their personal name, not even among
those who have been to Dutch schools or whose parents have had a Dutch
education. This is because mothers teach their children very early how
to call each other. When a new baby is corring, the mother will tell her
small son or daughter that he or she will soon have an ade (Malay) or
(11) Both terms are derived from Hokkien usage, A detailed treatment
is given to kinship terminology in a subsequent section of this chapter.67
adi (Sundanese) (both pronunciations are used and this is the term for
younger siblings, regardless of sex). She and other female relatives
will, often speak of the coming baby* asking the child whether he wants
to have an ade* and they prompt him to say yes. If he does so* everyone
praises him. In this way the little child becomes used to the term.
When the baby arrives he is told that this is the ade and that he himself
is now koko (or tjitji) and the mother will also tell him that now he is a
big brother and therefore he must behave better and be a good example
for his little ade. Thus at a very early age children are taught how to
regard each o the r.
It would appear* however* that this traditional attitude of respect
towards older siblings has its overt expression mainly in the way of
addressing them. Especially when there is little difference in age* they
behave as equals* play together* do things together* fight each other,
and generally behave as good companions do. Only when there is a great
difference in age is this attitude of respect also seen in behavior* for
instance* towards eldest brother and eldest sister. Because very often
a great part of the care of younger children is left to the oldest daughter*
the younger siblings have learned to come for their needs more to the
eldest sister than to the mother. Therefore the eldest sister often ac-
quires a certain authority over her younger siblings* an authority that is
supported by the mother herself. As mentioned before* when a new baby
has arrived* a feeling of responsibility towards it is inculcated in the
older siblings. Girls are expected as a matter of course to help look
after their younger siblings. In poor families without daughters this is
also expected of boys.
Relations with other kin--Outside his family of orientation a
Peranakan child has "considerable contact with other kin. Of the one
thousand-odd units of people living at one address as registered for the
DPRD elections in 1957, 63 per cent can be identified as nuclear families
(distinguished into 54 per cent nuclear* i. e., father* mother and unmar-
ried children and 9 per cent broken nuclear, i, e.* either father or mother
and unmarried children); 16 per cent as nuclear families plus extra rela-
tives of the couple's own age group and/or parents* age group; 9 per cent
as broken nuclear plus other relatives; 7 per cent as composite families*
i. e., stem families (either patrilocal or matrilocal or an indication of
either of the two), broken stem with either a male or female as senior
relative* two or more siblings with or without a relative of parents*
generation; and 5 per cent as not yet married males and females with
or without other unmarried relatives. Of five units the composition
could not be determined.
The detailed picture the writer was able to construct from the
list is as follows:
Types of Unit Registered at One Address (12)
1, Not yet married male, with or without other not yet married
persons	38	(4%).
(12) The determination of the family type in each unit is based primarily
on the identification of the names (plus age) listed as living at one68
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
Not yet married female, with or without other not yet married
persons	11 (1%)
Broken nuclear, male heading, with or without children	15 (2%)
Broken nuclear, female heading, with or without children	72 (7%)
Broken nuclear, male heading, plus other relatives,
including one that could be a widowed mother	10 (1%)
Broken nuclear, female heading, plus other relatives,
including one that could be a widowed mother	27 (3%)
Broken nuclear, male heading, including other relatives
not of parents* generation	11 (1%)
Broken nuclear, female heading, including other relatives
not of parents* generation	40 (4%)
Full nuclear family (father, mother, and unmarried children) 536 (54%)
Full nuclear family plus other relatives not of parents’
generation	43 (4%)
Units with uncertain indications of composite family
structure
Nuclear family with married So, indicative of patrilocality	9 (1%)
Nuclear family plus married Da, indicative of matrilocality 12 (1%)
Nuclear family with one married relative, indicative of
married siblings living together	28 (3%)
Nuclear family with one male relative of parents* generation 7 (-1%)
Nuclear family plus one female relative of parents*
generation	59 (6%)
address. The name at the top of the unit is supposedly the one responsible
for the unit and indicated as the kepala keluarga (head of the family). F rom
the names listed under this individual it is usually possible to identify those
related to him (or her) as spouse, child, or sibling. Others are harder
to determine and are for convenience sake indicated as possibly a parent
or a relative not of parents’ generation. The marriage status as it
appears on the list is distinguished into three categories;
1.	belum kawin - not yet married
2.	sudah kawin - already married
3.	pernah kawin- formerly married
There is an ambiguity in the indication of the second category, sudah
kawin, in that this is applied to those individuals who are clearly married
at the time of the registration (one of the other names in the unit can be
identified as that of a spouse), and also to those cases in which it is im-
possible to identify a spouse among any of the other names listed in the
unit. It is possible that the spouse is not residing at the same address
or that he or she is an alien or perhaps that it is meant to be pernah
kawin. Whatever the situation is, these sudah kawin cases are in effect
incomplete nuclear families, and therefore they are classified in the
category of broken nuclear families. The third category, pernah kawin,
includes both those widowed and those divorced. Unfortunately, however,
these distinctions are not indicated in the list.69
Units positively constituting composite families:
16,
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22»
23.
24.
Broken stem (2 generations; senior is male)
Broken stem (2 generations; senior is female)
Patrilocal stem
Patrilocal stem plus a relative of parents* generation
Matrilocal stem
Married siblings living together (Brothers: 8;
Sisters: 2; Brothers and Sisters: 2)
Married siblings living together plus a relative of
parents* generation
Three married couples, consisting of parents and
married So and married Da
Two or more married couples of which the relationship
is completely unclear
6 (-1%)
20 ( 2%)
17 ( 2%)
4 (-1%)
6 (-1%)
12 ( 1%)
6 (-1%)
2 (-1%)
5 (-1%)
Total number of units
996 (100%)
Thus, in about 40 per cent of the units, a Peranakan child is daily
surrounded by relatives other than his parents and siblings. Even among
the units identified as nuclear families, often the grandparents or siblings
of parents live very near, on the same premises, next door, or just a
few houses away. In the following sections we will discuss the effect of
this environment on the Peranakan child.
Relations with grandparents--Grandparents seem to have a
special claim on their grandchildren. This is evidenced by the fact that
grandparents and more specially grandparents of the man's side are
almost always consulted about the name of the grandchild, that is, his
Chinese name, usually regarded as the formal name. To choose a genera-
tion name, called djie jan by Peranakans from the Hokkien, however, is
now practically obsolete, due to the fact that most Peranakans do not
know Chinese, Therefore, instead, a name is usually chosen because
it has a nice sound and nice meaning which can be easily asked from any
person who knows Chinese,
When both sets of grandparents live in Sukabumi, the child has
contact with all four of them and there seems to be no preference or dif-
ference in affection based on the fact that one set is from father’s side
and the other from mother's side. Both sets of grandparents are also
called by the same terms: engkong or kong for grandfather and ema* or
ma* (13) for grandmother. If they want to distinguish them it is often
(13) Eng- in engkong and e- in ema are prefixes that we do not find used
among the Hokkiens. The only prefix used by the latter is as e. g„
a-kong for grandfather, a-peh for uncle, a-ko for older brotRer or
cousin, Peranakans also use this prefix, but only for older sister as in
atji. Next to the two already mentioned they have in addition the prefixes
en- as in entjek (FaYBr) and entjim (FaYBrWi) and em- as in erope
(faOBr). In our attempt to trace the origin of these prefixes, we will
find that there are strong indications pointing to Sundanese usage, where
we find the prefix e- in emang (PaYBr), em- in embi (PaYSi and PaYBrWi)?0
done on the basis of residence» for instance, ema* tonggoh for the grand-
mother living north of the railroad and ema* lebak for the one living south
of it. (The railroad that runs straight from west to east divides the town
in a northern part called tonggoh, the equivalent of uptown, and a southern
part called lebak, the equivalent of downtown. Both terms are Sundanese. )
Any preference or difference in affection a child may show to certain
grandparents depends on the frequency of contact which is, of course,
directly related to proximity of residence. If he lives in the same house
with his paternal grandparents or near them, naturally he is more intimate
with themthan with his maternal grandparents, and the reverse. If he
lives apart from any of them, both sets of grandparents, especially the
grandmothers, will usually come and see him at almost equal frequency.
Grandparents generally are very indulgent towards their grand-
children. Consequently children are very fond of their grandparents, to
the extent that they sometimes seem to have more affection for them than
for their parents. Often, when a new baby arrives, the older child is
given almost entirely into the care of the grandmother.
Young mothers, however, especially those who have read or heard
about western methods of child care (Dr, Spock’s book on child care com-
monly adorns the bookshelf of western-educated families), do not agree
with this indulgent attitude of their parents. It is not infrequent, therefore,
that a child becomes the cause of disagreements between his mother and
grandmother. These conflicts are, of course, simply the result of the
conflict of '’old-fashioned" and "modern" ways of child care.
Asa young mother of two children of four and one who recently
moved to a separate house after living with her parents for about five
years said: "Of course it is nice to stay living with your parents after
marriage, because in some way they still look after you and you do not
have the full responsibility of a household. Also when you want to go out
there is always someone to look after the children. Yet I am glad we have
moved and live on our own now, because though my mother is not of the
’old-fashioned type, ’ but on the contrary always tries to follow modern
ways, still we often have disagreements on the care of the children.
Quite often it happens that when I scold my daughter she will seek consola-
tion with my mother and often also if I refuse her something she will run
to her. This situation is not good for the child, because in this way she
does not know whom she must listen to and obey." The writer found that
this is the attitude of the young people in general. Their ideal is to set
up a home of their own. They do not object to its being situated near
the parents’ house or even on the same premises, if only they have their
own household and are able to raise their children in the way they think
best,
Relations with parents’ and grandparents’ siblings--A child has
frequent contact also'with his parents* and grandparents’ siblings. He is
and eng- in engkang (term of address for OBr or older cousin). The existence
of the prefix~en-, though we do not find it in the Sundanese terminology,can
undoubtedly be explained as an analogy of the use of the other prefixes.71
.taught very early by his mother or grandmother how to call his kinsmen,
‘ They are usually very strict about it and see to it that a child does not
use the wrong terms. Many older women commented to the writer that
nowadays young people tend to be indifferent as to the proper way of
addressing their older relatives, and they speak with great disapproval
about the use of the Dutch term oom for uncle and tante for aunt. The
writer has found, however, that in Sukabumi very few young people make
this "mistake," though it is true that children under ten are often taught
by their mother to call their parents’ close friends by these Dutch uncle
and aunt terms. It seems that these terms are not felt as kinship terms.
This can be seen from the fact that the older women who object to the use
of them for relatives do not object to the use of them for non-relatives.
In Central and East Java these terms are the usual terms applied by
young people to non-relatives much older than the speaker.
All male relatives of father’s generation older than father, i. e„
father’s older brothers and cousins, are called by the same term, pe or
erope. If the father has older brothers, they are distinguished according
to relative age by adding numerals: tea for the oldest, dji for the
second, sha for the third and so on. These distinctions may also be ap-
plied to father’s cousins, but this is optional and depends on the degree
of intimacy. Another way of distinguishing among them is to add the
personal name after the kinship term. Their wives are all called by the
same term, em, and the same distinctions may be applied to them.
The term for father’s younger brothers and younger male cousins
is tjek or entjek, No distinction according to age is made, but when
necessary the personal name is added. Their wives are all called by
the same term, tjim or entjim.
The terms pe or erope and tjek or entjek are extended to male
non-relatives of an age older or younger than father respectively. The
term tjinn or entjim is extended to female non-relatives about the same
age or older than mother. It is interesting to note that the term em for
wife of father’s older brother is never applied to non-relatives,
Father’s sisters and female cousins are called koh or o-oh, dis-
regarding relative age. The older sisters, however, «ire-distinguished
according to age by the attributes toa, dji, sha, and so on. This may
also be applied to cousins. Their husbands are all called kothio.
The term for mother’s brothers and male cousins is ku or engku,
regardless of relative age. The older brothers, however, are distinguished
according to age by the same numerals as above. Their wives are all
called by the same term kiem or engkiem.
The term for mother’s sisters and female cousins is ie or ie-ie,
regardless of relative age. To mother’s older sisters the same dis-
tinctions is used as applied to mother’s older brothers. Their husbands
are all called iethio.
With the relatives in the grandparents’ generation, the kin term
used by the child follows his parents’ usage. The relatives whom the72
•parents call pe, tjek, koh, ku, and ie are called pekong, tjekong, kopo,
kukong, and xepo by the chiI37 Thus, what happens here is that a genera-
tion modifier is added: kong for males and po for females.
To all these relatives a child -should show the respect due parents
and grandparents. This is expressed in the way of greeting them and the
way of talking to them. Whenever a child meets an older relative he is
taught by his mother to pai (from the Hokkien), This is the traditional
Chinese way of greeting a person, by folding the hands and shaking them
up and down several times at breast level and asking the question:
“Entjek (or erape, or kopo, etc.) baik?" (“Younger uncle Iot older
uncle or greataunt, etc^y are you well?”), . Before they learn to talk,
small children are taught how to pai and the parents are delighted when
they are able to do so. When talking to older relatives, in fact to older
persons in general, a child should never argue but should listen respect-
fully and obediently. It is considered bad manners for children and young
people to argue with or contradict older people,
Relations with cousins--To all his cousins a child applies the same
term as to his own siblings. He calls his older male cousins engko
(older brother) and his older female cousins atji (older sister). His
younger male and female cousins he calls by their personal names, as
he does bis own younger siblings. Though there is no difference in the
terms of address, there is in the terms of reference. This distinction
is based on whether a cousin is related through males only, through
males and females, or through females only. To the first type the attri-
bute tjintong is added after the sibling term, and to the other two the
attribute piao is added. This distinction is very important because
cousins who are piao (his FaSiDa, MoBrDa, and MoSiDa) can be potential
marriage partners, while the cousins who are tjintong to. him cannot.
This is clearly an indication of sib-exogamy, These sibling terms are
extended to non-relatives who, according to their age, could be siblings
of the speaker.
A a mentioned before, the relation of a child and his kinsmen de-
pends largely on the proximity of residence. There seems to be no dif-
ference in behavior towards father’s or mother’s relatives. A child may
be more intimate with his mother’s relatives if they also live in Sukabumi
because the mother would be more inclined to visit her own relatives
rather than those of her husband. For a child to have many relatives is
something to be happy about because this means that he will have many
New Year’s visits to make. These visits are great fun for a child.
Besides getting cakes and sweets to his heart’s content, he will receive
a small money gift, ang pao (literally, red package, because it is wrapped
in red paper. This is derived from the Hokkien.), Therefore, the
more relatives a child has, the more money gifts .he will receive.
Ancestor Veneration
Ancestor veneration is one of the aspects of Chinese culture a
Peranakan child is familiar with from the time he perceives his environ-
ment. He will notice the offering table with the pictures of his grand-
parents or great-grandparents on the wall above it, and his mother will73
tell him who they are. He will see his mother light candles and burn in-
cense sticks at regular times. Whenever an ancestor veneration ceremony
takes place, all the children participate in it. A baby is carried in its
mother’s arms, and she helps it to hold the incense sticks in its small
hands. A bigger child stands in front of the ancestor table with his other
brothers and sisters and repeats the prayer his mother prompts him to
say. Boys are taught to perform the sodja kui, kow tow, in the proper way
On the occasion of Chinese New Year, the writer witnessed a fam-
ily, consisting of a young couple with a small son of about five, performing
the New Year ceremony. All the preparation, the cooking of the food,
placing it on the table, and lighting the candles, was done by the wife.
When everything was ready she called her husband. He prayed alone,
holding the incense sticks, and, putting them in the incense pot, he knelt
down on the little mat placed on the floor especially for this purpose and
performed the sodja kui. After him it was the turn of the small son to do
the same. The child did it very neatly with a serious expression on his
face. His great-aunt from father’s side, his kopo, who is herself con-
verted to Protestantism and therefore not allowed to pray with incense
sticks, praised him, saying that he was a clever boy. Also present on
this occasion were an aunt (father’s widowed first cousin) with her two
children of about five and seven. They are also Protestants and, like the
great-aunt, prayed by standing in front of the offering table with bowed
heads, closed eyes, and folded hands. They did this after the son was
through and at the same time as the wife, who prayed with incense sticks.
It is interesting to note that the children did not seem to feel strange
about the difference in their ways of praying.
Girls are taught at an early age to help prepare the offerings and
arrange the offering table. Often, when the mother is away from home,
it is the older daughter who will make the small offering on the first and
fifteenth of each lunar month. Girls do not have to perform the sodja kui;
they only pray with incense sticks.
For a child, the ceremony of ancestor veneration, usually called
by the Indonesian term sembahjang (praying, offering), is a happy and
joyful event, especially if he belongs to a rich, old family and his father
is the eldest son, for this means that his house is the place where the
ancestor table is kept. The father’s relatives will then have to come to
his house to participate in the ceremonies. For a child this is great
fun; there are the cousins to play with and great quantities of cakes and
sweets and good food to eat all day.
The Young Adult
Relations outside the family environment--It is in secondary school
that the scope of contact of the child expands beyond the limits of family
and neighborhood. He becomes a member of the youth organizations
sponsored by the school or by church organizations. In the Catholic and
Protestant schools, the schools attended by the majority of Peranakans,
there is coeducation on all levels, with the exception of the Catholic
junior middle school.74
The students in Catholic schools can join the Serodja (abbreviation
for SEdjahtera ROhani DJAsmani, literally spiritual and physical well-
being), a youth organization aimed at the promotion of the healthy develop
ment of mind and body. It is run by the youths themselves under the gui-
dance of one of the priests. Membership is open to Catholics and non-
Catholics, students and non-students alike. Meetings are held three
times a week in one of the Catholic schools, mainly for sports such as
badminton, table tennis, and volley ball, to play cards and other games,
or to listen to western classical music. They also make trips to picnic
spots outside Sukabumi. The patterns of the other youth organizations
are similar.
The Peranakan students in Protestant schools can join the youth
section of the Chinese Protestant church. Like the Serodja, it is open
not only to students but to all young people, Protestant and non-Protestant,
Besides these church-sponsored organizations open to students
and non-students alike, there is an organization exclusively for middle
school students called by the Mandarin name Chung Lien Hui» Organiza-
tion of Middle School Students, very recently changed to the Indonesian
name, Perhimpunan Peladja.r Sekolah Menengah Indonesia, abbreviated
PPSMI (Organization of1 Students of Indonesian Middle Schools), Member-
ship is open to all students; actually the members are virtually all
Peranakans.
For those who do not go to school and do not have connections
with either of the Christian groups, there is the Tribuda ja (from the
Sanskrit, meaning "The Three Cultures"), the youth section of the Sam
Kauw Hui (from the Hokkien, meaning "Organization of the Three Reli-
gions," i. «., Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, A discussion of
this organization will follow in the chapter on Religion,),
Thus for young people there seem to be adequate opportunities to
participate in social activities. As one of the Peranakans who has always
been active in social organizations said: "We need these youth organiza-
tions, especially for those who do not go to school, because for many of
them this is the only opportunity to meet people their age in a friendly and
companionable way." This is especially true for the girls who do not go
to school. Their mothers usually keep a close watch over them and dis-
approve of their going out in mixed groups; they have very few opportuni-
ties to meet young people of the opposite sex.
Even for those who go to school, however, contact with the op-
posite sex is limited to the school and organization environment. Boys
and girls seldom go to the movies or the swimming pool together, for
instance; girls go with their girl friends and boys with their boy friends.
This is due to the prevailing opinion in the Peranakan community that
girls should not mix too much with boys. In school this cannot be avoided
and parents have confidence in the organizations because there is always
a priest or an older person present. Outside school and club, however,
parents discourage social interaction between boys and girls. The girls
themselves are acutely aware that they will incur the disapproval of older
people if they are often seen on the streets with boys, and so strong is75
the control of parents that practically no rebellious acts have occurred
among them. For a boy to meet a girl alone, virtually the only way is to
visit her at her home. This is an accepted procedure, for the parents
feel that they have complete control of the situation. It requires a certain
degree of courage on the part of the boy, however, to take this step, be-
cause if the parents do not approve of his coming, it is very easy for
them to prevent his seeing their daughter. And, as mentioned before, so
strong is parental influence that few girls dare to act contrary to their
parents’ wishes in this respect.
Relations with parents--The relationship between parents and
children in the Peranakan families in Sukabumi is characterized by the
reserve that exists in Chinese families in general. Boys, especially,
seldom if ever have a confidential talk with their parents; they do not
come to them with their problems and difficulties. Instead they go to
outsiders, to one of the Catholic priests, the Protestant minister, or
an intimate friend.
Among those high school students who, through European teachers
(this applies to Catholic schools only, where there are Dutch priests,
brothers, and nuns in the teaching staff at all levels) and through reading
books by western authors, are exposed to the western ideas of warmth
and companionship between parents and children, there seems to be an
awareness of this gap, A young man of twenty-three, for instance, who
belongs to one of the rich old families in town, told the writer that
there is no understanding at all between him and his parents, especially
his father. He complained that parents think it sufficient to feed and
clothe their children and send them to a good school. They do not
realize, he says, that children need spiritual contact and guidance too.
He has discussed this father-son relationship with friends and insists
that others have similar difficulties.
At the same time, however, the attitude among these young
people seems to be that it is impossible to bridge this gap for the simple
reason that their parents have never been made aware of this need in
their grown children and, even if they were, they would not know how to
handle the situation. Information on the facts of life, for instance, are
virtually never acquired from parents but from outsiders, usually
friends, or from reading books and pamphlets (mostly questionable ones,
read in secrecy) on the subject. No doubt Peranakan youth in Sukabumi
are not spared the frustrations that usually accompany adolescence,
though apparently not to the extent that they erupt into overt protest or
action. In general, parental authority is considerably respected, in the
sense that few young people will consciously and directly act contrary
to their parents* wishes.
This undoubtedly is rooted in the traditional Conf ucian idea of
filial piety, referred to among the Peranakans as hao, from the Hokkien(14)
(14) The opposite is put hao, from the Hokkien, Similar to the traditional
Chinese situation, to De called an unfilial child, referred to by Peranakans
as anak put hao (anak, Indonesian for child), is one of the worst epithets
that can be applied, to an individual.76
Filial obedience and filial respect are concepts that are still very much
adhered to among the Peranakans, To care for one’s parents in their old
age is a duty that is taken as a matter of course, a natural consequence
of the recognition that one owes one’s life to one’s parents. There is an
awareness, however, that inroads are being made into these ideas. The
writer believes that the process of weakening of these ideas began in the
early nineteen-hundreds when the Dutch lured Peranakans away from
Chinese-language schools, with the result that formal training in Confucian
ethics was discontinued for a large number of them, (A Peranakan who
had been to one of these schools as a boy told the writer that every day,
before classes started, all the students had to assemble in front of a pic-
ture of Confucius and bow to it three times. Also, one of the forms of
punishment in the school was to stand for a certain length of time in
front of this picture. ) (15)
The relationship between mother and son is usually much
better, and in some cases very good. Because mothers tend to be indul-
gent to sons, conflicts seldom arise between them. On the contrary, due
to the fact that, in conflicts between son and father, the mother often
takes the side of the son, the latter not infrequently becomes the cause of
conflict between the parents. The relationship between son and mother
cannot be called intimate, however, for, while he turns to her for physical
and financial needs, with most personal problems he goes elsewhere.
A daughter generally has more contacts with her parents than
a son has, if only because a girl stays at home more than a boy, which,
in turn, reflects the prevailing opinion among Peranakans that the place
of a girl is at home. In poor families, girls from about ten years old
or even younger have to help with the household chores. In many families
there is only one servant for the heavy work such as laundering; conse-
quently, the daughters have to help with the light work such as keeping
the rooms in order, setting the table, and so on. They also have to help
in the kitchen and are taught to prepare all kinds of dishes. All girls
are able to prepare simple everyday dishes. In several of the rich old
families the daughters are very good cooks, able to prepare fancy dishes.
The writer found that, in general, girls do not resent helping at home.
On the contrary, they themselves agree that they should be trained in
housekeeping. The majority of the girls drop out of school after finishing
junior middle school. They are then about fifteen or sixteen years old.
Thereafter they stay at home and help their mothers. Many of them take
(15) That Confucian ethics were basic to the philosophy of the Chinese-
language schools established by the Tiong Hoa Hwe Koan (the school at-
tended by the above informant), is evidenced by the description of the aim
of this organization as outlined in fheold statutes (in 1900), article 2:
"the promotion of Chinese customs and ethics, as much as possible fol-
lowing the precepts of Nabi Khong Hoe Tjoe." (This is the name Peranakans
use to refer to Confucius, following Hokkien usage. Note the title Nabi,
used also by Moslems in referring to their prophet Mohamad,) Again in
the change of the statutes of this organization in 1930 it was stated: "the
promotion of education, especially Chinese culture education." Taken
from Nio Joe Lan, "De Tiong Hoa Hwe Koan-Beweging," De Indische
Gids, LVI, no. 1 (1934).77
cooking, baking, or sewing lessons. To be competent in these skills is
considered an asset for a girl and will raise her value in the eyes of
mothers with eligible sons, Although she is under the complete super-
vision of the mother, the relationship between daughter and mother is
usually good, Asa child she may resent the restrictions put on her by
her mother. When she is older, she realizes that mothers are strict
with daughters for the daughters’ sake. Quite often a great intimacy
exists between a grown daughter and her mother due to this close daily
contact. Especially when she no longer goes to school, the daughter is
a great help in doing the household chores and looking after younger sib-
lings. In families where the father does not earn enough to coverthe
household expenses, the mother often makes cakes or food to sell or she
becomes a dressmaker. Then often mother and daughter form an eco-
nomic unit. There are several families where the unmarried daughters
of over twenty are the wage earners because their parents are too old
or unable to work,
A daughter is usually on very good terms with her father.
Indeed, a father tends to be indulgent with his daughter, while the
mother tends to be severe with her. Quite often a daughter, especially
when she is still a child, will turn to her father for something she
knows her mother will refuse her, for instance, sweets or permission
to play with friends. Generally a father does not interfere with his
daughter’s training at home, but he does have an interest in her for-
mal education. When she grows older she sometimes replaces the
mother in caring for the father, for instance, attending him at his
meal and rendering him other small services.
Courtship and Marriage
Ideas About Marriage
The general opinion among Peranakans is that an individual is
not "complete," unless he is married and raising a family. Older
people say jokingly, but with a definite undertone of seriousness, that
prior to marriage a person is belum djadi orang, literally not a
human being yet. Only after marriage is he recognized a.s a human
being, djadi orang, in the sense of having achieved the status of a full-
fledgedindividual. An apt description of this view of an.unmarried
individual is given by a Peranakan woman,70 years of age: "He is
like a blind road. It just ends there and there is no further way ahead."
She added that when one is still young this is no problem, because one
has the strength and the opportunity to care for oneself, but what
happens when one gets old and weak? The question posed is then: "Who
will take care of you if you do not have children?"
The writer found that among the older generation this traditional
view of marriage as constituting a means of security for old age still
prevails. Consequently, parents, especially the mother, consider it
their duty to see to it that their children are properly married. Only
after this is achieved do they feel themselves released of the responsib-
ility to care for their children and free to settle down towards a peace-
ful and well deserved old age, surrounded by grandchildren and, if78
possible great grandchildren» Before that a mother keeps worrying about
the unmarried status of a son or a daughter. The writer has even heard
remarks about a mother who did not die peacefully because of a child who
had not yet married, A mother whose children have made good marriages
is considered very wise and fortunate, because all her children are ’’taken
care of.” The phrase used is anak-anaknja sudah beres.
When a child has reached marriageable age, around eighteen for a
girl and twenty-two for a boy, the mother keeps her eyes open for pos-
sible candidates. Should a child show a tendency to run wild, then a
mother will immediately take steps to have it properly married. Mothers
dread the prospect of a child, especially a daughter, remaining single.
Although today for a woman to be unattached even though she has long
passed the marriageable age is not as strongly condemned as it was
some thirty years ago, people still consider it unnatural, and a woman
in this position is looked upon with a certain pity which extends to her
family.
Despite this strong social pressure in favor of marriage, however,
the writer has observed that there are a considerable number of unmar-
ried women in Sukabumi. The election registration list shows that of the
women twenty-one years old and over, ten per cent are unmarried or
never married. This situation cannot be explained as being caused by a
discrepancy in the sex ratio, which is approximately equal among young
Peranakan adults. Besides, of men twenty-three years old and over,
thirteen per cent are unmarried or never married. Thus there must be
other factors whch may account for this situation.
The writer acquired valuable information on this topic from a
Peranakan woman of about fifty who belongs to one of the old families in
town and who knows virtually all the Peranakan families of any signifi-
cance, She explained that the role of the mother in this matter is of
great importance. Even today, where consultation with the girl is
recognized, the mother still exerts such an influence that, in effect, in
the last analysis her opinion plays a decisive role. This informant
strongly emphasized the great responsibility of a mother, adding that
if she has many daughters she would be wise to consider each proposal
seriously before thinking of turning it down. If it is known of a girl that
several proposals have been refused, other potential suitors will gradu-
ally stay away, even though the girl may be very attractive because it is
regarded as a great ’’loss of face” to be turned down.
It is interesting to consider the opinion of an unmarried woman
of about forty on this subject. When the writer brought up the subject of
marriage, she rather defiantly asserted that today women have ceased
to be dependent on men because they are able to earn their own living.
This assertion of independence is indicative of the change of the position
of women as compared to the traditional situation. Many of these unmar-
ried women who are between thirty and forty have had some exposure to
western ideas through school and books. This exposure must have had
an impact on ideas on marriage and especially on the idea of the freedom
to choose one’s husband. When they were at an age when they should
have been given the opportunity to meet young people of the opposite sex,79
however, they were kept at home to learn housekeeping. Hence, they did
not get the chance to choose for themselves, and on the other hand they
refused to comply with their parents’ choice. Asa result they remain
single.
This claim on freedom of choice or, at least, participation in
choosing a spouse shows a wide divergence from the traditional Chinese
idea, adhered to only one generation back, when it was simply unthinkable
that the couple involved would be consulted as to their wishes in this re-
spect. This insistence also implies a positive view of the personal involve-
ment of the young people concerned, the idea that marriage should be
based on mutual attraction or, more precisely, on mutual love. It is
interesting, however, as an indication of the extent of acceptance of these
ideas, that in the presence of others the behavior of a couple, «it her
engaged or married, is characterized by great reserve even to the point
of ignoring each other. Holding hands, for instance, or even looking at
each other is completely disapproved of, because it is felt to be im-
proper to show affection in public.
Patterns of Marriage Arrangement
To what extent these ideas of mutual attraction and mutual love as
a prerequisite for marriage are expressed in reality can be examined
by investigating the existing patterns of marriage arrangement.
The traditional method of employing professional matchmakers has
disappeared and with it marriages that are concluded without consultation
of the young people concerned. The other extreme, marriage without
the consent of parents is very rare, because Peranakans, the older as
well as the younger generation, believe that no happiness rests on a
marriage devoid of the blessing of the parents. Thus the pattern that
prevails among the Peranakans of Sukabumi today seems to be: either
parents choose, children approve; or children choose, parents approve.
Due to the greater freedom of social interaction between the sexes,
the second pattern seems to be more frequent than the first. The pro-
cedure of this pattern is generally as outlined below.
When a son is about twenty-two the mother starts giving hints and
asking him whether he has found a girl to whom he feels attracted. If
he has a girl in mind, he is usually reticent about it and feels embar-
rassed to talk about it. The mother has to find out for herself. This is
not difficult because, even when her son is seen only once or twice with
a particular girl, her relatives and friends will give hints about it, If
the girl is the daughter of one of the families in town that she knows
well, she will likely approve her $on*s choice and no complications will
arise. She will ask her son whether he is serious about it and whether
he would like her to ask formally for the hand of the girl. The Indo-
nesian term ngelamar is generally used for this act. If he consents,
accompanied by a female relative or friend who should also be known
to the family of the girl and sometimes accompanied by the young man
himself, she will make a formal visit to the family of the girl. Even
though the two families know each other well and they are aware of the80
relationship between their children, this formal request has to be made.
This event marks the formal acceptance of the young man as a suitor.
He is then allowed to visit the girl regularly and occasionally to take her
out. A formal engagement may or may not follow, culminating in marriage.
There are cases, however, where a boy wants to know a girl he
feels attracted to, but has never had the chance to be introduced. He may
then ask the help of a friend, in which case the same procedure as the
above may follow. But he may also ask the help of his mother. In this
case, if the mother does not know the family of the girl or know them
only slightly, she will seek among her relatives or friends someone who
knows the family well. She will first find out from this person whether
the girl is still free and whether she thinks she would be a suitable wife
for her son. If the mutual friend thinks she is, first she herself will go
to the family of the girl and tell the mother that Mrs. So-and-so is
looking for a daughter-in-law. If the mother shows willingness to hear
about it she will then give some details of the character of the young man
and his occupation. By the time she comes to the point, the mother al-
ready knows what the real purpose of the visit is. She will usually not
give a direct answer but tell the visitor that she will consult her daughter,
A mother of several married daughters told the writer how a girl usually
reacts when she is informed that a certain young man desires to get
acquainted with her. It seems indicative of the degree of the influence
of western ideas among the girls in Sukabumi that, according to her, a
girl is usually very shy and reserved about giving an answer. Apparently
there are certain conventional phrases in this matter from which the
mother will know what her daughter thinks of the request. If a girl is
not willing, she is apt to say that she has belum niat (no intention as yet
to marry); if she is, she will be even more embarrassed about it and say
that she will leave it to her mother to make the decision. When the
mutual friend thinks sufficient time has elapsed for the girl and her
family to consider the proposal, she will visit again. If the answer is
favorable, the young man and his mother will make a formal visit,
accompanied by the mutual friend. The young people will be introduced
to each other, and they may or may not be left to themselves for a while.
The boy is then established as a formal suitor and the subsequent pro-
cedure will be the same as above.
These are the usual procedures in the case of the second pattern,
whereby the choice is initially made by the young people or rather the
young man. How is the procedure in the case of the first pattern, i. e,,
parents choose, children approve ? Apparently it is only when a young
man does not show any indication that he has made a choice after he is
twenty-five that a mother feels justified in interfering directly. If she
herself does not know a suitable girl, she will ask the help of an older
relative or close friend. This person will, in turn, tell her relatives
and close friends about the plans of Mrs, So-and-so, Usually the older
women in the community know very well which families have marriage-
able daughters. From among the girls pointed out to her, the relative
whose help had been asked will choose the ones who seem most suitable
to her and report to the mother of the young man. They both will then
make a choice from among these girls,81
What are the considerations taken into account in the choice of a
daughter-in-law? First and foremost* a good and healthy descent;
secondly, but of almost equal importance, a pleasant personality, i, e„
well-mannered, not sharp-tongued, industrious, home-loving. It is im-
portant to note that the first consideration seems to be regarded as of
superior importance to the second one. This is indicative of the still
existing adherence to the traditional idea of marriage constituting a kind
of contract between two families, rather than establishing a relationship
between the two individuals concerned. This criterion of a good and
healthy descent is evaluated as follows: if it is known of a girl that
there is mental illness, hereditary disease, or moral misconduct (as
for instance elopement or divorce) among the near kin, it will be very
difficult for her to make a good match. The personality and behavior
of the mother is also of great importance. This is a clear indication
of the recognition of the role of the mother as model and exemplar for
the daughter. As to the question of whether wealth comes into considera-
tion in the choice, the answer generally was that in the case of a girl,
wealth is not so important, because it is the man who is expected to
provide for that. This again is indicative of an adherence to the tradi-
tional idea of hypogamy for a boy and hypergamy for a girl. Most in-
formants agree, however, that the best combination is that ’’rich
marry rich and poor marry poor."
The same two main considerations are taken into account in con-
sidering the proposal of a young man. The mother of the girl pays spec-
ial attention to the question whether or not he is nakal, Indonesian for
naughty, but in this context meaning licentious. In general, heterosexual
experience on the part of the man is not a factor that receives much con-
sideration in the evaluation of his eligibility because it is regarded a
natural urge in men that should be gratified; it is even believed that lack
of sexual outlet may lead to abnormality. Mothers do object, however,
to young men who are known to have more or less permanent extra-legal
relations, especially when there are children involved. This situation
not infrequently occurs with young men employed on the estates around
Sukabumi, where they have the opportunity to live with a Sundanese girl.
For these men there is still a chance of being accepted, however
(depending on their eligibility of course), if they break off the relationship
completely.
When the mother of the young man has made a definite choice, she
will consult her son about it. If he approves of her choice, the relative
and the friend who has pointed out the girl to her, will visit the mother
of the girl to explore the possibilities. The relative will then report her
impression of the girl to the mother. If both decide that she is suitable,
the mother herself with the relative and the friend will make a formal
visit. In the meantime the mother of the girl has been informed by the
friend of the real purpose of the first visit. When it comes to the point
where the mother of the young man herself makes a visit, in almost all
cases this means that the proposal will be accepted or that at least the
opportunity for getting acquainted will be given. If the chances for accep-
tance are very small or doubtful, no formal visit will be made, because
a refusal is regarded as a great loss of face. Older women recalled that
it was on the occasion of these visits that they were ordered by their82
mothers to come out with tea and cakes with the tacit intention of giving
opportunity to the guests to have a look at them. Today young girls
object to his, viewing it as humiliating treatment. The phrase used to
pose the important question is conventionally whether the mother of the
girl has no objection (tidak keberatan) for the girl to get acquainted with
the young man. If the answer of the daughter to the mother had been that
it is up to her, the mother of the young man will be informed that there
are no objections. If the young man has come along on that visit, the
young people are introduced to each other. From this point the procedure
is the same as outlined above.
Thus we may conclude that, although there is a noticeable shift
of emphasis from family to the individual in the matter of marriage, the
authority of the parents is still secure, though tempered by the realization
that today young people have the right of participation in matters that con-
cern them directly. This implies the recognition of the value of the
individual as a person in his own right, which is a far cry from the tradi-
tional view that an individual has only significance as part of a family.
Preferences in Spouse Selection
In regard to marriage preferences there is no clear evidence of
the existence of the type of cross-cousin preference that prevailed in
traditional China. The young people themselves seem to be of the opinion
that marriage with piao cousins, FaSiDa, MoBrDa, or MoSiDa, is not
advisaUe because they are too closely related, and this, they believe, may
have a harmful effect on the descendants. Marriage with second and more
remote cousins, however, does often occur and especially marriage with
people to whom one is related through affinal relatives.
Insofar as proscriptions are concerned, there is a marriage
taboo between people of the same surname, between a man and a relative
of a higher generation and between step-siblings. Except for the latter,
is is perhaps too strong to use the terms proscription and taboo. It
would be more correct to speak of strong disapproval, because there is
an increasingly lenient attitude towards marriage between non-relatives
of the same surname and several such unions exist. Less leniency is
shown towards the marriage of a man with a relative of a higher genera-
tion. The writer was acquainted with one such union--the young man
married a cousin of his mother. Thus he is tjutju (child of a sibling or
of a cousin) to her, and she is ie (mother’s sister or mother’s female
cousin) to him. The families oPboth were very much opposed to this
union; the couple managed to get it through by refusing to marry anybody
else. (A strong consideration in favor of allowing the marriage must
have been the fact that both were in their late twenties.) In less than a
year the woman died in childbirth. Those who disapproved of this mar-
riage viewed this event as proof of the unsuitability of the union.
The reverse situation, the marriage of a girl with a relative of a
higher generation, seems to be acceptable. The writer was closely con-
nected with one such couple throughout the period of the study. Appar-
ently the reasoning behind this view is that this type of union is not a
breach of the idea that a husband should in no way be a junior or inferior
to his wife.83
Another regulation is that younger siblings should not precede older
siblings in marriage. This applies to siblings within the sexes; thus a
younger sister may not precede an older sister nor a younger brother an
older brother, but a younger sister may precede an older brother and a
younger brother an older sister. There is an increasingly lenient attitude
towards this regulation, although evidence of its observance is still re-
flected in the fact that, should an older sibling be passed over, a com-
pensation is presented to him in the form of some specified gifts. In
some families this regulation seems to be still applied to the daughters.
Thus a younger daughter has to wait for all her older sisters to be mar-
ried before she herself can marry. This is, of course, a device to
prevent the reduction of the marriage chances of the older sister.
Marriage of a man with a woman his senior in age is not advised
and is even frowned upon, in accordance with the general opinion that a
husband should not in any respect be inferior to his wife. This is re-
flected in the data derived from the election registration list showing that,
of the marriages among Peranakans, only 3, 6 per cent were cases in
which the wives were older than the husbands, while in only 6.4 per cent
of the cases were the spouses of the same age.
Courtship
As outlined in the section on the young adult, social interaction
among the young Peranakans in Sukabumi is largely limited to group acti-
vities, to the exclusion of any form of dating as found in the United States,
for example. When a boy and a girl are attracted to each other, they
will, of course, interact more closely and more frequently, but always
within the group context. To see the girl alone, the boy will have to visit
her at her home; the girl will receive him in the front room where they
can sit and chat. No chaperon is required, but the mother will usually
appear, presumably to inquire after his mother’s health or to exchange
some pleasantries but, in reality, to make her presence known. When
it is known that a boy is visiting a girl regularly, their friends will regard
them as a couple. There is a more or less tacit acknowledgment of this
relationship in the sense that their friends will refrain from teasing them
openly in the presence of each other because this would make them, and
especially the girl, feel extremely embarrassed. Not until the mother of
the boy has' come to ask formally for the hand of the girl, at which point
he will have established himself as a formal suitor, will the mother of
the girl allow him to take her out alone. There are still mothers, how-
ever, who insist on a third person accompanying the couple, either a
younger sibling, a cousin, or some other relative or friends. Thus the
courting period is characterized by a more or less reserved and re-
strained relationship, precluding the opportunity for more intimate con-
tact and exploration. These restrictions are, of course, precisely aimed
at the prevention of the latter.
Basic to these restrictions is the high valuation given to virginity
on the part of the girl. Therefore, premarital sexual relations are
strictly prohibited. The most frequent advice a mother gives to her
young daughters is to be careful in the company of men because, once a
girl has lost her virginity out of wedlock, she is regarded as maimed for84
life and her chances for making a respectable marriage are almost nil.
Older women told the writer that formerly it was required of a bride to
show proof of her virginity to her moiher-in-law after the wedding night.
Due to the strong social control in this matter and the inculcation
on the part of the girls that their virginity is their highest treasure, a
breach of this prohibition seldom occurs. If it does, the families con-
cerned will cover it up as quietly as possible and take measures by, for
instance, advancing the wedding date. In the case where this occurs
prior to the formal proposal, the parents of the girl, who are in these
matters of course the injured party, will demand a marriage. Depending
on the social status in the community of the girl’s family, the family of
the boy will cooperate and consent to the marriage. If the girl’s family
is socially of low status, however, the boy and his family will refuse to
acknowledge any responsibility. One such case was known to the writer
during the period of study, A girl of mixed Eurasian and Indonesian
descent was made pregnant by a Peranakan boy. Because this girl was
already considered as somewhat loose, the writer found little sympathy
for her among the Peranakans, On the contrary, the prevailing opinion
was that the girl was entirely to blame.
When the period for getting acquainted proves satisfactory for
both parties and the couple decides to get married, the formalization of
the agreement takes place by the presentation of gifts by the boy’s family
to the girl’s family. For this purpose a formal visit is made, usually by
the mother of the boy accompanied by the person who made the first con-
tact with the family of the girl and sometimes also by the person who
will direct the ceremony during the wedding. The articles to be presented
are considered traditionally prescribed and consist of the following:
first, one pair of long red candles with a dragon painted on each (hence
the name lilin liong, i. e„ dragon candle; lilin is Indonesian for candle,
and liong is from tne Hokkien and means dragon). These are the candles
used at the wedding ceremony; second, fruits and cakes; third, a certain
amount of money wrapped in two packages of red paper. The money in
the one package is called uang susu or uang tete (Indonesian, meaning
literally milk money and nipple money, respectively) and in the other
uang uah or uang dapur (what uah stands for none of the informants
could explain, but uang dapur means literally kitchen money). The first
amount is usually a nominal sum and symbolizes a compensation for the
care bestowed by the mother on the daughter, while the second amount
is intended as a contribution to the expenses to be made for the wedding
and especially for the trousseau of the girl. The general procedure is
for the milk money to be accepted and the kitchen money to be returned.
This is especially true when the family of the girl is well-to-do. Some-
times these gifts are placed on elaborately decorated baskets and trays.
On this occasion, sang djit, the wedding date is confirmed. Traditionally
this event marks the formal conclusion of the marriage agreement.
Older people recalled that in their time no celebration occurred on this
occasion. Among the Peranakans in Sukabumi, to observe an engage-
ment celebration is recognized as a western custom and therefore
mostly adhered to by the western-educated. Even among these, however,
it is often omitted, usually to save expenses which is, of course, an
indication of the low importance attached to it. Another indication of85
this is the form of the engagement announcements in the papers; as com-
pared with the wedding announcement, it is disproportionately simple,
consisting only of the names of the young couple and the date of the
betrothal.
If a formal engagement celebration does occur, as a rule it takes
place at the residence of the girl. This would indicate the alien nature
of the ceremony because, according to Chinese tradition, except in
special matrilocal marriage, no celebration takes place at the residence
of the girl. It may also be an indication, however, of the influence of
Sundanese custom where, traditionally, the wedding takes place at the
home of the bride, (16)
The proceedings of such a celebration were described to the
writer by a young married Peranakan woman who belongs to one of the
rich old families in Sukabumi. She is married to a young man from
Djakarta who belongs to one of the rich old families in that city. Both
have had several years of Dutch secondary school education. Theirs
is one of those marriages where “children choose, parents approve.”
The celebration she recounted was that of her own engagement that
occurred in 1956 at her home in Sukabumi. The young man arrived
from Djakarta accompanied by his mother (his father was deceased),
his siblings, and their spouses. For this occasion the girl was dressed
in a long white dress and the young man in a light western suit. The
ceremony of the exchange of rings was performed in front of the ancestor
altar of the girl’s family, where a simple offering of cakes and fruits
was placed. The betrothed couple first prayed with incense sticks and
then, still facing the altar, they put the rings on the ring finger of each
other’s left hand. Thereafter they paid their respects to their mothers
(the girl’s father was deceased also) by performing the pai to them. It
is obvious that the idea behind this ceremony is that the ancestors should
witness the conclusion of this union. It is significant as a measure of the
extent of the deviation from the traditional Chinese pattern that the man
should honor the woman’s ancestors and that this ceremony should pre-
cede the one that would be performed for the man’s ancestors on the
wedding day.
The Wedding
When speaking of weddings, the older people always recall how
elaborate the celebration used to be when they were young. It usually
lasted for at least three days. For the bride, especially, it was a period
of suffering, Around 1900, however, there were already Peranakane who
suggested a simplification of these lavish ceremonies which they considered
(16) According to traditional Sundanese custom, two to five days before
the .wedding day the groom is brought in procession to the bride’s resi-
dence together with the articles his family presents to the family of the
bride. The term for this ceremony is seserahan, derived from the word
pas rah, meaning to surrender. See Moestapa, op. cit., pp. 77, 78;
also A. Prawirasuganda, "Adat Perkawinan di Tanah Pasundan.,11
Tijdschrift voor Indische Taal- Land- en Volkenkunde, LXXXIV (1951),86
unnecessary and a waste of money. (17) One of the most radical changes
that occurred was the discarding of the elaborate and heavy traditional
Chinese robes; they were exchanged for the western white dress and veil
for the bride and the dark or light suit for the groom. The wearing of
western apparel was already taking place around 1920. The writer was
informed that the last time a bridal couple was dressed in traditional
Chinese style in Sukabumi was around 1930, but this was only for the
ceremony; thereafter they put on western style dress. Since that time
Peranakan bridal couples of all social levels have always dressed in
western style.
It is becoming increasingly obsolete to consult a horoscopist,
usually a traditional Chinese doctor, for the most auspicious date.
Older people told the writer that weddings used to take place mostly in
the eighth month of the lunar calendar because this was considered the
most auspicious month. Next best was the fourth month and then the
second and the tenth months. Today, however, weddings occur in all
months, even the ninth, traditionally taboo for weddings, According to
older people the ninth month was called the month for perkawinan andjing
(Indonesian, meaning literally mating of dogs). The preference for the
eighth month still exists, however.
As to the day, for practical reasons and perhaps influenced by
the western idea that Sunday is a good day, weddings usually take place
on a Sunday. One month or three weeks before the wedding, the invita-
tions are sent and an announcement published in a newspaper, usually
in Keng Po, the Peranakan-owned, Indonesian-language paper published
in Djakarta which is the most widely read paper among the Peranakans
in Sukabumi. (18) The invitations are always in Indonesian, printed on
pink-colored cards, following an almost standard formula. It is inter-
esting to note that in the indication of the date the Chinese lunar calendar
is followed using the terminology derived from the Hokkien. Next to it,
connected with the word atau (Indonesian for or) or in parentheses the
date according to the western .solar calendar is .given, (19) If the groom’s
family as well as the bride’s family gives a party, then separate invita-
tions are sent. If not, only one invitation is sent, with the names of the
parents of both as the hosts. This is usually the case when the party is
not held in either of the residences but in a public building (in Sukabumi
in the building of either the Hakka or the Eng Tjhun organization, the
only two speech-group organizations in town, or in the largest Peranakan-
owned restaurant). Thus there are three alternative arrangements as to
the locale: either both the ceremony and the party are held at home; or
both the ceremony and the party are held in one of the public buildings
available for this type of celebration; or the ceremony is held at home and
(17)	Nio Joe Lan, Riwajat 40 Taon dari Tiong Hoa Hwe Koan-Batavia 1900-
1939, pp. 206-209, contains articles on this topic which give specified
suggestions as to what rites should be dropped. (Hereinafter cited as THHK
anniversary book)
(18)	After the war there were no local papers in Sukabumi.
(19)	For the most important rites de passage among the Peranakans,
marriage and death, and for the observance of the ceremonies connected
with ancestor veneration, Peranakans adhere to the Chinese lunar87
the party in one of the public buildings.
The third alternative appears to be getting more popular. This
seems to be an indication of the trend towards simplification tif the cele-
bration, in terms of expenses, length of time and labor put into it. In
fact, one might say that it is the factor of convenience that plays an im-
portant role in the selection of the place. The prevailing opinion seems
to be that it is more convenient to have the party in one of the public
buildings which are fully equipped for this type of celebration, including
kitchen facilities.
Depending on the refreshments and food served, parties can be
distinguished into two types: the thee-hwee, which is the simple type
with only cakes, snacks and drinks served, and the perdjamuan, the
Indonesian term for a banquet, which is the elaborate type with a com-
plete meal. The type of party is always indicated on the invitation card.
As to form, the wedding among the Peranakans is perhaps one of
the best examples of the incorporation of elements from each one of the
three cultures--Hokkien, Sundanese, and western--that the Peranakans
of Sukabumi have been and are exposed to. No rigid rules as to what
rituals to observe seem to exist, and no consensus is found among the
people themselves as to what is considered the correct procedure. A
wide range of selection is possible, and apparently no social criticism
is attached to the choice or omission made. Naturally, the more
westernized families tend to prefer the wedding forms most strongly
influenced by western models. Although the younger generation may
participate in the decision making, in ceremonial matters they tend
to defer to the wishes and opinions of the older generation. This is of
course an indication of the recognition of their greater knowledge in
these matters and at the same time it is an indication of the recognition
that a wedding should be concluded with some form of ceremony. The
older generation in this case is represented by the mother, in accordance
with her leading role in regard to marriages, together with the grand-
mother if still living. Thus in families where the female part of the
older generation has had no western education or exposure whatsoever,
it is most likely that a great number of rituals will be observed that can
be traced to Hokkien or Sundanese origin. Conversely, the more they
have been exposed, the less likely that this kind of ritual will be ob-
served. There is one ritual, however, which is never omitted/ except
in families converted to Christianity. This is the honoring of the groomhs
ancestors by both the bride and groom, which is essentially the tradition-
al Chinese ceremony of presentation of the bride to the groom’s ancestors,
thereby incorporating her in his lineage. In a subsequent chapter dealing
with mourning customs, we will notice that this idea of the incorporation
of a woman into her husband’s family is still reflected among the
Peranakans in the fact that a woman observes a shorter mourning period
for her own parents than for her husband’s.
calendar. Therefore, in virtually all Peranakan homes there is at least
one calendar that indicates the dates according to the Chinese lunar
system, given in a derivation from the Hokkien.88
Another indication of the greater importance attached to the
groom's family is the adherence to the idea of patrilocality which is
shown by the fact that, as a rule, the bridal room is set up in the groom's
house. Deviations from this rule often occur, however, based on practi-
cal considerations such as accommodation available and the financial
position of the parties concerned.
The bridal room forms an important feature of all Peranakan
weddings, including those couples who have become Christians. Gener-
ally much fuss is made about it. The way the room is furnished and
decorated can be viewed as an indication of the degree of western influ-
ence in the family. A room with a bridal bed made of wood and curtain-
less is considered modern, while a bed made of iron with a draped cur-
tain is considered old-fashioned. The former is usually found among the
upper-class families, while the latter is found among the lower-class
families. The importance attached to the bridal room is, of course,
closely related to the importance attached to posterity. Older people
informed the writer that formerly rites symbolic of fertility were per-
formed after the room was ready. One of the rites, for example, was
for a little boy to roll over the bed three times. This is explained as an
expression of the wish for the firstborn to be a boy. The basic furniture
pieces are a double bed, a wardrobe, and a dresser. Depending on the
financial position of the families, more pieces can be added. If the fin-
ancial position of the bride and groom is equal, the expenses for the
bridal room is divided; the bed and covers are the expense of the groom;
the wardrobe, dresser, and pillows and cases are the expense of the
bride. This division is not rigid, however, and much room is left for
deviations from it. If the bride is financially of a much lower status,
the bridal room may be furnished entirely by the groom's family. During
the wedding, this room is open to all guests to be admired or criticized.
The women especially make a point of visiting the room. With the
bridal gown and the food served it is the most discussed part of every
wedding.
As mentioned before, there is no consensus as to the correct
procedure of a wedding. There is general agreement, however, as to
simplification and economizing. Even the older women,who recall the
elaborate ceremonies they were subjected tot, state that most of these
rituals were superfluous. Due to lack of knowledge concerning the
procedures to be used, the service of an expert is usually employed.
Use of such a person has been the general rule at Peranakan weddings,
and it is understandable, considering the elaborate procedures that used
to be observed.
In Sukabumi there is only one such professional "expert." He is
a Peranakan in his late forties, uneducated, and of the lower class. He
lives in a small house made of wood and bamboo, a kampong house, in a
back alley in the market area. He is dark skinned and his features are
such that he can easily be taken for an ethnic Indonesian. His mother,
who died during the time of the study, also looked more Indonesian than
Chinese, She had resided with him and sold betel leaves with the
accompanying spices and banana leaves, all arranged on a basket, on
the sidewalkin front of a shop in the market area. His house is cramped89
with requisites for the wedding ceremony, the offering tables, candlesticks,
holders for the incense sticks, vases, and so on. He even provides
bridal gowns and accessories, of a very plain and simple type, of course.
These articles can be rented together with his services. Besides con-
ducting the ceremony he may also be asked to decorate the bridal room
and to make up the bride. Therefore, he is considered a tukang rias
(Indonesian for a person who makes up a bride). Because the tukang rias
have always been women, he seems to be considered rather peculiar in
the community. There are people who hint that there must be something
wrong with him because he performs feminine activities. Many
Peranakans agree that it is unusual, in fact not quite proper, for a bride
to be made up by a man. Therefore, those families who can afford the
services of the professional make-up women, i. e., beauty-shop operators,
will employ the man to conduct the ceremony only. Shortly after the
writer came to Sukabumi, however, he had started to make use of a
female assistant, a young married Peranakan women, for decorating the
bridal room and especially for the make up of the bride.
With the exception of weddings of those who have become Christians,
the majority of the wedding ceremonies among the Peranakans are con-
ducted by this "expert.” We may therefore expect that the ceremonies in
Sukabumi would follow one pattern. This is not quite true, however, be-
cause he does not impose a rigid compliance to his directions and leaves
much room for the wishes and ideas of the families concerned. The im-
pression he gives is that it is not very important in any case. Maybe he
realizes that his status in the community is such that it would be unreal-
istic to expect an unqualified acceptance of his authority.
To give an illustration of the variety in the forms of marriage,
a description will be given of three of the weddings observed by the
writer. The choice of these cases is based on the consideration that
each gives a good example of the variation possible as determined by the
location of the wedding celebration.
The first is that of a wedding where both the ceremonies and the
party were held at the residence of the groom. The groom is the 21 year
old son of a Fukien-born (Ch'uan-chou near Amoy) man and a Peranakan
woman from a small village in the vicinity of Bogar. He is the only child
of this couple and a rumor that the writer was not able to verify has it
that he is an adopted son. This Hokkien man is in his early fifties and
has lived in Sukabumi since his arrival in Indonesia more than thirty
years ago. He is the largest shareholder in the cooperative (kongsi) of
pork sellers. He is not engaged in the manual part of the work, but Jias
left this to his son. Among the lower-class Peranakans south of the
railroad, he is considered a wealthy man. Although he is a Totok, he
associates mostly with Peranakans. He is an admirer of the gam bang
kromong, an orchestra that is considered typically Peranakan? Bor the
wedding he hired such an orchestra from one of the small villages near
Bogor, The family occupies the best section of a petak-house (20)
(20) For a description of the types of houses, see the section on housing
in Chapter III.90
situated close to the Chinese temple and the slaughterhouse. (This section
of the town is still popularly called Odeon, though the theater from which it
derived its name and which stood in tins area as a landmark had already
burned down before the war.) To accommodate the guests, an open pavilion
like construction# made of bamboo and covered with canvas, was erected
in the open space in front of the house.
This wedding was considered traditional in the sense of having the
allures of the elaborateness of thirty, forty years ago, in terms of duration
the ceremonies observed, and the decoration of the bridal room. The
preparations were already in full swing on the Friday before the actual
wedding day which was held on a Sunday as usual. This Friday was the
day of the decoration of the bridal room and the ritual connected with it.
The furnishings consisted of a double bed, in a more modern ver-
sion of an iron bed, a small dresser with a round mirror on top, and a
wardrobe. These three pieces formed one set in the same two-tone color
of green and silver. There was also a tea shelf which was not part of the
set and a table to display the gifts. The decorating was done by the above-
mentioned professional "expert" and his female assistant. The bed was
draped with a curtain made of lace with a design of angels. In the center,
on top of the opening, was a centerpiece consisting of an angel decorated
with silver ribbon, white icicles, and stars, all decorations of a Christmas
tree. That they are recognized as such is shown by the fact that a younger
sister of the groom’s father told the writer that it was very difficult to get
them because the stores were not selling them any more (the wedding was
in March). She added that she knew they were usually sold during Christ-
mas time. On the bed was a two-layer spread, green satin, and white
emroidered linen on top. The pillows, two for the head and two "Dutch
wives," had cases in the same pattern. A green and white blanket was
folded in the shape of a goose, with pearl buttons for the eyes and the beak
made of yellow ribbon. This was made by the "expert" and put in the
center of the bed. In front of the bed was a small rug. At the door was
a curtain made of die same material as that of the bed and also decorated
with Christmas decorations. Around the edge of the mirror little colored
lamps were attached, also of the kind used for a Christmas tree. On the
wall and under the glass top of the dresser were pictures of American and
Chinese movie stars. On the dresser were separate pictures of the bride
and groom.
The sidekah, a term apparently used as aqnonym of salametan,
started around two o’clock in the afternoon. This is a ritual that is sup-
posed to take place after the bridal room is ready. A mat was placed on
the floor in front of the bed. In the center were one plate with nasi
tumpeng, three plates with wet cakes (called thus because they are cooked
by steaming), four cups of black coffee, two passes of water, kembang
rarope (the seven kinds of flowers) and the incense pot. Under the bed
were placed a miniature rice container (of the kind children play with)
filled with uncooked rice and a raw egg on top, one small bowl with
cooked glutinous rice, a similar bowl with the same kind of rice but
mixed with brown sugar, These two bowls were flanked by a bowl with
a tasbeh plant and another with a tales plant. According to one of the
old women present, seven days after the wedding these two plants will91
be transplanted in the garden--the tasbeh plant by the groom and the tales
plant by the bride. If they grow well, it is an indication that the couple
will have many children. The rice in the toy container must be put back
in the main rice container to symbolize prosperity which is indicated by
the ever-filled container. Five women participated in this ritual: an
old woman who was identified for the writer as the mother of the groom’s
father; another old woman identified as her younger sister; the mother of
the groom; an old relative from Bogor; a Sundanese woman in her late
forties, the wife of a Fukien-born man who is a member of the pork
seller’s cooperative. All, including the Sundanese woman, were dressed
in Peranakan-style sarong-kaba ja and they spoke Sundanese with each
other. The leading person at this ritual was the woman identified as
the younger sister of the grandmother of the groom. She sat cross-
legged with eyes closed sprinkling incense in the small pot while her lips
moved as in prayer. At one point her whole body trembled slightly and
she uttered words in Sundanese. The other four women who were also
sitting on the mat strained to catch what she was saying. They were very
excited. Obviously they believed her to be in a trance and communicating
with dead persons. They put questions to her in Sundanese, addressing
her with aki, the Sundanese term for grandfather and old men in general.
She did not mention names but described the persons she was communi-
cating with, for instance a fat man, a young woman, whereupon the other
women started guessing, saying that that must certainly be so-and-so.
The writer was informed later that she was believed to have been pos-
sessed by the spirit of a well-known Sundanese holy man. The groom’s
grandmother told the writer with some pride and awe in her voice that
her sister was often kesurupan (Indonesian, meaning possessed by a
spirit). The trance over, the woman drank a cup of coffee and a glass of
water, whereupon the other women competed with each other to get hold
of what was left of the contents. The writer had been observing the
ritual from the doorway because the room was too small to accommodate
more than the five women already in it. After the woman came out of her
trance, however, two of the participants invited her to join them on the
mat and to partake of the cakes and coffee, saying that they were very
good because a doa had been uttered over them. The rice was not
touched, only the cakes and the coffee. The ritual lasted for about forty-
five minutes. Little interest was shown by the people present in the
house; only a few young girls were watching it from the doorway.
That Friday there was already a festive air in the house. There
was music from a tape recorder playing gam bang kromong and djali-
djali, the type of music that was popular among the Peranakans several
decades ago and today still attracts the older people. In the space under
the canvas top there were about five tables where people were playing
cards, men as well as women. All the people present that day were
Peranakans except for a China-born Hokkien neighbor married to a
Peranakan woman. On the day after, the festivities continued in this
vein and apparently no other rites were observed.
On the wedding day proper the writer arrived on the scene
around nine o’clock in the morning. At that time the groom had just
left to fetch the bride. One of the old female relatives informed the
writer that the tjio tao ceremony (described in a subsequent account of a92
wedding) had already taken place at five o’clock that morning, first the
boy and then the girl. The fact that the girl performed this ceremony at
the boy’s home is an indication that financially she was of a lower status,
because the usual procedure is for the girl to perform it at her home.
After the ceremony, she was taken home again.
The bridal room was all set to receive the couple. On a table were
placed three plates with fruit, apples and two kinds of Indonesian fruits,
and four silver colored cups, the two in the center each filled with red
and white kue onde (the cake that symbolizes fertility) and the outer two
filled with a liquid that looked like either tea or wine,. The table set
aside for gifts was mainly covered with pieces of dress material, several
small table sets, and several trays on which the gifts were displayed in
a very decorative manner under a wrapping of transparent paper.
Around nine-thirty the bridal couple arrived in a rented car. The
orchestra, called Irama Masa and consisting of Indonesian and Peranakan
members and including an Indonesian female singer, played a western
march. Before the couple entered the house, they were stopped for the
sawer to be performed over them. (21) The expert held a green, lady’s
umbrella, and the old female relative .from Bogor held a red one over
them. The mother of the groom then showered the rice, coins, and
flowers over them and in the four directions of the compass. Thereafter
they entered the house and went into the bridal room, followed by a
stream of young girls and boys carrying food containers, luggage, decor-
ated trays with gifts and, in a basket, a cock and hen bound together.
The older women present seemed highly amused when they saw these
birds. Everybody crammed into the small bridal room. The couple
was seated at the table with the fertility cakes. During the rite of feeding
them these cakes, however, there were only these young boys and girls
in the room and the "expert." Not even the parents were present. The
(21) The Peranakans recognize this rite to be of local, i. e., Sundanese
origin, although we find in Jan Jakob De Groot, Jaarlijksche fees ten en
gebruiken onder de Emoy-Chineszen (1880), mention of the belief among
the Hokkiens that by scattering rice around one can ward off evil spirits,
Moestapa, op. cit., pp, 19, 20, 40, 58, 88, 90, 91, emphasizes the
great importance attached to the sawer in most of the rituals observed in
traditional Sundanese custom. There is usually a special tukang sawer
(an expert in the sawer ceremony) because among the Sundanese this rite
does not consist of the scattering with rice (made yellow with turmeric),
coins, and flowers only, but also consists of a recital of special verses.
Prawirasuganda, op. cit., pp. 227, 228, explains the use of the articles
as follows: rice symbolizes "what causes life" (jang melantarankan
hidup); the coins symbolize "worldliness or something valuable" (Junta-
berana atau barang jang berharga); the turmeric, called by the Sundanese
koneng temeri, i. e,, symbol of honesty, in Sundanese temen wekel. The
meaning "is tliat in the search for good fortune (ridjki or rezeki) one has to
be honest and patient in order to meet happiness; the purpose of the um-
brella is that in all circumstances one has to keep an umbrella ready to
guard oneself, one has to be cautious and watchful continuously.93
"expert" fed each of the couple in turn a red and white onde cake, then
exchanging the cups, fed them again. He did the same with the liquid in
the two outer cups. This over, the couple left the room and the ’’expert"
told them to look for the groom’s parents. They were in the inner room
where the bridal seat was set up. This seat was part of the usual furni-
ture in this room, but was now covered with green satin and decorated
with green and silver-colored ribbon. The couple, the groom’s parents,
and his grandmother all suddenly began to weep. At one point the bride
was weeping on the right shoulder of the groom’s father and the groom
on the left shoulder. Then followed the pai, the tea-serving ceremony.
First the grandmother was seated on a chair. The couple stood before
her holding a tray on which were two silver colored cups with tea. There
was no formal presentation of a cup, however; the grandmother took one
herself, brought it to her lips but,without touching it, she put it back again,
at the same time placing a "red packet" on the tray. Then followed the
parents together, and after them all the older relatives, two at a time.
Some young people of a generation older than the groom were also served.
The groom’s father sometimes gave a kind of introduction; for instance,
when two China-born Hokkien women dressed in trousers and jacket were
seated, he said of one of them that she is their (the couple’s) go tjim,
which could mean his fifth younger brother’s wife or his fifth younger
first cousin’s wife. None of those served actually drank of the tea, except
for one nervous-looking young girl (her performance made several other
young girls watching the ceremony burst into smothered giggling), but all
presented a "red packet," This ceremony over, the couple took positions
in front of the bridal seat to receive the congratulations of the other guests,
the non-relatives, and those relatives younger according to age and gen-
eration than the groom. The prevailing way of greeting was the pai; only
a few young people shook hands.
The bride was dressed in a western wedding gown made of white
lace with long sleeves and open collar and a slip made of white satin.
She had a short white gauze veil and a small silver colored crown on her
head and wore a pearl necklace and pearl earrings. The bridal bouquet
consisted of white Faster lilies. The groom was in a cream colored
western suit with red tie. The groom’s father was also dressed in a
western suit but of brown color, and the mother had on a sarong with a
bright green kabaja.
About an hour after arrival in the groom’s house the couple left
again to present an offering in the Chinese temple, which is at about two
minutes walking distance. They went there in the car rented for the
wedding, accompanied only by the "expert" and a few young girls. One
of these girls carried along a small pot with kue onde. At the temple
the "expert" put the latter into little cups and placed three at each altar.
The couple then lighted two small red candles and prayed with the incense
sticks at each altar. Immediately thereafter they left the temple,
leaving the burning of the gold joss paper to the caretaker.
These were the parts of the wedding that the writer was able to
observe. Because there was no invitation to return after she left to
follow the couple to the temple, she felt she could not come back to the
house. The ceremonial part was over, however, and the festivities94
continued in the usual way with a banquet, card playing, and the orchestra
providing the musical background.
The most significant feature of this wedding is the fact that, although
the groom’s father is a China-born Hokkien, the celebration was completely
dominated by Peranakans and followed what is considered Peranakan cus-
toms, This, in the writer’s opinion, indicates two important aspects in
the Peranakan community: first, women play the leading part in matters
concerning marriage and, second, women are the perpetuators of cere-
monial behavior. Evidences of this role will be seen even more clearly
in the chapter on religion.
The second description is of a wedding where the writer was in-
vited by the family of the bride, so she was able to follow the procedure
from the bride’s side. At the time of the marriage the girl was sixteen.
She had several years of elementary education at the Ping Min School, the
KMT - oriented Chinese -language school in Sukabumi, She lives in a back
street with her mother who left her husband years ago because he took
another woman, an older brother and his wife, and a younger brother of
about twelve. The mother is the daughter of a China-born Hakka man and
a Peranakan woman. The son who lives with her is married to a local-
born Hakka girl of China-born parents, while two of her sisters are mar-
ried to China-born men. Yet in dress and behavior she herself is com-
pletely Peranakan and several times she stated to the writer that, on her
part, the wedding would be according to Peranakan custom.
The groom is a young man of twenty-six who lives next door to the
bride. He is a graduate -of the Chung Hua senior middle school, the
Peking-oriented Chinese-language school in Sukabumi, and at the time of
his marriage was employed as a traveling salesman with a Chinese firm
in Djakarta, His mother is a China-bora Hokchia woman, as was her
late husband. He is an adopted son and, in fact, the offspring of a China-
born Hakka man and an Indonesian woman, which explains his dark com-
plexion and his more Indonesian than Chinese features.
The mother of the bride explained to the writer that she is very
much opposed to this marriage because he is Hokchia, therefore lain
bangsa (literally, of another race). Another reason she mentioned was
that he is so ugly. It was clear to the writer, however, that the real
objection to this union is based on the mother’s belief that with the
daughter’s good looks, which indeed she has, she could have made a
much better match, socially and financially. This mother proved to be
a good example of the syncretism as manifested especially among older
Peranakan women. She told the writer that she had been to a dukun
belanda (a Eurasian woman who is believed to be a fortune teller and who
lived in the northern part of the town), to a Sundanese old woman living
in the market area who is also believed to possess the power to look
into the future, and then to the Chinese temple, to consult about her
daughter.
As to the wedding ceremony, the mother informed the writer
that each party was going to follow its own customs. Both, however,
employed the services of the "expert.” He and his female assistant95
arranged and decorated the bridal room which was set up in the house of
the groom. He also conducted the tjio tao rite (dressing the hair) for
both the bride and groom. That of the bride was held at her home, but
that of the groom at the Eng Tjhun Kong So, the meeting hall of the Eng
Tjhun speech group association, rented by the groom’s family for the
entire wedding celebration because their house was too small. There
was to be no party at all on the bride’s part because, as the mother ex-
plained, she did not approve of the match and, besides, she had given
a party on the occasion of the betrothal about a year earlier,
On the Friday before the wedding day, a Sunday, a sidekah was
held in the bride’s house. The time was set at twelve, but when the writer
arrived at the house there were only the mats spread in the center room
and she was told that it was postponed until one o’clock because the Sun-
danese woman who was to provide the offering was delayed. It was not
until half past one, however, when the woman finally arrived accompanied
by two men. One of them was her husband, a man in his late forties and
the gardener of the Kabupaten office, the other a friend of his, A little
later two other men arrived. The woman, who looked much older than her
husband, at once set out to put the offerings on the mat. They were the
following: one plate of kue kering (dry cookies, usually made of sago flour);
one plate of kue basah (wet cookies, usually made of rice flour and cooked .
by steaming); one plate, of nasi begana, the cooked rice mixed with a kind
of curry made of meat and string beans; one bowl containing the kembang
rampe; and a small oven for the incense.
Before placing the little oven on the mat, the mother made a round
with it through the house. When everything was ready the husband of the
Sundanese woman, who was to do the doa, asked who the bride was, where-
upon the girl came forward and also sat down on the mat. The mother
then said that she wanted to minta berkah buat anak saja, meaning to ask
blessings for her child. The man started the doa, witneyes downcast and
hands held in a position as if reading a book, "The prayer was scarcely
audible and very short. At the end he rubbed his face. The other men
who had been sitting passively did the same, and the doa was over. The
bowl with flowers was put before him and he uttered a doa over it. The
mother poured water in it and, when asked, she explained that it would be
used by the bride to wash her face. Another bowl with water only was
treated in the same way, and this was to be used by the bride to bathe with.
All this done, the men started to eat. As the writer observed at other
sidekahs, they ate only a few mouthfuls of the rice that had been put on
plates for each of them, took some of the cookies and drank of the coffee.
Then they lighted a cigarette which was also placed on the mat. This was
an indication that they were through with the meal. The woman wrapped
the rice that was left on the plates in banana leaves to be taken home by
the men. Some of the rice that was still left in the container was put on
plates and presented to the family of the groom and a few neighbors.
On Saturday the offering table for the sembahjang samkai (from the
Hokkien sam k§.i, translated by Freedman (22) as the trinity of divine
(22) Maurice Freedman, Chinese Family and Marriage in Singapore
(London, 1957), p. 141,96
powers) was set up* To the Peranakans the meaning of sam kai is ex-
tremely vague. They usually equate it with Thi-kong, meaning Lord of
Heaven, or Tuhan Allah, the Indonesian term lor God. Before the appli-
cation of the Dutch Civil Law (in Java in 1919), when the Chinese followed
customary law, a marriage was considered legitimate by the performance
of the sembahjang sam kai. Therefore this offering is usually associated
with the tjio tao rite^ TEe mother of the bride informed the writer that on
the morning ot that Saturday a large food offering had been made to the
ancestors of her family at her younger brother’s house, where the family
altar is kept. On this day also, the bridal room was made ready at the
groom’s house. It was done by the "expert" and his assistant. In this
case, however, no ceremony was performed when the room was ready.
As mentioned earlier, the tjio tao rite of the bride was performed
at her house, while that of the groom was at the meeting hall of the Eng
Tjhun association. Both were held early in the morning on the wedding
day and both were conducted by the "expert." The writer did not observe
the one performed by the groom, but she was informed by the "expert"
that it was similar to that of the bride.
For this ceremony, the medja samkai (medja is Indonesian for
table, thus a table used for the samkai offering) was placed in the center
of the front porch in front of the main door of the house, facing the street.
It was made of copper, brightly polished for the occasion, about five and
one half feet high with four legs made of copper tubes, on the sides rein-
forced by tubes fastened diagonally from one leg to the other, The table
top was also made of copper and on the back, at three sides, there was a
small decoration. A colorful red Chinese drapery with flower design was
put in the front, hanging down from the edge. On the table the following
articles were arranged from the front to the back:
In the first row: at left and right a candlestick in the shape of a
pagoda. In the center an incense pot with a lid on which was the
figure of a lion.
In the second and following rows: a small bottle with Chinese
white wine placed in a decorated copper container.
One small copper container with fragrant pieces of wood.
One small empty copper container.
One plate with a bunch of bananas, one orange and one pomegranate.
Nine small silver colored cups, resembling egg-holders.
One small oval-shaped plate with gula batu, literally,rock sugar,
called thus because they have the shape of small pieces of rock
(they are specially used for offerings); two kinds of Indonesian
fruit (pala and kingkip) made into sweets.
One vase with the following flowers: siantan, tasbeh and kembang
kotok.	—————97
At the back in the center: one big container made of china to put
the incense sticks into* and at the corners at left and right
another pair of candlesticks.
Right in front of this table a rice measure called gantang (Indone-
sian for a measuring unit the equivalent of 3. 1 kg. ) was placed'on a
small table covered with a colorful Chinese cloth,. This rice measure
was made of wood, square at the bottom and widening at the opening, in
the center a crossbar to be used as a handle. It was painted red with
the patkwa, the eight trigrams, painted on the front side. It was filled
to the brim with uncooked rice and in it the following articles were stuck:
In the front in the center a small, shallow container with oil in
it to be lighted during the ceremony.
One pair of scissors.
One comb, a black old-fashioned one that has the shape of a half moon.
One cheap small mirror.
One Chinese knife in a sheath.
One pair erf Chinese scales, of the kind used by Chinese goldsmiths.
One wooden measuring rod of about one foot long, with silk thread
in several colors wound around it at one end.
Five small copper articles resembling traditional Chinese weapons.
A torn and shabby-looking Chinese book, open at a certain page,
supported by a copper bar behind it. This book turned out to be an
old copy of a Mung shu, a Chinese almanac.
One small bottle with several kinds of seeds.
Flanking this container were two small red candles. At the
back of the table fastened to the legs were two long sugar cane stalks, one
at each side.
All these articles have a symbolic meaning. Of some the writer
has been given several meanings.
The gantang filled with rice symbolizes life filled to the full with
happiness. Another explanation is that it symbolizes prosperity,
because the rice filled to the brim means that in the house the rice
container is never to be empty.
The oil lamp reminds the couple that all their acts must be honorable,
i. e, , able to face the light.
The pair of scissors symbolizes harmony between man and wife,
because a pair of scissors is only useful when the two parts work
together.
The comb--to put in order everything that is in disorder.
The mirror--all acts must be considered carefully, to prevent
hurting other people’s feelings.98
The Chinese knife--nobody seemed to be able to explain this.
The pair of scales--each has to weigh who is right and who is wrong.
The measuring rod--same meaning as the pair of scales.
The silk thread--husband and wife should be nice and tender to each
other.
The small copper articles--explained as having only a decorative
function.
The Chinese almanac--all advice and meaning of these symbols should
be printed in the mind of the bridal couple as in a book. It is more
likely, however, that a magical meaning is attached to this book, be-
cause it gives information on the most auspicious days for the per-
formance of ceremonies, marriage, funeral, and other ceremonial
activities.
The bottle with seeds--symbol of fertility.
The sugar cane--symbol of sweetness of life.
According to several informants and also according to two articles
on Peranakan wedding ceremonies in the publication of the Sam Kauw Hwee
(23) this ceremony can also be performed in front of the ancestor altar.
The time for the bride to perform the ceremony was fixed at six,
but the "expert" was delayed half an hour because he had to conduct the
ceremony of the groom first. The procedure was as follows:
The officiator of the ceremony was the married older brother of
the bride. He was supposed to substitute for the father who did not come,
although he was informed of the wedding. The brother was assisted by the
mother’s younger sister who had come from Tjitjurug (a village about an
hour’s drive north of Sukabumi) the day before. She was supposed to sub-
stitute for the mother. The reasons for the substitution were explained:
first, the mother is opposed to the marriage, so she does not want to par-
ticipate actively in the important parts; second, the person who assists
in this ceremony should be someone who is happily married and this
definitely does not apply to the mother.
The brother and the aunt each lighted one of the candles on the
sides with a small red candle--first the two big "dragon" candles placed
at the back of the table, then the two small red candles in the front, then
together the oil lamp on the rice measure and, finally, the two small
red candles on the table in front of it. The two small candles used to
light the others were put on the gate in front of the house. Thereafter
the older brother prayed with three big incense sticks, of the kind used
only to pray to deities and to Thi-kong, while the aunt prayed with three
of the ordinary ones. The "expert" poured white wine in one of the cups
and gave it to the brother, telling him to throw it on the floor in front
of the altar. After performing the pai, the task of the brother and aunt
(23) Second year, no, 3 (February 1956) and no. 5 (September 1956),99
was finished. The mother then led the bride, who was dressed in Chinese
trousers and jacket of white cotton, to the altar. In front of it a large
bamboo tray was placed on the floor. It is of the kind used for winnowing
rice and drying things in the sun. This kind of article is termed a
tampah (Indonesian word, also used by Peranakans).
Among the younger generation this rite is commonly referred to
as duduk di atas tampah (Indonesian, meaning to sit on a tray). The tray
had a diameter of about thirty inches and was painted red all over; in the
center in black and white was the Yin-Yang; symbol, the Chinese symbol
of the male and female principle. That this tjio tao rite is a rite de
passage, as stated by Freedman(24) in his account of this same rite among
the Chinese in Singapore, is clearly.,evidenced by the explanation given to
the writer that the tray, by its roundness, symbolizes the world. Thus,
by stepping onto the tray, an individual establishes his entrance into the
world and is thereby recognized as an adult. The Yin-Yang symbol indi-
cates the uniting of male and female which is established by the mar-
riage. A chair, covered with a red Chinese cloth, was placed on it,
facing the table. The bride was directed to stand on the tray and pray
with three ordinary incense sticks. Then she was seated on the chair.
The ’'expert*' took the black comb from the rice measure and gave it to
the older brother, telling him to comb her hair three times. At the first
stroke the "expert" said softly tsai (Hokkien, wealthy), at the second
tsu (posterity), and at the third sin* (long life). The comb was given to the
mother and then to the aunt to do the same. The bride once again prayed
with three incense sticks and, after making the pai gesture, the rite was
over and she was led into her room. Here she was left in the care of the
female assistant of the "expert" for dressing and make up. She was
dressed in a white western wedding dress, consisting of a gauze skirt
and white brocade bodice with straps, a satin half slip fastened under
the skirt and a jacket on top made of the same gauze material as the skirt,
with long sleeves and Peter Pan collar. The short veil was made of plain
gauze and fastened to the hair with white artificial flowers. The acces-
sories, consisting of a pin, pearl necklace and earrings (all imitation
jewelry) and white cotton gloves, were also provided by the "expert," The
bride added her own gold bracelet and two gold rings. Her face was made
up with Max Factor and locally made cosmetics. When ready she re-
mained in the room to await the arrival of the groom.
Around eleven o*clock the groom arrived in a blue, American-
made rented car, decorated in front with a red piece of cloth fastened to
the upper edge of the windshield. Two other cars followed, filled with
relatives and friends of his mother, all China-born Hokkiens, the women
dressed in trousers and jacket. In the car with the groom were only men.
The groom was dressed in a cream colored western suit with a grey tie
and white gloves. He entered the house alone. At the steps the "expert"
held a green umbrella over his head and the mother of the bride showered
rice made yellow with turmeric, rose petals, and coins over him. Then
he was led to the room where the bride was waiting in front of the door,
her face covered by the veil. The "expert" handed her a small corsage
(24) Freedman, op. cit., pp. 104, 134, 135.100
to put in the buttonhole of the groom. She failed to do this, however, and
the "expert” did. it for her. The groom then lifted her veil and presented
her the bouquet. Arm in arm they proceeded to the inner room where re-
freshments were displayed. Here they were seated on two chairs and
the "expert" fed them kue onde, fertility cakes. In the meantime, the
people who had accompanied the groom, among them his mother, had also
entered the house and were invited to partake of the refreshments. In less
less than fifteen minutes, however, they all rose to leave, without
touching anything. The bride also rose to bid farewell to her family.
The wife of a younger brother of her mother, whom she called mama
(she had been given to her in nominal adoption), started to cry and told
the bride to behave and told the groom to be kind to her. The couple
made the pai gesture to the mother, the mother's younger sister, and the
bride's two older married sisters who had arrived that morning with
their husbands from Djakarta. In the meantime the trousseau of the
bride was put in the cars. This trousseau consisted of the following: one
big leather suitcase decorated with a red ribbon; two pillows and two bol-
sters, bound together with a red ribbon; toilet articles--one washing
bowl, two soap containers, two glasses and two toothbrushes, all wrapped
in red paper; one chamberpot also wrapped in red paper; one filled food
container (on the first evening in her husband's home the bride is not
supposed to eat of her mother-in-law's food); several containers with
cakes. In the bridal car were also a cock and a hen, the legs fastened
together with a red ribbon. This was brought by the groom and was to
be taken to the bridal room later.
In the bridal car were seated the bridal couple, two of the bride's
girl friends, and her younger brother of twelve. The second car was
used by the bride's family. In it were squeezed seven adults and five
little children. These adults were: the aunt from Tjitjurug and her mar-
ried daughter, another younger sister of the mother (she was dressed in
Chinese trousers and jacket, and is one of the two younger sisters of the
mother who married China-born men), the two married sisters from
Djakarta, the wife of the older brother, and the writer. These people
and the older brother (who, together with some of the men who originally
came by car to accompany the groom, walked to the meeting hall which
was only five minutes away) were the only relatives to accompany the
bride. The third car was occupied by the relatives of the groom. With
loud hooting the three cars left the house and proceeded to the meeting
hall.
From this point the wedding proceeded according to what is con-
sidered the custom of the groom's family. This resembled closely the
form of modern marriage among the Singapore Chinese, called "Reformed
Wedding" by Freedman. (25) The main characteristics of this type of
wedding were present: the officiator (who told the writer that he is a
good friend of the groom); the master .of ceremony calling off in Mandarin
the fifteen items which were written on blackboard in Chinese characters;
the guardians (for the bride, her brother and his wife; for the groom,
an old relative to represent his late father and his mother); an introducer;
(25) Freedman, op. cit., pp. 163-165,101
the exchange of the rings followed by the Signing of the marriage certifi-
cates, first by the couple, then the family of the groom, the family of the
bride and, finally, the officiator; a speech in Mandarin by the officiator;
an invitation to all present to make a speech (nobody responded); a vote
of thanks by the officiator. The certificates,. one for the bride and one
for the groom, were made of thick red paper. They were written in
Chinese and decorated with flowers and birds. On the front were the
four characters, chieh hun cheng shu (Mandarin, meaning marriage
certificate) written in silver.
After the ceremony the guests were invited to go to the dining hall
where a special Hokchia noodle soup was served. This over, the family
of the bride was taken home again in the car. They thought that the
couple were also leaving for the groom's house and that they were going
to accompany them. They were somewhat upset when a relative of the
groom told them that the couple was not leaving yet and that from then on
the bride was entirely in their care. Their indignation is an indication
that they considered their task as escorts of the bride over only after
delivering her at her new home, which is the correct procedure according
to the traditional pattern.
Around noon the couple finally left for the groom’s house. They
went immediately to the shelf altar of the groom’s father, to pay their
respects to him. The groom prayed with big incense sticks and the bride
with the ordinary kind. Neither moved the lips, but an old Hokkien
woman, who had been with the groom’s mother all the time, stood with
them and prayed loudly in Hokkien, Then the bride retired to the bridal
room accompanied by her two friends who served as a kind of bridesmaids.
She told the writer that she was not going to undress, because it would
be too difficult to dress up again for the reception that was to be held at
five o’clock. That this reception was paid entirely by the groom’s family
was evidenced by the information given in an indignant tone by the bride’s
mother that she had been provided with only ten invitation cards for
guests.
The type of marriage that occurred in the meeting hall as described
above, a ceremony which is essentially a public declaration of the union
established between the parties concerned, had in fact already been ad-
vocated among the Peranakans in the early nineteen hundreds. In 1901
the Tiong Hoa Hwe Koan organization produced a list of rites, then ob-
served among the Peranakans, which should be omitted because they
were considered superfluous or superstitions. In 1906 the organization
produced another list giving the procedure of the ceremony itself according
to the regulations as stipulated by the organization. This was essentially
the reading of the marriage certificate by the president of the organization
in the meeting hall in the presence of the members of the wedding party
and those members of the organization who wished to attend, (26) In the
wedding to be described next, something resembling a meeting occurred,
but it was not for the purpose of declaring the marriage as a fact, but for
(26) Nio Joe Lan, THHK anniversary book, pp. 206-208b,102
the presentation of a lecture advocating the preservation and better under-
standing of what the speaker called a "wedding according to Chinese tradition.
The third wedding will now be described. Here both the rites to
be performed after the meeting of the bride and groom, and the party
afterwards, took place at the meeting hall, in this case that of the Eng
Tjhun association. The marriage was that of a boy from Sukabumi and a
girl from Bogor. The boy lived with his parents in a fairly large house
with a sizeable garden where his mother raised flowers to be sold to the
local flower shops. These people were members of the Sam Kauw Hwee,
which most probably accounts for their having a speaker of the Khong
Kauw Hwee from Bandung give an explanation of the meaning of the
sembahjang samkai at this wedding. When the writer arrived at the
meeting hall in the company of a Peranakan woman in her early sixties
who had invited her for this wedding, there were not many guests yet.
The speaker was already present, however, and informed the writer that
the lecture was postponed until two o’clock because the groom, who had
gone by car to fetch the bride in Bogor, was to leave that town at one
o’clock, and it takes about an hour to return to Sukabumi. The Peranakan
woman and the writer were invited by the mother of the groom to sit at
the medja teh (literally tea table). This table was loaded with all kinds of
cakes, Chinese, Indonesian, and western. At virtaully all Peranakan
weddings this kind of table is set up. AU the female guests are brought
to this table as soon as they arrive. A cup of tea is presented and the
guest is expected to make a choice of the cakes displayed. In practice,
however, few of the guests do so, for Peranakans customarily show a
restraint in matters of food in company.
Around two o’clock the bridal couple arrived. The bride was
dressed in a white western bridal gown with a long veil and a small
crown on her head. There were two bridesmaids, girls of around ten,
dressed in long white dresses, short veils, and with their faces made
up. The groom was in a light western suit.
The couple was brought to a small room at the back of the main
hall. Here a table was set up with two cups of the kue onde and two cups
of tea. The couple was made to sit on two chairs at this table. The usual
"expert" was present, but it was the mother of the groom who fed them.
After this rite, they went to the front porch where two altars were set up,
one the medja samkai, and the other for a picture of Koan Im, the Chinese
Goddess ofMercy of'Buddhist origin. Under the direction of the "expert"
they prayed with incense sticks, first for the former, then for the latter.
When the writer asked the Khong Kauw speaker whether it is common at
weddings to pray to K.oan Im he answered that it is completely wrong. He
stated emphatically that one should not pray to Koan Im, but to one’s
ancestors. He spoke rather loudly, causing several people to look at him.
The "expert" approached him saying soothingly that this is indeed not
correct but that this building belongs to the Eng Tjhun people and they
pray to Koan Im, so he has simply adjusted himself. The speaker there-
upon replied that for this occasion they could have removed the picture.
After the praying, the tea serving ceremony took place, Then
followed the reception. The couple stood in front of the bridal seat
which was set up in the main hall. Practically all the guests made the103
- pai gesture. Then the lecture started. In front of the seat, chairs were
arranged in rows. The audience consisted of about forty women and twen-
ty men. (These were the guests who were not playing cards. Since^early
morning there had been men and women, mostly in their fifties and older,
engaged in card playing in the second hall at the back of the building. Card
playing is a common feature at many Peranakan weddings,) During the
speech the couple remained standing.
The speaker started by introducing himself as a member of the
Khong Kauw Hwee of Bandung and stating that he is always willing to speak
at weddings which are conducted in what he called the ’’traditional Chinese"
way. He went on to express his happiness that there are still young people
who value the teachings of Confucius, He then addressed himself primarily
to the bridal couple, calling them by their given name, advising them to
love each other*s parents because without them they would not have existed.
(He thus stressed the idea of filial piety.) The theme of the speech Was the
explanation of the me aning of the articles used for the sembahjang samkai.
The purpose was, as he;stated it, to impress the couple with their meaning
so that they will realize why they performed the offering. The articles he
referred to were the rice measure and the articles placed in it. The explan-
ation given is the same as the one in the description of the tjio tap rite above
After this speaker a member of the executivebboard of the Sam
Kauw Hwee of Sukabumi also made a short speech. He addressed himself
mainly to the bridal couple and the gist of the speech was also the expres-
sion of pleasure that this wedding was conducted according to the "old
. Chinese tradition."
These two speeches are indicative of the attempts of the Sam Kauw
Hwee and the Khong Kauw Hwee to revive what they refer to as ^’Chinese
culture" or "Chinese tradition." Curiously enough, however, in the lifct
of rites advocated to be omitted by the Tiong Hoa Hwe Koan organization
(27) there is the following statement: "It is not necessary for the bride
. (and groom) to dress and make up, facing the gantang filled with all kinds
of articles; it is also unnecessary to sit on the tray, because these things
are related with superstitious practices," No doubt these early advocators
were attempting to be "pure" Confucianists, which meant that everything
which resembles superstition should be discarded. It is significant, as an
indication of what is considered "Chinese tradition," that more than fifty
years later a professed follower of Confucian teachings should advocate the
use of the very same articles that were condemned as an expression of
superstitious beliefs. This kind of regression seems indicative of an in-
dividual or a group attempting to maintain or preserve the identity they
consider ideal.
The three weddings described above were all of marriages between
young people in their early twenties who could have had no more than a
couple of years of Dutch education, if that, for when the war broke out they
could not have been more than seven or eight years old. No marriage
between persons who both have had Dutch secondary school education
occurred during the period of the study. The writer did get information,
however, from two young married women in their early thirties, whose
(27) Nio Joe Lan, THHK anniversary book, p. 207,104
educational background falls in the latter category. One of them married
in 1945. She and her husband attended Dutch schools before the war,
They still speak Dutch among themselves and even with their children of
between seven and ten, who at the time of the study were just transferred
from the Dutch-language school (the only one still operating at that time
in Sukabumi) to an Indonesian-language school. At the time of the mar-
riage (she was then 24} her parents had already died and she was occupied
as a dressmaker. She. considers herself as belonging to a poor family.
Her husband, however, is the son of one of the wealthy men in town and
is related to the owner of the largest textile factory. On the wedding day
the only rite she performed was that of praying at her father's altar
before she left her house and praying at the altar of her husband1 s family
when she entered his house. Neither of them performed the tjio tao rite
or any other rite. She described her husband's family as modern, which
the writer found especially true of the mother, who speaks Dutch well.
This mother once stated to the writer that she considers the observance
of ancestor rites very burdensome and old-fashioned. Therefore, she
said, after her death she does not want her children to observe the
ancestor rites for her.
The other woman who recounted her wedding to the writer was
married in 1952, After the war she finished her Dutch secondary school
education and studied for about one year at the academy of fine arts in
Bandung. Her two older brothers have advanced degrees from universi-
ties in Holland and Germany, Her husband also had a Dutch secondary
school education and then four years of study of printing techniques in
Holland, They were engaged before he left and married after his return.
On the wedding day neither of them performed the tjio tao rite but each
did pray at their own ancestor altar separately before she was fetched
by the groom, and then they prayed together. They also performed the
fertility rite in the bridal room. She stated that she considers the ob-
servance of this rite nonsense, because it is meaningless to her. She is
of the opinion that, in general, the rites that are still performed at old-
fashioned weddings should be omitted because, she said, the performers
themselves usually are completely ignorant of their meaning and are
simply following what they are told to do. Asked whether they had made
use of the services of the "expert," she answered that they did not,
because he follows "the old-fashioned tradition,"
The cases presented above show that, in the form of the wedding
celebration itself, there is a basic core which has as its focus the an-
cestor altar. Outside this basic core a process of elimination rather
than selection occurs in regard to the rites that may be observed. The
greater the influence of westernization and modernization, the more of
the traditional rites (of Hokkien as well as Sundanese origin) that will
be eliminated. Conversely, the lesser the exposure to western and
modern ideas, the more of the traditional rites that will be observed.
The decision makers in this situation are primarily the female members
of the older generation of the family, in particular the mother and/or
grandmother. Depending on the educational achievement and age of the
young people involved, more or less voice will be granted to them in
this decision making. The higher the educational achievement, the
older their age, the more readily their right of participation in thedecision making is recognized, which reflects clearly the traditionally
high evaluation given to education. Among the younger generation itself
there .is an emulation of western forms or of modern Chinese forms,
depending on the education they have received.
We have observed in the beginning of this section that it is espec-
ially in the rites that may be observed for the wedding that the influences
of Hokkien, Sundanese, western and modern Chinese customs are most
clearly expressed. Each of these rites can be traced as to its origin.
Reviewing the procedure of the weddings described above, we win
arrive at the following list of rites:
The sidekah--either connected or not connected with the
fixing of the bridal room.
The tjio tao rite.
The sembahjang samkai.
The sawer.
The eating of the kue onde (fertility cakes).
The offering to the ancestor altar.
’	The pai (tea serving) ceremony.
The offering at the temple.
The sidekah as such is clearly a Sundanese rite. As mentioned
earlier in the section on prenatal care, the explanation for the observance
of this rite is usually, "We live in this country, so we just follow the
customs prevailing here," Another, though less frequently given, explana
tion is, "Most of us must have an Indonesian woman among our ancestors,
therefore it is only natural that we should honor her the way her people
do it."
In the second case especially, it is quite obvious that a Sundanese
rite was being performed. All the characteristics of a sidekah were pre-
sent: the food offering consisting of nasi begana, the kembang rampe,
and the incense; the participants all Sundanese men; tHe officiator praying
in Arabic (presumably--it was inaudible). The occurrence of this rite
on Friday can perhaps be explained as the influence of the belief among
the Sundanese that Friday is the day for praying and offering. But again
this is not a hard and fast rule and the writer has been informed that
this rite may also be performed on the, day before the wedding day, on
a Saturday.
In the first case the sidekah was connected with the completion
of the decoration of the bridal room. Here we notice a striking deviation
from the regular pattern in that the participants were all women. It
would appear that in this case a combination of a sidekah and a spirit -
medium performance took place, with the emphasis more on the latter
than on the former. The only attributes that indicates a sidekah were
the food offering: nasi tumpeng, kembang rampe and the incense pot.
There was not a single man present and no praying in Arabic occurred.
Spirit-medium performances are not an uncommon part of
Hokkien religious life, as shown in Elliot's study of spirit-medium cults
■ f
1,106
I
in Singapore, (28) nor are they an uncommon part of Sundanese religious
life. The significance of this particular performance lies in the fact that
the medium was believed to have been possessed by the spirit of a Sundan-
ese holy man. This is an indication of the strong influence of local be-
liefs, besides being a good measure of the use of the Sundanese language
among the Peranakans in Sukabumi,
We have already pointed out that the tjio tap rite is a rite de
passage, marking the recognition of an individual as an adult, ΐϋί'έ idea
attached to the tjio tao rite is confirmed by the statement made by many
informants that it may only be performed once in a lifetime, at the first
marriage. Its Hokkien origin is conclusively demonstrated by the vocabu-
lary used and also by the fact that a similar rite is observed among the
Hokkien-Chinese in Singapore. (29)
The tjio tao rite is always performed facing the medja samkai or
the ancestor table. Due to the influence of modern ideas, however, it is
being increasingly omitted and labeled old-fashioned and superstitious.
Among the younger generation it is even considered something to make
fun of. To most of them the term tjio tao is virtually unknown; they
usually refer to it as duduk di atas tampah.
Those who omit this rite may still perform the sembahjang sam-
kai, however, as this is considered an invitation to the samkai- -among
the Peranakans regarded as synonymous with Thi-tong or Tuhan Allah--
to witness the conclusion of this union. It would appear that among
those who have a permanent ancestor altar, the sembahjang samkai may
be dispensed with.
The sawer is a rite recognized by Peranakans themselves as a
Sundanese custom. What they perform, however, is only part of what is
prescribed according to traditional Sundanese custom. The belief that
rice has the power to ward off evil spirits is also found among the
Hokkiens. During the annual procession of (he deities of the temple of
Sukabumi, for instance, rice was scattered in the four directions of every
crossroad. In the' Tiong Hoa Hwe Koan list of wedding rites, however,
it is advised that the sawer be omitted, because it is related to “super-
stitious practices."
The eating of the kue onde is undeniably of Hokkien origin. In
de Groot (30) we read the following description:
, ..Two cups with little, round pills, mixed red and white ones,
ere then brought in and put on the table in front of the bridal
couple. The red ones represent the male principle of nature,
the Yang, the white ones the female principle, the Yin. With
(28)	Alan J» A. Elliot, Chinese Spirit-medium Cults in Singapore
(London, 1955).
(29)	Freedman, op. cit., pp. 134, 135, 139-141.
(30)	de Groot, op. cit., pp. 68, 69.107
a spoon both eat one red and one white pill at a time. Then
the cups are exchanged and both eat some more, whereupon
bride and groom bow to each other. Thus the marriage is
considered sealed in accordance with the dualism of feature.
As might be expected, this sophisticated explanation is virtually
unknown among the Peranakans, This rite is recognized only as symbol-
izing fertility, which is reflected in the advice usually given to the young
couple to eat as many of the little balls of cake as possible, because
"the more you eat of them, the more children you will have,"
Apparently this rite is still widely observed in Sukabumi because
even the young woman who stated that they did not use the services of the
"expert," because he follows "the old-fashioned tradition," did perform
this particular one. It seems that it might be explained as an indication
of the adherence to the idea that a marriage should be blessed by children,
which can be considered a reflection of the traditional duty to provide for
posterity in order to continue the family line.
The offering to the ancestral altar is performed by virtually all
Peranakans who are non-Christians, Those who do not have a permanent
altar will convert a table into one. Before the groom fetches the bride,
each prays at his own altar, and after the bride enters the-groom's house
they both pray before the groom’s altar. These observances are recognized
as having the purpose of informing the ancestors and making them witnesses
to the conclusion of the union. They are therefore part of the ideas under-
lying ancestor veneration. From Freedman's account we know that this is
also an important part of a traditional wedding ceremony among the Chinese
in Singapore,
The Hokkien origin of the the pai, tea serving ceremony, is quite
obvious, Essentially it is the expression of the deference that should be
shown to older people. In fact it is part of the deference and honor shown
to the ancestors by burning incense sticks and offering tea to them.
Therefore this ceremony usually follows immediately after the praying
to the ancestors. Among the younger as well as the older generations,
however, there is a growing feeling that this ceremony is unnecessary.
Basically this is a result of the emancipation of youth, in the sense that
the younger generation considers it an exaggeration of the deference re-
quired of them. The clear break with this custom of showing special
deference to the older generation on certain special occasions occurred
with the discarding of the kowtow that used to be required of children to
their parents and grandparents on New Year's day.
During the tea serving ceremonies the writer attended, there was
a noticeable reluctance on the part of the relatives qualified to be served
to sit on the chairs designated for the people to receive this honor. This
reluctance can be attributed to a feeling of embarrassment to be put in
focus for everybody to watch. Thus it would appear that the two forces
of refusal on the part of the younger generation and reluctance on the part
of the older generation will soon xesult in the complete elimination of this
ceremony.108
The offering at the Chinese temple seems to be an uncommon pro-
cedure and usually observed only by those who have direct or active rela-
tions with the temple» In the second case, where this occurred, the
father of the groom was a one-time low tjiu, a function which involves
essentially the management of the finances of the temple. (A more de-
tailed treatment of this function is given in the chapter on religion. )
As to the type of “Reformed Wedding" that occurred in the second
case described above, this is recognized by Peranakans as a Totok
custom and the writer has not heard of any Peranakans observing this
type of ceremony.
The wedding with a lecture, as occurred in the third case, is
also an uncommon procedure and may be adhered to only by those who
are active in either the Khong Kauw Hwee or the Sam Kauw Hwee.
As to the western elements at a Peranakan wedding, we have
notifced the bridal attire, which requires an adjustment of the small
ceremony that occurs at the moment the groom meets the bride. At the
time when the traditional Chinese attire was worn, the groom lifted the
veil made of beads from the face of the bride and the bride opened the
upper button of the groom’s dress. Today the groom lifts the white
gauze veil and the bride puts a flower in the buttonhole of the groom.
Then there is the tiered wedding cake and the reception, whereby the
guests come to the couple, instead of the couple going around greeting
all the guests, the traditional pattern.
Another important element from the legal point of view is the
application of Dutch Civil Law to the Chinese as from 1919» This re-
quires registration of the marriage at the special office of the Municipal
Hall, Among the Peranakans there seems to be no fixed time for this.
It may be a few weeks or a few days before the actual wedding celebration,
but it may also be several months before. The writer was acquainted
with at least two cases where the registration occurred months before,
for reasons of convenience and expediency. In the one case because it
is much easier to acquire a house when one can produce a marriage
license and also because this entitles one to receive the extra allowance
given to a married person on the government payroll. In the other case
it was related to the filling-in of the documents required for going abroad.
In these cases and in others similar to this, the relationship between the
couple is still that of the engagement stage. De jure the couple is mar-
ried but it will be considered de facto as such only after the formal cele-
bration. In general no festivities accompany the civil registration and
often only close relatives and friends will know that the couple is already
lawfully married.
The general conclusion we may draw as to the marriage forms
among the Peranakans seems to be that there is a positive trend towards
adopting western or modern forms, discarding the traditional, old-
fashioned, and superstitious elements of Hokkien and Sundanese origin.
This trend can be seen in Djakarta, for instance, where in many cases
the locus of the celebration has moved completely from the home to a
public building, usually a restaurant, a hotel or the meeting hall of an
organization. In these cases the wedding celebration usually consists
only of a western-style reception, either with light refreshments or a
banquet.109
Kinship Terminology
In this section a description will be given of the kinship terminology
prevalent among the Hokkien-speaking Totoks, among the Sundanese, and
among the Peranakans, with the purpose of accounting for the origin and
nature of the Peranakan system.
An explanation is given for each section as to how the material is
acquired. Based on this information, the writer set up four lists of kin-
ship terminology: of consanguinal relatives through father and through
mother, and of affinal relatives through husband and through wife. {The
four lists for each of the three groups set up by generation are presented
in Appendix 3.)
The Hokkien System
This description is based primarily on interviews with Hokkien-
speaking Totoks in Sukabumi and Djakarta. Of the three formal informants
in Sukabumi, two came from Yung Ch’un (to the north of Ch'uan-chou) and
the third from Amoy. Their ages range from forty to' sixty. There were
also informal informants from Nan An (in Ch'uan-chou), The most impor-
tant informant was a man of about sixty, from Yung Ch’un, married to a
woman from the same region. He came to Indonesia before the war. He
operates a shop in the market area, selling Indonesian and Chinese medi-
cine, and is one of the active members of the Hokkien-speaking section of
the Protestant church. Although he does not speak Mandarin fluently, he
is a literate man and showed evidence of a surprisingly active interest in
the experiments in the change of the Chinese script in mainland China,
Of the four formal informants in Djakarta, the main one was a
local-born Totok whose parents were from Hai Ch’eng (on the continent
around the Bay of Amoy), and who was himself married to a China-born
woman from Hsia-men. He was raised in a completely Totok milieu and
his mother tongue is Hokkien. He operates a printing and book shop. His
information has been corroborated by that of another man from Hai Ch’eng.
The two other informants were a widow of about sixty from Nan An and her
son-in-law who was born in Java of Amoy-born parents.
In Hokkien terminology there is a distinct set of terms for the
nuclear family of orientation and procreation, the primary relatives, as
differentiated from the secondary and tertiary relatives.
Primary relatives--The terms for parents are quite distinct from
those for any other relative:
Fa	lau-pe (31)
Mo	lau-bu
(31) The Hokkien form followed is that of the Rev. Carstairs Douglas,
Chinese-English Dictionary of the Vernacular or Spoken Language of Amoy,
with the Principal Variations of the Chang-chew and Chin-chew Dialects
(London, 1899b	~~110
The terms for siblings are differentiated according to sex and
relative age:
OBr	hia" or tda-hia"
-	YBr	sio-fi
OSi	chf or toa-chx
YSi	sfo-mai
The terms for spouse are:
Hu	ta-po»-l&ng, tiong-hu or	ang	(vulgar)
Wi	tsa-bd’-lang, hu-jfn-lang or	bor(vulgar)
The terms for children are differentiated according to sex:
So	kfan or hau-si”
Da	tsa-bo· -kxanor tsau-a
Secondary, tertiary, and more remote relatives--For these rela-
tives the criteria as outlined by Klurdock(32, will be applied to define the
underlying system. These criteria are: generation, sex, collaterality,
bifurcation, affinity, relative age, speaker's sex and polarity.
The criterion of generation is clearly demonstrated by the use of a
distinct set of terms for the relatives of each generation. No overlapping
of terminology occurs, as shown by the following:
Br, FaBr, FaFaBr	hia", peh, peh-kong
BrSo, BrSoSo, BrSoSoSo sun-d or tit, tit-sun, cheng-
sun or ka" -nd- sun
The use of generation modifiers is apparent in the second and third
ascending and descending generations:
Second ascending generation:
kong for males
pd for females, excluding PaMo
Third ascending generation:
tsd or tai for both males and females
First descending generation:
sun-a or tit,for males and females, except for the
children of sisters and female cousins
Second descending generation:
sun for both males and females, except for the
children of sisters and female cousins
Third descending generation:
cheng or kan-nA" for both males and females
There is one kin category, however, where an ambiguity exists.
This is in the case of the children of brothers and male cousins. For
BrSo, the alternative terms sun-ά. and tit (sun-d being the colloquial and
tit the written form) are used, and for SrDa, tsa-bd -sun-d and tit-id.
(32) G. P. Murdock, Social Structure (New York, 1959), pp. 102-106.Ill
It seems that the sun in sun-d is the same as the sun for ChCh, although
this cannot be checked from the written form, which is pronounced
This merging has been pointed out by Freedman (33) who notes that the
colloquial term sun-ά. is a diminutive of sun, which seems to be consid-
ered by the Chinese themselves as the same sun used for ChCh. Except
for this one ambiguous case, however, we notice that in regard to con-
sanguinal relatives the criterion of generation is consistently recognized.
As to affinal relatives, there is a deviation from the rule in that
an overriding of generation occurs in the spouse’s own generation and
upwards: to SpSb the terms used for PaSb are applied, thus moving them
one generation up. Hence, a man applies to his WiSb the terms used for
his MoSb, while a woman applies to her HuSb the terms used for her FaSb.
This practice is also applied to SpPaSb, The informants explained this
phenomenon as the expression of politeness that should be observed between
affinal relatives. They add, however, that today it is used mostly in
reference only and dropped in address: spouses call each others’ relatives
by the terms used by their respective spouses.
The criterion of sex is recognized consistently in the three as-
cending generations, in ego’s own generation, and in the two descending
generations; it is ignored in the third descending generation, where the
term cheng-sun or kan-rtdn - sun is used for all relatives in this generation.
The recognition of the criterion of collaterality is seen most
clearly in the use of a distinct set of terms for lineal relatives as differ-
entiated from all collateral relatives. An exception is made in the third
descending generation where the terms cheng-sun or kan-n^l>-sun are
applied to all relatives in this generation.
Among these collateral relatives an important overall distinction
is made between agnatic and non-agnatic kin, in that for the latter the
attribute piau is added to the elementary or modified kin term. In tracing
the extent of the recognition of collaterality the writer found that, under-
standably, the informants became vague and unsure beyond the second
collateral line. The main distinctions made are chek-peh or tong for the
first collateral line and chhin-tong for the second collateral line.
In the second ascending generation we notice, however, that no
distinctions seem to be made between grandparents’ siblings and cousins.
The reason is, of course, that in reality few of this category of relatives
exists for any individual.
In the first ascending generation recognition seems not to extend
beyond father’s first cousins, who are indicated by the modifier chhin-tong.
Father’s second cousins may also be recognized, in which case the same
modifier chhin-tdng is used.
In ego’s generation the distinctions are the most elaborate. These
distinctions are made by adding the modifiers to the elementary sibling
(33) Freedman, op. cit., p. 82.112
t£rm. We notice, for instance, that for first cousins modifiers are used
that indicate the type of connection with the parental generation:
FaBrSo	chek-peh hiaP
FaSiSo	ko-piiu-hia”
The same practice is applied to first cousins from mother’s side:
MoBrSo	kU-pidu-hia"
MoSiSo	i-piAu-hian
For ego’s second agnatic cousins the modifier chhin-tQng is used
and is extended to his third agnatic cousins. Thus, in effect, no distinc-
tions are made beyond the second collateral line.
These collateral modifiers are extended downwards to their
descendants in the first and second descending generations.
The criterion of bifurcation is recognized in that different terms
are used for relatives linked to ego through a male or a female. The
main distinction is made between relatives connected to ego through his
father or through his mother. Then, vithin the group of relatives from
father’s side, a distinction is made between those linked to ego through
males only and those linked through both males and females.
We notice, however, that there are several exceptions to the rule:
1,	In the second ascending generation the terms for siblings and
cousins of MoFa are the same as for siblings and cousins of FaFa, while
the terms for siblings and cousins of MoMo are the same as for the simi-
lar relatives of FaMo. Hence the decisive link is the second connecting
relative. The system operating here is that of analogy: the mother refers
to her FaBr as peh, and her child as peh-kong, adding the generation
modifier of the grandparent’s level. To distinguish between the two sets
of relatives the attribute pi£u may be added to indicate those connected to
ego through his mother.
2.	In ego’s generation first cousins are distinguished according
to the link on the parental level:
FaBrSo	chek-peh-hia"
F aSiSo	kef -pieiu-hia"
MoBrDa	ku-pi^u-hia"
MoSiDa	l-pi£u-hia"
Often the first attributive terms ko·, ku, and i are omitted and
added only when required to specify the relationship. Then only the term
for FaBrSo stands out as different from the other three. This distinction
has an important function in regard to marriage regulations, because in
the case of cousin marriage, only those who are pidu to ego are potential
marriage partners.
We will notice that the attribute piau plays a crucial role in that
it not only distinguishes mother’s relatives, but also those connected to
ego through both males and females, thus creating a kind of unilinear
bifurcation, separating agnates from non-agnates.113
The criterion of affinity is consistently recognized in all genera-
tions, giving terms to affinal relatives that are different from consanguinal
relatives. This applies to relatives of father’s side as well as mother’s
side as, for instance:
FaBr, FaSiHu, MoBr, MoSiHu
FaSi, FaBrWi, MoSi, MoBrWi
peh, ko’-tlun, kS, 1-tJu".
ktf, m, i, 1dm
It is interesting to note that the attribute to indicate husband is the
same ttu" for husbands of the sisters of father as well as mother, and
likewise on the grandparents’ level. This reflects the traditional lineage
system, where this category of relatives would be residing in other
lineages, thus making it unnecessary to make clear distinctions between
them.
In referring to spouse’s relatives there is an overriding of genera-
tions as noted in the section dealing with the criterion of generation.
The criterion of relative age is recognized in ego’s generation and
in the ascending generations, but is ignored in the descending generations.
Thus, in ego’s generation there are different terms for older and younger
brothers and male cousins and for older and younger sisters and female
cousins. The recognition in the ascending generations does not go beyond
the first ascending generation, however, where it is only recognized for
males of father’s side and ignored for males of mother’s side and females
of both sides, as shown by the following:
FaOBr, FaYBr
MoOBr, MoYBr
FaOSi, FaYSi
MoOSi, MoYSi
peh, chek
kQ, kQ
ko*
There is a secondary distinction applied to all these relatives by
enumerating them according to age, taking the father or the mother as the
reference point. Thus, father’s eldest brother is toa-peh, father’s second
brother is ji-peh, and so on; mother’s eldest brother toa-ku, mother’s
second brother is ji-ku~, and so on. This enumeration may also be applied
to father’s cousins, but this is optional and depends largely on the proxi-
mity of residence and degree of intimacy. In ego’s generation the pre-
eminent position of the eldest brother and also the eldest sister is indicated
by the addition of the enumerative term toa to the sibling term, thus making
it toa-hia" and toa-chf. This enumeration seems not to be extended to
older siblings younger in the sequence of age.
There is no evidence of the recognition of the criterion of
speaker’s sex, while the criterion of polarity is ignored, at least in the
written form, in the third descending and the third ascending generations,
where the modifier cheng is used in both.
The Sundanese System
The material presented here has been collected in Sukabumi from
interviews with four Sundanese government officials and their wives,
none of whom belong to the menak class (nobility), and from a lecturer in114
Sundanese at the University of Indonesia in Djakarta. (34)
From the lists of terms we will see that in the Sundanese system
also there is a distinct set of terms for the primary relatives of the fam-
ily of orientation and procreation as differentiated from the secondary and
more remote relatives.
Primary relatives--The terms for parents are distinct from those
of any other relative:
Fa	pun bapa
Mo	pun biang, indung
(pun is high style Sundanese for the
possessive pronoun first person
singular)
For siblings the criterion of sex is ignored, but that of relative
age recognized. Thus older brothers and sisters are referred to as pun
lantjeuk, while younger brothers and sisters are referred to as pun adx.
In address, however, sex is recognized, although for older siblings only:
OBr	kang, akang, kakang, engkang
OSi	atjeuk, eutjeu
There is also a term which classifies all siblings and cousins:
dulur.
The terms for spouses are:
Hu	pun lantjeuk (a= OBr), salaki, teknonymy
Wi	pun bodjo, pun adi (®»YSi), pamadjikan,
teknonymy
For children the criterion of sex is ignored. All children are re-
ferred to as anak or budak. When necessary, sex differentiation is added
with the attributes (a)nu lalaki for a boy and (a)nu awewe for a girl (anu
or nu is used adjectively, meaning who is).
Secondary, tertiary, and more remote relatives--For these rela-
tive s we will again apply the criteria as outlined by Murdock,
The criterion of generation is recognized throughout, resulting in
classificatory and generation terms,
PaPa; PaPaPa ejang, embah, aki (PaFa only),
nini (PaMo only); bujut
These terms are extended to all collateral relatives within each
generation, making them classificatory terms. Where sex is ignored.
(34) As in the Javanese system (see Koentjaraningrat, op. cit,, pp. 79-
91), different terms are used, depending on the rank as determined by
social status and age of the addressee and the referent. For the purpose
of this study the writer is mainly concerned with the vocabulary of kin-
ship; no references will be made to these differences, which are, in effect,
more related to behavior in kinship than to the vocabulary as such.115
distinctions can be made by adding the attributes pameget for males and
isteri for females.
SoSo; SoSoSo	intju; bujut
These terms are complete classificatory terms applied to all the
relatives within each generation. This is also true of the other
ascending and descending generations:
bao	fourth ascending and descending generation
djanggawareng fifth ascending and descending generation
udeg-udeg	sixth ascending and descending generation
kait siwur	seventh ascending and descending generation
The criterion of sex is recognized only in the case of parents*
younger siblings and cousins: mang or emang for males and bibi or embi
for females; in the case of one set of the terms for grandparents and other
relatives in the second ascending generation: aki for males and nini for
females; in the case of ego*s older siblings and cousins in regard to terms
of address: kang for males and eutjeu for females. VZhen necessary to
distinguish between the sexes, the attribute pameget (male) and isteri
(female) are added to the relatives in the ascending generations and
(a)nu lalaki (male) and (a)nu aw ewe (female) to the relatives in the
descending generations^ .
That the criterion of collaterally is recognized is shown clearly
in ego’s generation, where first cousins are referred to as dulur misan or
dulur sabrajna, second cousins as dulur mindo, and third cousins as
dulur mintelu. These distinctions are extended downwards to the de-
scending generations. In the ascending generations, collateral relatives
may be distinguished from lineal relatives by adding the term tigigir
(on the side) after the kinship term. There is also another attribute,
kapi, which is added before the kinship term and is used to distinguish all
collateral relatives from lineal relatives.
The criterion of bifurcation is ignored throughout. The terms for
relatives connected to ego through a male are therefore quite the same as
those connected to ego through a female which indicates that the Sundanese
kin grouping follows the rule of bilateral descent.
The criterion of affinity is ignored for the spouses of parents'
siblings who have the same terms as the parents* siblings themselves.
It is recognized for SpSb, where SpOSb are referred to as dahuan and
SpYSb as adi beuteung. The term for SpPa is mitoha or mertua, for
ChSp minantu,and lor ChSpPa besan.
The criterion of relative age is recognized in parents' generation,
ego's generation, and child's generation. There is a peculiar character-
istic in the recognition of this criterion in that, in ego's generation, the
terms of address for cousins are not based on the age of the cousins rela-
tive to ego, but on the age of their parents relative to ego's parents. Thus
the children of PaOSb are called by the older sibling terms regardless of
whether they are younger than ego, while the children of PaYSb are called
by the younger sibling terms regardless of whether they are older than ego116
The same practice is applied in the first descending generation, where
children of older siblings and senior cousins are referred to as alo and
children of egofe younger siblings and junior cousins are referred to as
suan.
The criterion of speaker’s sex is ignored throughout.
As already explained when dealing with the criterion of generation,
the criterion of polarity is ignored from the third generation up and the
third generation down.
The Peranakan System
The list of terms shows that here again there is a distinct set of
terms for the primary relatives of the family of orientation and procrea-
tion as differentiated from the secondary and more remote relatives.
The primary relatives--The termsfor parents are distinct from
all other relatives:
F a	papa
Mo	mama
The Peranakans themselves consider these terms to be of Chi-
nese origin, in contrast to pappie or pie and mammie or mie which are
considered of western, i. e„ Dutch, origin. They are not derived from
the Hokkien terms of reference, however, which are lau-pe and lau-bu,
but from the terms of address, d-pa for Fa and ά-mah for Mo.
For siblings the criterion of relative age is recognized, giving
different terms for older and younger siblings. The criterion of sex,
however, is recognized for older siblings and ignored for younger sib-
lings, thus:
OBr	engko
OSi	atji
YBr and YSi ade or adi
In defining the children terms the criterion of sex is ignored and
all children are referred to as anak. When necessary, the attributes
lelaki (male) and perempuan (female) are added after the term.
The terms for spouse are:
Hu	laki or ’'papanja anak-anak·’ (Fa of the Ch)
or ’’papanja si X" (Fa of X )
Wi	faini or ’’mamanja anak-anak” (Mo. of the Ch)
or ’’mamanja si X” (Mo of X)
The terms laki and bini are Malay words. The Indonesians them-
selves tend to regard the use of these terms as rather vulgar. Asa
matter of fact the same connotation is attached to these terms among the
Peranakans, The most common form among them is therefore
the teknonymy.117
Secondary, tertiary, and more remote relatives --For these rela -
tives we will again apply the criteria as outlined in Murdock. In this
analysis we will limit ourselves to seven generations, three ascending
and three descending generations from ego.
The criterion of generation is recognized in the three ascending
generations, in ego’s generation and in the third descending generation,
while a merging appears in the first and second descending generations.
Thus we have the following:
Br, FaBr, FaFaBr	ko or engko, pe, pekong
BrSo, BrSoSo, BrSoSoSo tjutju or keponakan, tjutju, bujut
Tjutju, keponakan, and bujut are all Indonesian terms. In the
Indonesian system, however, tjutju is used exclusively to denote grand-
children. The merging that appears in the Peranakan system has been
observed also in the Hokkien system. Freedman, in his discussion of
this phenomenon among the Chinese in Singapore, (35) has noted further
that "when it is necessary for them to translate into Malay, they some-
times use the Malay term for grandchild, chuchu, for brother’s son."
Apparently an analogy has occurred here, taking the Hokkien system as
the model. Hence this is also a plausible explanation for the phenomenon
in the Peranakan terminology.
Generation modifiers are used in the second and third ascending
generations:
Second ascending generation:
kong for males and po for females, excluding PaMo
Third ascending generation:
tjo for both males and females
In the second and third descending generation we notice the use of
classificatory terms: tjutju for the former and bujut for the latter.
For affinal relatives a similar overriding of generations as shown
in the Hokkien system occurs. Thus, a person who is engko or ko (OBr)
to the husband is pe (FaOBr) to his wife, while a person who is engko or
ko to the wife is engku or ku (MoBr) to the husband. The same practice
is*applied to SpPaSb. This phenomenon is called by Peranakans ikut anak
(Indonesian, meaning literally to follow the child), because these are the
terms used by a child to his parents’ siblings. It is possible therefore
that, besides being an expression of politeness, it serves as a device to
help children use the proper kinship terms.
The criterion of sex is recognized consistently only in the three
ascending generations; it is recognized partly in ego’s generation and
ignored completely in the three descending generations.
In ego’s generation recognition is only limited to older siblings
where engko or ko is used for OBr and entji, atji, or tji for OSi, To
(35) Freedman, op. cit., p, 82.118
younger siblings the term ade or adi is used both for YBr and YSi.
In the first descending generation a distinction is made between
own children, anak, and children of siblings and cousins, tjutju. In each
case, however, the term serves to denote both males and females. In the
second and third descending generations the terms tjutju and bujut are used
respectively, disregarding sex.
In all the cases where sex is ignored, distinctions, when necessary,
are made by adding the Indonesian terms lelaki for males and perempuan
for females.
The criterion of collaterally is recognized in that it differentiates
between lineal relatives and all collateral relatives. This applies to the
three ascending generations, ego's generation, and the first descending
generation, but it does not apply to the second and third descending gener-
ations, where the classificatory term tjutju is used in the former and
bujut in the latter.
In the three ascending generations we will notice, however, that
recognition of collaterally does not go beyond the siblings of the lineal
relatives, resulting in the existence of classificatory terms for collateral
relatives within each generation. Thus, for instance:
FaBr, FaFaBrSo	pe
MoBr, MoFaBrSo	ku
In ego’s generation the distinctions between the different degrees
of collaterality are the most pronounced:
Brj FaBrSo; FaFaBrSoSo engko, or sudara; engko, or sudara
tjintong; engko, or sudara satu
kongtjo (Br of the same greatgrand-
father) or masih tjintong or tjiong-
tong (still of the same surname)
The term tjiongtong for second cousins is now practically obsolete;
only some older people recognize it.
No distinction is made between the different degrees of cousins
from mother’s side. They are all indicated with the attribute piao.
When necessary a distinction is made by description.
Many Peranakans, and especially the younger generation, know
only the distinctions tjintong and piao, the former being relatives of the
same surname as speaker and the latter being relatives not of the same
surname as speaker. Very often, even to refer to a close relative, they
resort to description, for instance for FaBrSo, instead of engko tjintong
or sudara tjintong, they say anak empe or anak entjek; for SbCh, instead
of tjutju orkeponakan, they say anak engko or anak sudara.
Cousins beyond second degree and other persons with whom kin
relationship can still be traced, are usually designated by the Indonesian
expressions:119
masih ada pernahnja (literally, there is still a relationship)
When asking about the relationship be-
tween two persons, Peranakans say:
"Bagimana pernahnja ? " ("How is the
relationship?" Actually the meaning
of the Indonesian word, pernah, is
ever,)
beraja	A Sundanese expression meaning rela-
tives,
bukan orang lain	(literally, not another person, meaning,
not a stranger)
Thus, insofar as collaterality is recognized, we find in the as-
cending generations that it does not go beyond the siblings of the lineal
relatives; in ego’s generation that it does not extend beyond second
cousins, while in the descending generations the distinctions are made
along sex lines.
The criterion of bifurcation is recognized optionally in the third
and second ascending generations, positively in the first ascending
generation, unilinearly in ego’s generation and in the three descending
generations.
For great-grandparents and grandparents generally no distinction
is made between father's side and mother’s side, but when necessary a
distinction can be made based on residence or by adding dalem (Indonesian,
inside) or pihak papa (pihak is Indonesian for side) for father’s aide, and
luar (Indonesian, outside) or pihak mama for mother’s side.
In ego’s generation and the three descending generations the dis-
tinction is based on the sex of the connecting relative(s): those connected
to ego through males only are referred to as tjintong, while those con-
nected to ego through mixed males and females and females exclusively
are referred to as piao. Similar to the Hokkien situation these distinc-
tions are important for the purpose of marriage regulations: in cousin
marriage a choice can only be made from among those who are piao to ego.
To ego’s grandchildren similar attributes as for grandparents
are used* dalem for SoCh and luar for DaCh.
The criterion of relative age is recognized in ego’s generation,
and in the ascending generations, but ignored in the descending generations
In ego’s generation there are different forms for older and younger
brother and older and younger sister.
In the ascending generations this criterion is recognized for males
of father’s side only and ignored for males of mother’s side and females
of both sides. In parent’s generation a secondary distinction for the
older siblings is made by enumerating them with terms derived from the
Hokkien: toa, dji, sha, and so on. These distinctions may also be
applied to parents’ cousins, but this is optional and depends on the degree
of intimacy. In the case of father’s sisters only, instead of the Hokkien120
enumeration, the Indonesian words de (abbreviation of gede, meaning big,
eldest) is used for father’s eldest sister; ngah (abbreviation of tengah,
meaning middle) for father’s middle sister; tjing (derived from the Indo-
nesian ketjil, meaning small) for father’s youngest sister. Then also,
instead of the term koh for FaSi, the diminutive term o-oh is used. Thus
father’s eldest sister become oh-de, middle sister o-ngah, and youngest
sister o-tjing.
The criterion of affinity is recognized throughout, making a distinc
tion between consanguinal and affinal relatives;
FaBr, FaSiHu, MoBr, MoSiHu
FaSi, FaBrWi, MoSi, MoBrWi
Br, SiHu
Si, BrWi
pe, kothio, ku, iethio
koh, em, ie, kiem
engko, tjihu
atji, enso
In regard to Sp relatives there is an overriding of generations as
already noted in the section dealing with the criterion of generation.
For Pa-in-law the Indonesian term mertua is used to refer to
both collectively or to each separately. When necessary, sex differen-
tiation is added by the attributes lelaki orjBPempuan. To ChSpPa the
terms tjhinkhe for ChSpFa and tjeem for ChSpMo (both derived from the
Hokkien) are used in reference and address. Quite often, however, the
Indonesian term for ChSpPa, besan, is used, but in reference only.
Again, when necessary to differentiate sex, the attribJtes lelaki and
perempuan are added after the term besan.
To refer to ChSp the Indonesian term for ChSp, mantu, is used.
Among Peranakans this is the classificatory term used for all in-laws
in the descending generations; thus SbChSp is tjutju mantu and ChChSp is
also tjutju mantu. For ChSp a special distinction can be made by adding
the attributes njonja for SoWi and babah for DaHu, Thus SoWi becomes
njonja mantu and DaHu babah mantu. Formerly these terms were used
in reference and address^ Today, however, only older women may use
them in reference. The usual way now is to refer to ChSp by the term
mantu only and to address them by their personal name.
In ego’s generation SbSp and SpSb are usually referred to by the
Indonesian term for this category of relatives, ipar.
The criterion of speaker’s sex is recognized only in the case of
YSiHu, where the man uses the term moaihu and the woman the term
enthio. These terms are now virtually obsolete, especially among the
younger generation. The most common form is to describe the relation-
ship or to refer to them by the Indonesian term ipar.
The criterion of polarity is recognized throughout.
Discussion and Comparison
Having presented the kinship terminology prevalent among the
Hokkiens, Sundanese, and Peranakans, we will now compare the three
systems. There is no doubt that the Peranakan system is based on and121
derived from the Hokkien system. We will therefore examine what differ·
ences there are as compared to the latter System and attempt to account
for them.
The most striking feature in the Peranakan terminology is the
clearcut division along generation lines in the language used. In the gen-
erations above ego, although inevitably a modification has occurred in
the pronunciation and the spelling, there is no mistake as to the Hokkien
origin of the terms. In the generations below ego, an almost complete
adoption of the Indonesian terminology has occurred: anak for ego’s own
children; tjutju or keponakan for the children of siblings and cousins;
tjutju also for ego’s own grandchildren and the grandchildren of siblings
and cousins; bujut for all relatives in the third descending generation;
mantu for all affinal relatives in the descending generations. Ego’s gen-
eration forms the dividing line with terms derived from the Hokkien for
older siblings and cousins and terms adopted from the Indonesian
terminology for younger siblings and cousins.
A major linguistic difference with the Hokkien system is the shift
of the position of the attribute from before the noun to after the noun.
This is shown clearly in the cousin terminology:
Hokkien	Peranakan
FaB rDa	chhin-tong -chf	atji tjin tong
FaSiDa	piiu-chf	atji piao
This shift, which has taken place consistently, is obviously the
influence of the Indonesian terminology or the Indonesian language in
general, where the rule is to put the attribute after the noun.
In our comparison we will follow the criteria as used in the
analysis of each system separately.
The Peranakan system is similar to that of the Hokkien in that it
recognizes the criterion of generation completely, except for the same
deviation in the first and second descending generation, where a merging
appears of the term for children of siblings and cousins with the relatives
in the second descending generation, i. e., grandchildren of ego himself
and of his siblings and cousins: sun in the Hokkien system and tjutju in
the Peranakan system. In the Hokkien system this merging is not quite
clear, because sun-a, which is assumed to be a diminutive of the term
sun, seems not to be used at all on the grandchildren’s level, while no
checking from the written form is possible. Besides, the possibility of
merging is limited to the children of the male siblings and cousins, the
term for the children of female siblings and cousins being goe-seng.
In the Peranakan system on the other hand the merging is com-
plete; the children of all ego’s siblings and cousins are referred to by
the same term, tjutju, as well as the relatives on the grandchildren level,
including ego’s own grandchildren. This phenomenon has been ex-
plained earlier as possibly the result of analogy, taking the Hokkien
situation as the model. The following diagrams demonstrate this:122
o
anak
Ebo
A
anak
engko
tjutju
atji
j
tjutjiT
ΖΛ	°	o	/_	°	L.
tjutju	tjutju	tjutju	tjutju
Peranakan system
Merging of the term for SbCh, SbChCh, and ChCh
tsa-b6«-kian
Γ7
EGO
kia“ )
t5a-hia“ .
tba-chi ,
ο	Zi.
gsa-sun
lai-sun
sun-£„· tit
i------‘----
goe-seng
tit-sun
I
o	Zi
goe-seng-sun
O
I
Hokkien system
Partial Merging of the term for BrCh, SbChCh, and ChCh
Another deviation that appears in both systems is that of the
overriding of generations for spouse’s relatives, elevating them one
generation higher than they are for the direct linking relative. We
have noted, however, that in both systems this practice is mainly
observed in reference and is disappearing in address.
A minor difference between the two systems is in the use of the
generation modifiers for the ascending generations, where in the third
ascending generation the Peranakans have only tjo, while the Hokkiens
have the alternative tai. Another difference in this generation is the
term for FaFaMo: ma'potjo among the Peranakans, the Hokkiens have
tsd-md. If we analyze the term ma'potjo, we will see that it is a com-
pound of the term for grandmother, ma* or ema, the generation modifie
for females in the collateral lines in the second ascending generation,
po, and the generation modifier for males and females in the third as-
cending generation, tjo. It seems that the explanation for the use of po
is a linguistic one. We will notice that, in the Hokkien system, the
terms for the females in the collateral lines in the third ascending gen-
eration are ko*-pO-ts0 (FaFaFaSi), chfm-pd-tsd (FaFaFaBrWi), peh-ρδ
tsd (FaFaFaQBrWi) and kfm-pG-tsd (MoFaMoBrWi)--a compound of two
adjacent generation modifiers. It is possible that in the Peranakan
system an analogy has taken place, applying the combination potjo also
to great-grandmother.123
A major difference that we have already pointed out is the use of
Indonesian classificatory terms for the second and third descending gen-
eration* tjutju for the former and bujut for the latter.
In the recognition of the criterion of sex, the Peranakan system is
similar to the Hokkien system only in the three ascending generations. A
major difference starts with ego's generation and continues downwards.
Whereas in the Hokkien system sex is recognized for older as well as
younger siblings, in the Peranakan system it is recognized only for older
siblings. In the descending generations this criterion is completely ig-
nored. We have noticed that in all the cases where it is ignored, when
necessary, distinctions are made by adding the Indonesian terms lelaki
for males and perempuan for females. Non-recognition of this criterion
in the descending generations also occurs in the Hokkien system, but it
starts only in the third descending generation,
As we might expect, recognition of the criterion of collaterality
is less complete and more vague among the Peranakans than among the
Hokkiens. Examining the two systems generation-wise we will notice the
following:
In the third and second ascending generations the two systems are
the same in that the distinction is only made between lineal and collateral
relatives, resulting in classificatory terms for the latter. In the first
ascending generation the Peranakan system also does not distinguish be-
tween the different degrees of collateral relatives, while the Hokkien
system goes as far as distinguishing between the siblings and first cousins.
In both systems the distinctions are the most pronounced in ego's
generation. The extent of recognition is the same, no further than the
second collateral line. There are two major differences, however;
First, for first cousins the Peranakans make a distinction only between
agnatic and non-agnatic cousins; tjintong for agnatic (FaBrCh) and piao
for non-agnatic (FaSiCh and MoSbCh). The Hokkiens, on the other hand,
in addition to indicating agnatic and non-agnatic relationship, may indi-
cate the type of connection with the parental generation. Second,
Peranakans use terms that are derived from the Hokkien, terms that
are composed of Indonesian words, or a combination of both.
In addition to this, Peranakans very often resort to description,
even to as close a relative as first cousin; for instance, instead of engko
tjintong or sudara tjintong, they say anak empe or anak entjek, respectively,
for FaOBrCh and FaYBrCh.
In the first descending generation the similarity between the two
systems does not extend beyond the distinction into lineal and collateral
relatives. In the Peranakan system the collateral relatives are further
distinguished into agnatic (tjintong) and non-agnatic (piao) rather than
according to degree of collaterality, while in the Hokkien.system the dis-
tinctions made in ego’s generation are extended downwards to their
children.124
In the second and third descending generations there is among the
Peranakans again only the distinction between agnatic and non-agnatic,
while in the Hokkien system the collateral distinctions that appear in
ego’s generation are extended downwards into these two descending gen-
erations.
In examining the criterion of bifurcation we notice a clear simpli-
fication in the Peranakan system as compared with the Hokkien system.
Again comparing the two generation-wise, we come to the following:
Peranakans generally do not distinguish between great-grand-
parents and grandparents of father’s or mother’s side. When necessary,
a distinction is made by adding terms that are clearly Indonesian. One
set of them, dalem for father’s side and luar for mother’s side, are the
literal translations of the Hokkien lai and goa.
Among the collateral relatives in the second ascending generation
there is a similarity in the two systems in that the decisive link is the
second connecting relative. We have already noted that the system
operating here is that of analogy: children follow their parents in the use
of terms for grandparents* siblings and cousins, with the addition of the
generation modifier of grandparents* level. The use of the attribute
piao for those connected to ego through his mother does not appear in the
Peranakan system.
In ego’s generation and the three descending generations the dis-
tinction made among the Peranakans is that of unilinear bifurcation,
separating those connected to ego through males only from those con-
nected to ego through both males and females and females exclusively.
This is similar to the Hokkien system, with the exception of the first
cousins where additional attributes are used to indicate the connecting
link on the parental level. We have already indicated the importance of
this distinction in the case of cousin marriage.
Similar to the Hokkien system, a distinction is made between SoCh
and DaCh by adding the same attributes as used to distinguish paternal
and maternal grandparents, dalem for the former and luar for the latter.
Since these distinctions usually appear in death announcements, they
indicate their relationship with mourning observances, as we will see
in the section dealing with this topic.
In the recognition of the criterion of relative age, the difference
between the two systems is in the alternative use of the Indonesian or
Malay terms which we find in the Peranakan system. This is shown in the
secondary distinction for the older siblings in the parents* generation,
where, next to terms derived from the Hokkien (toa, dji, sha), terms
derived from the Indonesian or Malay (de, ngah,, tjing) may be used.
Two explanations can be given for the use of these particular attributes.
One is that de, which is an abbreviation of gede meaning large, big, the
eldest, is a direct translation of toa, which also means big, large, and
the eldest. Ngah from tengah and tjing from ketjil, meaning middle and
small, respectively, would then be a natural sequence of the use of gede.
Another explanation is that it might be the influence of the Javanese125
system. In the East Java area parents’ older siblings and cousins are in-
dicated, by the attribute de, which is an abbreviation of the same gede
which is used in the Peranakan system, and parents* younger.siblings
and cousins are indicated by the term liq, which is an abbreviation of the
Javanese word tjiliq, which means small. Thus the terms for the former
group of relatives is paqde and bude and for the latter group of relatives
paqliq and buliq. (36)
The recognition of the criterion of affinity is similar in both sys-
tems in that a clear distinction is made between consanguinal and affinal
relatives* The overriding of generations to spouse’s relatives also exists
in both systems.
The differences that exist consist mainly in the use of alternative
terms from the Indonesian terminology, as, for instance, for ChSpPa,
besan, next to the terms derived from the Hokkien, tjhinkhe for ChSpFa
and tjeem for ChSpMo, and for SpSb and SbSp, ipar. Then'there is the
use of Indonesian terms only for Pa-in-law, roertua, and for ChSp and
ChChSp, mantu. Older women may still refer to ChSp by adding njonja
for SoVZi and babah for DaHu; thus the former become njonja mantu and
the latter babah mantu.
There seems to be a difference between the two systems in the
recognition of the criterion of speaker’s sex in that nothing of this sort
appears in the Hokkien terminology, while, in the Peranakan system, it
does appear in the case of YSiHu, where the man uses the term moaihu
and the woman the term enthio. As we have noted earlier, however, these
terms are virtually obsolete, and commonly this relative is referred to
as ipar.
Again we find a difference in the two systems in that the criterion
of polarity is recognized throughout in the Peranakan system and is ignored
in the Hokkien system in the case of third descending and third ascending
generations.
One of the most important points revealed by this comparison ie
that little or no influence of the Sundanese terminology, as such, is dis-
cernible in the Peranakan terminology. All non-Hokkien terms, with the
exception of bujut for great-grandchildren and besan for ;ChSpPa which
are both Indonesian as well as Sundanese, point to Indonesian or, rather,
Malay origin. This indicates that the Peranakan terminology as it exists
today must have been well established prior to their settlement in the
Sundanese-speaking area, which in turn reinforces the indications that
the Peranakans of Sukabumi were already Peranakans, as culturally dis-
tinct from Totoks, before they settled in this town.
We will now attempt to determine the factor or factors which may
account for the changes that have taken place. We have seen that ego’s
generation forms the dividing line with terms derived from the Hokkien in
the ascending generations and Indonesian or Malay terms' in the descending
generations, while terms of both systems occur in ego’s generation.
(36) Cf. Koentjaraningrat, op. cit., pp. 50, 84.126
Based on his comparative study, Murdock has arrived at the
finding that kinship terminology is one of the major aspects of social
structure which "reacts very slightly if at all to external influence ...
it is determined primarily by the forms of familial and kin groupings."(37)
It would appear, therefore, that the most profitable approach would be to
examine the form of kin grouping. Before we start with the Peranakan
system it is necessary to determine the type of kin grouping as tradition-
ally prevalent in the area of origin of these people. Several studies, as
for instance that of Kulp, Lang, Chen Ta and, more recently, that of
Freedman, have pointed to the prevailing system of lineage that existed
in Southeastern China, i, e., the provinces of Kwangtung and Fukien,
The preponderance of this type of kin grouping in this area was so
extensive that there were villages made up entirely of the members of one
lineage. These lineages consisted of consanguinally related males de-
scending from a common ancestor together with their spouses and un-
married daughters. These agnates were bound to each other by religious,
economic, and social ties. This system meant the existence of a strictly
patrilocal residence pattern. For a married woman this involved the
complete severance, physically and legally, from her family of orientation.
This is indicated by the fact that after marriage, whenever she visited
her original family, for which she was supposed to obtain her husband’s
consent, she would be only a guest. (38) We may infer from this situation
that social interaction, especially for the women, was largely limited to
contact with other members within the lineage, initially her own and sub-
sequently that of her husband.
In the overseas situation this pattern was not continued for the
simple reason that emigration was an individual enterprise undertaken by
males only. Thus, no transplantation of families occurred, let alone of
lineages or segments of them, and, therefore, no foundation was laid for
the formation of this type of kin grouping. The large mansions in Chinese
style that one finds in the centers of Chinese settlements like Djakarta,
Tjirebon, Semarang, and Surabaya, former residences of Chinese officers,
indicate, however, that the desire to follow the traditional cultural ideal
of the extended family, comprising several generations under one roof,
persisted and was expressed as soon as the means to do so were acquired.
Among the characteristics of the Hokkien kinship system were
patrinymy, patrilineal descent, patrilocal residence, inheritance through
males only, and a certain amount of economic cooperation among kinsmen.
In the Peranakan system patrinymy still obtains, in that children inherit
their father’s family name. So does one feature of patrilineal descent,
in that a sharp distinction is made between agnates and non-agnates: in
particular, no marriage is allowed between people of the same surname.
Traditionally this includes even those with whom no kin ties are trace-
able; today a lenient attitude exists toward this prohibition, although
within the recognized kin group the distinction is still clearly manifest in
the kin terminology.
(37)	Murdock, op. cit., p. 201,
(38)	Maurice Freedman, Lineage Organization in Southeastern China
(London, 1958), p. 36.127
Patrilocal residence, which was one of the crucial characteristics
of the traditional Chinese system, is, among the Peranakans in Sukabumi
at least, still reflected in the prevailing custom of locating the bridal
room in the groom’s residence. It does not always follow, however,
that the new couple will reside with the groom’s family permanently. The
prevailing pattern today is to move to a separate residence as soon as a
suitable one is available and the financial situation makes it possible.
Not infrequently, also, the bridal room is set up in the bride’s residence,
which is a socially accepted procedure. This indicates the possibility of
matrilocal residence which, in turn, points to the existence of ah ambi-
local residence pattern preceding and coexisting with the present prevailing
neolocal pattern. From the list of family types in the first section of this
chapter, we may infer, however, that the choice of matrilocal residence
is less frequent than that of patrilocal residence. It would appear that
the former is taken as a last resort when the possibility of patrilocality
or neolocality has been ruled out. The preference for neolocality is
evidenced by the fact that of the one thousand-odd units living at one
address from which the family types have been derived, 63 per cent can
be identified clearly as nuclear families (distinguished into 9 per cent
broken nuclear and 54 per cent complete nuclear) while only 7 per cent
can be identified as genuinely composite families.
As to inheritance through males only, clarification in the processes
of family law, especially related to inheritance, came only with the
application of Dutch family law on the Chinese in 1919. Before this the
position taken by the Dutch legal authorities was that the Chinese should
follow the Chinese civil law as recorded in the Ta Ch’ing Lu Li (the
Code of the Ch’ing dynasty) which in the case of inheritance was inter-
preted to exclude daughters. In practice, however, the trustees
(Boedelkamers) seem to have adopted the policy of including unmarried
daughters as heirs, in the case of absence of a testament. Apparently
this was quite a controversial issue, involving members of the court,
lawyers and members of the trustees. (39) The pre-eminence of the
oldest son in regard to the care of the paraphernalia connected with an-
cestor veneration, however, is still adhered to, although we have already
noted that deviations from it frequently occur.
Economic cooperation among kinsmen, in the sense of operating an
enterprise jointly, does occur among Peranakans. Two of the largest
textile factories, the largest printing plant, and one of the largest grocery
stores in Sukabumi can be considered family enterprises in the sense that
the financing and operation is shared by agnates, mainly brothers, A
common budget for consumption, however, is not the prevailing pattern.
It is usually the case in broken stem families, but in practically all com-
posite families each component conjugal unit has its own kitchen.
As one might expect, the ancestral hall, the locus of lineage
solidarity in southeastern China and the expression of its unity, does
not exist in Sukabumi. Domestic altars, however, are found in most
(39) P. H. Fromberg, Verspreide Geschriften, pp. 235-239; also Ong
Eng Die, De Chineezen in Nederlandsch-Indie (Arsen, 1943), pp. 247-249128
homes. Due to the still existing adherence to inheritance of ancestor
paraphernalia by the oldest son, a semblance of an aspect of the function
of a traditional religious unit isstill observed. At least once a year, on
the occasion of Chinese New Year, those who trace a common descent
will come to the locus of the altar of the ahcestor(s) (who are usually not
higher than a grandfather and/or grandmother reckoned from the individual
in the most senior generation still living) abd at least once a year will
come and visit the grave site. Those who come are usually the immediate
kin, i, e., children and grandchildren and possibly the siblings and their
children, of the youngest ancestor(s), usually the parent(s) of the head of
the family. These visits are of a voluntary nature and largely determined
by considerations of distance of residence and financial means. Nothing
of an attempt at organizing the event is evident. Although a family dinner
is usually held on this occasion, the person in whose house the altar is
kept does not feel obliged to invite all those who come to pay respects
at the altar but limits himself to his siblings and possibly his parents’
siblings. Essentially what he does is only to open his house to give op-
portunity to those who want to come to pray at the altar and to provide
the incense sticks for this purpose. The visit to the grave site is also
unorganized, people coming at different times and bringing their own
offerings. As far as the writer could observe, effective kin solidarity
does not extend beyond siblings or, at most, parents’ siblings.
In the contemporary situation in Sukabumi, kinship ties are
recognized and maintained in both directions. After marriage a woman
continues to have dose contact with her original family. Any limitation
in this respect would be caused mainly by the factor of location of resi-
dence. She is expected to participate in the major events occurring in
her original family, although in the case of an event occurring in her
husband’s family simultaneously, she has to give precedence to the
latter, because in general the basic idea of the wife following the husband
is strictly adhered to. Hence, social interaction between relatives,
among Peranakans, has the aspect of the recognition of bilateral descent.
Spouses are always included in any social activity, be it an event in
father’s kin group, mother’s kin group, or spouse’s kin group. At the
New Year offering, the New Year visits to relatives senior in generation,
the annual visit to the graves, the wife naturally accompanies her husband,
but the reverse also takes place. Thus a husband accompanies his wife
to observe similar duties to her kin. A child has contacts with relatives
of both father’s and mother’s side, the frequency and intimacy being
determined primarily by location of residence.
It would appear, then, that the following characteristics can be
ascribed to the Peranakan kinship system in Sukabumi:
1,	Recognition of patrinymy, which is manifested by the inheri-
tance of the family name through the father, and of sib-exogamy, in the
prohibition of marriage between individuals of the same surname with
whom kin ties can be traced,
2.	Token adherence to patrilocal residence (sometimes matri-
local residence), which is changed as soon as feasible to neolocal
residence.129
3. Social interaction in an equal degree of frequency and intimacy
with kin from father’s as well as mother’s side. Any difference that may
exist is due primarily to the possibility of contact as determined by the
location of residence. However, the higher importance of agnatic kin is
still reflected in the priority given to this kin group in the case of con-
flicting commitments.
These characteristics clearly demonstrate the difference between
the Peranakan system existing in Sukabumi as compared with the tradi-
tional Hokkien system from which it is derived. It seems possible now
to determine what accounts for these changes.
It would appear that Murdock’s hypothesis that, "It is in respect
to residence that changes in economy, technology, property, government,
or religion first alter the structural relationships of related individuals
to one another, giving an impetus to subsequent modifications in forms
of the family, in consanguinal and compromise kin groups and in kinship
terminology," (40) is applicable in the Peranakan situation. It has been
conclusively shown that pafcrilocal residence is not and, we may safely
assume, has never been the prevailing pattern in the Peranakan kinship
system. The kinship terminology as found to be prevalent among them,
however, is a terminology that is rooted in a system with a patrilocal
residence pattern. It is therefore inevitable that changes should occur
to make it workable in the different situations. As one would expect,
the changes are primarily in the kin categories junior to ego according to
generation and age (in his own generation). This can be attributed to
the traditionally low significance attachedto juniors in general, which
renders it unnecessary to make clear distinctions between them.
Thus we may conclude that the change in the Peranakan kinship
terminology is related to the change in the form of kin grouping,
approaching the bilateral form through the prevalence of neolocal resi-
dence accompanied by the recognition of and interaction with individuals
related through both the patrilineal and the matrilineal line.
We will notice that these characteristics resemble closely those
that define a kindred. This type of kin grouping, which is a characteristic
of the American family system, is defined by Murdock to include "that
group of near kinsmen who may be expected to be present and participate
on important ceremonial occasions, such as weddings, christenings,
funerals. Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, and ’family reunions,*
Members of a kindred visit and entertain each other freely, and between
them marriage and pecuniary transactions for profit are ordinarily
taboo. One turns first to them for aid when one finds oneself in difficul-
ties. However much they may disagree or quarrel, they are expected
to support one another against criticism or affronts from outsiders. The
kindred in other societies has comparable characteristics and functions. "(41)
(40)	Murdock, op. cit., p, 202.
(41)	Murdock, op. cit., pp, 56, 57.130
These characteristics are clearly applicable to the type of kin grouping
found among the Peranakans. Hence it seems that, if we want to
classify it, the proper place would be under kindred. (42)
(42) Cf. Freedman, Chinese Family and Marriage, pp. 72-74.131
CHAPTER V
RELIGION
The Cycle of Public Worship
The Chinese Temple
The temple building--There is only one Chinese temple in the town
of Sukabumi. (1) It is situated to the south of the railroad, on Djalan
Pedjagalan, a side street of Djalan Pelabuan II, in the area popularly
called Ode on. It occupies the left part of the front side of a double row of
petak houses, entirely occupied by Peranakans and Totoks. The front of
the temple is almost on the street» There are no inner or outer courts,
but across the street there is an open space laid with stone tiles. To
the left and right facing the temple are two large kim lo, the kind of oven
in which the joss paper is burned. This is also the space where the stage
is erected for the performance of the Chinese puppet play which is usually
held on the anniversary of the main deity. Because it is situated on a
side street, there is not much traffic in front of the temple. Therefore,
whenever there is a performance of the barongsai (2) or the liong (dragon),
it is played on the street, which thus becomes a kind of outer court.
The small porch in front and the street form a favorite playground for
the neighborhood children, and the porch is also a favorite meeting place
for old men.
(1)	Actually there is another place of worship, a very small one, with
only one altar, dedicated to the Buddhist deity Koan Im. It is privately
owned by a Perana.kan woman of over seventy, a member of one of the
old and wealthy families in town. It is open to the public, but few people
come and visit it except on the feast days of the deity. No special acti-
vities are connected with it,
(2)	The playing of the barongsai is the game of the lion, which is a fam-
iliar spectacle on the occasion of Chinese New Year in virtually all large
settlements of Chinese anywhere in the world. The name barongsai,
which is used among both Peranakans and Indonesians, is a compound
of the term barong, used by Javanese, Sundanese, and Balinese to refer
to the masked figure with a lion- or tiger-like appearance found among
them which has a striking likeness to the Chinese lion, and the term de-
rived from the Hokkien sai, which means lion. For an interesting specu-
lation on the origin of the Balinese Barong figure, see Jane Belo, Bali;
Rangda and Barong (New York, 1949T; also Theodor Pigeaud, Javaansche
Volks vertoningen (Batavia, 1938), p. 420.132
From the outside, the temple is immediately recognizable as
such by the two big lanterns (red with a green dragon painted on them)
hanging from the ceiling of the porch and by the structure of the roof,
which has a slightly curved ridge with a red circular decoration in the
center. (3)
The name of this temple, indicated by the sign above the main
entrance, is Bie Hian (or Han) Kong in Hokkien (Mei Hsuan Kung in
Mandarin). Among the Peranakans, however, it is referred to as Bjo
Han Tan Kong or simply bio, which is Hokkien for temple. Bie most
likely stands for the name of the town Sukabumi, which in Chinese has
the same character for the last syllable mi as the Bie in Bie Hian Kong.
Hian (Han) refers to the main deity Hian Tan (Hsuan-t*an in Mandarin),
supposedly the Taoist recluse Tip Kong Beng (Chao Kung-ming in
Mandarin)from the Chinese mythological history of the Chou dynasty,
Hong Sin (Feng Shen in Mandarin). (4) Kong (kung in Mandarin) is a
palace or temple, but kong, as in Han Tan Kong, means duke or prince,
& title commonly given to deities. This sign also bears the date of its
erection, the fifth year of the Chinese Republic, 1916.
The plot of ground on which the temple stands was a donation by
a China-born Hokkien by the name of Tan Poan Soei. The temple proper,
i. e., the space where the altars are situated, consists of one room only.
Later more rooms were added, to the right for storage of the requisites
for processions and to the back for living quarters of the temple keeper.
The pat kwa teng was built after the war and was a donation of two of the
largest textile factories in town. Behind it is a small meeting-hall where
the meetings of the Sam Kauw Hwee regularly take place. According to
an inscription, this part of the temple was built in 1948. The person who
designed and built the temple was a China-born Hakka, whose son-in-law
started the first printing plant, which is now the largest in town.
(3)	This ornament seems to represent a gourd, the Chinese hu lu.
Charles A. S. Williams, Outlines of Chinese Symbolism and~Art Motives
(Shanghai, 1941), p. 217, says of the gourd; "It is the symbol of
mystery and necromancy and the emblem of Li T’ieh-kuai, one of the
Eight Immortals of Taoism, who holds it in his hand while spirals of
smoke ascend from it, denoting his power of setting his spirit free from
his body. , . . Figures of them are worn as charms for longevity ... it is
in frequent use as a charm to dissipate or ward off pernicious influ-
ences." Since the gourd is a Taoist symbol we may conclude that the
temple in Sukabumi has a Taoist character, which is in accordance with
the finding that the main god is alleged to be a Taoist hermit. Another
clear indication is the kind of annex built in an octagonal shape, which
accounts for its being referred to as pat kwa teng (shrine of the eight
trigrams),
(4)	The Feng Shen Yen I, in Chinese, There is an elaborate translation
and commentary of this book by Wilhelm Grube, Die Metamorphosen
der Goetter, and a translation in Dutch of some parts by Nio Joe Lan,
De Verheffing der Goden.133
The space inside the temple can be divided into an inner and outer
part. In the center is a square space open to the sky, covered only with
thick wire netting. Chairs and tables line the walls of the outer part.
These walls are covered with Chinese paintings, rows of slips of paper
with verses in Chinese characters, the answers to the divination with
the divining sticks, the more recent donor lists, and the framed lines of
praise in honor of the main deity. Rectangular boards with lines of
praise hang in pairs on the wooden pillars that support the temple, and
framed lines of praise also decorate the walls of the inner part. In this
section colorful banners with the title and prai se of the main deity
hang down horizontally from the rafters. The most frequent title is
Tjek It Thian Kun (Mandarin Cheng I T*ien Chun), which can be translated
as First Lord of Heaven. (5) The designation Han Tan Kong appears
nowhere.
The inner part of the temple is filled almost entirely with the
following four altars:
1.	The altar to the Thi-kong or Tuhan Allah, the Indonesian name
for the Moslem God. This is placed at the edge of the square in the center
which is open to the sky. On this altar there are only one big copper
incense pot and two smaller ones on either side, two vases on the left
and right edges, and two candlesticks. Flanking this altar are two small
tables with upturned nails to hold candles,
2.	The altar to the main deity Han Tan Kong, This consists of
three connecting tables placed one in front of the other. The outer table
is used for the offerings, and only an incense holder and candlesticks are
permanently placed on it. In the front of this table, covering the opening
underneath, there is a gold-painted wood carving behind glass depicting
the gods of wealth, posterity, and longevity. The second table is an ex-
tension of the first one and also has only oil lamps and candlesticks on it.
The third table is taller than the first two and rectangular. On the left
and right corners are oil lamps, and in the center is a big copper incense
pot with a smaller one on either side.
To the back wall of the temple, separated about two feet from
the third table just mentioned, is the main altar, the shrine of Han Tan
Kong. This is made of wood with elaborately carved decorations. In the
center are two images of the main deity, one smaller than the other.
Facing outside, they are arranged as follows: the big one on the left, the
smaller one: to the. right of it, and next to this a small cheap mirror.
According to the temple keeper the mirror is put there because it is be-
lieved that the soul of the main deity has entered it. When it is placed at
a certain angle it is indeed possible to distinguish a vague dark outline
that has somewhat the shape of the main deity as it sits on the throne on
the altar. In front of the images are a big incense pot with the divining
blocks on either side and a wooden container with the divining sticks.
(5) The spelling used here for the Hokkien pronunciation of the name of
the deities is taken from a list of feast days of these deities, available at
the temple. As with most words of Hokkien origin used among Peranakans,
there is no standard spelling.134
3.	To the right of this shrine, also placed against the back wall,
is the altar of Kwan Kong. It shares the altar with a score of others how-
ever: Kwan Im, Hok Tek Tjeng Sin, Kwee Seng-ong, Kuei Sing, and the
three gods of wealth, posterity, and longevity. These images are all
lined up in a row, and there are several replicas of some,
4.	To the left of the main altar is another minor one. It has only
one image, a tiger, or rather an animal that is said to represent a tiger.
It is called Houw Tjiang Kun (literally, tiger general), but it is usually
referred to as tepekPngmatjan (literally, tiger god, Tepekong is from
the Hokkien and is used among the Peranakans to refer to any deity found
in a Chinese temple. Matjan is Indonesian for tiger). This tiger is be-
lieved to be the mount of Han Tan Kong as described in the mythological
story, Feng Shen. In front of this image is also a table for offerings
with an oil lamp in the center and rectangular boxes with upturned nails
for the candles on the sides.
Why is Han Tan Kong in particular worshiped in Sukabumi?
The temple keepers explanation runs as follows: Around 1908 a severe
cholera epidemic raged over the town of Sukabumi, (The anniversary
book of the Djin Gie Hwee, the funeral association of Sukabumi, mentions
that the association originated because of a cholera epidemic. According
to this book, the event occurred in 1911. ) Every day tens of persons
fell victim to this sickness. People were overcome by fear and, when it
continued, they grew desperate. The father of the temple keeper, whose
name was Thung Hoat Tiat, then hit upon the idea of asking the help of
the god Han Tan Kong, who was at that time kept at the house of a certain
Thung Ni in Bogor. The origin of this god, as the temple keeper remem-
bers it, was that it was brought from China by a person with the surname
Thung, who was the father-in-law of a certain Tan, who had been one of
the Chinese captains in Bogor, After the death of this Thung, his descen-
dants entrusted the god to the care of a temple in Babakah Madang, a
small village in the neighborhood of Tjibinong, a village about 10 miles
north of Bogor, Later Thung Ni removed the god and installed it in his
own house. Apparently people with the surname Thung, and especially
those originating in the same area in Fukien (according to the temple
keeper her father came from Nan An), regard this god as their special
protector.
Thus, during the epidemic Thung Hoat Tiat and several friends
made a trip to Bogor to borrow the god. In Sukabumi it was kept at the
house of Thung, a small petak house on Djalan Plabuan II, Several pro-
cessions with the god were made around the town and all who wished it
could get air hu, that is, plain water in which the ashes of a kertas hu are
mixed, (6) These processions and the air hu were believed to have been
(6) Kertas is Indonesian for paper and hu is from the Hokkien, meaning
amulet, a written preventive against dangers and evil spirits. These
charm papers are usually made of coarse rice paper of yellow or red
color with the characters written in black or red on it. To make air hu
(air is Indonesian for water) a sheet of this charm paper is lit by a135
very helpful in fighting the sickness. For this reason the Chinese popula-
tion in Sukabumi wanted to keep the god in this town. This started off a
minor contention between the Thung family in Bogor, who had taken care
of it until that time, and the Thung family in Sukabumi. The matter was
then put up to the god himself by way of the divining sticks. The god
preferred to stay in Sukabumi. For several years it was kept at the
house of Thung, until in 1916 enough money was collected to build a temple
Another event which is believed by the temple keeper and several
other Peranakans to be strong proof of the efficacious influence of the
god occurred during the great conflagration preceding the invasion of
Dutch troops in July 1947. The conflagration was due to the scorched
earth policy of the Indonesian revolutionists, who set fire to many
storehouses (mostly filled with rubber and tea from the estates), impor-
tant buildings, hotels, and schools before leaving the town. As. most of
these storehouses were situated in the Chinese section of the town, in
the vicinity of the railway station, many Chinese residences were also
caught by the fire. The plot bounded by Djalan Raja in the north. Gang
Ikan in the east, Gang Pasar in the south and Djalan Plabuan I in the
west (district C on Map 4, page 27 above) was entirely burned (except
for the Protestant church), giving an open view from the Djalan Raja to
the market place. In the panic that ensued quite a number of people took
refuge in the temple. Several days before the calamity, a China-born
Hokkien man, who had occasionally been in a trance, had come into this
condition again. The god of the temple had spoken through him at this
time, predicting that the conflagration would involve great material loss
among the Chinese, but no personal injury. Several of the refugees in
the temple reported to have seen a tiger on the roof. This is believed to
have been the tiger god, the mount of Han Tan Kong. True to the predic-
tion, rot one Chinese was hurt, though a great number lost their homes
and property. This reinforced the confidence of the Chinese population
in this deity, and they regard it as the special protector of the town.
The existence of two images of the main deity is explained by the
temple keeper as that of an older and a younger brother: the smaller,
which is the one from Bogor, is the older and the bigger one the younger,
having been presented at a later date by one of the worshipers. Both
images are made of wood and are colored black.
As for the minor gods, the tiger was made and presented by a
China-born Hakka. The image of Kwan Im and the picture of Kwan Kong
were gifts from one of the old Peranakan families; all the other images
are also gifts from worshipers.
What do the worshipers know about these deities? From observa-
tion and talks with quite a number of them, the writer discovered almost
complete ignorance of the gods whose blessings they come to invoke. The
name of the main god is generally known. He is referred to as Han Tan
candle after praying with incense sticks, and, before the ashes fall
apart, it is put into a bowl of water. This water is believed to be capable
of preventing illness, strengthening the weak and curing the sick.136
Kong or simply tepekong. His origin, however, seems utterly immaterial
to them; there was only one literate Peranakan woman of over seventy, the
owner of the small private Kwan Im temple, who told the writer that this
deity is the Tio Kong Beng of the Hong Sin,
Of the minor gods the worshipers all know Kwan 1m and Kwan
Kong, Of the other gods, Houw T jiang Kun, Kwee Sieng-Ong, Hok Tek
Tjeng Sin, and Kuei Sing, a few know the names of the first three with-
out knowing their origin, while many do not even know who these images
represent. (This is especially the case with Kuei Sing.) The temple
keeper was able to tell the writer about the origin of the. main god, which
she too believes to be the Tio Kong Beng of the Hong Sin. She was also
familiar with Kwan Im as the goddess of mercy specially worshiped by
women, with Koan Kong as the god of the many powers and the special
patron saint of athletic clubs, and with Houw T jiang Kun as the mount of
Han Tan Kong. She described Kwee Seng-ong as the special protector of
the Hokkiens who is always depicted with one foot up and the other
hanging down, and Hok Tek Tjeng Sin as the god of the earth. She also
admitted she did not know anything about Kuei Sing; she was not even sure
of his name. The three gods of wealth, pos terity, and longevity are gen-
erally recognized by the worshipers. How little people are able to re-
cognize these images, except for those who have more or less fixed
features, was vividly illustrated by a small incident witnessed by the
writer. Among the many small images on the altar of Kwan Kong was
one which had always been regarded by the temple keeper as the image
of a Sundanese holy man, kyai Surjakentjana. When Bhikku Jinnarikita
(a Peranakan from Bogor with the name of Tee Boan An who is a Buddhist
priest ordained in Burma) came to visit the temple, however, he saw the
image and recognized it as an image of Buddha. So he took it along,
presumably to take better care of it. The temple keeper told the writer
later how surprised she was that she had mistaken the identity of the
image.
This is also a good example of the great hospitality of many of
the Chinese temples in Indonesia. Gods or holy persons of various
religious origins receive an equally hearty welcome, especially when
they have proven their efficacious influence. In the Hian Tang Kong
temple in Djakarta, for instance (it is curious to note that the image in
this temple is quite unlike the ones in Sukabumi, though they are believed
to be the same deity), there is a special small niche in one of the side
walls, in which a small bed and several articles made of iron are dis-
played, This niche is considered the sacred site of an Indonesian holy
man.
The organization of the temple--The temple is run by a temple
board which is primarily in charge of financial matters and a temple
keeper who takes care of the upkeep and daily activities.
The temple board is an elected body and consists of four persons:
tifia low tsoe (literally, head master of the stove); hu low tsoe (literally,
assistant master of the stove); ts*ia tao ke (literally, bead master of the
house);hu tao ke (literally, assistant head master of the house). (7)
(7) These four titles are from the Hokkien and the spelling is also taken
from a list available at the temple.137
Tenure is one year, and the election (by lot) always takes place on
the festival of the main god, the nineteenth of the third lunar month. The
candidates are taken from the list of donors for the lantern festival. The
selection of them is made by the tsai hu (Hokkien, meaning bookkeeper),
a China-born Hokkien man of about sixty with the surname Thung, who
has held the office (this seensnot elective) for quite a few years.
Since the erection of the temple, the members of the board have
practically always been Hokkiens or Peranakans, This is not surprising
considering the fact that the temple was built at the initiative of a group
of Hokkiens. These people seem to regard it as their special property
and responsibility. To be chosen is considered a high honor, a clear
indication of being favored by the god. This idea seems to be more pre-
valent among the China-born than among the Peranakans, as is indicated
by the greater willingness of the former to stand as candidates. It is
possible that the greater willingness is only the result of the fact that the
bookkeeper who makes the selection is China-born himself and would,
therefore, be more acquainted with other China-born people than with
Peranakans. It is more likely, however, that this difference in interest
points to a difference in the evaluation of the temple. The task of the
board and especially of the head low tsoe is to look after the financial
matters of the temple; therefore it requires a certain amount of wealth to
be eligible as an office holder. Among the wealthy Peranakans there
seems to be no desire to be actively connected with the temple. Among
the China-born, on the other hand, there are indications that to be a mem-
ber of the board accords prestige.
Twice a year, for the lantern festival and the festival of the main
god, the board members have to go around collecting money to cover the
expenses. Accordingly, they must set an example by being the first on
the list to contribute. Funds left over after festival expenses have been
met are used to pay for the upkeep of the temple. If in the course of the
year the money runs out, it is the head low tsoe who has the responsibility
to straighten things out. At the end of the office year, if there is a balance,
he will be reimbursed. At the beginning of office, each of these four
persons has to give an initial donation according to his means.
The members of the board collectively are usually referred to as
tap ke low tsoe. The assistant low tsoe helps with the collection of money
and acts for the head low tsoe in his absence. The head tao ke has to look
after the daily affairs of the temple; for instance, if the re is s ome thing
wrong in the temple it is he who is called. The assistant tao ke helps him
and also acts for him in his absence. Besides the care of the financial
affairs the board has to make a special big offering, including the offering
of three kinds of meat: the head of a pig, a chicken or duck, and a dried
squid or fish. This offering is made on five occasions, the ascension and
descension of the gods, New Year’s eve, lantern festival, and festival of
the main god.
The temple keeper is a Peranakan woman of over seventy, the
daughter of the Mr. Thung who initiated the transfer of the god to
Sukabumi. After the founder's death, first his wife and then his daughter
took over the job of taking care of the god. She is assisted by another138
old woman, a China-born Hokkien of the same surname, by the temple
keeper’s adopted son of about forty, and by the oldest daughter of this
son, a girl of eighteen. She receives no salary or regular financial aid,
but she does get a small income from the sale of prayer requisites and
from the money gifts the worshipers usually give her after each visit.
The most profitable time is during the lantern festival when a great
number of people from outside Sukabumi come to watch the procession
and visit the temple at the same time. On these occasions these people
are apt to be very generous.
The Significance of the Temple
Close observation during an entire calendar year indicates that
the majority of toe regular worshipers are China-born women, especially
Hakkas. This has been confirmed by the temple keeper and her son and
by several of the worshipers themselves. There is even some sort of
worship club among these Hakka women. They share costs of buying
candles, joss paper, incense sticks, and oil for the lamps. These are
usually acquired in Djakarta (the temple keeper provides only materials
for simple offerings, while the Hakka women usually make use of more
elaborate material, and no store in Sukabumi carries these articles) by
one of the women who seems to be regarded as the leader, though she
denied this when asked about it. She was very evasive in answering
questions on the purposes or activities of the group. According to her, ·
it is simply because many of the women cannot leave their households to
come to the temple that one of them, usually an old woman of over seventy,
the mother of one of the traditional Chinese doctors in town, alone or
with the above mentioned leader, comes to the temple to present the
offerings in the name of all those who shared in buying the materials.
The occasions calling for a visit are: first, the first and fif-
teenth of the Chinese lunar month; second, New Year’s eve and New
Year’s Day, and in general during the New Year season which starts
from the 24th of the 12th lunar month (the ascension of the kitchen god)
to the Lantern festival, which in Sukabumi comes on the 20th of the first
lunar month; and, third, on the feast of the lantern festival, called by
the Peranakans tja.p go meh (from the Hokkien, meaning literally, night
of the fifteenth). (8) The festival in this town is not celebrated on the
15th of the first lunar month but on the 20th. This practice is said to
have originated with the first Chinese kapitan (appointed 1892) who had
the date moved up to coincide with his birthday on the 20th so that a
double celebration could be held. Another reason for the different date
was based on the consideration that Sukabumi was at that time (around
1900) small and much less significant than Bogor or even Tjiandjur
(which was the regency capital to which Sukabumi belonged until 1921)
and would not be able to compete with these two towns in attracting
(8) Curiously enough, this name is not used at all among the China-
born Hokkiens (neither is it found in any of the Hokkien dictionaries)
who refer to this festival as goan siau. De Groot, op. cit,, p. 125,.
mentions, however, that this term is used on the continent around
Amoy and in the capital of the district of Chang chou.139
visitors for the festival if it should also be held on the 15th. Today the
dates in these three towns are different, making a series of festivals
starting in Bogor, then Tjiandjur, and ending in Sukabumi. The above,
then, are the general Chinese festivals celebrated in the temple.
The feast days of the gods, the festivities specially related to the
temple, are as follows:
Han Tan Kong or Tjek It Tian Koen 16th of the 3rd lunar month
but celebrated on the 19th.
Kwan Kong or Kwan Tek Kong	13th of the 1st lunar month.
Thow Tek Kong or Hok Tek TjengSin2nd of the 2nd month.
Kwee Seng Ong	22nd of the 2nd month.
Kwan Im Hoed Tjouw	19th	of	the..2nd lunar	month.
Kwan Im Lam Hay	19th	of	the 6th lunar	month.
Kwan Im Pauw Sat	19 th	of	the 9 th lunar	m'dhth.
Tjouw Soe Kong	6th of the 11th lunar	month (9)
The temple keeper informed the writer that, of these feast days,
only that of the main god is celebrated on a large scale. That of Kwan
Kong is also celebrated but on a smaller scale, while that of all tKe
others passes almost unnoticed except for those of Kwan Im when quite
a few Totok women come to present an offering,
Another occasion that should be mentioned here is the special
offering given annually by the group of Hakka women worshipers in the
second lunar month.
Besides these special occasions there are people who come to the
temple on ordinary days, usually to ask advice by way of the divining
sticks or the divining blocks, to invoke blessings for a. special occasion
as, for instance, before starting on a long trip, to present offerings to
express gratitude for a special favor granted, or to borrow money (a
symbolic amount) which will be considered as the initial capital to set
up business.
The activities in the temple on the special occasions mentioned
above will now be described.
First and fifteenth of the lunar month--The most regular wor-
shiper s—those who come on every first and fifteenth--are several older
China-born women, Hakkas (the leaders of the so-called worship club)
and Hokkiens. On four consecutive occasions, the-first and fifteenth of
the ninth and tenth lunar month of 1956 (October 4 and 18 and November
3 and 17, respectively), between eight in the momihg and twelve noon,
the writer recorded the number of worshipers, distinguished by the
way they were dressed:
(9) These names and dates have been copied from a dirty-looking card
nailed on one of the pillars. Who Tjouw Soe Kong stands for, the
temple keeper was unable to explain.140
Jacket-trousers Western dress Sarong-kabaja
Date Hakka Hok, Per. Hakka Hok, Per, Hakka Hok. Per, Total
9-1	2	2
9-15* **	3	2
10-1#*	6	6
10-15	3	3
Total 14	13
5-2	1	12
3	1-4	13
2	4	18
2-6 - 1 1 16
9-11	1	1	10	59
* · Two Peranakan men also visited,
** One Hokkien man and one Peranakan man visited.
This table is the result of the recording of only four occasions.
Nevertheless, from observations in other months, the writer believes
that it gives an accurate picture of the usual situation. From this table
a number of inferences can be made.
First we notice that as to total numbers the Hakkas and Peranakans
are equal, There is a crucial difference, however, in that, of the Hakkas,
on each occasion the same persons appeared, while, of the Peranakans,
different people were recorded every time. This indicates a regularity in
the worship pattern of these Hakka women, a characteristic the writer also
observed among the Hokkien women. Among the Peranakans, on the other
hand, visits to the temple seem to be a one-shot affair undertaken without
any thought of falling into a regular pattern.
Secondly, of those who could be identified as Hakkas, two-thirds
wore jackets and trousers, one-third western dress, and one was in
sarong kabaja. This can be taken as an indication that in this group there
is an interest in the temple among the younger people also. We will
notice this interest again in the special annual offering. Of those who
could be identified as Hokkiens, all were dressed in jacket and trousers
except for one in sarong-kabaja. This might be an indication that there
is little interest among the younger people in this group. Of the Perana-
kans there was an equal number in sarong-kabaja and western dress,
which again can be taken as an indication of an interest among the younger
people.
We will examine this interest further, as expressed in the parti-
cipation in the other activities in the temple.
During the New Year season--The New Year season can be re-
garded as commencing with the day of the ascension of the kitchen god
on the 24th of the 12th lunar month. Among the Peranakans this event
is called tepekong naik (naik is Indonesian for to climb or to ascend).
On this day the temple changes in appearance. Its tables have been;
cleaned and the copper articles polished like mirrors. The two main
images are clad in silver-embroidered capes and the small images of
Kwan Kong and Kwan Im are dressed in bright draperies. Curtains of
fine material hang in front of the main shrine, and elaborately embroi-
dered draperies trail from the rafters. These fineries have been pre-
sented in the course of the last few years by the group of Hakka women141
worshipers. They are used during the festive period, from the ascension
of the god until after the feast of the main god in the third lunar month. .
However, few worshipers come to the temple on this occasion because'f-
usually people have offerings at home. In the afternoon, however, there
is the special big offering of the temple board, which includes the head
of a pig, a chicken, a duck, and a dried squid. These are divided among
the four members after the offering. The temple keeper herself also
presents an offering, but without meat. On the altar of Kwan Kong and
the other minor gods slips of yellow paper bearing the picture of a horse '
are put between the cups of tea. These represent the horses to be used
by the gods to ascend to heaven. At the end of the offering they are
burned. A similar offering takes place on the occasion of tepekong turun
(turun is Indonesian for to descend) which occurs on the fourth of the
first lunar month.
In the evening the Chinese boxing club, Gie Sai Hwee (spelling
follows that used by the members themselves) presented its first
barongsai performance of the season. The members, all Peranakan
boys and young men, were dressed in light-blue trousers fastened at
the ankles, a navy blue T»ehirt and a yellow sash around the waist. This ,
uniform is completed with a black beret to which the club badge is fastened.
Before the performance a special ceremony had to be observed. The
leading person was a Peranakan man of about forty, who is also the leader
of the coffin bearers of the funeral association. After placing several
kinds of Indonesian fruits on the altars, the praying started, beginning
with'the older members or donors of the club. The men prayed in groups
simultaneously. Each of them held twelve incense sticks, one for each
holder. After everyone, including the small boys, had had his turn,
all went to the room at the right of the temple proper, where the religious
articles are stored. Here in a closed shelf the barongsai is kept.
Several people informed the writer that before each performance incense
has to be burned for it. If this is not done it will be very heavy to bear.
The leader of the ceremony told the writer that they believe that this sai
has a sin (from the Hokkien, meaning spirit) and therefore it is wor-
shiped^ The ceremony over, the sai was taken reverently off the shelf
and carried to the front of the temple through a side door. It is considered
a large sai, about three feet in diameter, painted black with green lights
for the eyes, and has movable eyelashes, a red-lighted tongue, and
movable jaws. In the center of the forehead is a horn with a yellow tip.
The body is made up of a train of multicolored pieces of cloth ending in a
braided tail. This train is about six feet long.
The musical instruments for the accompaniment of the performance
were arranged on the porch in front of the temple. They consisted of a
huge drum about three feet high and two and one-half feet in diameter,
big cymbals, and a gong. There were also several Chinese traditional
weapons and the standard of the club. This small band had been playing
since about half an hour before the sai was taken out, a. tine in g to all
that the New Year was near. Several Peranakan men told the writer that
they get excited every year at the deep and penetrating sound of this drum.
The sai was played by two young men, one carrying the head and
the other crouching at the tail. In front of the temple they went into142
position facing the main entrance and, with the drum making a deafening
noise, they rushed into the temple. Just inside the door they stopped,
and silver joss paper was burned in front of the sai, which shook its head
above the flames. This action was repeated on tEe" steps leading to the
inner part of the temple. The sai then made the round of all the altars,
bowing several times in front 0/ each. When it left the temple, moving
backwards, the burning of joss paper was repeated. Then the performance
started, right in the middle of the street. It alternated with a demonstra-
tion of Chinese boxing. A great number of spectators were gathered,
blocking all traffic on the street. They were virtually all Peranakans
and Totoks living in the neighborhood from Djalan Raja and Djalan Plabuan
II, including several members of the wealthy old Peranakan families.
There were more than a hundred persons, men and women, but for the
greater part young people and children. The predominance of Peranakans
among the performers and spectators was very striking. Among the
leading persons of the club there was only one older Hokkien man who
was pointed out to the writer as one of the instructors.
On New Year’s eve the activities in the temple started at six in
the evening, when a crowd had gathered to watch the departure of the
green dragon from the youth section of the Sam Kauw Hwee which was to
play in town that night. Three other groups roamed the streets that night:
first, the Gie Sai Hwee with their sai; second, the Chung Lien Hui (the
organization of students of Chinese descent who attend the Indonesian-
language middle school! and, third, the Hua Chiang She (a music club with
a membership of mixed Peranakan and Totok youth), each with a samsie
(an animal resembling a lion more than the sai because of its short body,
about three feet, covered with long hair and with no horn on its forehead).
These troupes first came to the temple to pay honor to the gods and to
ask their blessing that no harm befall the troupe on their tour through the
town. The ceremony of bowing before the altars and burning of joss paper
was performed, while on the forehead of each animal a charm paper was
pasted.
At midnight there were about twenty worshipers, all Totoks, men
as well as women, but more women. Most of the latter were dressed in
Chinese jacket and trousers. Several of them were the Hakka women who
regularly came to the temple. Both men and women were praying, but
while the women kept busy at the altars, many of the men were standing
or sitting talking with each other. Among these worshipers there was
only one Hokkien couple; the others were Hakkas, The inner part of the
temple was completely filled with smoke from the numerous incense
sticks. There were several kinds: the ordinary small brown ones, the
bigger red and yellow ones of one-half to three-quarters of an inch in
diameter and one to one-and-one-half feet tall, and the very big ones
of about two inches in diameter and about three feet tall. One of the
Hakka men informed the writer that a group of them had shared in buying
these articles in Djakarta. The temple keeper, who was busy cleaning
the candle containers and selling prayer articles with the aid of her son
and two of his oldest daughters, informed the writer that people had been
coming since eleven o’clock in the night.143
On New Year’s day the temple was crowded with worshipers all
morning. The majority again were Hakkaf,but there were also several
Peranakans, older women in sarong-kabaja. As on New Year’s eve,
.the temple was filled with smoke. The worshipers only lighted candles
and burned incense sticks and, at the end, joss paper. No food offering
was made. The son of the temple keeper was busy removing the half-
burned incense sticks to make room for new ones. These half-burned
ones were extinguished with water, dried in the sun, and then put to burn
in the oven for the joss paper outside the temple. He informed the
writer that people had been coming since 4:30 in the morning.
The 9th of fixe first lunar month is the feast day of the Ruler of
Heaven, Peranakans call the offering on this day sembahjang Thi-kong
or sembahjang Tuhan Allah. All day worshipers kept coming to;the
temple. The writer visited the temple around noon. There were at that
time eleven Hakka women praying devoutly. They were women, of'fifty
or more; only one was as young as thirty. They prayed in two groups
simultaneously, only burning incense sticks, small and big ones, and
lighting candles. After putting the sticks in the holders they performed
the pai kui by kneeling on a cushion specially provided for this purpose,
lifting their clasped hands above their foreheads and then bending head
and body forward until the forehead touched the floor. This they did
in front of each altar.
That morning the writer also observed two Peranakan men in their
early thirties consulting the divining sticks. They seemed very ignorant
as to the procedure and asked the temple keeper to explain how to do it.
At her direction they bought a package of incense sticks, two small red
candles and some sweets. They prayed in front of each altar very ser-
iously and then they drew the divining sticks. This act is called by the
Peranakans tjabut tjiam-sie (from the Hokkien, meaning to draw the
divining verses; tjabut is Indonesian for to draw). It is done by shaking
the bamboo container in such a way that only one. stick falls out. This
requires some skill, and the writer has witnessed many people who tried
several times without success and in the end asked the temple keeper to
do it for them. Each stick has a number written on it in Chinese charac-
ters. These numbers correspond to the slips of paper on which the
divining verses are written. After some manipulations the two young
men succeeded in acquiring a stick each. After taking the corresponding
slip with the verse which is written in Chinese, they consulted the
Indonesian (in fact, in so-called Chinese-Malay) that is contained in a
special book. /There are two translations: one dates from prewar times
and the other was made in 1957 by a second generation Hokkien traditional
Chinese doctor (father from Yungting and mother Peranakan)^ The trans-
lations are both the actual translation of the verse and the interpretation
of it by the translator. These translations and interpretations are very
vague and have to be reinterpreted. Usually the temple keeper is con-
sulted, but she is not always able to give a satisfactory interpretation.
She will then advise the person involved to take the Chinese verse and con-
sult a Chinese astrologer or traditional Chinese doctor. The two young
men were very serious about the interpretations in the book and copied
them.144
According to the temple keeper it is especially during the New
Year season and the Lantern festival that many people come to draw the
divining sticks. This is the time when one also sees young people, who
are then teased by their friends for trying to divine their chances in love.
The temple keeper also informed the writer that she was to make
an offering to Thi-kong that night* She added that this special offering on
the ninth of the first month is not made by all people, but once a person
starts observing it he has to do it every year. The purpose is to invoke
blessings from the Ruler of Heaven.
In the evening again there was a performance of the Gie Sai Hwee
and all other troupes in town also played on the streets.
The 15th of the first lunar month is the actual date of the Lantern
festival. This occasion drew quite a number of worshipers. From ten
in the morning until half past one in the afternoon the writer observed five
Hakka women, three women in sarong-kabaja, four Peranakan women in
western dress, and one man inliis early thirties. The old Hokkien woman
who is related to the temple keeper told the writer that there had been
many worshipers earlier in the morning. This was evidenced by the
great number of ordinary and large-sized incense sticks in the holders
and by the many small candles. There were also large candles of the
kind called "dragon candle" which is used for weddings. On all altars
there were sweets, fruits, and cakes.
The Lantern Festival on the 20th and 21st of the first lunar month-·
This festival will be treated at length because it has the highest degree of
participation from Peranakans, In the year 1957 these two dates were
Tuesday and Wednesday, 19 and 20 February, Since the Sunday before,
sai, samsie, and liong troupes from other towns (Djakarta, Tanggerang,
Bogor, Tjiandjur, Bandung) had been coming to the temple to pay re-
spects to the gods before touring the streets.
On the first day, the 20th of the first lunar month, the writer ob-
served the activities in the temple from ten in the morning until the de-
parture of the procession early in the evening, with a few breaks in be-
tween. In the morning the articles necessary for the procession had
already been taken out of storage. In front of the temple there were two
big lanterns made of red cloth decorated with glitter and the four char-
acters designating the title of the main god: cheng i tien chun. An old
Totok man and two younger men, one of whom is the son of a. member of
the board, were busy examining the illumination of two of the rattan
sedan chairs in which the gods would be carried.
From 10:00 until 11:00 a. m. and from 12:30 until 2:30 p.m,
the writer recorded the following worshipers: 1 Totok man; 3 Totok
women in jacket and trousers; 14 Peranakan men; 16 Peranakan women
in sarong-kabaja; and 5 Peranakan women in western dress.
This account shows that there was a distinct majority of Perana-
kans among the worshipers that morning, 4 Totoks against 35 Peranakans.
The greater part of these Peranakans, perhaps 74 per cent, were145
visitors from outside Sukabumi who came to watch the procession. During
these days the hotels were booked and many private houses were also
filled with guests.
In the afternoon the writer witnessed a man going into trance.
This man, a Peranakan with a dark complexion and more Indonesian than
Chinese features, came from Bandung, where he lived in one of the temples.
He was referred to as a tangsin (from the Hokkien, meaning medium; it
seems that among the Peranakans in Sukabumi both this term and the term
kiting, also from the Hokkien, are used, but the first seems to denote the
persdn only, while the second also denotes the act). The son of the
temple keeper informed the writer that this person had been in trance the.
day before and that on that occasion he had cut his tongue.
That afternoon the same performance occurred. This man sudden-
ly entered the temple through a side door. He was jumping back and forth
convulsively, eyes closed, and snorting like a horse, causing his saliva
to fly around. In front of the main altar he stopped. An old Hokkien man,
whom the writer was told belonged to one of the temples in Bandung also,
came to his side, put a triangle-shaped banner with the title of the main
god in his hand, and started to recite a prayer in Hokkien, monotonously
repeating the same lines. The tangsin waved the banner or struck the
table with it. He was also mumbling in Hokkien. The man aiding him
lighted some gold joss paper and put it on the floor. The tangsin jumped7
on it until the flames were extinguished, whereupon it was relighted and
again he jumped on it. This act was repeated until the pape r was burned
out.
After this the man acting as an assistant put a Chinese writing
brush in his hand and a sheet of blank yellow charm paper on the table in
front of him. On the first few sheets the tangsin wrote Chinese characters
with black Chinese ink. Shortly after, however, the assistant gave him a
pocket knife. The tangsin grabbed it with his right hand and, still jumping,
he moved back and forth. A small glass container was put on the table.
Bending his head over it, the tangsin stuck his tongue out, got hold of it
with his left hand, and with cautious movements cut on the surface of it.
Then he pressed it with his teeth so that blood came out of the wound and
down into the container. With the brush he dipped into it and continued
writing on the sheets of charm paper. The characters were the same on
all the sheets. He wrote thirty-five sheelsin all. They were put in rows
on the table to dry. To accomplish this feat he had to cut his tongue
three more times. During the writing he had stopped jumping, but his
eyes were still half closed. Finally (the writer did not notice whether
he gave an indication that he was through) the assistant gave him a sound
slap on the back causing him to bend forward. After another slap he
straightened himself, opened his eyes, and walked about as if nothing
had happened.
During the performance about twenty-five to thirty people were
crowded around the tahgsin. They were mostly Peranakans, among them
members of the troupes who had been put up in the rooms beside the
temple proper. There were practically no women among them. The
writer observed that most of the spectators looked with horror, but at the146
same time fascination, at the feat of the tang sin. The sheets of charm
paper were given to the son of the temple keeper to put on the heads of
the lions and dragons who visit the temple.
At 4:15 p. m. the writer was back at the temple for the procession.
The head low tsoe had then already consulted the god by way of the div-
ining blocks concerning the starting time, which was to be at 5:00 p. m.
The sedan chairs, called kio (from the Hokkien) by the Peranakans were
already decorated with fresK flowers, a gift from a flower shop owner,
a Peranakan belonging to one of the old wealthy families in town who had
been low tsoe several years before. There were three sedan chairs,
two made of rattan and one made of wood, elaborately carved with sym-
bols and figures depicting well-known characters of Chinese mythology
and painted in a gold color. There were no worshipers inside, but a
crowd had already gathered outside. The troupes who were to take part
in the procession entered the temple one by one, bowing before each
altar three times.
At 4:50 p. m, the members of the board burned incense sticks
and then took away the bigger Han Tan Kong image, the mirror and the
tiger god to put into the sedan chairs. As this day's procession is con-
sidered the preliminary one, the smaller image, the more important
one, did not participate, but was represented by the mirror. The
images were fastened to the chairs with red cotton ribbons to keep them
from falling off. The tiger god was put in one of the rattan chairs, the
Han Tan Kong image in the other one, and the mirror in the gold-painted
one. Suddenly the tangsin went into trance again. He jumped around and
snorted and flourished the banner. He remained close to the gold-
painted chair until the departure.
At 5:00 p, m, sharp, the chairs were carried out of the temple.
First a kind of sedan chair, filled only with an oven from which flames
flickered, carried by boys (into this oven are put the incense sticks
gathered from the people who burn them as the procession passes along),
then the chair with the tiger god, followed by that of the main deity and
finally the gold-painted chair with the mirror.
When the procession was about to start, another man went into
trance. He shouted wildly, took off his trousers, shirt and shoes,
leaving only his singlet and pants. He made a gesture of cutting his
tongue. Several men led him inside the temple. It turned out that this
man was a well-known tangsin from the temple of Kwan Tek Koen, i, e. ,
Kwan Kong, in Djakarta.
The procession was arranged as follows: first the troupes of
lions and dragons, then the sedan chairs, followed closely by a great
number of Indonesians carrying poles advertising various shops and
enterprises, and finally publicity cars also from various enterprises.
In this procession not all the troupes gathered in town took part. As it
proceeded very slowly, however, it still took about forty-five minutes
for the train to pass, and it was to take about six hours to follow the
prescribed route, so that it returned to the temple at about 11:00 p, m.147
The 21st of the first lunar month was the day of the big procession..
When the writer arrived at the temple at 9:45 a. m. there was a group of
about fifteen persons around the main altar, where the two tangsins were
in trance simultaneously. They were both jumping up and down and
pounding the table. The one from Djakarta shouted wildly in Indonesian
and Sundanese, The interpretation was that he said that there would be
no rain that night and that the procession would take place safely. Later
the writer was told that he had been possessed by the spirit of a Sundanese
holy man. The other tang sin did not give any message.
From 9:45 until 11:45 a, m, and from 1:00 until 2:00 p. m. , the
writer recorded the following worshipers: 3 Totok men; 13 Totok women
in jacket and trousers, mostly Hokkiens; 3 Totok women in western dress;
9 Peranakan men; 13 Peranakan women in sarong-kabaja; and 3
Peranakan women in western dress.
Again we see that there were more Peranakan than Totok wor-
shipers, 25 against 19. These people generally offered only some sweets,
burned incense sticks and joss paper, and lighted some small red candles.
Most of them also, especially the Peranakans, bought these items from
the temple keeper. There was an obviously wealthy Hakka man from
Djakarta, however, who brought two candles of about two inches in dia-
meter and about three feet tall and three big incense sticks of about one
inch in diameter. The candles were put on the main altar and the incense
sticks in the three burners in front of the main shrine, one in each burner.
There was also a Hokkien woman who made a large meat offering.
At two in the afternoon the temple board presented an offering as
it did the day before. This offering consisted of six kinds of sweets and
six kinds of dried Chinese vegetables. These were put on all four altars,
while on the altar of Kwan Kong and the tiger god were added meat
offering, consisting of the cooked head of a pig, a pair (cock and hen) of
cooked fowl, and a dried squid. On the 21st the offering was similar,
but the meat was uncooked and, instead of dried vegetables, there were
fresh ones.
The same people who decorated the sedan chairs the day before
were again busy redecorating them, but this time they also used orchids.
In accord with the consultation with the divining blocks, the procession
was to start at six o’clock. One hour before, however, it was already
overcrowded inside and outside. Besides the people who came merely
as spectators, there were a great number of real worshipers. In fact
there was such a crowd in front of the altars that they were not able to
pray properly. There were also many who consulted the divining sticks.
These worshipers were mostly Peranakans, for the greater part visitors
from outside Sukabumi. Among the spectators were many from the
wealthy, western-educated Peranakan families in town.
About half an hour before the start of the procession, the tangsin
from Bandung went into trance again. He stood before the gold-painted
chair, snorting and flourishing his banner, while the assistant stood be-
side him mumbling prayers. The writer then observed a Dutch-educated
Peranakan in his early thirties approaching the tangsin and asking148
something softly. He was followed by his younger sister of around twenty
and another Peranakan Dutch-educated man also in his early thirties. The
first questioner emerged from the crowd which had gathered around them
holding triumphantly a sheet of charm paper on which characters resem-
bling Arab script were written with a Chinese brush and ink. When the
writer asked these three persons* whom she knew personally, what the
tangsin had said, the first two only laughed and said that it was a secret.
The third, however, told the writer that he had asked about his work and
that the tangsin had answered in Indonesian, saying that he must listen to
his parents and be patient in his work. He gave the impression that he
took the tangsin seriously. Shortly after, the other tangsin also went
into trance* He jumped around wildly, shaking one hand in the air, eyes
closed. He stood in front of the main altar where the one from Bandung
had also taken position. The one from Djakarta kept pounding the table
and shouting in Indonesian and Sundanese. He asked for a cigar and this
caused a slight commotion in the dense crowd around them, but as nobody
present had a cigar, his request was not granted, The one from Bandung
had started writing charm papers again. When the one from Djakarta had
calmed down, he was also given a Chinese brush and charm papers. Both
then frantically scribbled one sheet after another. The writings of both
resembled the same Arab script and they looked the same on all sheets.
The inner part of the temple was at that time a solid mass of
people straining their necks and standing on chairs to get a glimpse of
the tangsins. Several young men, members of the Gie Sai Hwee, tried
to keep order and helped distribute the finished charm papers. These
were only given to persons who had given their name to these young men.
They then passed on the names to the tangsins. There was a great hub-
bub caused by the many people shoutiog their name s. It was again evident
that the crowd consisted for the greater part of Peranakans. There was
quite a number of young men among them, members of the troupes and
those who would carry the sedan chairs.
At five minutes to six the two tangsins ceased writing but re-
mained in trance. The one from Djakarta left the altar and stood under
the open spot in the center of the temple. He threw uncooked rice in the
direction of the four points of the compass, followed by the other
tangsin who did the same.
In this procession the bolder" Han Tan Kong image participated,
seated in the gold-painted sedan chair, while the mirror was left behind.
The train was longer than that of the day before. There were five big
dragons and two small ones, about twenty sai and samsie, and one called
by the Peranakans kilin, with antlers shaped like that of a deer. There
was also a group of Indonesian djoget dancers (djoget is a Malay dance),
some of whom were men dressed and made up as women, (The writer
was informed that this was a group of homosexuals from Bandung, )
There were also more advertising signs and publicity cars.
Along the route that covered the whole southern part of the town,
people were crowded on the sidewalk, A great number of spectators
followed the train as it passed along. The streets from Djalan Raya
southward were closed to traffic. (There was an official permit for this149
procession, and policemen were keeping order. ) During the procession,
the main street, Djalan Raya, was a solid mass of people. Until the
small hours groups of people kept walking up and down this street,
singing and shouting.
Around midnight the writer was back at the temple to await the re-
turn of the procession. At twelve, groups of young men and girls wearing
party clothes started coming into the temple. Half an hour later more
people came and soon the temple was crowded again. It was one o’clock,
however, before the procession was heard approaching the temple, and
together with the first sedan chair a big crowd surged into the temple.
They were mostly young Peranakans. The minute the chairs entered the
temple many hands tried to snatch away the flowers. Several of the
carriers prevented this and succeeded in keeping the crowd off. The mem
bers of the temple board, helped by several of these carriers, then un-
fastened the gods and returned them to the altars. It was very striking
that the crowd did not make way immediately for the persons carrying
the images, so that some of the people assisting had to shout them away.
Meanwhile several young men had succeeded in pulling away some of the
flowers. This caused some of the carriers to rush up to them and shout
angrily. The writer was informed that in former years it was not infre-
quent that people started fighting each other over the flowers and the red
ribbons with which the gods were fastened to the chairs. That night,
however, people were well under control. The flowers and the ribbons,
torn into small strips, were distributed by several men. Those who
asked for these things were mostly older women, but also some men and
young girls. When the writer inquired of several of these girls what they
planned to do with the flowers, most of them replied that they did not
know and that they were asking for them only for fun, because everybody
did. Some who were lucky enough to get undamaged flowers said that they
would just put them in a vase. Most people, however, only succeeded
in getting one or two almost crushed flowers. The girl who had put a
question to the tangs in before the processions started answered that she
would put the flowers m a vase and, when they had withered, she would
dry them and keep them, because older women had told her that these
flowers have an auspicious influence. She also told the writer that she
still had the flowers of the year before. The owner of the shop who pre-
sented the flowers explained that they are considered a kind of tumbal (a
Sundanese term meaning amulet or charm); they are tied with the red
ribbon and kept in the wardrobe. The writer observed evidence of this
belief in the smallest grandchild of the temple keeper; the child wore a
piece of this ribbon as a bracelet around her wrist.
In the meantime the altars were crowded with people burning in-
cense sticks. Many of them were the young men who helped carry the
sedan chairs. It is believed that to be one of the bearers even for a
second will bring luck. Therefore, during the procession the bearers
changed continuously. There were also a great number of people con-
sulting the divining sticks. Again, as indicated by the fact that virtually
all the incense sticks in the holders were of the ordinary kind, most of
the worshipers were Peranakans, The temple keeper informed the
writer later that that night worshipers kept coming until three in the
morning.150
The festival of the main god» Han Tan Kong--The actual date of
the festival is the 16th of the third lunar month, but in Sukabumi it is
celebrated on the 19th. This difference is related to the fact that the
Chinese puppet show that plays in Sukabumi is usually the same troupe
that plays in the temple at Babakan Madang, the former residence of the
main god. Thus, to avoid conflict, the date in Sukabumi has been moved
a few days. On this occasion the annual election of the temple board also
takes place.
When the writer arrived at the temple around noon, it was crowded
and the numerous incense sticks in the holders were a clear indication
that there had been many worshipers before. This was confirmed by the
temple keeper who informed the writer that in the last few days quite a
few worshipers had been coming. The group of Hakka women, for in-
stance, had already made an offering the day before. According to her,
worshipers would continue coming during the entire week of the festival.
A change in the arrangement of the tables had occurred. The
high table for Thi-feong had been pushed to the front, almost in the opening
of the main entrance, leaving only a small passage for people to pass
through. A lower table was placed against it. Two tables were added
to the left and right of the main altar and two tables were also added to
the one in front of the tiger god. These tables had been added because,
the day before, so many worshipers had come that there was not enough
space for the offerings, and people had to wait their turn. Beautifully
embroidered draperies depicting a tiger or the three figures of the gods
of wealth, posterity, and longevity, hung down the front of the tables, A
curtain of red cloth was fastened to the main entrance. All tables were
covered with offerings, but there was meat only in front of the tiger god.
In regard to the offerings, there was a noticeable difference be-
tween those of the Peranakans and Totoks in general, and only a slight
difference between those of Totok Hokkiens and Totok Hakkas. The
Peranakans offered only cakes and fruit. According to a Peranakan
woman of around fifty, if possible one should offer twelve kinds, but
there is no fixed rule and one may present even only some fruits. The
kind of offering is also not prescribed. She herself had brought twelve
kinds of cakes and fruits: seven kinds of "wet cakes," including kue
mangkok and kue ku, the cakes usually offered by Peranakans, and five
kinds of Indonesian fruit. Another Peranakan woman, over sixty and
belonging to one of the old wealthy families in town, told the writer that
she had only brought some fruits, among which were apples, oranges
and grapes (very expensive, because imported), and cakes. The year
before she had presented a whole pig and a whole goat, a special offering
in gratitude for the recovery of a seriously sick grandchild. There was
one Peranakan woman in sarong-kabaja, however, who brought twelve
kinds of vegetables, fruits, and also meat offerings. She was married
to a Hakka man, and this lavish offering was made at the initiative and
instruction of her Hakka mother-in-law.
The Totoks entered the temple loaded with hampers and baskets
full of cakes, fruits, and food, Often they also brought along their own
incense sticks, candles, and joss paper. The food offering consisted of151
dried Chinese vegetables, noodles, Chinese vermicelli, and meat, all un-
prepared or only boiled in water.
From noon until 4:30 p. m. the following worshipers were recorded;
3 Hakka women; 19 Hokkien women and 10 men (including the four mem-
bers of the temple board); and 19 Peranakan women and 1 man. The
great number of Hokkiens reflects the special importance attached to the
main god by this particular group of people.
The election of the temple board--The election occurred at 4:15
p. m. The ceremony was led by the tsai-hu, the old Hokkien man with the
surname Thung. He lighted two dragon candles at the main altar. There-
upon the head low tsoe burned three big incense sticks in front of the altar
of Thi-kong. Then all four members prayed with ordinary incense sticks
in front of the altar of Thi-kong and the main god. After putting these
sticks in the holders all four went down on their knees and performed the
pai kui, bowing four times first in front of the altar of Thi-kong, then in
front of that of the main god. They remained in this position while the
tsai hu read a prayer in Hokkien from a piece of paper. When he finished
the four got up, each took a package of gold joss paper that had been
placed on the four altars, lighted it at one of the candles and brought it
outside to burn in the special oven across the street. During this cere-
mony a small drum and a small gong that hang from one of the rafters
were beaten continuously and monotonously, except during the reading of
the prayer, by the son of the temple keeper and another Peranakan man
who-lives close to the temple. After burning the joss paper, the head
low tsoe, again alone, prayed in front of the main altar with three incense
sticks.
In the meantime the tsai hu had taken the divining blocks from their
place on the high table in front of the main shrine (these blocks have the
shape of a bean and are usually made of the root of.bamboo; one side is
rounded and the other flat) and handed them to the head low tsoe, who was
already standing in the open space in the center of the temple, facing the
main altar. The low tsoe held the two blocks in both hands with the flat
sides against each other and waited in this position for the tsai hu to read
off the names of the candidates. The first to be chosen was the head low
tsoe. The name on top of the list was that of a certain Lie Seng Koe, a
well-to-do owner of an iron workshop. Immediately after the name was
read, the low tsoe threw the two blocks into the air. All present craned
their necks to see how they would land on the floor. At the first throw it
was sio pwee (from the Hokkien, meaning a favorable throw of these
blocks, one with the rounded side up and the other with the flat side up),
indicating that the answer of the god is favorable. For each candidate,
three throws, one after another, has to be made, and only when all three
of them are sio pwee is it considered an indication that the god approves
of the appointment involved. In regard to the first candidate of this
election, he was considered extremely fortunate because he was chosen
at once. With the three other members of the board it took more time
because none was chosen at the first three throws. Whenever the tsai
hit had read off ail the names on the list and none was chosen, he started
over again from the beginning. This was continued until all members
were selected.152
* The four persons selected that afternoon were all Hokkiens; the
head low tsoe and head tao ke were China-born and the assistants were
local-born oi China-born father and Peranakan mother. Except for the
assistant tao ke, they are all wealthy people, the assistant low tsoe
being the owner of one of the best known Chinese medicine shops and the
head tao ke a member of the pork-sellers kongsi. Of the newly elected
members only the latter was present with hs wife, a Sundanese woman.
The former head low tsoe told the writer that there were 30 per-
sons on the list of candidates. These were chosen from the donor list
for the Lantern Festival.
There were not many people present to witness the election, fifty
at the most and for the greater part men and children who live in the
neighborhood. There were none of the regular Hakka women worshipers.
Those present took a lively interest in the proceedings, and the children
in particular were enjoying themselves greatly, laughing and shouting
at the result of each throw. There was a cheerful atmosphere and no
solemnity at all»
In the afternoon the Chinese puppet show, called by the Peranakans
wajang po te hi, started to play at three o’clock. (10) It was a Hokkien
troupe from Semarang consisting of six members, two playing the puppets
and four musicians. The leader was a China-born Hokkien from An Chi
who came to Indonesia about thirty-six years ago with his puppets. Two
of the other members were Totoks from Nan An, one from Hsia Men,
while the other two were Peranakans from Kediri (East Java), They
were paid with the money given by donors, but this covered only five
days. The other days (they played in Sukabumi for two weeks) were
taken care of by individual donors or groups of them. There were two
performances a day, from three to five in the afternoon and eight to ten
in the evening. Half an hour before each performance they started
playing music to attract attention.
The stage was erected on the open space across the street be-
tween the two big joss paper ovens. It was a closed stage, built on poles
with a small door at the back as the only entrance. In front is an open
space in the upper part where the puppets are displayed. The afternoon
performance attracted few spectators, mostly children from the neighbor-
hood. Many of them brough along small stools and sat right in front of
the stage or even under it, A few older men watched from the porch of
the temple. The evening performances drew more spectators. On one
of the evenings the writer observed about ten Totok women in jacket and
trousers, about thirty Totok and Peranakan men, several Peranakan
women in sarong-kabaja and about fifty children. There were also sev-
eral groups of Indonesian men, people passing by or those living in the
(10) The puppets are made of a hollow wooden head, and a body of cloth
(the material depending on the character it portrays), also hollow inside
like a pouch. They are played by sticking the forefinger into the hollow
head and the thumb and middle finger in the hollow arms from under-
neath the cloth.153
kampong. The Totoks were virtually all Hokkiens. This is understandable,
considering the fact fhat the performance was given in a Hokkien dialect.
During the performance many Indonesian food vendors gathered in
front of the temple, while the room in the pat kwa teng was made into a
kind of coffee shop where people could sit and drink and at the same time
watch the show through the ■windows. Judging from the worshipers and
spectators on this occasion one gets the impression that this festival is
mainly a Hokkien and, to a lesser extent, a Peranakan affair.
The feast day of Kwan Kong--The feast day of Kwan Kong is,
according to the list in the temple,. on the 13th of the first lunar month.
When the writer visited the temple on the morning of that day, howevei·,
it was empty and there were no offerings at the altar of Kwan Kong. The
son of the temple keeper, when asked about it, first said he was not aware
of any feast day, but when he looked at the list and saw it, he drew the
attention of his mother to it. She just looked at the list and did not make
any comment. It is possible that she felt embarrassed to be discovered
forgetting one of her duties. The next morning she informed the writer
that she did make an offering in the afternoon. She added that she is not
too particular in regard to the feast day of the minor gods. It is not in-
frequent that she forgets it, but this does not matter so much, she said,
if the day passes without her having been aware of it.
The Gie Say Hwee, which has this god as its patron saint, pre-
sented a performance in the evening, but this was not on account of the
feast day. They celebrate another feast day of this god, the 24th of the
fifth lunar month. According to de Groot, (11) the feast days of Kwan
Kong are on the 13th of the first and fifth lunar month, but his birthday
is on the 24th of the sixth lunar month. Why the Gie Say Hwee celebrates
the 24th of the fifth month is explained to the writer by one of the mem-
bers as being the commemoration of the pledge of brotherhood made in
the peach garden by the three famous heroes of the San Kuo stories (the
stories of Three Kingdoms): Kwan Yu or Kwan Kong, Liu~Pi, and Chang
Fei. (de Groot mentions this event but does not state a date. )(12)
On the thirteenth of the fifth lunar month the temple keeper did
make a small offering, but she said she had almost forgotten it again.
The annual offering of the Hakka women worshipers--As men-
tioned earlier, this "offering always takes place in the second lunar month.
The feast varies every year, because it is determined by the auspicious-
ness of the day. In 1957 it was from the llftiuntil the 13th or Tuesday until
Thursday, 12th to 14th of March.
This is an exclusively Hakka affair. For three days the temple,
including the kitchen of the temple keeper, was completely taken over by
these Hakka women, The money needed to cover the expenses is con-
tributed by those who want to join the offering. Depending on the funds
(11)	Op. cit,, pp. 122-123,
(12)	Op. cit., pp, 98-99.154
raised, the offering has a simple or lavish character. That year hap-
pened to be an extremely lavish offering, A group of Buddhist nuns,
called tsai ma by the Hakkas, was ordered from Djakarta to lead the
prayers. (15) There was also a group of young Hokkien local-born arti-
sans, who were ordered from Djakarta to make the numerous paper arti-
cles to be burned on this occasion. Many of these articles were so big
that it would have been too difficult to transport them; the artisans came
with the necessary materials to make the articles on the spot.
All during the day prayers were held for periods of an hour with
breaks in between. Each time, a group of Hakka women would stand
behind the center table, where the nun leading the prayer and the leader
herself or one of the other nuns were kneeling. Each woman had a cushion
on which she frequently knelt, bowing her head until it touched the floor.
The women usually did not participate for the full hour, but gave their
places to other women. At one time the writer counted as many as fifty
Hakka women gathered in the temple, old as well as young.
At about six in the evening, some of the paper articles were
burned in the open space across the street. Most of these were elabor-
ately and skilfully made; there was one nine-storied pagoda that reached
almost to the ceiling of the temple, a big boat with a roof and a paper
fisherman on it, a great number of articles resembling houses filled with
gold joss paper folded in the shape of a boat, a kind of flowerpot decorated
with flowers and strings of paper coins, strings of gold paper folded in the
shape of old Chinese nuggets, old fashioned Chinese boots bound in pairs,
one big tank made of a bamboo frame and black paper, six horses of
about three feet high, large bridges, paper figures of men about three
feet tall, numerous gold paper cocks and hens bound in pairs, small
rectangular boKes made of gold paper, and small suitcases made of
colored paper. All these articles were burned on the evening of the
first and second day, (14)
The reaction of Peranakans and Indonesians to this type of lavish
offering was generally unfavorable. A Peranakan Dutch-educated woman
of around forty who came to watch the burning of the paper articles re-
marked that it was an immense waste of money. She was informed by
one of the participants that about twenty thousand rupiahs were spent on
these articles. Other Peranakans indicated that it was deplorable
(13)	These nuns were four young girls of around twenty, headed by a
China-born woman of around sixty. They were dressed in a long, black,
pleated skirt and navy Chinese jacket with rolled-up sleeves. Their hair
was combed severely back in a neat bun, except for the youngest, who
had pigtails and bangs. They looked emaciated and withdrawn and hardly
talked with any of the worshipers. This was the same group the writer
had observed performing the death-rites at the funeral of a Hakka shop
owner several months earlier,
(14)	These articles indicate that this must have been one of the so-called
Buddhist Masses for the dead, such as are described in detail by Jan
Jacob M. de Groot, Buddhist Masses at Amoy (Leyden, 1885), espec.
pp, 82-86 and 97-105?	~	.155
because it reinforced the belief among Indonesians in the affluency of the
Chinese in general. The writer overheard several Indonesians passing
by expressing their astonishment and disbelief that such nice things were
burned. Asked whether they have this kind of offering every year, the
leader of the Hakka women answered that it would be impossible. To
make this offering they had been collecting money for three years. There
were people who had contributed only a few rupiahs. She also explained
that only the first two days had been a joint offering; the third day was
open to persons who want to make individual offerings.
Summary — To summarize, how significant is the temple for the
Chinese population in Sukabumi?
The regular worshipers are Totok women, especially Hakkas.
They are the most devoted and the most generous as indicated by their
frequent use of large-sized candles and incense sticks, by the expensive
offerings they make, and by the presentation of draperies, curtains, and
other decorative material. These Hakka worshippers are mostly older
women over forty, though at the annual offering younger women also
participate. Men come in number only on New Year’s eve and New
Year’s day.
The Hokkiens seem to be less regular than the Hakkas. They do
not have joint offerings (at least not in the temple), but they come indivi-
dually or at the most in groups of two or three. The most regular wor-
shipers were several old women, of the generation who still walk on
bound feet. As to devotion, they show an intensity similar to the Hakkas,
using large-sized incense sticks and candles and presenting elaborate
offerings. The men seem to feel a certain responsibility towards the
temple as indicated by their willingness to become members of the board.
This is apparently due to the fact that the founders of the temple were
Hokkiens. In view of this we notice indeed a decline in the devotion of
die Hokkiens.
As to Peranakans, we have seen how they practically invaded the
temple during the Lantern Festival, Many Peranakans stated that, if
they ever set foot in the temple, it is on this occasion. The reason for
coming is primarily to watch the procession and the troupes of lions and
dragons. Especially when it is known that tangsins will be present, people
flock to the temple. Thus, what attracts them is the spectacular aspect
rather than the religious. Usually these visitors also burn incense
sticks, but their attitude seems to be that, having come to the temple,
there is no harm in paying respects to the gods as well. The writer
observed that those of the Peranakans who do make a visit at other
times are usually simple, uneducated women of the lower class who live
in· the back streets south of the railroad. These visits are generally for
the purpose of consulting the god or requesting a favor. For instance,
when there is sickness in the house and doctors are not quick enough in
curing it, they will come to the temple to ask for medicine by way of the
divining sticks. (Next to answers in matters concerning life in general,
there are special slips with prescriptions of Chinese medicine that can
be bought at a Chinese medicine shop. ) When important decisions have
to be made they also often resort to the divining sticks.156
The writer noticed four young Peranakan women, who can be re-
garded as the only young Peranakans of the upper class, who come to the
temple rather regularly on the first and fifteenth of the lunar month.
They are members of two of the old families in town, When asked the
reason for their coming, one of them answered that it can be compared
with the visits Christians make to their church on Sundays. A simple,
uneducated woman of around fifty stated that the god of the Chinese is
the tepekong; thus as a Chinese already possesses a god, why should he
turn Christian and worship an alien god.
In general we might say that those Peranakans who visit the
temple believe in the supernatural power of the god, a belief that is re-
garded as superstitious by the more educated people. Therefore, those
who regard themselves educated seem reluctant to be seen in the temple,
because they do not want to be considered superstitious and therefore un-
educated. This stigma of superstition attached to the temple is reinforced
by the attacks which the Christian churches, especially the Protestants,
make on it. They proclaim it a source of superstitious beliefs and forbid
their followers to have anything to do with it.
Based on these findings, we may conclude that at present the
temple still has a great significance in the life of a certain group of the
Chinese population, mainly Totok and lower-class Peranakan women.
We have seen, however, that in regard to the Totoks, the wor-
shipers are mostly older, married women of forty and older. As the
leader of the Hakka worship club told the writer, young people today look
with contempt on the activities in the temple and all kinds of offerings,
regarding them as outdated superstition. Hence, when the present older
generation dies out, there is little reason to expect that in devotion in
the temple they will be replaced by the younger generation.
As for Peranakans, we have noticed that the real worshipers are
limited to the lower class who apparently believe in a supernatural
power of the tepekong. We have also noticed, however, that a tepekong
has much the same significance as an Indonesian holy man. To gain
popularity, origin of religious affiliation is immaterial; the only criterion
of importance is the evidence of efficacy.
The Christian churches are working very actively among the
Peranakans, however, and most of the Peranakan children attend
Christian schools. Even though it does not follow that they will inevit-
ably be converted to Christianity, yet they will certainly be led away
from belief in tepekongs. As we will see in the following section, the
Sam Kauw Hwee does not encourage adherence to temple worship either.
Hence, we may expect that the temple will gradually lose its religious
meaning and become merely a symbol of Chinese culture, as it has
already in the eyes of many western-educated Peranakans.
The Special Offering to the Neglected Spirits
in the Seventh Lunar Month
This event calls for a special public offering. De Groot says this157
offering usually takes place in the temple garden. (15) In Sukabumi,
however, it takes place in Gang Ikan, the street that used to be occupied
by fish shops owned by Hokkiens from Yung Ch’un. (This is indicated
by the name of the street; ikan is Indonesian for fish). This offering is
organized by Yung Ch’un Totoks. Each year a committee is formed
among them to collect money and organize the event. Donations are soli-
cited not only from Yung Ch’un Hokkiens but also from other speech
groups and from Peranakans. The date is fixed usually on the fifteenth
or the sixteenth.
A stall is erected at the north entrance of the street near Djalan
Raya with the opening facing south. Inside, a picture of Koan Im is
placed at the back wall and Chinese draperies line the τοόζ A table
with incense holders and another table for the offerings are placed in
front of the picture. Starting about eight feet from the stall a long row of
three by five feet tables is set up in the middle of the street.
These tables are loaded with offerings: bags of rice, one whole
raw pig, three whole raw goats, a great number of cooked chicken, ducks
and chunks of pork, tens of bowls filled with Chinese dried vegetables,
buns with meat inside called bah pao piled in the shape of a cone, numer-
ous plates of a typical Hokkien cake called koe-nlig-ko, many having a
diameter of one to one and one-half feet, other Chinese cakes and fruits,
mostly apples, oranges and grapes and imported Chinese nuts and melon
seed. One table was full of bowls with live, big golden (edible) fish and
other kinds of fish, frogs, crabs, a watersnake and small turtles. On
each offering a small red banner is stuck, with the name of the donor in
Chinese characters on it. From this listing we can see that the offerings
are characteristic of Totoks. The writer was informed by a Yung Ch’un
man living in this street that they are mostly presented by Hokkiens, but
there are also some from Hakkas and Peranakans who have asked a
Hokkien woman to prepare an offering.
The tables were ready at five p. m. Mostly Hokkien women were
praying in the stall, but there were also Hakka and Peranakan women.
There were very few men, although the organizers and those directing
the ceremony were all Hokkien men. After the burning of incense sticks
by the committee members, one or more of these sticks were stuck on
each offering. At about eight p. m. the ceremony was terminated by
burning a huge pile of joss paper that had been presented by the worshipers
Then the offerings were taken away by the donors.
During the ceremony the street was full of spectators, the crowd
getting thicker as the evening wore on. Totoks, Peranakans, and Indo-
nesians jostled and squeezed around the tables to get a look at the display
of offerings. The density and behavior of the crowd was similar to that of
the night of the Lantern Festival.
Older people told the writer that long ago the offerings were not
taken back by the donors but were given to the poor to grab whatever they
could lay hands on; hence this offering is also called sembahjang rebutan
(rebutan is derived from the Indonesian verb rebut or merebut, meaning
(15) Les F£tes annuelleroent C616brdes A Emoui, pp. 425-433,158
to’seize or to grab). Because it usually ended in riots, this custom was
discontinued.
It is obvious that this offering is a completely Hokkien affair. Even
though there is participation from Hakkas and Peranakans, it is insignifi-
cant, and the offerings presented are made in the form customary among
the Hokkiens,
The Sam Kauw Hwee
Sam Kauw is from the Hokkien and means, literally, three reli-
gions, that is, Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism. Thus the Sam
Kauw Hwee is a religious or, more correctly, a spiritual society
(Perkumpulan Kebathinan in Indonesian) based on the teachings of Confu-
cius, Lao-tzu, and Buddha. Since the end of the war it has enjoyed a
considerable popularity among Peranakans. In 1956 there were Sam
Kauw societies in about twenty towns in Java, These societies are
united into the Gabungan Sam Kauw Indonesia, abbreviated GSK1 (literally
Union or Federation of Sam Kauw societies in Indonesia; gabungan is
an Indonesian term).
The Sam Kauw Hwee of Sukabumi was founded in 1952, Member-
ship is open to all, regardless of ethnic group and religion. Actually,
however, the members are virtually all Peranakans, In 1956 there were
500 members listed, among whom were 67 women. These women were
mostly widows and a few unmarried women. Membership includes the
whole family. There were four Indonesian members, one man and three
women. The man is a Javanese; he told the writer that his interest in
the society stems from the fact that his father was a great admirer of
Buddhism. Two of his children attended one of the Chinese-language
schools in Sukabumi. Of the three women, two were widows of Peranakan
men, while the third was a young Sundanese teacher at a public primary
school. This young woman is a very active member; she even gives lec-
tures at meetings in small towns. She stated that even though she is a
Moslem, it is possible for her to be interested in the teachings of the
Sam Kauw, because it is above any religion.
No significant change in membership has occurred since the
society was founded. The list shows the names of virtually all Peranakans
of any significance in town. The chairman, Mr. Tan Beng Yauw, who is
also chairman of the BPIT and the Baperki, claimed that all non-Christian
and non-Moslem Chinese can be regarded as belonging to the Sam Kauw
Hwee. Most of the upper class members rarely turn up at the meetings,
l^hey remain members, however, because apparently they feel they
should support this society. This is an interesting measure of the
feeling of affinity with what is considered Chinese culture, the promo-
tion of which is implied in the aims of the society. There are no stan-
dard dues, but members may contribute according to their means; it
varies from fifty cents to ten rupiahs or more per month.
The activities of the society consist mainly of a lecture once
every two weeks. They are given by leaders of Sam Kauw societies of.
Djakarta, Bandung, and other places. Asked why the speakers are159
mostly people from outside Sukabumi, the chairman replied that none of
the local leaders considers himself sufficiently knowledgeable in the
teachings of the Sam Kauw to be able to lecture on it.
The themes of the lectures are usually based on one of the teachings
of Confucius on moral conduct, or on the meaning and symbolism of the
wedding, funeral ceremonies, and other offerings connected with ancestor
veneration, which are explained in a highly popular and simplified way.
In regard to the latter, the speakers all insisted on moderation and simpli-
fication, reinforcing their argument with quotations from Confucius from
which could be inferred that he never intended people to spend their hard-
earned money on lavish offerings. The writer found a favorable response
to this from the audience, understandable in view of the fact that the .
audience is usually made up of lower class people.
The meetings are held in the meeting hall adjoining the temple
proper. This is a room that can seat about two hundred persons. Against
one of the walls, covering it entirely, is a large painting by one of the
local Peranakans. It is in the form of three panels, the largest in the
center depicting Confucius in a sitting position, on the small panel to the
right Lao-tzu riding a buffalo, and on the panel to the left Buddha sitting
on a lotus flower. Well-known sayings of Confucius are written on it in
. Chinese characters. This painting is usually covered with a curtain and
only displayed during the meetings. In front of it is a lectern, also
decorated with sayings of Confucius. The meetings always start and end
with bowing three times in front of this painting. This performance is
conducted by one of the members of the board, who gives the command
to bow in Mandarin.	- .: ί/	h;."
Only on the occasion of the commemoration of the birth and death
of Confucius is an offering presented to him. This is put on a table in
front of the painting and consists only of fruits and the usual cups of tea
and sweets. Two red dragon candles, an incense holder and two vases
with flowers complete the offering table. On these occasions the fol-
lowing short ceremony is observed: at the beginning of the meeting one
of the oldest members burns three big incense sticks, while all present
stand with head bowed. Then a prayer is read in Mandarin by one of the
few members who knows Chinese and is translated into Indonesian by one
of the other members. This ceremonial part is then concluded with a
few moments of silent prayer.
Attendance at these meetings is between a hundred and a hundred
and fifty people, about 75 per cent women. They are practically all
lower class Peranakans living south of the railroad. The men are mostly
older men, from sixty up; among the women, however, there are younger
as well as older ones. Then there are also several young men and girls,
the most active members of the youth section, and a group of about
twenty children, belonging to the so-called ''Sunday school" of the Sam
Kauw Hwee, who form the choir at the meetings. The songs they sing are
usually Indonesian songs composed by Peranakans, mostly exalting the
theme of filial piety.160
On the commemoration days when the meeting has a festive char-
acter* attendance may rise to between two hundred and two hundred and
fifty people* but even then few of the upper class Peranakans attend, At
the several meetings the writer attended* she observed some of the old
men dozing off during the lecture and many of the women yawning openly.
It was obvious that for many of these people the meeting is a welcome
outing* an opportunity to meet friends and exchange gossip* while the
lecture is something taken into the bargain. Yet, although these meetings
have a highly social function, the religious or spiritual aspect must not be
denied. According to one of the leading Peranakan men* these people
are in need of a kind of spiritual guidance. He claims that many of them
are in fact ripe for conversion to Christianity* but that they are afraid to
break with the familiar customs and beliefs. It is indeed remarkable
that many of the women the writer talked with compared the meetings of
the Sam Kauw Hwee with the services in Christian churches.
This society also has a funeral fund* song soe kiok (from the
Hokkien, meaning funeral association). Membership in the society does
not make one automatically a member, of the fund. One has to make a
special request for it. No dues are collected* but when a member dies*
a fixed amount is levied from each of the other members. According
to the chairman* this is one of the great attractions of the society for
the lower class; by joining the society one is assured of a decent funeral.
In addition* dependents of the deceased will receive a small amount of
finaneial support.
In 1953 the young people of this society set up a separate organi-
zation with the name Persatuan Tribudaja Sam Kauw Sukabumi, (16)
Although structurally independent* it is closely connected with the Sam
Kauw Hwee. The chairman of the latter, for instance, functions as ad-
visor. This youth organization has three sections: art, involving among
others the regular performance of the dragon during the New Year season;
education* comprising the operation of the Sunday school; sports* con-
sisting of badminton, table tennis, and volley ball. The meetings of the
Sam Kauw Hwee are open to these young people, but few care to attend.
The greatest attraction is formed by the sports section.
In 1956 there were one hundred members listed* eighty boys and
twenty girls. Among them is a young man of around twenty, a student of
the Catholic senior middle school* who is regarded by the Sam Kauw
Hwee leaders as possessing the potentialities of a leader in the society.
The writer was told that he was already following the rules of a Buddhist
priest in regard to food. It was obvious that he is greatly influenced by
the Peranakan Buddhist priest Bhikku Jinnarakita who has made several
visits to Sukabumi.
(16) Persatuan is Indonesian, meaning association or union. Tribudaja
is from the Sanskrit, meaning three cultures. This name indicates the
emphasis on culture rather than on religion. The Chinese name which
is used in the Mandarin pronunciation is simply San Chiao Ch'ing Nien
Hui, meaning Sam Kauw youth society.161
The Sunday school had about ninety pupils in October 1956, They
consisted of sixty girls and thirty-two boys; thirty-five of them were
older than ten, and the others were between five and ten. About sixty
children attended the school regularly. They were virtually all from lower
class families living around and near the temple, (The school is held in
the meeting hall. ) In regard to the regular school they attended, there
were thirty-two of the Protestant school, fifteen of the Catholic school,
and twenty-five of the Chinese-language school,
At this Sunday school, which is conducted by several members of
the youth society, the children are taught Indonesian songs, they listen
to Chinese stories (translated into Indonesian), make drawings, and play
games. The only language used is Indonesian.
The Sam Kauw society is a Peranakan organization which makes a
conscious effort to preserve and promote what they consider to be Chinese
culture. This culture, as the leaders view it, is based on the teachings of
the three sages, but primarily Confucius. These teachings, as propagated
by the speakers who come to lecture at the meetings, center around an-
cestor veneration and filial piety. No allusion is ever made to temple
worship.
These characteristics clearly point to a similarity with the aims
of the Tiong Hoa Hwee Koan organization, which was established in 1900
and which, as we haye noted earlier, was aimed at the promotion of
Chinese culture as expressed in the teachings of Confucius. Whereas the
THHK concentrated its activities in education, however, the Sam Kauw
Hwee centers its activities in a kind of church-like organization with the
aspects of organized worship; the paying of respect to Confucius, repre-
sented by a large painting, the lecture which is usually simple and sermon-
like, and the singing. It may therefore be appropriate to interpret the
Sam Kauw Hwee as an organization which aims at the reintegration of
Chinese culture and serves as a reference group for Peranakans. When
the organization is viewed in this light, it becomes understandable why
the local leaders seem to make no serious effort to learn more about
Confucian teachings or to study the Chinese language, although there is
definitely a great admiration for those who do.
The Cycle of Domestic Rites
The domestic activities in the realm of religion among the Perana-
kans center completely around the ancestor altar. Upon entering the resi-
dence of a well-to-do Peranakan in Sukabumi, one of the first articles to
strike the eye of the visitor is the ancestor altar. It is usually placed in
the ftont room, in the center of the back wall. Most of these altars con-
sist of a high rectangular table of 6 1/2 by 2 1/2 feet and a lower square
table of about three feet. They are made of wood polished a reddish-
bro\yn, color and elaborately carved with flower designs. An embroidered
drapery depicting a tiger, the three gods of wealth, posterity, and longe-
vity or a dragon, hang down the front of the lower table. These draperies
are usually imported from China, but sometimes they are made of batik
the typical Javanese technique of designing and dying material for kain.162
The articles placed on the altar (i. e., on the high rectangular
table; the lower table is used only for offerings and is often inserted
under the high table when not in use) are usually as follows:
In the center are the hio-low (incense holders), varying in num-
ber according to the number of ancestors venerated. In one of the old
wealthy families there were as many as four, but the most frequent
number is two. These holders are usually of the Chinese type, made
of tin and placed on a base made of wood. To the left and right are
small oil lamps and Chinese candlesticks made of copper, called by the
Peranakans tjek thay. In most of the well-to-do families a large
painting depicting a landscape of mountains and water decorates the
wall above the altar, usually with a line of Chinese aphorisms on the
left and right edges. Next to this painting or on another wall but close
to the altar are the portraits of the deceased. When there is no painting,
the portraits take its place.
In only one family did the writer notice the so-called ancestor
tablets called sien tji or sien tju by Peranakans. These are rectangular
pieces of board measuring about 12 by 4 inches, fastened vertically on
a wooden base. On the board is written in Chinese characters the name
and date of birth and death of the deceased. In this family there were
three tablets (painted red and the characters in gold), of the parents-in-
law of the head of the family (a widow of about 70, belonging to one of
the wealthy, old families in town), of her own parents, and of her husband.
Thus the first two tablets are of husband and wife together. To put the
tablets of the parents of the husband and of the wife together on one altar
is quite a deviation from the traditional rule, but in this case the head of
the family told the writer that she had received prior consent. (17)
In lower class families the ancestor altar is often an ordinary
table, but with the same type of Chinese incense holder and candlesticks.
Instead of a shan-shui painting there is usually the portrait of the de-
ceased, Even in small petak houses, however, one may find an elaborate-
ly carved ancestor table. Based on observations and interviews with
leading Peranakans, it seems acceptable to state that most Peranakans
in Sukabumi possess an ancestor altar. Of course we will rarely encoun-
ter one in the house of a young couple, because the altar is always kept
at the house of the parents if they are still living or at the house of the
eldest son.
Asa rule the altar is inherited by the eldest son. In another of
the wealthy, old families there were four hio low on the altar: one for
the great-grandfather and great-grandmother together, one for the grand-
father, one for the grandmother, and one for the father of the head of the
(17) Freedman, Chinese Family and Marriage in Singapore, p. 219, has
observed this prac Iso among the Chinese in Singapore: "Nor may
one assume that «-. xue will confine itself to the agnatic forebears of
the head of the hot .hold. His wife’s parents may be found to be included,"
For that matter to have both husband and wife on one tablet is also a
deviation from the traditional form.163
family. This family head, a Dutch-educated Peranakan of around fifty
and the owner of one of the large textile factories, is the oldest son and,
therefore, the person who inherited the altar. His house is referred to
as the rumah a.bu (Indonesian, meaning literally ashes house; the ancestor
altar is also often referred to as medjaabu, literally ashes table),
because the altar of three generations of ancestors are kept on it. So,
even his uncles, who are much older than he is, will have to come to his
house when they want to pay respects to their ancestors, usually done on
New Year’s day. When the head of a family dies, his wife continues to
look after the ancestor altar until she dies, then their eldest son takes
over. If the son has left the house after marriage, as now often happens,
the altar remains at the parental home and is cared for by his widowed
mother. If there are no sons in the family the eldest daughter will take
care of it. In fact, we may state that the one who remains in the parental
home after the death of both parents--and it is not unlikely that this
might be one of the younger children, older ones having moved out after
marriage--will be the one to look after it.
Considering the sizeable number of Peranakan Christians (see the
section below on Christian churches), one may very well wonder what
they have done with the ancestor altar. The writer found that this has
not caused much of a problem because, in the first place, most of the
Christians are younger people who do not have the responsibility for an
ancestor altar, while many of the older people are of the lower class and
usually do not possess a permanent altar. Secondly, some of the largest
Christian churches have a liberal attitude in this matter. The Catholic
church is the most lenient, allowing some converts to retain the altar and
even to burn incense sticks. Next in lenience is the Chinese Protestant
church, which does not allow the. burning of incense sticks, but does not
object to eating of the offerings’:after the ceremony. All other
Protestant churches prohibit their followers any expression of ancestor
veneration, condemning this as superstitious practice. In these cases,
those who do own an altar usually transfer the care of it to the nearest
non-Christian relative, or, as the writer observed in one family, the
altar remains in the.-Jiouse (the head of the family is a Peranakan of over
seventy, who has turned Protestant with his wife and some of his married
children), and when-the regular offering should be made, one of the non-
Christian children comes specially to arrange it.
From this account one may get the impression that, ancestor ven-
eration is still widely adhered to among the Peranakans in Sukabumi,
This is true to a certain-extent for the present older generation, but one
has good, reasons to7wonder whether this will continue in the next genera-
tion. Quite a few of thoSe who observe these ceremonies have expressed
doubt whether: their-children will continue practicing it. A woman of about
sixty told'the writer that she has already expressed the wish to her son
that after her death she does not want him to put up a hio low for her. She
does not want to give her daughter-in-law the trouble of preparing offerings,
she said, adding that at present she still has to care for the altar of her
parents-in-law, but1 she is doing this only because it is her duty as the
wife of the eldest son.164
The offerings on the ancestor altar, referred to as sembahjang
by Peranakans, are held on regular occasions and on occasions connected
with certain Chinese festivals:
1.	On the first and fifteenth of each lunar month, i. e., on the
evening before and on the morning and evening of the actual dates. This
offering is usually referred to as thiam hio, to light an incense stick, or
pa sang hip.
Then chronologically following the Chinese lunar calendar:
2.	On the first of the first lunar month, referred to as sintjhia,
New Year.
3.	On the fourth of the first lunar month, called tepekong turun
(turun is Indonesian, to descend).
4,	On the fifth of the first lunar month. On this day a visit to
the graves may be made, especially by those families where a member
has recently died,
5,	On the ninth of the first lunar month, called sembahjang
Tuhan Allah or sembahjang Thi-kong, the offering to the Lord of Heaven,
δζ On the fifteenth of the first lunar month, called tjap go meh,
meaning night of the fifteenth, the Lantern Festival.
7» In the third lunar month, the visit to the graves. This
occasion is called tjeng beng.
8.	On the fifth of the fifth lunar month, called peh tjoen, from
the Hokkien, meaning to paddle the dragon boat.
9.	The offering to the neglected spirits in the seventh lunar
month which is referred to by the Peranakans as tjio ko. There is also
the Malay designation, sembahjang rebutan.
10.	On the fifteenth of the eighth month, called sembahjang tong
tju pia. Tong tju pia is the name of the so-called moon cakes offered on
this occasion.
11.	In the eleventh lunar month, called tang tjeh, the feast of the
winter solstice.
12.	On the 24th of the 12th month, called tepekong naik, which is
the occasion of the ascension of the gods.
13.	In the last few days of the 12th lunar month, called sembahjang
tahun baru (tahun baru is Indonesian for New Year) or sembahjang sintjhia,
the New Year offering, which can be presented any day in the last two or
three days before New Year’s day.
The items 3, 5, 12 and 6, 8, 10, 11 are of course not ceremonies
of ancestor veneration in the strict sense, though the ancestors always
share in them. The first three are in honor of the so-called house gods
and the Lord of Heaven, while the last four are obviously rites connected
with the change of season: spring, summer, autumn and winter
respectively. (18)
(18) For an elaborate and valuable description of the entire cycle of
festivities as celebrated among the Amoy Chinese, see de Groot,
Les FStes Annuellement C01dbr6es ol Emoui.165
Here follows a description of sembahjangs and the celebration of
Chinese festivals as observed by the writer among the Peranakan
families in Sukabumi.
The thiam hio on the first and fifteenth of each lunar month is a
simple offering consisting of the usual cups of tea (two for each ancestor),
sweets, and fruits. The ceremony involves the burning of incense sticks
only. This is usually done by the wife of the head of: the family or one of
the grown daughters. After arranging the table, placing the offerings,
lighting the candles or oil lamps, and pouring the tea in the cups (because
it involves virtually only this act besides the burning of incense sticks,
this ceremony is often also called tuang teh, Indonesian for to pour tea), ;
she takes the incense sticks which are usually kept in a container on the '
table, two for each ancestor and three for the Thi-kong (some people say '
for the door god) for whom there is a special small container in the shape'
of a spout fixed on the doorpost outside the main front door. After
lighting the sticks at the candle or at the oil lamp, she first prays to
Thi-kong (or to the door god) standing in the door opening facing the
street. Then she puts three sticks in the container and returns to the
altar, prays in front of it and puts two sticks in each hio low. This
done, she performs the pai, and the ceremony is over. This is the basic
form of the ceremony involved in every sembahjang.
The thiam hio is performed on the evening before and in the mor-
ning and evening of the actual day. Each time the tea is renewed, but the
sweets and fruits are usually the same. Thus, when passing a Chinese
section of the town, Djalan Plabuan II for instance, at about six in the
evening on these occasions, one will see the front doors opened wide and a
Peranakan woman or young girl praying in the door opening, while inside
the house one perceives the altar with the lights of the candles flickering
brightly.
On New Year’s day no special offering takes place, because the
sembahjang tahun baru is usually performed on one of the days preceding
the events tliis is for practical reasons, for on New Year’s day visits
have to be made and visitors received. Therefore, the offering is pre-
ferably presented on the day before, so that no cooking will be necessary
on the actual feastday; for a big offering, as on this occasion, the amount
of food prepared is usually such that it will last for a couple of days.
On New Year’s day the offering is similar to the one performed
on the first of each lunar month. Usually, however, the fruits are of the
more expensive kind and there is also the pile of the cakes specially
offered on this occasion.
The Chinese New Year is considered the occasion par excellance
for family reunion. Whenever possible, ; children who have left Sukabumi
will come home to spend New Year’s eve and New Year’s day with their
parents and relatives. This is not easy to tnanage, especially for students
and workers, because it is not a public holiday. All Peranakan and Totok
shops and enterprises are closed, however, and in the Chinese sections
of the town there is a distinct festive atmosphere. The streets are full
of people dressed in their new clothes who are on their way to visit rela-
tives and friends.166
These visits form the most important occupation on this occasion.
People start early in the morning, ideally beginning with the house where
the ancestor altar of parents, grandparents, or maybe even great-grand-
parents is kept· In practice, however, one usually starts with the relative
who lives closest to one’s residence.
Young people, especially students of the secondary school level,
seem to consider these visits an annually recurring bore, so mothers
have to urge them to visit at least the nearest relatives, i, e., grand-
parents, great-uncles and great-aunts, and uncles and aunts of both
parents. The writer found that among the Dutch-educated people of be-
tween thirty and forty this opirion prevails. They regard these visits as
a nuisance that they perform only to please their parents and older rela-
tives, They realize that they will incur the greatest disapproval of these
older relatives should they neglect to visit them. But they make it as
brief as possible (performing the pai and saying selamat tahun baru, which
is Indonesian for happy New Year and the usual New Vear greeting among
Peranakans) and limit themselves to those relatives with whom they
have close and regular contact.
For children, however, New Year is an extremely joyful event.
Besides the novelty of new clothes there is the great amount of cakes
and sweets they can indulge in. There is also the ang pao, the money
gift presented to children to eight or nine years old, usually by relatives
and close friends only.
The writer visited twenty families on that day, concentrating on
the area south of the railroad. In virtually all houses there is the same
picture of the older people sitting idly in the front room wearing their
cleanest, if not newest, clothes, waiting to receive or receiving their
visitors. On the table a number of nicely decorated glass containers
filled with cookies are displayed. Even in the poorest families living in
small houses made of wood and bamboo in the kampong area, there was
at least one small plain container with inexpensive cookies. Visiting is
not restricted to New Year’s day, but may be stretched out until the
Lantern Festival, which is of course very convenient for those who have
many relatives.
■ On the fourth of the first lunar month, called tepekong turun, an
offering is especially made by those who keep house gods. In Sukabumi
there are at least two wealthy, old families who possess an altar for
Kwan Kong; there are one moderately well-off and one lower class family
living in a small petak house who possess an altar for Kwan Im, and
several more, including the ones mentioned, who keep an altar for the
kitchen god. The two families possessing an altar for Kwan Kong have
it separate, but in the same front room where the ancestor altar is
situated, while the two possessing an altar for Kwan Im have a special
room for it. The altar for the kitchen god is in the kitchen, usually a
small shelf fastened to the wall on which there is a container for the
incense sticks. The presence of this god is indicated by a small piece
of paper or a wooden board on which there are Chinese characters
saying that this is the site of the kitchen god.167
On this occasion an offering is made of tea, sweets, fruits, and
cake. In addition, there is a special kind of yellow paper with pictures of
horses on it, called hoen be, which is burned at the end of the offering.
This paper represents horses to be used for the gods on their return to
earth.
A similar offering will be made at the end of the year on the 24th
of the 12th lunar month, when the gods are believed to ascend to heaven
to report on the conduct of the people entrusted to their supervision.
On the fifth of the first lunar month a visit to the graves may be
made, especially by those who are still in the mourning period. (See the
subsequent section on death and mourning practices. ) Most families who
observe this occasion, however, make an offering at home only. Besides
the usual cups of tea, sweets, fruits, and cakes there is a special food
offering that is distinctly of Indonesian origin. This is rice boiled in small
square containers made of pleated young coconut leaves, which are called
kupat (Sundanese), and served in combination with a chicken curry. This
is a dish that is also offered on the occasion of the visiting of the graves
in the fifth lunar month. The meat offering, consisting of three kinds of
meat, may also be included.
On the ninth of the first lunar month there is the offering called
sembahjang Tuhan Allah or sembahjang Thi-kong. It should be performed
at 12 o'clock on the night preceding the actual date, but many people
make it earlier.
On the fifteenth of the first lunar month, the Lantern Festival,
there is an offering made of sweets, fruits, tea, and cakes, similar to
the one on New Year’s day.
A s mentioned before, tjap go meh is celebrated on the 20th and
21st in Sukabumi. We have already seen (see description of this festival
in the temple) how the celebration is concentrated in the temple and in the
streets where the procession passes along. On these days, in the homes,
only a simple offering is presented to the ancestors.
In the third lunar month there is the visit to the graves. The date
on the lunar calendar varies annually, but on the western, solar calendar
it is usually .April 4th or 5th. This is not a public holiday and none of the
Chinese shops and firms are closed, but the writer was told by Peranakans
as well as Totoks that, in most families, several members will take half
a day off to visit the graves of their relatives. Those who are not able to
do so make an offering at home at the ancestor altar. Among those who
go to the cemetery there are some who make an offering at home and
present only tea and sweets at the graves.
As the cemetery is about four miles outside the town, people get
there on motor vehicles (private cars, small trucks and small buses
seating six called opelets, which can be rented) or on bicycles, as is done
by young people, of whom many are students of.the Chinese-language
schools, the only schools given a holiday. People start as early as six
in the morning to avoid getting caught in the traffic jam that is bound to
occur at a later hour.168
The writer joined the throng moving to the cemetery in the com-
pany of the son (in his late forties) of the Peranakan woman who owns
the private Kwan Im temple, his wife, his married younger brother, the
teenage daughter of this brother, and several other children. The party
started at eight o’clock, piled into the jeep owned by the family and,
after getting stuck several times, finally arrived at the cemetery around
nine.
The Chinese cemetery comprises a large area of small hills,
on which the grave mounds are built. They are made in the traditional
style--a high mound in which, on one side, the tombstone is built in
vertically. Part of the space in front of the tombstone is usually covered
with a roof, making it a kind of pavilion where visitors are sheltered
against sun or rain. A considerable number of these graves look deso-
late and neglected because the roof is damaged or gone entirely. The
marble tombstones and tiles that decorated the gravesites of the wealthy
are gone too. This plundering occurred during the Japanese occupation
and after, when the Chinese were forced to neglect the graves because
it was dangerous to go to this remote and deserted spot, Repairing and
rebuilding is taking place, however, and especially conspicuous is a
large grave site of a Peranakan, built in the style of a Chinese temple
with curved roof. Marble, which was commonly used for cemeteries,
is now replaced by granite.
As to the inscriptions on the tombstone or bong pai as Peranakans
call it, on most of the postwar ones only Indonesian is used, while most
of the prewar ones were bilingual: Chinese characters and Malay, On
many of the old graves the inscriptions are gone or hardly legible.
Near the entrance of the cemetery is a large open pavilion where,
on this occasion, an elaborate offering was set up. This was organized
by the funeral society, Djin Gie Hwee, from donations given by Perana-
kans as well as Totoks, 1*here was ngo seng, the five kinds of meat
offering, five kinds of fresh vegetables, five kinds of sweets, pieces of
sugar cane, fruits, and a great number of Chinese, Indonesian, and
western cakes. Members of the society kept watch over it. From sev-
eral people present the writer heard that this offering was for the spirits
of those who have no descendents, thus apparently similar to the offering
on the seventh month.
As mentioned before, not all visitors brought food offerings.
The family the writer came with, for instance, had only tea, sweets,
incense sticks, small red candles, and three kinds of joss paper:
gin tsoa silver paper for the ancestors; long strips of coarse rice paper
that will be scattered over the mound; small sioe kim joss paper for
the tepekong tanah (earth god), for whom a small stone altar is
always erected at one corner of the plot of ground that constitutes the
grave site. This family visited five graves: of the grandparents of
father’s side, buried together; of the father; of the grandfather of
mother’s side; of the grandmother of mother’s side (the latter two were
buried separately at the grandmother’s wish, because she was in dis-
cord with her husband for taking a second wife, who is still living);
and of the mother’s sister.169
Two candles, a cup of tea,and three kinds of sweets were placed in
front of the tombstone at each grave and at the altar of the god of the
earth. The family then prayed with incense sticks in front of both. This
done, strips of joss paper were scattered on the mound, and a small
package of small sioe kim joss paper was put on the stone sign of the
altar of the god of the earth. As the family was praying at the grave of
the maternal grandfather, an uncle, the eldest son of this grandfather,
but of his second (China-born) wife, arrived with a food container and a
basket. This man was born in Indonesia but educated in China and was,
at the time, a teacher of the Chung Hua (Peking-oriented Chinese-language)
school. His wife is also local born, but of China-born father and Perana-
kan mother; she also received a Chinese-school education, but locally.
The food offering consisted of kupat and the accompanying chicken curry,
pork cut in cubes and roasted on skewers; noodles, turtle cakes, bowl
cakes, an Indonesian cake, banana, and Indonesian oranges. The uncle
lighted candles, burned incense sticks and, at the end, the silver joss
paper. The writer observed that this is the kind of food offering presented
by Peranakans on the grave of their ancestors on this occasion. There
may be more dishes, more fruits, and more cakes, but there is an unmis-
takable mixing of Chinese and Indonesian in these offerings.
At about ten o’clock, the cemetery was crowded. Everywhere
groups.of people were clustered in front of a grave. The majority was
Peranakan, and the writer recognized people from all social strata.
There were also a considerable number of Hokkiens and Hakkas; at least
three Hokkien women were wailing loudly, the sound of their voices echo-
ing strangely among the hills. This was in striking contrast with the
majority of the visitors, who walked about merrily, meeting friends,
and eating of the kupat. Many groups resembled people on a picnic, as
indeed it is to many of them, especially those who have no recently
deceased relatives to mourn. The liveliness of the occasion was heighten-
ed by the groups of young people, mostly students of the Chinese-language
schools, walking about or sitting in groups enjoying themselves with the
food they brought along. For them the trip to the cemetery is indeed a
picnic.
At some of the graves a special ceremony, called sia tao and
meaning to give thanks to the god of the earth, was performed. This
ceremony is meant as an offering to the god of the earth as the protector
of the grave site. It is usually performed when the tombstone and the
pavilion are finished. The best time for this ceremony is on tjeng beng
and at the end of the mourning period, when the mourning clothes are
finally discarded. The observance of this ceremony is recognizable from
the sugar-cane stalks fastened at the gate of the pavilion and the red cloth
(color for happiness) put over the tombstone. The offerings presented
on this occasion aremore elaborate than of those who are not observing
this ceremony.
The festival on the fifth of the fifth lunar month is called peh tjoen
among the Peranakans; in the western literature it is known as the
dragonboat festival. This occasion calls for the preparation of two kinds
of cakes, batjang and kweetjang. The former is made of cooked ordinary
or glutinous rice stuffed with meat and wrapped in bamboo leaves into a170
triangular shape. The latter is made of glutinous rice mixed with a
number of ingredients including an alkali, wrapped in bamboo leaves,
and then cooked.
Early in the morning an offering of these cakes with the usual
cups of tea and sweets is presented to the ancestors. This is the only
ceremony on this occasion.
Usually people organize picnics to a river or a lake where a
water festival is held. (In the area of Djakarta the most well-known
water festival on this occasion is the one held in Tanggerang,) In Suka-
bumi people go to the beach at Plabuan Ratu, to the south of the town,
on the shore of the Indian ocean.
The writer found that most of the Peranakans know the story of
the loyal minister Chu Yuan (Xoet Goan for the Peranakans) of the
Ch*in dynasty (255-209 B, C. ). who is alleged to be the cause of this
festival.
There are several beliefs connected with this occasion which are
related to health and medicinal herbs. The Peranakan woman who owns
the Kwan Im temple, for instance, told the writer that on this day one
should take a bath in the sea, in a river, or with water from a well, pre-
ferably at twelve noon, because then the water is believed to have a
specially invigorating and rejuvenating effect. Water collected from a
well at noon is believed to stay clean for years and is kept for medicinal
purposes. Medicinal herbs gathered vat that time will have a stronger
curing effect than usual. It is also the custom to change the bunch of
herbs and grass that is put over the door leading outside (front door,
back door, or both), which is believed to ward off evil spirits. This
bunch consists of a, rice stalk, one kweetjang, daon tjaringin, djukut
djurig, alang-alang, daon sereh, (19? The last four are Sundanese names
of plants which are traditionally regarded by Sundanese to have the
power to keep evil spirits away.
For children, this festival is a joyful event because of the picnic
and, not the least, because of the vast quantities of the special cakes
make in Peranakan families. Even those who have turned Christian
will have these cakes in the house on this occasion. Therefore, chil-
dren often designate this day as the "day of eating batjang."
In the seventh lunar month there is the offering to the neglected
spirits. Peranakans call this event sembahjang tjioko or sembahjang
rebutan. It may be performed any day during this month, but prefer-
ably on the seventh. The public offering is held on the 15th or 16th as
described in the previous section.
The offering at the ancestor altar consists of a great number of
dishes, fruits, and cakes. The food offerings consist of bowls of rice,
(19) Respectively urostigma benjaminum, djukut is Sundanese for grass,
and djurig is Sundanese for evil spirit, imperata arundinacea, andropo-
gon schoenanthus L.171
two for each ancestor plus an additional number for the neglected spirits,
plus an equal number of cups of tea and, in some well-to-do families,
Chinese wine. The dishes, numbering up to twelve, are mixed Indonesian
and Chinese, In some families there is also samseng, although it is al-
most obsolete at the offering tables of Peranakans, In general the
dishes presented are those that were favorites of the deceased and enjoyed
by the living. The cakes are the usual kinds of Indonesian and Chinese
cakes while the fruits are usually local ones. Often coffee, Indonesian
cigarettes made of palm leaves (of the kind smoked by old Indonesian
villagers), and betel leaves plus the ingredients are added. This is be-
cause the.ancestors have been in the habit of smoking or eating these
articles.
The end of the sembahjang is determined by throwing two coins
(usually old Chinese coins with a hole irk the center) in the same manner
as with the divining blocks. When two different sides are up, it is an in-
dication the offering is over. If not, one waits a while and tries again.
Silver joss paper, each sheet rolled up and the ends tucked in, are burned
outside the front door. Then the tables are cleared and the dishes con-
sumed by the family.
On the fifteenth of the eighth lunar month is the sembahjang tong
tjoe pia, A similar offering as on the first and fifteenth of each month is
made, but with the addition of the special tong tjoe pia or mid-autumn
cakes. These are round flat disc-like cakes of about six inches in dia-
meter, made of wheat flour and stuffed with sweetmeat, Chinese cabbage
prepared in a special way, or with milk, chocolate, cheese or even '
sweetened Indonesian fruits. The cakes stuffed with the first two fillings
are considered Totok ones, while the others are clearly Peranakan. These
are the mid-autumn cakes of Hokkien origin. (20) The ones made by the
Hakkas and the Cantonese are of a different kind, and Peranakans never
use them.
There is a belief among older women that on the night of the fif-
teenth, when the moon is at its fullest, young girls should wash their faces
in a bowl in which the moon is reflected, so that their face will be as
round and as bright and therefore as beautiful as the full moon.
In the eleventh lunar month the feast of the winter-solstice is ob-
served. This occasion is called tang tjeh. It again calls for the prepara-
tion of a special cake, referred to by Peranakans as kue onde. These are
the small round cakes that are considered a symbol of posterity. We have
seen them used during the wedding ceremony and to predict the sex of an
unborn child. The offering is presented early in the morning and consists
only of these special cakes put in small bowls and the usual cups of tea
and sweets.
On the 24th of the 12th lunar month, called tepekong turun, a simi-
lar offering as on the 4th of the first lunar month is performed, but the
(20) Cf. de Groot, Les Fetes Annuellement Celebrees a Emoui, pp, 473,
474.	’172
hoen be paper, the paper with the picture of horses on it, is of a different
kind.
The New Year offering is presented on any of the last two or
three days before the actual day. Some may even make it a week before;
the most frequent date is the day before so as to have food $lso on New
Year’s day. It usually takes place around noon. The offering is similar
to the one presented on the occasion of visiting of the graves in the third
lunar month and on the occasion of the offering to the neglected spirits in
the seventh lunar month.
The most important of all these offerings are the ones on the
occasion of New Year, tjeng beng and tjioko. Even those who do not
possess an altar will make an offering on an ordinary table; a container
(a vase, bowl, or glass) filled with rice will serve as an incense holder.
Summary
There is an obvious and strong tendency to simplify the offerings
in regard to quantity as well as quality. For instance, the meat offerings,
samseng and ngoseng, which by Totoks are still regarded as an essential
part of the offering, are almost obsolete among Peranakans.
There is no conformity as to the dishes to be presented. Usually
the favorite dishes of the deceased appear on the altar, plus those dishes
that are enjoyed by the living. Naturally this gives rise to the mixing of
Indonesian and Chinese dishes. On the occasion of the visit to the graves,
a typical Indonesian dish, kupat, constitutes the main offering.
The preparation of the offering is entirely done by the women.
The men come in only when everything is ready and the praying starts.
Usually the head of the family is the first to burn the incense sticks,
followed by the wife and children. In a few families the men only still
perform the pai kui.
All Peranakans the writer talked with explained that these
offerings are solely meant as an expression of filial piety. (21)
Most of the young people, especially the students, confess not to
know or understand anything of these sembahjangs. They only perform
what their parents tell them to in order to please them. Girls are taught
to help prepare the offerings and even perform the simple sembahjang on
the first and fifteenth of each lunar month. The meaning of all this,
however, is usually lost to them. This is understandable, because even
their parents are often ignorant as to the meaning of these ceremonies.
Quite a number of those people who observe these ceremonies
have expressed doubt whether their children will continue the practice.
(21) Cf. Freedman, Chinese Family and Marriage, pp. 218, 219, where
he uses the terms "memorialism” and "commemoration" for the expres-
sion of ancestor worship as observed among the Singapore Chinese.173
As one older woman said: "Today it is only the older people who make an
offering. The younger people do not have an interest in it. Soon nobody
will observe it any more, because many are turning Christians," That
she made this prediction is understandable, because her eldest son and
his wife had recently been converted to Catholicism, THs daughter-in-law
had been the one who prepared and arranged the offerings. Though she
has continued this task after baptism, it is of course a different situation
for the old woman.
Thus we may conclude that to many Peranakans, especially the
younger generation and those who have had a western education, sembah-
jangs have lost their religious significance, leaving only the social aspect
of a family gathering culminating in the family dinner, which consists of
the jbods that have been presented to the ancestors. The term family com-
prises in many cases only the head of the family, his wife, and the chil-
dren who are still at home; at most it includes the immediate descendants
(sons and daughters) of the ancestors venerated who live in Sukabumi,
except in the case of the New Year offering and the visiting of the graves,
when those who have moved out of the town may also participate.
Funeral Practices and Mourning Observances
Funeral Practices
In contrast to the flexibility and responsiveness towards new forms
displayed in the attitude towards marriage and wedding ceremonies, in
matters pertaining to death, funerals, and the observance of mourning
customs, Peranakans seem to have a greater desire to preserve and to
adhere to forms which they consider in accordance with the proper Chi-
nese customs. In defining what these "proper Chinese customs" are, it
is interesting to consider the role of the Tiong Hoa Hwee Koan. The
anniversary book of this organization contains a fist of suggestions con-
cerning the observances connected with death. In relation to these sug-
gestions, it is interesting to note that it was a Peranakan from Sukabumi
who started work on it. On the death of his father in November 1900, this
person, Tjoa Tjeng Jang, wrote a letter to the THHK, asking for the cor-
rect procedure, i. e., correct according to the teachings of Confucius, in
regard to death and funeral practices. In answer, the organization (which
was established only in March of that same year) sent four members, of
the board (the vice-president, the advisor, and two other members) to
Sukabumi to discuss the matter. The size and composition of this delega-
tion suggests that the person making the request had considerable status.
The group stated twenty-five suggestions, to which ten more were later
added. Tjoa followed these suggestions after conferring with the other
members of his family. (22) Essentially these suggestions were aimed at
(22) In 1901 Tjoa wrote a booklet entitled Ko Tjek Boet Tan Kai, which
can be translated, "If there is a mistake, do not be: afraid to correct it,"
It contains the suggestions on death and funeral practices and a translation
of a selection of sayings of Confucius on hao, filial piety. It is obvious
that this person must have been the most outstanding figure in Sukabumi
connected with the THHK movement. He was also the first in town and,174
a drastic simplification of the rites then observed by omitting all the
elements that were considered related to superstitious practices and
not based on Confucius’ teachings. As we might expect, there were
people who were strongly opposed to these changes, even considering
Tjoa poethao, unfilial. We will see later that several of the practices
which were disapproved by the THHK were still observed during the
time of the study. (23)
Similar to the case of wedding ceremonies, there are also ex-
perts to conduct the funeral services. Because those who deviate from
what is considered the norm among the Peranakans are liable to strong
criticism from the entire community, there seems to be a great willing-
ness to follow the directions of these experts. One of them is a Perana-
kan man of around seventy who is connected with the Djin Gie Hwee, the
funeral association. Another is a Sundanese woman of around fifty, who
is the wife of a Peranakan man. Because of this funeral association,
there is a certain uniformity in the procedure. All funerals, of Perana-
kans as well as Totoks, including Christians, are arranged by the Djin
Gie Hwee, founded in 1911 during the cholera epidemic. Virtually all'
Peranakans and a considerable number of Totoks are members, There
are two kinds of members, those who pay dues monthly and a certain
amount when a member dies and the so-called working members. The
latter are considered too poor to pay dues and, instead, perform the jobs
of keeping watch at the bier during the night and of coffin-bearers at
funerals. Both groups are entitled to the same right of receiving free
funeral assistance and financial aid amounting to about 300 rupiahs for
the dependents of the deceased. Nonmembers can make use of the ser-
vices of the society for a certain payment.
The society has an office and a storage room for coffins, which
are not included in the free service but have to be bought separately.
It is an important indication of the deviation from the traditional Chinese
most probably, on the whole island of Java, to cut off his queue, in 1901.
Curiously enough, his wife, who is over eighty and still the de facto head
of one of the largest grocery stores in town, was to become, and still is,
one of the outstanding members of the Chinese Protestant Church.
(23) Joe Lan Nio, Riwajat 40 Taon dari Tiong Hoa, pp, 17, 18, 30, 204,
205. Another interesting piece of information on the drive for simplifi-
cation is the book issued by the Djin Gie Hwee on its 25th anniversary
in 1936, which contains articles by Peranakans from several places in
Java who were asked by the editorial committee to write on the subject
of funeral ceremony. All writers, without exception, were strongly in
favor of simplification, some pointing out which rites should be omitted,
condemning them as superstitious nonsense or foolish waste of money.
It also contains the last wish of a Peranakan, giving instructions as to
how his funeral should be conducted. One of the writers advocated cre-
mation, pointing out its advantages, of which the most important is that
in this way pure ash is acquired, which can still be worshiped in the
traditional way.175
style that?all these coffins are of the rectangular western style. Another
property of the society is the hearse, an old ^fashioned motorcar resemb-
ling a big black box, acquired around 1934 and unchanged since.
The popularity of the society is due to the fact that membership
meanaa kind of insurance. - By paying monthly -dues 'one is assured of a
decent and well-arranged funeral plus a certain amount "of financial aid. (24)
Well-to-do members usually do not accept this financial aid, but return
it to the.society to help in the expenses ofthe "non-paying members. For
the latter, especially, the society is very helpful and in this respect it
functions: &s a kind of relief for the poor.
During the period of· study the writer was able to observe six
funerals: those of two Hakka men, one Hokkien man, one Peranakan
Catholic man,.iand two Peranakan women. Besides these observations,
witnesses described'the funerals of a Peranakan Protestant woman and
of a Peranakan man whose father had been a Chinese kapitan.
• It is clear from these cases that the funeral ceremonies of Peran-
akans differ markedly from those of Totoks. Totoks, Hakkas as well as
Hokkiens, still perform elaborate and protracted ceremonies including
lavish offerings, involving immense expenses, resembling the forms as
described in studies of funeral practices in their area Of origin. (25) At
one ,0f the Hakka: funerals there were evenBuddhist nuns from Djakarta
engaged to pe rform the Buddhist rites of the dead; Such rites are only
very seldom performed in Sukabumi, however, due to the great expense
involved. The coffin used by Totoks is generally still of the huge and
heayy traditional Chinese style, called sioe pan by Peranakans. As long
as the coffin is in the house, which may be from five days to a week,
depending on the instructions of the traditional Chinese astrologer who
is always consulted in these matters, an offering table is maintained
before it and replenished every day. During these days relatives and ac-
quaintances walk in and out of the house; usually these people are given
the opportunity to play card games. There is the small Chinese orchestra
called pat im by Peranakans, which means literally eight tones, implying
eight musical instruments, but which usually consists only of six (a two-
stringed Chinese violin, small cymbals, a clarinet, a flute, a small gong,
and gong chimes). The clarinet is the loudest instrument, giving a queer,
wailing sound, which is immediately recognized as an indication of the
observance of a traditional Chinese funeral.
The biggest ceremony occurs on the night before the interment.
Then a special elaborate offering is presented, and the whole night is
spent in praying. Early in the morning, or just before the coffin is car-
ried away, paper articles representing a house, bed, servants, suitcases,
mountains of money, and a great amount of joss paper,are burned.
(24)	Cf. Freedman, Chinese Family and Marriage in Singapore, pp. 190-
194,
(25)	See, for instance, Jan Jakob M. de Groot, "De lijkbezorging der
Emoy -Chineezen," Bijdragen tot de Taal-Land-, en Volkenkunde van
Ne de r land s che - Indie, vol. XLI (1892).176
Before the coffin is carried out of the house, a ceremony is performed
whereby the wife and the descendants of the deceased walk around it
several times, the women wailing loudly.
The funeral train of Totoks is usually arranged as follows:
1.	An Indonesian hired bearer carrying a tall rectangular scroll
of red silk or fine red paper on which the data of the deceased are written
in Chinese characters.
2.	A long line of hired Indonesian bearers carrying the scrolls
made of cloth on which Chinese aphorisms are written (the characters
are made of colored paper and pasted to the cloth). These are gifts
from relatives and friends. The writer was informed that Totoks do
not send wreaths as a token of sympathy, but scrolls or money. If the
family is wealthy, people will send scrolls; if the family is poor, people
will give money. In the case of the Hakka funerals observed, one had
more than a hundred scrolls and the other more than fifty, while in the
case of the Hokkien funeral, there were about two hundred. In the latter
case the scrolls were not carried, but loaded on trucks, following in
the rear of the funeral train. These scrolls provide a measure of the
status of the deceased, the more scrolls, the more well-known and re-
spected, and therefore the higher the status.
3.	The small Chinese orchestra.
4.	A son, preferably the eldest or, if lacking any, one of the
close male relatives, carrying the temporary hio low for the deceased,
usually a drinking glass or a china container filled with rice in which the
incense sticks are stuck. This container is put on a tray hung around
the neck with a strap.
5.	A man scattering sheets of silver joss paper along the road.
The writer heard two explanations for this: one, to bribe the evil spirits
hovering along the route of the funeral train, and two, road signs for
the spirit of the deceased so that he can easily find the way back to his
family,
6.	The hearse with a picture of the deceased attached to the hood
and several wreaths in front, on the sides, and at the back,
7.	Immediately behind the car, hanging on to it, the sons, then
the sons-in-law, daughters, daughters-in-law, and other close relatives.
The wife does not participate and stays at home.
8.	In the Hakka case where Buddhist nuns were present they
followed behind the close relatives.
9.	The female sympathizers.
10.	The male sympathizers.
11.	The motor vehicles, private cars, and small buses and
trucks which will be boarded by the participants when a certain point of
the route is reached.
The funeral attire was as follov 3:
Sons wear a kimono-like garb of coarse unbleached cotton with or
without white trousers underneath. (In the Hakka case with the Buddhist
nuns, a small square piece of hempen material was attached to the back
of the funeral garb.) A band of the same material is tied around the fore
head. They all carry the filial staff, made of a stick wrapped with white177
paper and with a fringe of red paper at the top. The wife and daughters
of the deceased wear a similar kimono-like garb over a piece of cloth of
the same material wrapped around the waist like a sarong. The head
is covered with a wide hood of this unbleached cotton^ Daughters-in-law
are dressed similarly to the wife and daughters.
This funeral clothing of unbleached cotton has to be worn inside
out, i. e., with the seams showing. (For this reason, when one inadver-
tently puts on a piece of clothing inside out as may happen by mistake,
one's attention is immediately drawn to it, because it is associated with
mourning clothes and would therefore be a challenge to fate.)
Sons-in-law wear a kind of long Chinese gown, made of ordinary -
white cotton and a headdress of the same material in the shape of a funnel.
In some cases they may be dressed as a son; this is to show their piety
toward father-in-law, but this may be done only when their own parents
are deceased.
Sons' children are dressed in the same way as sons. Daughters'
children are usually dressed in their ordinary clothes, but of white or
blue color only.
All other male relatives do not wear a special mourning attire,
except for a band of white cloth, tied around the upper part of the shirt
sleeve. The female relatives wear jacket and trousers of white, blue
or light green, or any soft color, but not red, yellow, or brown. Those
who wear sarong-kabaja (there were only a few at the Totok funerals the
writer observed) are dressed in a sarong made of black cotton or white
with blue design, the sarong specially worn as an indication of mourning,
and a plain white cotton kabaja. All female non-relatives are also
dressed in this way.
Peranakan funerals are much less elaborate than those of the
Totoks, as we will see in the following description of a funeral that,
according to many Peranakans, can be considered a "typical" Peranakan
funeral.
The deceased was a Peranakan widow of 67 who belonged to one of
the wealthy old families in town. She lived alone in a big house in that
section of Djalan Plabuan II where several of these families are clustered.
(One of her daughters who is married to a son of one of these families
lives only a few houses away. ) She died in her sleep from a stroke apd
it was her female servant who discovered her death early in the morning.
THs happened on Friday, and the funeral was on the Sunday following.
The deceased had seven daughters and two sons, all of them married.
One of the daughters had died, but her husband had married one of the
other daughters.
The funeral was to take place at nine o'clock on Sunday morning.
When the writer arrived at the house about an hour before the departure
it was already crowded with relatives and sympathizers. The men were
gathered in the front yard where chairs were set up and also in the front
porch. The women were all inside, (This type of segregation is the178
usual pattern at funerals and large formal parties among the Peranakans,
Hokkiens, and Sundanese alike. ) Fastened to the two pillars supporting
the porch were two square lanterns made of coarse white cloth on which
the surname of the husband of the deceased was written in Chinese char-
acters, This is the usual indication of death in the house among Perana-
kans and Totoks, In the main entrance was a curtain of coarse white
cloth, (On approaching it, the writer discovered that it was made of used
flour bags with the markings still on it. ) The coffin was set up in the
inner room behind this curtain. It was of the rectangular, wooden Euro-
pean style, (The writer was informed that the deceased had it specially
made in Djakarta a year earlier, because, as she was exceptionally
large, the ready-made ones would not have fitted her. When it was
ready, it was kept in the storage room of the Djin Gie Hwee.) It was
placed lengthwise facing the door; thus the head was against the back wall
of the room, and the feet were close to the door. At the latter end a
table with offerings was set up. These offerings were the usual ones
presented on important occasions: ngo seng (the five kinds of meat
offering), several dishes, rice, fruits, and cakes. The candles were the
special ones used during the mourning period, small and white, decorated
with blue flowers, A member of the funeral association was standing
next to the table, handing the incense sticks to those who wanted to pray
(virtually everyone, except for the Christians, who also prayed but with-
out incense sticks) and putting them in the incense holder. This praying
was performed immediately after entering the house and prior to
meeting any of the members of the family.
The two sons were standing to the left and right of the coffin.
Both were dressed in trousers and a long-sleeved coat reaching to a
little below the knees and made of unbleached cotton, a kind of material
called by the Peranakans kain blatju, which seems to be a Malay word. (26)
Around their forehead a band of the same material was tied, with the
knot at the back. Each was holding the filial staff. After praying the
sympathizers turned to these sons and performed the pai to them, which
they returned by doing the same.
The duughters and daughters-in-law, who were huddled together
in the narrow passage leading to the back part of the house, were dressed
in a kain or sarong, kabaja and a hood, also made of blatju.
The sons-in-law were not all dressed alike. Two of them wore
a kind of Chinese robe with a mandarin colla.r made of white cotton on
top of their regular western-style trousers and shirt. The four others
were in their regular trousers and shirt, but with a headdress made of
white cotton that had somewhat the shape of a funnel.
Of the grandchildren, both SoCh as well as DaCh, the older girls
wore a white western dress and a scarf to cover the head or drape around
the shoulders, the small girls an ordinary western dress in white or blue;
the older boys were in ordinary white trousers and shirt, and the small
boys also wore their ordinary clothes.
(26) Because this material is used by people in deep mourning, it is
not supposed to be made into any other type of clothing.179
Of the relatives of the same generation as the deceased there were
her older brother dressed in regular trousers (dark brown) and short
sleeved shirt (white), her younger brother in white trousers and coat and
a black tie, her older sister in white and blue mourning sarong and white
cotton kabaja, the wife of the younger brother in a plain black Kain and
white cotton kabaja.
All the other women, relatives and non-relatives, were dressed
in the blue and white mourning sarong and white cotton kabaja (for those
who are used to wearing this type of dress), or a western dress in white
or blue. All of them were given a stole made of white cotton.
All the other men and boys were in their ordinary clothes without
any special indication of mourning, such as the stole for the women, for
instance. An exception was the oldest son of the younger brother of the
deceased who was dressed in the same robe in Chinese style as two of the
sons-in-law. The explanation given was that he was an anak angkat
(Indonesian for adopted child) of the deceased.
As mentioned earliei; the women were gathered inside the house
where, on the back porch, a tea table was set up similar to the one set
up on the occasion of a wedding, though simpler and without fancy cakes.
Here, more than on the other occasion, the cakes were left virtually un-
touched.
Around 9:20 the coffin was carried out by Djin Gie Hwee members
and placed in the hearse, which was already covered with wreaths. Two
of the sons-in-law got in the car also. The funeral train was as follows;
In front of the hearse were the two sons carrying the filial staff,
the eldest son-in-law carrying the temporary incense holder on a tray
while another man was holding an umbrella over his head, and the
adopted son scattering the silver joss paper along the route.
Immediately behind the hearse, the daughters, daughters-in-law,
siblings, some of the sons-in-law; then came other female relatives and
non-relatives followed by the male relatives and non-relatives and,
finaUyj the cars and small buses provided for those who wanted to go all
the way to the cemetery. On most of these cars a wreath was tied to the
front bumper.
On the spot where funeral trains usually become motorized, one
of the younger sons-in-law, the one who lives only a few houses away
from the deceased, gave a vote of thanks in Indonesian, Then those who
wanted to go to the cemetery got into the cars, while the others returned
to town. The writer was informed that there were about fifty cars, among
them many private cars with a Bandung or Djakarta license plate.
The deceased was to be buried next to her husband who had died
during the Japanese occupation. The grave site was next to that of one
of her besan, the father of the son-in-law who gave the vote of thanks.
It had no covering, but for this occasion a covering made of canvas was
erected. The grave site of the besan was also used to accommodate the180
sympathizers and a canvas extension was attached to the flat roof. It
turned out that most of the people from Sukabumi itself were gathered
on the grave site of the besan, while the people from outside the town
(only one daughter and the older brother live in Sukabumi) were gathered
on the grave site of the deceased, There was also a small group of
women members of the Sam Kauw Hwee, clustering together, slightly
separate from the others. The writer recognized them as members of
the lower class of the Peranakan community, and obviously not the usual
associates of the family of the deceased and the main body of sympath-
izers, who were virtually all members of the wealthy old families in
town. Their coming was due to the fact that they were members of the
Sam Kauw Hwee, of which the deceased was also a member. The writer
was informed that on the night before the funeral the leaders of this
organization and a number of the members had come to the house for a
special prayer session.
Immediately after arrival, the daughters put out the offerings on
the stone table in front of the tombstone. These offerings consisted of
fruits, cakes, sweets, two cups of white wine, and the two small white
candles with the blue flower decoration. On the altar of the god of the
earth there were also wine, sweets, and two small red candles.
In the meantime the coffin had been carried out of the hearse and
put on two bamboo bars placed across the pit. When the offering table
was ready, the coffin was carefully lowered down with ropes. During
this ceremony the two sons were crouched close to the tombstone. The
daughters and daughters-in-law were in a similar position with their
hoods covering their faces.
This ceremony over, the praying started. First the two sons who,
after praying with incense sticks, performed the pai kui, bowing four
times, then the daughters and daughters-in-law wno remained standing
praying with incense sticks only. They were followed by the sons-in-law
who prayed in the same way as the sons, the sister and brothers (without
pai kui), the other relatives, of which some of the men performed the
pai kui and some did not (two of the women who were affinal relatives
performed this act which elicited the remark by a woman close to the
writer that this is an exaggeration), and finally the sympathizers, who
only prayed, with or without incense sticks. On this occasion the writer
observed an interesting example of the confusion of newly-converted
Catholics on an occasion like this. The person involved was the son-in-
law who expressed the vote of thanks. While all the others prayed in
pairs or more, he happened to be doing it alone when it was his turn. He
prayed with incense sticks and then, after putting them in the holder, he
made the sign of the cross. A younger brother, a man close to forty,
who was standing next to the writer burst into suppressed laughter saying
that he had never seen such a performance before. The person himself
told the writer later that he just did not know how to act, so he decided to
make it gado-gado (Indonesian, meaning a mixture).
After everybody had prayed, the eldest son checked with two
coins whether the offering was finished. After two tosses the indication
was that it was over, and the silver joss paper was burned. Next a
ceremony called penjebaran ngokok was performed. (Penjebaran is181
Indonesian, meaning to scatter, and ngokok is from the Hokkien, meaning
five kinds of grains, but the Peranakans have interpreted it as five kinds
of seeds, using the Indonesian word bibit, which means seed. The
meaning and the purpose is the same, however, because in each case
grains and seeds are a symbol of fertility and posterity.) The leader
of the working members of the Djin Gie Hwee was given a tray on which
were arrayed five kinds of grains and peas and coins. He stood with it
on the edge of the far end of the grave, facing the children of the de-
ceased, who were squatting in front of the tombstone. The sons were
holding up an edge of their coat, and the daughters and daughters-in-law
ad edge of their hood. From a slip of paper the leader read off several
sentences in what sounded like Hokkien, each starting with the word
ngokok. (27) After each sentence he threw a handful of the seeds in the
direction of the descendants, who tried to catch them in the piece of
clothing they were holding up. Each sentence was also punctuated by a
loud "ho!" from the other workers. (28) The seeds thus collected were
tied in~a corner of the coat or hood. One of the women present told the
writer that these seeds will be planted on the grave mound on the third
day after the funeral, when another offering should be made. According
to her, the purpose is so that the descendants who are symbolized by the
seeds will produce more seeds, i. e., more children, so that the deceased
will be assured of the continuation of her family. In other words, this
rite is performed to offset the bad influences which are believed to be
connected with the dead.
After this rite the mourners arose and proceeded to the open
grave. The two filial staffs were put at the bottom by one of the workers,
each in one of the corners. Then the sons each threw a handful of earth
on the coffin, followed by the daughters, daughters-in-law, and other
close relatives who did not throw earth, but flowers and petals of flowers.
They were followed by all others who did the same. Finally a small pro-
cession was made, circling the grave, three times one way and three
times the other way: in front the eldest son carrying the hio low on a tray,
the second son, then the daughters and daughters-in-law, and several of
the grandchildren.
(27)	On checking later the writer found that he did not know the meaning
of this text. He told the writer, however, that there are several versions
of the penjebaran bibit and that the one he had used was given to him by a
Peranakan man who is regarded as knowledgeable on the subject. Another
member of the funeral association showed the writer a text on which was
stated that this is the one acknowledged by the Sam Kauw Hwee.
(28)	In de Groot’s description of the funeral among the Amoy-Chinese
in "De lijkbezorging der Emoy-Chineezen," pp. 43, 95, we read that
the five kinds of grain and coins were scattered at the bottom of the grave
and at the bottom of the coffin. This ceremony was also accompanied by
statements expressing the wish for great fertility and prosperity while
each statement was also responded to by all present by shouting ho ah,
an expression of assent.182
After this final rite, everybody went back to the cars, leaving
the final closing of the grave to the working members of the funeral
society. The entire ceremony lasted about one and one-half hour, from
ten to eleven thirty.
Of this case the writer also observed the ceremony that concludes
the period of deep mourning. Traditionally this should occur on the
seventh day after the funeral, but today it is usually performed on the
third day after the funeral supaja lekas beres (Indonesian), meaning to
have it over with quickly. The reason for this is, of course, practicality,
because the sons and daughters are not supposed to resume work until
after the concluding ceremony. This happened also in the case described
here.
A s the funeral was on a Sunday, the concluding ceremony should
have taken place the next Tuesday, but it occured on Wednesday. Appar-
ently people are not sure whether to include the funeral day itself or not.
(One of the older women considered knowledgeable informed the writer
that in the case of funerals the day itself is included, while in the case of
weddings it is not. But she admitted not to be too sure about it. ) This
concluding ceremony is called balikto, which is combination of the Indo-
nesian word balik, meaning to turn or overturn, and to which is from the
Hokkien, meaning table. This designation refers to the fact that after the
offering is over, the table is turned upside down.
On that third day the house still showed the indications of mour-
ning, the two white lanterns attached to the pillars and the curtain made
of used flour bags. In the inner room, on the spot where the coffin was
set up, there was now a table with offerings which, along with the usual
cups of tea and sweets, consisted of several kinds of cakes specially pre-
sented during the mourning period, fruits, and the small white candles
with the blue flower decoration. In the center at the back was a photo-
graph of the deceased, with the incense holder in front of it.
Next to this offering table was a small table with a toy bedroom
furhiture set, consisting of a white-painted western-type bed with a
mosquito net, a wardrobe, and a furniture set consisting of one table
and four chairs, all painted red, small rolls of gold colored paper,
which represent gold bars, and a small container with rolled up pieces
of rice paper around which a red colored string was tied. (The latter
had been distributed to those who came to participate in the.funeral. Its
function is to offset or neutralize the bad influences to which everyone
is exposed who comes in the vicinity of death. This is indicated by the
piece of red string, red being the color of happiness, good fortune, and
in general everything favorable. At one of the Hakka funerals the writer
received an elaborate equivalent of it in the shape of a flower folded out
of a piece of white cotton and a red colored string attached to it. ) On
the floor under the offering table was a winnowing tray filled with minia-
ture Indonesian kitchen utensils, of the kind little girls play with and
usually sold in the market place. There were an earthenware oven, a
skillet and spoon, a typical Indonesian rice cooker with the cone-shaped
rice container, two small baskets with charcoal and two small bundles
with tiny bits of firewood, and other articles usually found in an183
Indonesian as well as a Peranakan kitchen. Then there were small pack-
ages of rice, sugar, salt, pepper, turmeric roots, other typical Indonesian
spices, and also a small transparent bag with hair of the deceased. (29)
On a chair were placed a sarong and kabaja, several other pieces of
clothing and a towel. These articles are given to the deceased, supposedly
for use in the other world. One of the daughters informed the writer that
boxes and mountains of money and a male and female servant would be
added to this outfit. A house, traditionally one of the indispensable parts,
was not necessary, because one was already burned at the death of the
husband and naturally she would share this house with him.
These articles were to be burned at dawn of the following morning
after the final big offering. On this occasion, also, the mourning clothes
worn during this period will be discarded and put away, to be put on again
on subsequent offerings connected with the first commemoration of the
death, the first tjing bing festival after the death and the second and final
commemoration within the mourning period, (One informant told the
writer that there are people who present an offering forty days after death,
especially those who only observe a forty-day mourning period, and on the
first birthday of the deceased after his death. }
Early in the morning of that Wednesday, the sons and daughters
with their spouses had gone to the cemetery to present another offering
and to plant the seeds they had collected during the funeral ceremony.
They were dressed in the same way as on that occasion. At eight in the
evening they would present an offering at home and then again, the con-
cluding one, early the following morning at five o’clock.
The mourning clothes of unbleached cotton were not worn continu-
ously during this period of deep mourning, but only during the time of the
offerings. When the writer came to the house close to noon, for instance,
the sons and daughters were dressed as follows: the eldest son in white
trousers and white short-sleeved shirt, the other son in dark blue trousers
and white short sleeved shirt, one of the daughters in black sarong and
white cotton kabaja, another daughter still in the blatju outfit without the
hood, and the rest of the daughters in the white and blue mourning sarong
and white cotton kabaja. The sons-in-law were in their ordinary clothing
and so were the grandchildren, but all avoiding the colors red, yellow,
and brown. All the women were at that time busy with the preparations
for the offering. The person giving most of the directions was the Sundan-
ese wife of a Peranakan man mentioned earlier, who is affinally related
to the deceased--her husband’s sister’s eldest son is married to one of
the daughters of the deceased.
(29) The deceased had long hair tied in a bun, the typical hair style of
dlder Peranakan women. The hair in the bag was hair that came off when
combing, which she had collected during her life. This is related to the
belief among Peranakans, which the writer also found among the Indone-
sians, that to possess someone’s hair gives one power over the person.
Thus, one should be careful with one’s hair and keep it rather than throw
it away, thereby avoiding the risk of it falling into the hands of someone
who might misuse it.184
Compared with the Totok funerals the writer observed, this
"typical" Peranakan funeral looks simple, although compared to a Chris-
tian funeral, it is still extremely elaborate. Taking the above description
as the model we will now proceed to examine each of the rites to deter-
mine its origin and how it deviates from the original.
To choose an auspicious date for the interment by consulting a Chi
nese astrologer is virtually obsolete. The choice is now based on consid-
erations of convenience and practicality, which has made Sunday the most
preferred day, although this again depends on when the death occurred,
because in general the coffin is not kept in the house longer than three
days. That considerations of convenience and practicality should prevail
over considerations of auspiciousness reflects the occupational difference
between Totoks and Peranakans. Totoks are mostly occupied in small-
scale private enterprises where the schedule and work pattern in largely
determined by the owner himself, making it possible to close the shop,
for instance, for as long as necessary. Peranakans, on the other hand,
are engaged as wage earners or, when operating a private enterprise,
adhere to the western form which requires a regularity in the work pat-
tern beyond their control. This factor seems to be at the base of the
change of the coffin used, from the Chinese style to the western style.
Once it was realized that it is inconvenient to protract the period of deep
mourning, there is no point in using Chinese style coffins which are con-
structed with the purpose of making it possible to keep the coffin above
ground for an almost indeterminate time. Therefore, among Peranakans
today, it is customary to make use of western style coffins.
As to the signs of mourning inside and outside the house, the two
lanterns made of coarse white cloth attached to the pillar of the front
porch are undoubtedly of Chinese origin, although whether typically
Hokkien or not, the writer is uncertain. No mention of this type of arti-
cle is made in de Groot’s description. The curtain made of coarse white
cloth and the covering of the hio low, mirrors,and shelves with glass
doors with white cotton cloth is found among the Peranakans and Totoks
alike. The Totoks also paste a strip of white paper diagonally on the
sign they usually have over their shop door. The Hokkien origin of this
practice can be checked with de Groot’s description, where we read
(pp. 3, 15, 16) that the room where the coffin is set up is stripped of all
other furniture including the ancestor altar or, if not possible, the altar
is covered with a white cloth, white being the color of mourning. The
explanation he suggests for this practice is that it would be a lack of
deference to expose these "invisible guardians of the family" to the un-
pleasant spectacle of death. No mention is made of mirrors and other
glass articles. The Peranakan women consulted were unable to give an
explanation. The eldest son in the case described above, however,
ventured the rational explanation that it is to prevent looking into the
mirror, because those in mourning are not supposed to be concerned
about their appearance. He associates this with the traditional prohibi-
tion for sons to shave during the period of deep mourning. At the funeral
described above a few non-relatives expressed their disapproval to the
writer of the use of lipstick by one of the daughters during this period.
In the expression of sympathy at the Totok funerals observed
there was continuously a crowd of people in the house in the days185
preceding the interment. In two of the three cases there were people
playing card games. At the Peranakan funerals* on the other hand,
few people come before the actual funeral, except for relatives and
close friends.
This difference reflects the difference in the social pattern between
the two communities. The great number of visitors in the Totok cases is
a result of membership in speech group and/or surname associations, a
characteristic of the Totok community that does not exist among the
Peranakans, As association members have the obligation to come to the
funeral of fellow members, the more associations one is affiliated to, the
more people will be present. In the cases observed, the two Hakkas were
affiliated to the local Hakka association and one of them also to a surname
association in Djakarta, while the one Hokkien man seemed to have been
affiliated to an organization in Djakarta. The largest turnout was the
night before the interment when people stayed all night, supposedly to keep
the bereaved family company in the final wake.
One of the most conspicuous differences as far as noise goes is the
absence of the pat im music and the loud wailing of wife and/or daughters
among the Peranakans. Most Peranakans told the writer that they do not
like to hear the pat im music at all, especially the clarinet, because of
its queer wailing sound. At the Peranakan funerals observed, the only
expression of grief was quiet weeping. In general, compared with the
Totoks, the atmosphere at a Peranakan funeral resembles the western
idea of subdued and quiet behavior considered appropriate at a funeral.
Another difference is in the offerings presented. In accordance
with the general trend among the Peranakans towards simplification in this
matter, the offerings they present are much less elaborate than those pre-
sented by Totoks. They do not have the head of a pig, for instance, and
other big meat offerings. In one of the Hakka cases there were even a
whole raw pig and a whole raw goat. One part of the articles presented
on the concluding offering is clearly an indication of adjustment to the
local environment--the Indonesian toy bedroom furniture and kitchen equip
me nt and the spices. In connection with this idea of providing the dead
with the same articles needed by the living, it is interesting to note that
in 1900 the Tiong Hoa Hwee Koan already advocated the omission of it,
quoting a saying of Confucius which they interpret as condemning this
practice. (30)
As to funeral attire, there is a similarity between Peranakans and
Totoks in regard to that worn by the wife, sons, daughters, daughters-in-
law, and sons-in-law. In regard to grandchildren there is a difference
in that, among the Hokkiens, SoCh are dressed in the same way as sons,
while among the Peranakans all grandchildren (an indication of the trend
towards bilateralization) are dressed in their regular clothes, avoiding
the colors red, yellow, and brown. In regard to other relatives and non-
related people there is also a similarity between the two groups, except
that among the Totoks some of the males who were designated to the
(30) Joe Lan Nio, Riwajat 40 Taon dari Tiong Hoa, p. 205,186
•writer as relatives wore a band of white cotton around their upper arm.
The most conspicuous difference is in the funeral train. Starting
from the head of the procession, we notice the following:
First, Peranakans do not have the silk scroll with the data of
the deceased that is at the head of a Totok procession, nor do they have
the banners made of cloth with Chinese aphorisms which are meant as
an expression of praise of the deceased. We have already noted that
these banners give an indication of the social status of the deceased, the
more banners, the higher the social status. Among the Peranakans this
function is performed by the floral wreaths. The custom of sending
floral wreaths to the bereaved family is clearly an adoption of the western
custom. The message attached, if any, is always in Indonesian, The
most usual message is turut berduka tjita, meaning we share your grief.
These wreaths are attached to the sides, the back, and the front bumper
of the hearse, to the front bumper of the cars that follow, and, if there
are any left, they are loaded on the trucks which are usually provided
for the men and boys and for the refreshments. Banners are taken
home, but floral wreaths are left to cover the grave mound.
Second, among the Peranakans, the person carrying the hio low
and walking immediately in front of the hearse is usually a son-in-law,
preferably the eldest. He is always accompanied by a man holding an
umbrella over his head. Of the Totok funerals observed, the writer
noticed this practice only in the one Hokkien case, but without a man
holding the umbrella. No mention of this practice is made in de Groot*s
description. It is possible, therefore, that this can be ascribed to the
influence of local custom where, at an Indonesian funeral, one will see
the head part of the corpse (carried on a stretcher, because Indonesians
who adhere to Islam do not use a coffin) always shaded by the type of
umbrella used by Peranakans. It is clear that in both cases the meaning
behind this practice is the same: an umbrella is the symbol of high rank
(in prewar times the rank of a regent was symbolized by a golden um-
brella); thus, to hold an umbrella over someone or something is an ex-
pression of honor.
From the respectful way the hio low is treated, shown most
clearly at a funeral, one has to conclude that an essential change has
occurred among the Peranakans in regard to the form of representation
of the deceased. Whereas traditionally the ancestor is represented by a
sin chi, the ancestor tablet, we have noted that, among the Peranakans
in Sukabumi, this type of representation was found at the altar of one
family only. In wealthy families there is usually a painting or an enlarged
portrait of the deceased on the wall above the altar; when this space is
taken by a landscape painting, the portraits are to the left or right of it
or on an adjacent wall. Often we do not find the portraits of all the an-
cestors venerated, however, but only of the most recent. In the poorer
families there is sometimes a small faded photograph of the deceased,
but often there is none. Since the portraits are often placed on an ad-
jacent wall instead of above the altar, the supplicant does not face them
when praying. It seems that we may infer from this that Peranakans do
not attach the same meaning to the picture or the portrait as traditional187
Chinese are believed to have done to the ancestor tablet. (Among the latter
it was believed that, by the rite of "the dotting of the soul" which occais
at the funeral, the soul of the deceased is transferred permanently to the
tablet. )(31) Thus it would appear that among the Peranakans the central
part in the ancestor veneration is taken by the hio low. This is indicated
by the following: (1) the ancestor altar is called media abu (Indonesian,
literally ashes table), referring to the ash in the incense holder which,
next to hio low, is often called tempat abu (Indonesian, literally ashes pot);
(2) in one of the articles published in the 25th anniversary book of the
funeral association, Djin Gie Hwee, the author advocated cremation,
pointing out the advantage of acquiring the pure ash of the deceased, which
could still be venerated in the traditional way; (3) when a family decides
to discontinue keeping an altar, for instance when they join a Christian
denomination that does not allow it, and there is nobody among the close
relatives to whom the care can be transferred, the hio low is buried in
the grave mound of the ancestors concerned (32); (4) if no altar will be
kept for a deceased person, the ash that has accumulated in the holder
during the praying before interment is scattered on the grave after it is
filled; (5) when an outsider:wants to know who is venerated at a particular
altar, the question is phrased, "Ini abunja siapa ?11 (Indonesian, meaning
literally "Whose ashes are these?"), and the answer is, "Oh, ini abunja
engkong" ("Oh, these are the ashes of grandfather") or whoever it may be.
Third, Peranakans do not take a picture of the deceased to the
cemetery as do the Totoks who attach it on top of the hood of the hearse
against the windshield.
Fourth, Peranakans make the vote of thanks in Indonesian, Totoks
in Mandarin (in consideration of people of other speech groups present).
There is no kowtowing on the street by the sons during the speech as is
done among the Totoks.
Fifth, Peranakans do not make use of the pat im music which,
according to a Hakka man, has the purpose of increasing the atmosphere
of sadness of the occasion.
At the funeral of the other Peranakan woman observed by the writer,
the following rite was performed before the grave.was filled: the leader
of the working members of the funeral society squatted at the edge of the
(31)	de Groot, "De lijkbezorging der Emoy-Chineezen," pp. 99, 100.
(32)	The mother of the writer took care of the ancestor altar of her parents,
a regular rectangular type with car ved decorations, Chinese hio low made
of tin, and copper candlesticks. There were two hio lows, one for each
parent. Several years ago she decided to discontinue taking care of it.
She often forgot the offering on the 1st and 15th όί the lunar month and
decided it would be better not to have one at all than to look after it in a
haphazard way. The two hio low were buried in the grave mound of her
parents, in the Chinese cemetery in Tanggerang. Now she performs the
offerings that should be made during the year, using a large sideboard
for the table and a drinking glass filled with uncooked rice as an incense
holder.138
grave, took a coconut with the husk off leaving the hard shell, put a short
piece of rattan on it, and then cut through both, letting one half of each
fall into the pit, while the other half is taken home. Noone could explain
the meaning of this rite. In the THHK list of rites to be omitted, we read,
however, that the half of the coconut kept is eaten by the descendants of
the deceased and the piece of rattan smoked like a cigarette. The pur-
pose is said to be to forget the deceased. It is stated that this rite should
not be observed at all because "it is following the belief of the Moslem in
this country," and it is argued further that it is very strange, to say the
least, that one should forget relatives who have passed away, (33)
From this comparison we may conclude that the Peranakan funer-
al practices consist of a sequence of rites that are basically of Chinese,
i, e., Hokkien,origin, but that modifications have occurred which indicate
influences of the local environment, of modern China, and of the west.
The influence of the local environment is shown in, first, the use
of Indonesian toy furniture, kitchen equipment, and spices, which form
part of the articles to be burned after the concluding offering at the end
of the period of deep mourning; second, the use of an umbrella to shade
the person carrying the hio low in the procession to the cemetery. We
have already noted that this is possibly the influence of the Moslem cus-
tom to hold an umbrella over the head of the corpse when carried to the
cemetery. Moestapa(34) mentions that, among the Sundanese, often two
umbrellas, the handles of each covered with a piece of white cotton, are
used; third, the rite of cutting a coconut and a piece of rattan in half
just before the grave is filled. Moestapa(35) describes the Sundanese
rite as follows: When the deceased is a woman leaving a husband and
small children behind, after the grave is closed the husband cuts in two,
with an ax, a young coconut, the blossoming flower of a banana, a small
mat made of coconut leaves (used to put pots and pans on), each with one
stroke. He explains that this rite is symbolic of the separation between
people who love each other. The purpose is to mitigate the grief
produced by this separation.
The influence of modern Chinese ideas is seen in the drive
toward simplification and purification as propagated by the Tiong Hoa
Hwee Koan. This drive is viewed by these propagators as a return to
pure Confucianism which they consider the essence of Chinese culture.
Basically it means the elimination of those rites that are considered
unnecessary and related to superstitious practices. Considered unnec-
essary by the THHK are: choosing an auspicious date, which means the
protraction of the period of keeping the coffin above ground; loud wailing
of the women; burning of articles for the deceased to use in the other
world; the presentation of elaborate offerings; the scattering of silver
(33)	Joe Lan Nio, Riwajat 40 Taon dari Tiong Hoa, p. 205.
(34)	Op. cit., p. 157; see also Klaus A. H. Hidding, Gebruiken en
godsdienst der Soendaneezen (Batavia, 1935), p, 58.
(35)	Op. cit., pp. 156, 157,189
joss paper on the way to the cemetery. Of the rites that are said to be
related to superstitious practices there were only two; to use water
specially taken from a. river for the cleaning of the corpse and the cutting
of a coconut and a piece of rattan just before the grave is filled.
As we have seen, today, sixty years after these suggestions were
made, several of the rites condemned are still observed, but there is a
positive trend towards simplification, even to the extent of stripping it to
the bare core of the original. It would appear that there is a certain re-
luctance bordering on fear to make drastic omissions, but, on the other
hand, there is a strong feeling in favor of simplification, so the end re-
sult is the performance of the minimum of what is required of a particular
rite.
The influence of western customs is evident in the use of the rect-
angular western type of coffin and the presentation of floral wreaths as
tokens of sympathy.
We will now give a description of a Christian funeral to show its
extreme simplicity as compared with the typical Peranakan funeral. The
deceased in this case was a Peranakan man, close to seventy, belonging
to one of the old wealthy families in town. He had two sons, of which the
eldest was about forty, married, father of two children, and the manager
of the largest textile factory in town. A younger son was in his early
twenties and unmarried. The wife of the deceased was about sixty with a
good command of the Dutch.language, which indicates that she must have
had some Dutch education. The deceased was baptized into the Catholic
church at his deathbed. The priest who came for the funeral told the
writer that this was a provisional baptism, because the deceased, who
died of a heart attack, could not give an answer when, after the attack,
he was asked whether he wanted to be baptized. His wife and sons,
however, had expressed the desire for a Christian funeral, and because
his wife and he had had some religious instruction with a Catholic priest,
they decided on Catholicism. (The wife of the deceased was the person
mentioned in the section on ancestor veneration who told her son that she
did not want him to keep an altar for her after her death. )
The funeral took place on a Thursday at nine o’clock in the mor-
ning. The writer arrived at the house around eight o’clock. There were
a number of floral wreaths on the front porch, no white lantern, and also
no white curtain on the front door. The black, western-type coffin was
set up in the inner room with floral wreaths all around. It was still open
and the deceased could be seen, covered with awhite satin cloth, except
for the face. There was nothing else in the room, no offering table or
candles. None of the sons was present to receive the sympathizers, A
Peranakan man in his early fifties, one of the most active Catholics in
town, acted as the host, although he was not related to the family. The
wife and the two sons came in the room when the coffin was about to be
closed. She was dressed in a white and blue mourning sarong and white
cotton kabaja. She was weeping pitifully. The two sons were dressed in
ordinary white trousers and long-sleeved white shirts. The daughter-in-
law had on a white western dress, while the two grandchildren were in
their ordinary clothes, one of which even had red color in it. All otherI
190
women present were in blue and white mourning sarong and white cotton
kabaja or western dress with no red, yellow or brown. The men were in
their ordinary clothes.
The coffin was closed by the working members of the Djin Gie
Hwee and covered with a black cloth with a white cross on it, Ttien a
Dutch Catholic priest came, the head pastor of Sukabumi, accompanied
by an altar boy and the sexton. He uttered the prayer for the dead in
Indonesian and was joined by several of the Catholic women present.
Immediately thereafter, the coffin was carried into the hearse, and the
procession started moving. Behind the hearse were the two sons, the
relatives, and the sympathizers. The wife was in the first car following,
accompanied by several female relatives. The route taken was different
from the usual one because the deceased was to be buried in the Christian
cemetery which also lies to the south of the town, but closer. At a rail-
road junction just outside the center of the town, the group stopped and
the oldest son gave the vote of thanks in Indonesian, Arriving at the cem-
etery, the coffin was carried immediately to the grave and lowered into it,
A short prayer was said in Latin by the priest; then the wife, sons,
daughter-in-law, other relatives, and sympathizers each dropped a hand-
ful of flower petals in the grave. This was the entire ceremony. There
was no speech and the priest left immediately after the prayer.
While the grave was being filled, the refreshments, consisting
of soft drinks and batjang(the rice cakes specially eaten on the occasion
of the dragon boat festival and part of the usual refreshment presented
at a funeral), were distributed among the sympathizers and the relatives.
Then everyone left, except for the eldest son who remained to supervise
the closing of the grave.
For some time after the funeral the writer heard remarks ex-
pressing disapproval of the behavior of the family, Criticism was launched
especially at the way the wife and immediate descendants dressed at the
funeral. Several Christian Peranakans told the writer that, among
Protestants, it is still customary to wear the traditional funeral garb;
they were surprised when this family did not observe this custom,
especially since neither the wife nor the children were Catholics at that
time. Several other Peranakans, members of the group of wealthy, old
families, made the remark that the deceased and his wife had always
kept pretty much to themselves and this is perhaps the reason why they
could afford to deviate from the norm, because they would not hear what
other people say about them. One of the critics told the writer that when
her mother, who was converted to Catholicism, died, all the sons and
daughters, none of whom were Catholics, wore the traditional funeral
garb; she said indignantly that although one is a Christian, one is a
Chinese after all.
This gives an indication of the amount of criticism one may in-
cur when deviating from the accepted norm, and those who do deviate
are clearly people who live on the periphery of the community.191
The Mourning Period
After the funeral clothing has been put away at the conclusion of the
offering ceremony presented on the third or seventh day after the funeral,
the period of light mourning begins. This is expressed by the color of
clothing. The general rule is that no clothes with the colors red, yellow
and brown are worn. Sometimes purple is also prohibited, because it is
a mixture of blue and red. In the case of mourning for parents, even
green may not be allowed in the first year, because it has yellow in it.
This period of light mourning is referred to as pake biru (Indonesian,
meaning to wear blue) and often also as pake putih (to wear white), although
the latter should be applied to the wearing of complete white only, as for
instance during the period of deep mourning.
For the men these prohibitions do not present a problem, because
men’s clothes are usually of a subdued color; the combination of white
trousers and white shirt is very popular. Of course, they are not supposed
to wear brown shoes or a brown belt, but this is usually not strictly ob-
served, Thus, in effect, it is hardly noticeable when a man is in mourning.
For the women, however, it is different. We first have to make a distinc-
tion between those who wear sarong-kabaja and those who wear western
dress. The former will have to acquire the special mourning sarong of
white with blue or a combination of blue and green design and a plain white
cotton kabaja. This kabaja will have to be made specially too, becuuse
Peranakan women usually wear a kabaja made of sheer material with a
border of lace or embroidery. Those who wear western dress may also
have to acquire new clothes, because dresses usually have some of the
prohibited colors in them, A plain white dress or a combination of a plain
white blouse and plain blue skirt is so strongly associated with mourning
that Peranakan girls seldom dress in this way, or, if they do, they add
a colorful pin or ribbon. For women, and in fact for men also, there is
the prohibition of wearing gold jewelry, because of its yellow color.
(The wedding ring, which is a plain gold band, seems to be exempted from
this rule. ) Silver jewelry, however, is allowed.
The length of this period is determined by the character of the kin
relationship to the deceased, combined with the proximity of residence,
degree of intimacy, and presence of other relatives, Basically the types
of mourning observance that exist among the Peranakans point to Chinese,
i. e„ Hokkien origin, but there are certain modifications that show clearly
the influence of local environment.
When a Peranakan is asked how long one remains in mourning for
a particular relative, he will invariably answer that today people are not
too particular about following the correct rules, but do what is most con-
venient, The exception is in the case of the mourning period for one’s
own parent or, in the case of a married woman, for her husband’s parents,
where virtually everybody knows and agrees on the duration.
It would appear that one may distinguish three degrees of intensity
in the feeling of obligation to observe a mourning period. First, however,
we can rule out those in ego’s generation who are younger than he and all
those in the descending generations, in accordance with the traditional192
Chinese custom of not mourning for juniors. The greatest obligation to
observe mourning is of children for their parents and of a married woman
for her husband’s parents. Next comes mouring of children for grandpar-
ents and the latter’s siblings and spouses, andfor parent’s siblings and
spouses. Here the feeling of obligation is to a considerable extent deter-
mined by proximity of residence and degree of intimacy. Finally, there
is mourning for all other relatives; here the observance becomes a highly
individual matter, depending completely on the proximity of residence,
degree of intimacy, and presence of other relatives.
We may distinguish five types of mourning periods, as illustrated
by the diagrams on the opposite page: 24 months (referred to as three
years); 12 months (referred to as one year); 100 days (or 4 months);
40 days; 7 days.
The first two periods are recognizbble as of Chinese origin, (36)
This is also true of the 100 days and the 7 days periods, although we will
find that these periods also play an important role among the Sundanese
and the Javanese in connection with their observances related to death.
The period of 40 days, however, is clearly an adoption of local custom;
it does not occur in the Chinese system. We have already noted that,
among the Sundanese, 40 days after the funeral an elaborate selamatan is
held. (37)
We will now describe to whom these different types of mourning
periods apply, taking the deceased as the referent.
In regard to the mourning period for parents, there is general
agreement in the case of a son (which is the same as that of a wife for her
husband): "three years" which, in fact, means only 24 months because
mourning ends on the second anniversary of the death. If the deceased is
a father, sometimes a few months are subtracted (by all those who have
to observe this period, i, e,, wife, son, daughter). The reason is obscure,
but there seems to be some connection with the idea of blessing related to
the possession of children. In the case of one of the informants, five
months were subtracted because there were five children, a subtraction
of one month for each child. If the deceased is a mother, on the other
hand, usually three or four months are added (the number of children
seems not to play a role here). This is explained as a recognition of the
period she has fed the mourner. (38) In general, the obligations of an
(36)	Cf. Freedman, Lineage Organization, p. 44.
(37)	Moestapa, op. cit., pp. 161, 162, tells us that among the Sundanese,
after the funeral, selamatans are held on the following days: third day
(tiloena), seventh day (toedjoehna), 40th day (matang poeloeh), 100th day
(natoes), 1000th day (newoe). TEe 40th day is the most important one,
with an elaborate selamatan and a visit to the grave.
(38)	Freedman, Chinese Family and Marriage in Singapore, pp. 209-210,
has observed a similar custom among tEe Chinese in Singapore but the ex-
planation given is that it is in recognition of the time the mother has car-
ried the mourner in her womb.193
The Pattern of the Observance of the Mourning Period
among the Peranakans in Sukabumi
I
Man for
Fa relatives
Γ"
2-5
1 = 1 ■.
O · Zi	Zi
1-3 j 1-3	2-5
!
Types of periods:
1	24 months
2	12 months
3	100 days
(4 months)
4	40 days
5	7 days
!	Marrxed Da
_	,---------j---------j
O ~ Zi	Δ	O -- -i o	4i
1 1 1	2-4	2-4	2-4
i
i
i
_ i
O ~ z.'
2
O = z\	A
1-3 .· 1-3	2-5
2-4	11
II
Man for
Mo relatives	!
zi
o
2-4

i 2-4
4
ο ’ύ
2-4	2-4
o
1-3
1-3
<
O - &		& 2-4	o 7 £»		Zi 2-4	o ~ &	
1-2	1-2		1-2	1-2		1	1
							
° ~ Δ	Ζλ ~ O
1	1
I
2-
III
Unmarried woman
for Fa relatives
IV
Married woman
for Fa relatives
V
Married woman
for Hu relatives194
unmarried daughter are the same as those of a son, but often the period
is shortened to only one year. The reason might be sought in the consid-
erations of fairness for a woman will have to observe the full two years
for her husbands* parents, Thus we find that for a married daughter it
is customary to mourn for her own parents for twelve months only.
Apparently in this case the mother-in-law has some say in it, although
usually, when a daughter insists on observing the full 24 months, she
will make no objections. It is possible that the voice given to the mother
in-law in this matter is connected with the prohibition of sexual inter-
course during the mourning period, which was traditionally the case in
the Chinese system. The writer has no information on this in regard to
the Peranakans in Sukabumi.
For all other relatives there is a wide variety of possibilities,
going through the whole range of mourning periods, starting from one
year down. This variety can be attributed to the uncertainty as to what
is the correct procedure, but also to the residence pattern which is
usually such that direct control of other relatives is slight, so that there
is less incentive to comply completely to the rule. The writer exper-
ienced an amusing example of this with a couple in their early thirties
who have no relatives in Sukabumi. On one occasion, when the writer
dropped in to see them, the husband said that his grandfather, who lived
in Bogor, had died several days before. When asked whether they were
observing mourning, he answered in the affirmative, whereupon his
wife suddenly pointed to his pajamas (this was early in the morning)
saying in a teasing tone that they had a red border. He seemed taken
aback, but said rather shamefacedly that if his mother were around
he would certainly be more careful.
A woman in her mid-thirties told the writer that when her oldest
brother-in-law died, all those living in the house (she was then still
living with her husband’s family, which consisted of her husband’s
widowed mother and two of his older brothers with their families), i. e.,
the brothers and their wives, observed a mourning period of one year.
She said this was because they were in sympathy with the bereaved
sister-in-law who was well liked by all. She added that the fact that
they all lived in the same house was a great incentive for this obser-
vance. At night, however, they did not care whether there was red
color in their sleeping clothes, because "nobody will see it anyway."
Thus we see that for grandparents, father's side as well as
mother’s side, there are three possibilities: 24 months, twelve months,
and 100 days, with the first apparently the least frequent and the second
the most frequent. As we may expect, here again for a girl it is less,
twelve months or even only forty days.
For grandparents* siblings, father’s side as well as mother’s
side, the possibilities go through the whole range from one year to
seven days, with 100 days and forty days being the most frequent.
For brothers of both parents there is a similar range from one
year down to seven days, with a tendency to observe a longer period
for FaBr than for MoBr. For an unmarried sister of father it is the195
same as for FaBr, while for a married one it is also the same but with
the additional possibility of 100 days.
We have already noted that a married daughter is more likely than
an unmarried one to observe a twelve-month period for her own parents.
Mourning for father’s brothers and father’s parents, however, does not
differ for either a married or an unmarried daughter; it is twelve months,
four months, or forty days for father’s brothers and a maximum of twelve
months and minimum of forty days for father’s parents. As for her hus-
band’s relatives, we have noted that as a wife she is expected to follow
her husband, so she observesthe same amount of mourning as he does.
For all the above mentioned categories of senior relatives there
is in fact another factor that plays a role in the determination of the
mourning period. This is the number of children the deceased leaves
behind who will mourn for him or her, If there are only a few--the evalu-
ation of this is, of course, very subjective--then those who are expected
to observe a mourning period will feel more obliged to do so.
For senior siblings and first cousins one should observe a one year
period, but usually it is forty days only. For the more distant cousins
it is also forty days, but often it is only seven days, i. e., until the end of
the period of deep mourning.
A pregnant woman is also expected to observe a mourning period,
but at the time of birth it is suspended and resumed forty days after the
birth. Usually, however, when this is already close to the end of the
mourning period she will not observe it at all.
Based on these data, we may conclude that the pattern of observance
of the mourning period among the Peranakans points to two important
characteristics in the Peranakan kinship structure.
The central figures are the parents. There is no doubt that for
them the maximum degree of mourning should be observed. Moving away
from them upwards and sideways, the length of the period decreases, less
sharply immediately upwards and almost abruptly immediately sideways.
The period for grandparents coming second in degree is an indication of
the importance of the lineal line, combined with the respect accorded a
senior generation which is still strongly adhered to among the Peranakans.
Moving further away, however, there seems to be no rule at all,
even to the point of observing as few as seven days. This pattern indicates
clearly a positive trend towards ' emphasizing the nuclear family which
is in accordance with the prevalence of neolocal residence we have noted
earlier.
There is no difference in the range of possibilities for father’s
parents* siblings or mother’s parents* siblings and father’s siblings and
mother’s siblings. This situation is a corroboration of the trend towards
bilateral forms we have noted in the section on kinship.196
Apart from these restrictions on clothing there is the general
suspension of participation in conspicuous social events, e. g., weddings,
engagements, birthdays, and also in the celebration of New Year. On
the latter occasion, mourners are not allowed to visit people, but they
are allowed to receive visitors. Obviously these prohibitions have a
double reason: those in mourning should not participate in festive activi-
ties, and, from the point of view of the non-mourners, the happy occa-
sion should not be marred by the presence of people in mourning. A
prohibition which is widely adhered to is that of marriage during the
mourning period, especially during the long term mourning, as in the
case of mourning for a parent. There is a mitigation for this rule, how-
ever, in that marriage is allowed within a hundred days after the death
(an indication of the high importance attached to marriage), with the
ceremony taking place entirely outside the residence of the mourning
party. In the first few weeks after death of a parent or parent-in-law,
one is also not supposed to visit any public entertainment place, e. g.,
the movies. The writer noted how scandalized Peranakans were, even
the young people, when word got around that one of the western-educated
young women was seen at the theater only two or three weeks after the
death of her father-in-law and, in addition, clad in a red dress.
The Influence of the Indigenous Religious Setting
This section proposes to give a picture of the religious setting
in which the Peranakans find themselves, with the intention of investi-
gating in what way or to what extent they have been affected by it.
Activities within the Framework of the Moslem Religion
Of the Moslem population of Java, the Sundanese (and the Madur-
ese) are generally considered the most pious and faithful.. The Sundanese
population of Sukabumi forms no exception, one indication being the
large number of places of prayer which exist in town, as tabulated in the
following table:
Kelurahan*	No. Males**	Mosque	Langgar	Surau	Pesantren	Total
Kota Kulon	7, 222	15	39	1	2	57
Kota Wetan	6, 592	8	21	-	-	29
Kota Kaler	5, 832	8	18	-	-	26
Kota Kidul	7,328	11	49	-	4	64
Total	26, 974	42	127	1	6	176
Data are for the end of 1955 and were obtained from the Office of Reli-
gious Affairs in Sukabumi (Kantor Urusan Agama Kabupaten Sukabumi).
**In the Moslem religion communal prayer in the mosque is a preroga-
tive of men only, so women do not come to these places and are con-
sequently omitted in this table. The figures in this column are the
total number of males in each Kelurahan,197
It would appear that Peranakans do take the Sundanese seriously
in regard to their religious observances,, This is indicated at least in the
attitude towards the pork taboo. At dinners to which Sundanese are in-
vited, Peranakans always either dispense completely with pork dishes,
or keep the porkless dishes separate from those with pork. It is taken
for granted, however, that one need not be this strict in the case of Java-
nese and of certain other Indonesian groups. A Peranakan may note with
some glee to another Peranakan, for example, that he has seen a Javanese
eating at a Chinese restaurant; in Sukabumi it is improper for a Sundanese
to do so. Or he may note that he has seen a crowd of Indonesians eating
at a particular restaurant (for example, the one which is well-known for
its noodle soup), but adding that it's all right, because they were Bataks.
In what way or to what extent has this particular part of the indi-
genous religious setting affected the Peranakans? The answer must be,
minimally. This is understandable, considering the fact that Islam is an
organized religion, with specific requirements for entrance, participation,
and use of the places of prayer. The adoption of pasft of the elements of which
it io composed is not u possible, because it forms part of an integrated
unit, which can only be performed within its specific framework. It is
either an adoption of the entire system or none at all. This means that
we will have to find out whether there are Peranakans who have adopted
this system; in other words, whether there are Peranakan Moslems.
From the Office of Religious Affairs the writer obtained the list of people
converted to the Moslem Indonesian*		religion;						
		Chinese			Dutch			Total
Year	sub- Male Fem. total	Male	sub- Fem. total		Male Fem,		sub- total	
1951	2 - 2		W.	-	1	2	3	5
1952	-	-	1	1	1	1	2	3
1953	2-2	-	-	-	-	-	-	2
1954	1 - 1	9	4	13	-	1	1	15
1955	5-5	1	2	3	-	-	-	8
1956	3	-	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	3
Total	13	-	13	10	7	17	2	4	6	36
These Indonesian converts are mostly Ambonnese and Menadonese who had
been Christians.
While the list is not completely adequate for the purpose of this study,
because the Chinese are lumped together and from the name it is impossible ■.
to distinguish the Totoks from the Peranakanp,nevertheless it throws some
light on the scope of the conversions.
This table shows clearly that the number of Chinese converts is
negligible. It is highly significant, however, that they are all clustered
in the years 1954 and 1955, a pattern we also notice, though to a much
lesser extent, among the Indonesian converts. The writer suspects
strongly that this is related to the campaigning in connection with the gen-
eral election at the end of 1955. The kampong area is largely influenced
by Moslem parties; it would not be surprising if a person who was deliber-
ating on becoming a Moslem had been given the impetus to take the final198
step towards his conversion by the campaign drives.
An attempt to obtain the actual number of Chinese converts
through the Kelurahan produced results in one kelurahan only, that of
Kota Kulon (second in proportion of Chinese), where the secretary suc-
ceeded in gathering these data:
Original Name	Present Name	Age	Sex	Occupation
Liem Tjay Pin	Mad A rip	Ί37	male	business
Tan Soey Liang	Abdurohim	30	male	barber
Thung Tiong Yu	Mohammad Saleh	74	male	
Gouw Boen Liong Mohammad Abas		45	male	driver
Gan Koey Nio	Nji Onah	33	female	wife of Moh, Abas
Peng Pie Nio	Siti Komariah	36	female	wife of an Indon. driver
Tan Soey Lian	Elly Sumarni	25	female	ticket seller at one
of the theaters
These converts are referred to as mualaf (mualap in Sundanese),
which is of Arabic origin, (39) A highly interesting phenomenon is that
this term, which means convert, has popularly acquired the derogatory
connotation of a hobo, a wanderer, a displaced person. One such indivi-
dual walked around in Sukabumi during the time of the study. He was
dressed in a sarong such as the men usually wear when they go to the
mosque, a shirt, and the Indonesian black cap, A cotton bag was slung
over his shoulder. He behaved rather strangely, as if he were not quite
in his right mind. He did not actually beg for anything, but he would
come to a shop, for instance, stand in front looking inside, and one of
the people would give him some money. The writer noticed that he was
generally referred to, by Peranakans also, as si mualap. The writer
was informed that he was a Peranakan, originally from Padang in West
Sumatra,
Why is this derogatory connotation attached to the term mualap?
The writer acquired some insight into this from the remarks made by a
Peranakan man in his late fifties, married to a Sundanese woman, and
father of three daughters (the eldest married and living somewhere in
Bantam, the second working as an administrative aide in the largest tea
factory in town, and the third a second-year student at the Catholic senior
high school). He lived in a house next to, and belonging to, the tea fac-
tory, where he is a kind of supervisor. (The writer was informed that
he is also a kind of guard, of great service to the owner of the factory, a
Peranakan, because of his contacts with the indigenous population. During
the turbulent times rof the Japanese occupation and the revolution after-
wards, for instance, he managed to keep the factory from being destroyed,)
During one of the visits the writer made to his house, the conversation
turned to religion. He made the statement that, terus terang (Indonesian,
meaning frankly, openly, straightforward, with the connotation of re-
vealing an opinion which one realizes is controversial), he thought that
Islam was the best of all religions; but he added that it was a very diffi-
cult one. He seemed to be familiar with the Koran, at least he produced
(39) Cf, Dr. Th, W. Junyboll, Handleiding tot de kennis van de
Mohammedaansche Wet (Leiden, l'9'30),’pp, 86-87,199
some quotations from it. The writer then asked whether he knew of any
Chinese who had turned Moslem, His response was a disgusted: "Itu
mah buaja-buaja!" (Indonesian, meaning ’’Those are rascals," literally,
in fact, crocodiles). Asked for a clarification, he gave the following ex-
planation: to his knowledge, those Chinese who have become Moslem are
either people too lazy to work or those who are in love with a village girl.
He called them lazy people, because they take advantage of the fact that
village people think it remarkable when someone of another race professes
to be a Moslem and are, therefore, willing to provide him with his daily
necessities, such as food and clothing. These "converts," therefore, live
off the kindness of the village population, going from one place to another.
But they are not real Moslems, because they do not observe any of the
regulations. He professed not to know a single mualap who is a real
Moslem.
During one of the visits to the Kelurahan of Kota Kidul, the south-
eastern section of the town, which has a population ratio of Peranakans
and Indonesians of 1:20, the writer raised this subject with the lurah and
several other Sundanese men present. (The Kelurahan is a favorite spot
among the men in the kampong for discussing the topics of the day or for
just sitting around. ) They all agreed that those Chinese who have become
Moslems are usually poor people. Between them they could mention only
three or four persons of Chinese origin who they knew were mualap.
From these statements we may conclude that, at least in the Suka-
bumi area, those ethnic Chinese who have become Moslems must be indi-
viduals who were outcasts of their community, because they could not
accommodate themselves to a value system where industriousness is
highly esteemed. As outcasts, there would be no other group to take
refuge in except a lower one, i. e., the lower class of the indigenous pop-
ulation. Since these people are strict Moslems, the most effective way
to gain acceptance would be through their religion. Gaining admittance
is facilitated by the willingness of these indigenous people to accept or,
rather, to support them. This willingness is based on the Moslem idea
that the community has the obligation to aid converts, i, e., mualaps, who,
according to the Moslem law, are those persons who are converted to the
Islam, but whose zeal for this religion is still weak. (40)
Thus, by becoming a Moslem, an ethnic Chinese is cut off com-
pletely from his original society. This is illustrated especially by the
fact that he drops his Chinese name and adopts a name used by the indige-
nous population. The writer learned of the extent of this disassociation
when she asked the temple keeper whether she knew of a woman living in
the neighborhood who had turned Moslem on marriage to a Sundanese man.
Only after thinking about it for some time did the temple keeper remember
her, adding that this person did not associate with Peranakans at all. (41)
(40)	Cf. Juynboll, op. cit,, p. 86.
(41)	It should be stressed that this situation is certainly not a general
phenomenon. In the Solo area, for instance, there are respectable
Peranakan Moslem families, who have retained their Chinese name.
Two of its members are full professors at the University of Indonesia
(cont*d)200
Indirectly, of course, Peranakans and non-Moslems in general
are affected by the fact that they live in a society which is predominantly
Moslem. The predominance of this religion is especially felt by enter-
prisers who depend on the indigenous population for labor and by home-
makers who depend on them for domestic help. Due to the great tolerance
towards any form of religion, a characteristic of Chinese in general,
Peranakans included, the inconveniences of lack of personnel and decrease
of productivity which arises during the fasting month, for instance, is
accepted with equanimity. Because this situation recurs annually,
people usually prepare well ahead to cope with it.
Beliefs and Activities Outside the Framework
of the Moslem Religion
Apart from their belief in Islam, the Sundanese cherish a great
number of beliefs which have their origin in the pre-Islamic era.
According to traditional Sundanese belief, a host of spirits, good and evil,
surround human beings, They are known by several names, among others,
djurig, dedemit, dedewa, kunti, kuntianak. These are the spirits who
are evilly disposed towards mankind; the kuntianak, for example,
specially aim at pregnant women. If a woman dies in childbirth, people
will say that she has been hurt by a kunti and she herself will also change
into such an evil spirit. Of the good spirits, there are, among others,
the nini meranak, the guardian angel of a child, especially in infancy
(cf. the potjia oTthe Peranakan child); and the pohatji, female spirits, of
whom the most important is the goddess of rice, Nji Pohatji Sangjang
Sri. (42)
Men must guard themselves against these evil spirits,and certain
persons are believed to have the knowledge and power to control them.
These are especially the dukun and the paradji. The first is the generic
term for a person, male or female, who is believed to be able to cure
sickness the cause of which is hard to determine and to help realize de-
sires which are difficult to fulfill. A paradji, too, may be male or
female and may function as a general curer, but the female paradji tend
to specialize in midwifery and the male paradji in circumcision. Next
to these there are persons versed in reciting parts of the Koran who,
by means of these recitations are believed to be able to ward off evil
influences.
One of the most usual methods to achieve this is to give a selamatan.
Often thia religious banquet is referred to as sidekah, from the Arabic
sadakah, (43) meaning a voluntary, unobligatory gift of charity (in con-
trast to the zakat or djakat in Sundanese, which is the obligatory donation
to be given at the end of the fasting period). In fact, among the Perana-
kans the term sidekah is more frequently used than selamatan. Then
there are the djampe, djimat, and toembal. The djampe is a~prayer,
in Djakarta, holders of Ph. D. degrees from outstanding universities in
the Netherlands.
(42)	See Moestapa, op. cit., pp. 43, 56, 61, 90, 103, 133; also Hidding,
op. cit., pp. 49-56.
(43)	Moestapa, op. cit., pp. 86, 87; see also Juynboll, op. cit., p. 94.201
an aphorism or a formula uttered over a certain article (e. g., flowers,
incense, water), which is then believed to have the power to keep evil in-
fluences away. A djimat is in the strict sense a talisman or an amulet
and in a broad sense all that is kept in reverence, e. g,, heirlooms. (44)
A toembal is a charm that can be worn on the body or fastened to a certain
place in the house. (45)
In what way or to what extent have the Peranakans been influenced
by these beliefs? In the chapter on family and kinship, we have already
mentioned how, in certain families, a sidekah may be performed when a
woman is seven months pregnant, when a baby is forty days old, and on
the occasion of a wedding. Then, also, special treatment in the traditional
Sundanese way may be given to the placenta.
There is one occasion, however, when a sidekah is generally per-
formed, by the older as well as the younger generation, even by those who
have had a western education. This is the sidekah performed when a new
house or a new part of a house or an extensive repair of an existing house
is finished. During the period of study the writer attended three such
sidekahs: one was on the occasion of the completion of a big garage owned
by a Peranakan man of around thirty; the second, an extensive repair of
a large house owned by a young couple around thirty; and the third, a new
house, also owned by a young couple of around thirty. In the first and third
cases, the main dish was nasi tumpeng, the rice served in the shape of an
overturned cone, while in the second case a goat was killed and the head
buried in the back yard.
As an example of this type of sidekah, we will give an account of
the third case, which several older Peranakan women assured the writer
was a good example of the way Peranakans usually perform this sidekah.
The sidekah was held when the house was not quite finished; the
tiles of the roof and the floor were not yet fixed. The writer was informed
that, in fact, the sidekah should take place before the beams are fixed,
as this is considered the most dangerous part of the construction, There-
fore, in order to prevent accidents, a special offering is tied to the center
of the ridge pole to appease the evil spirits. This special offering was
placed two days before the sidekah and consisted of the following; two
bunches of paddy, three bunches of bananas, two sugar cane stalks, two
coconuts, one package of red sugar, seven kinds of cheap Indonesian cakes
made of rice flour and tapioca, and seven kinds of sour young Indonesian
fruit. On top of these articles a small Indonesian flag fluttered in the
wind. Nobody could explain the purpose of the flag, but the writer was told
that in the Dutch period a Dutch flag was used. On the day of the sidekah
only the paddy and the flag were left; all other edibles had been eaten by
the workers, although, in fact, they should remain there as long as possible
The sidekah, which took place at about one in the afternoon, was
arranged according to the instructions of the Sundanese wife of a younger
(44)	Moestapa, op. cit., pp, 43, 127, 250,
(45)	Moestapa, op, cit., pp. 21, 240,202
brother of the mother of the owner of the new house. (She is the woman
mentioned earlier as an expert in the offerings to be presented at a
funeral. )
The sidekah consisted of the following: 1) nasi tumpeng with
begana made of chicken; 2) seven kinds of cakes, of the light, cheap
kind made of sago flour, tapioca, or dried glutinous rice; 3J seven
kinds of fruit, two kinds of bananas, pineapple, small Indonesian oranges,
coconut, red sugar, white sugar. The fruits were cut in small cubes and
mixed with the sugar and a little water. Fruits prepared in this way are
called rudjakan. 4} Seven kinds of flowers, the kembang rampe;
5) benzoin put in a saucer, next to a small earthenware oven with burning
charcoal; 6) two small packages of prepared betel leaves, several
cigarettes, and two half-rupiah coins, also put on a saucer.
The Sundanese woman explained that the coins are intended as a
payment to the spirits who dwell on the grounds where the new house is
erected for making use of their territory.
In the largest room of the house, the combination sitting and
dining room, several mats were placed on the floor. The nasi tumpeng
and a tray with the flowers, cakes, fruits, benzoin, two cups of coffee,
two cups of tea, several cigarettes and one cigar, were put in the center.
The workers, about thirty-five men, were then summoned, and
they sat down on the mats. Each received a small container made of
split bamboo filled with rice and begana made of buffalo meat, a plate
with a sweetened bun, and a cup of coffee.
In the meantime, the mother of the owner of the house, the
Peranakan woman mentioned before as the one possessing a special
pavilion for Giok Hong Sang Tee, had put some benzoin on the oven;
while the smoke curled up, the writer could see her lips moving as in
prayer. While she was doing this, a man in his mid-thirties started to
explain in Sundanese the purpose of this offering, which amounts to
invoking the well-being of the family who will live in the house, and of
the workers, so that no accidents will happen. Then he continued with
a prayer in A rabic.
After this, the men started to eat the bread, coffee and cakes
and fruits, without opening the containers of rice, When they were
through, they took leave, taking along the containers and three cigarettes
each. The whole ceremony lasted about twenty minutes. The nasi tum-
pengy, which was not touched at all, was taken away to be eaten by the
family. The flowers and the benzoin were taken away by the Sundanese
woman who told the writer that at magrib, at sunset between six and six
thirty, she would walk through the house with the burning benzoin and
sprinkle the flowers, mixed with water, in the corners of each room.
Asked why they perform this offering, the owners in all three
cases answered that they did this for the benefit of the workers. It is
such a deep-rooted custom that the workers will even demand a sidekah
if they think the owner is too tardy in giving one. It is also to prevent203
being blamed if an accident occurs; because if anything does happen,
people will surely say that it is due to the fact that no sidekah was per-
formed, that the anger of the spirits dwelling on that plot of ground were
roused. Therefore, this offering is always made, regardless of the
nationality or religion of the owner. It was performed when the new
building of the Tiong Hoa Hwee Koan school was finished (in 1957), and
the writer was told that it was also performed in the case of the Catholic
hospital before the war.
What do the Peranakans themselves think of this belief in the
existence of these spirits? A western-educated man in his early forties,
the brother of the person whose sidekah has just been described made
this statement; "We do this for the workers, but though we assert that
we do not believe in it, yet it gives one a peaceful feeling when it is done."
He added that he knows of cases where the sidekah was omitted and acci-
dents did occur.
The western-educated man in his early thirties who made exten-
sive repairs in his house had this to say: "We give a sidekah to please
the workers, because they have asked for it. We do not know what it
means and how it has to be done. So we only provide the necessary arti-
cles and leave everything to them." It is significant though that this
sidekah was also held for the benefit of his baby who was then forty days
old.
A woman of about forty, who has had several years of primary
Dutch school education, said: "It is the custom here to give a sidekah,
so we also do it."
A young man of about twenty-five, the western-educated son of the
owner of the largest textile factories, thought that: "Probably the Perana-
kans themselves do believe in the existence of these evil spirits." He then
fold the writer that when a serious accident occurs in the factory, a
sidekah is performed. It is his mother, a woman of about forty who has
had some western education, who suggested this. He recalls how when
an accident occurred with a new machine, his mother had said that this
was probably due to the fact that ho sidekah was held when it was first put
into operation. So an offering was then held. His mother provided the
necessities, a goat, of which the head was buried near the machine, and
nasi tumpeng. The performance of the ceremony itself was left to the
workers.
The man in his early thirties who gave an offering when his garage
was finished said: "It is the custom here to give a selamatan when a new,
building is finished. It is meant as an offering to the spirits, so they will
not harm the people who are going to live in it." Asked whether he believes
in their existence,' he said: "If I say I do not, it is not quite true." When
asked whether the workers will refuse to work when it is omitted, he
answered that they will not do that, but if an accident occurs, they will
blame the owner.
A woman in her mid-fifties, whose two sons have studied in
Europe and whose only daughter has been at an academy in Bandung for aI
204
couple of years, felt that: "We live here in this country so we have to
adopt the customs of the people who were already here before we came,
If we were in China, then we would have followed the customs of the Chi-
nese. Whether you believe or not in the existence of these spirits, it has
been proven that they do exist, because there are people who get
possessed by them." Her husband of over sixty added: "Even though
they may not exist, they do come to exist, because the people here
(meaning the Indonesians) believe in them and invoke them. Even the
Dutch and the Catholic nuns give a sidekah when one of their buildings
is finished." He then gave the example of one of the theaters in town
which had gone bankrupt. This, people believed, was caused by the fact
that no offering was made when the building was put to use. The woman
then went on to say that these spirits do not come to Christians, because
these people believe in God only.
The woman of over seventy who has the private Koan Im temple
had the following to say: "Whether these spirits exist or not I do not
know, but there is no harm in presenting an offering. If they do exist,
we are safe, because we have given something to appease them. If they
do not exist, well, it does not matter," For her, as for many other older
Peranakan women, a Chinese tepekong and an Indonesian holy man have
the same significance; she will present offerings to both of them.
This view may very well be considered representative of the atti-
tude of Peranakans in general towards the local Indonesian beliefs--it is
always better to be on the safe side.
In relation to health and sickness we have already mentioned that
dukuns are traditionally considered the persons able to cure the sick,
especially when the cause of the sickness is hard to determine. In addi-
tion to the specialist in midwifery there is also the dukun pidjit, the
specialist in massage. Then there is the tukang obat, the medicine hawker.
He usually sells on the curb or on an open spot near the market place. To
attract people, his helpers beat on a gong and a drum, and often he gives
a performance as a snake charmer. The spectators are mostly simple
kampong people. The writer observed that almost every day there were
one or two of these tukang obat giving a performance, usually on the
Djalan Plabuan II, the main road south of the railroad. The writer found
that Peranakans in general regard these persons as mere quacks.
In regard to dukuns, however, the writer observed that there are
still a considerable number of the uneducated, lower-class Peranakans
who make use of the services of these persons. However, they are
usually summoned only as a last resort, when, according to the persons
involved, the western trained and, as often happens in these cases, the
traditional Chinese doctors have failed to cure the patient.
A good example of this was the case of a Peranakan woman who
dislocated her knee when she fell into a gutter. She was first treated by
a China-born Hokkien woman bone setter; then by a Sundanese hadji from
a village south of Sukabumi who is reputed to be a skilled masseur; then
by the German surgeon stationed in town; and, finally, again by a tradi-
tional Chinese doctor. This woman was in her early fifties and had had205
a few years of Dutch primary school education· She told the writer that
the woman bone setter is well known and is sometimes summoned by
people outside Sukabumi. She believes that in regard to dislocations
one does better to be treated by bone setters than by western trained
doctors. When asked why she also used the services of an Indonesian
masseur, she said that because her knee was still swollen after the setting,
she called this well-known hadji to massage it. During the treatment he
had been mumbling continuously; she called this act didjampe. It turned
out, however, that his treatment was not correct, so something went
wrong again, A friend of the family, a western trained lawyer, then
strongly advised her to see a doctor. She ended up in the hospital where
she had to stay for ten days with the leg in a cast. About two months
after her fall she was still unable to walk; it turned out that in addition
to the German doctor she was also using the services of a traditional
Chinese doctor who applied a certain ointment on the knee. Whenever the
western doctor was due to visit her, she washed away the ointment so
he would not detect her using another medicine.
In a poor Peranakan family living in the kampong area, the writer
noticed the smallest children of under five wearing tiny bamboo rings
fixed to a bit of string around their neck. The mother explained that,
some time before^ the children were very skinny and had swollen bellies.
She had brought them to a dukun who lives in a kampong in Kelurahan
Kota Kulon. This man treated the children with a djampe and told her
to bring a piece of raw beef liver to him. This was also didjampe, and
she was told to roast it and give it to the children to eat. ΐΐιβ string with
bamboo rings functioned as a charm. She said in a convinced tone that,
indeed, after this treatment the children were well again.
Another example was that of a simple, uneducated Peranakan
woman of around thirty who told the writer about the death of her eight -
month old baby. (She had this baby when kept by a rich Peranakan bus
company owner.} The baby had pneumonia and was treated by the most
well-known western-trained Peranakan doctor in town; when the baby ·
became worse, a dukun was also consulted. This dukun was not called
to see the baby, but a boy was ser-t to the dukun with a bottle with water
to ask djampe over it and with some money for payment. According to
her, this dukun was able to know what was wrong with the baby, because
he told the errand boy that it had a tumor in its body. His prescription
was to put a piece of cinnamon on its forehead between the eyes. Accord-
ing to him, this would cause the tumor to burst open from that spot. The
result, however, was only tiny blisters on its face. She believed that
the death was caused by angin djahat, evil wind, while she v?as taking
the baby to the Peranakan doctor--a ride of about half an hour in an open
horse cart.
This belief in dukuns is clearly a survival of the time when wes-
tern-trained medical doctors were scarce. Then Peranakans too had to
resort to these dukuns, who were traditionally considered the persons
possessing the skill to cure the sick. We have already noted earlier in
the section on postnatal care that it is from these dukuns that Peranakan
women have acquired their knowledge of indigenous medicinal herbs and
of Sundanese customs in general.206
Thus we may conclude that as to the indigenous religious setting,
Peranakans have been little influenced by the formal, organized Moslem
religion as such. In contrast to this we find that the informal, unorganized,
non-Moslem beliefs are to a large extent incorporated into the belief
pattern of the Peranakans. This situation can be explained as a result of
the fact that essentially these types of belief are not alien to the Chinese
system of beliefs from which the Peranakan pattern is originally derived.
This, in turn, points to the fact that in the last analysis the existence of
the practice of the local non-Moslem beliefs among the Peranakans is not
so much an indication of an adoption of a culture element of the indigenous
population as an indication of a pragmatic attitude towards surrounding
nature. As a matter of fact, there are Peranakans who seem not to be
aware of, or who deny, the indigenous origin of a selamatan, for instance,
insisting that "it is a custom among Peranakans."
The Christian Churches in Sukabumi
In this section a short sketch will be given of each of the existing
Christian churches in town and their relative strength as measured by the
size of membership. Then an attempt will be made to evaluate the role
of Christianity in the Peranakan community.
The Christians in Sukabumi can be divided into two broad groups,
the Catholics and the Protestants. The Catholics, of course, all belong
to the same church, organized by Franciscan priests. The Protestants,
on the other hand, belong to seven different organizations, each with its
own church building and church leaders.
The Protestant Churches
The Tiong Hoa Kie Tok Kauw Hwee (Chinese Protestant Church)(46)-
This church was set up by the Nederlandse Zendings Vereniging (Nether- .
lands Mission Organization), which started working in West JavsL.in
1864.(47)
(46)	In 1957 the designation Tiong Hoa was dropped, leaving Kie Tok
Kauw Hwee.
(47)	Pouw Boen-Giok, "De Kerkrechtelijke Positie van een Ethnisch
Bepaalde Kerk in een ander Ethnisch Bepaald Milieu, Een Ecclosocio-
logische Studie over de Situatie van Chineze Christen Gemeenschappen
in Indonesie" (Ph,D. Thesis /with summary in English7, University of
Utrecht, 1952), pp. 52, 59, 83. Pouw was born in Indramaju, a town in
the northern part of Tjirebon, which was the site of one of the oldest Per-
anakan Protestant communities in West Java. He graduated in 1940 from
the Hogere Theologische School van Djakarta (the Higher Theological
School of Djakarta) which was established in 19.34, With three other Per-
anakans, he was one of the twenty who first graduated from this school.
Three of the four Peranakans were stationed in West Java, one in
Djakarta, another in Indramaju, and Pouw himself in Sukabumi. The
fact that the church in Sukabumi was chosen to be one of the recipients
of one of the first Peranakan ministers is an indication of the great im-
portance attached to this church.207
In the town of Sukabumi, the first Chinese convert was baptized in
this church on Easter of 1882. In September 1895 four Chinese were
baptized, among them a young man with the name of Tjoa Beng Jang. (48)
Pouw’s account of this conversion, which he has taken from S. Coolsma,
De Zendingseeuw voor Nederlands Oost-Indie (Utrecht, 1901), is highly
interesting as an example of the view of a Peranakan intellectual on his
religion; it will, therefore, be given in full:
On the first of September 1895 four Chinese were baptized,
among them a remarkable young man Tjoa Beng-Jang, Coolsma
made it a special point to mention him for two reasons; in the
first place because he was the first from among the well-to-do
Chinese in town to become Christian. Probably Coolsma re-
ferred to the not quite unfounded idea which prevailed among
the non-Christian Chinese up till the second world war, that
the Church with her service of charity should be considered
a kind of institution of charity, which one usually joined to re-
ceive some kind of support. The so-called "rice" and "soya-
sauce" Christians were in general no recommendation of the
Church. It was therefore a tough fight for Mr. Tjoa to come
to the public confession of the name of Christ amidst his fam-
ily. The father threatened him with death ajad the descendants
with "contempt," but he did not refrain from baptism. After
his baptism he had to suffer a great deal from his father and
the family, but he endured it for the sake of Christ, which
astonished many people. Today his descendants belong to the
faithful members of the Chinese Congregation in Sukabumi.
The church has two sections: an Indonesian section with Peranakan
members and services in Indonesian, and a Chinese section with Totok
Hokkien members and services in Hokkien.
In June 1955 the church counted 306 members: 196 adults and 110
children. In June 1956 there were 205 adults and 125 children, making
a total of 330 members. They were of all social groups, but with a pre-
ponderance of the lower-middle and lower classes. During the time of
the study, the pastor of the community was a Peranakan in his mid-thirties,
also trained at the Senior Theological School in Djakarta.
The church has an active women’s section, a youth section, and a
Sunday school. In addition, it operates a primary school, a junior middle
school, and, since 1957, a senior middle school.
(48) Tjoa Beng Jang was a brother of Tjoa Tjeng Jang, mentioned in the
section on funeral practices as the person who instigated the reforms in
funeral rites connected with the Tiong Hoa Hwee Koan movement. It is in-
teresting to note that this Tjoa Beng Jang was also active in this movement;
his grocery store (which still exists, run by a son) was one of the places,
mentioned in the THHK Anniversary Book (p. 64), which contained a collec-
tion box to help finance the organization. We should keep in mind that at
this time, in 1901, he was already converted to the Protestant church.203
The Chinese section of this church is headed by a sixty year old
China-born man from Yung Chun. The members number about twenty
persons, adults and children, all Hokkiens,
Making use of the same church building is the Geredja Pasundan,
which, as the name indicates (Pasundan is another name of the Sunda
lands), is a Sundanese church.. However, most of its members are Java-
nese (a considerable number of them students of the State Police Training
school); the pastor himself is a young Sundanese, They make use of the
same church building as the Peranakans, but at a different time. Once
a month, however, there is a mixed service, and Christmas is also
celebrated jointly.
The Sidang Kristus (Assembly of God)--This church was founded
during the Japanese occupation by a China-born evangelist from Foochow,
educated in Shanghai. He heads the church with the help of his wife,
also a China-born Hokkien.
Its members are mixed Peranakan, Totok, and Indonesian,
numbering approximately 180, 70, and 5, respectively, making a total
of 255. In this church, baptism starts at the age of fourteen. Here also
the Peranakan members, as well as the Totoks, are of the lower-middle
and lower classes, while the five Indonesians are all Sundanese women
married to Chinese men. Of the Totoks, the majority are Hakkas,
This is the only church with mixed meetings, where the services
are conducted in Indonesian and Mandarin (when the minister gives a
sermon in Indonesian, the translator, who stands beside him, translates
it immediately into Mandarin and the reverse). Often the minister gives
his sermon in both languages simultaneously, stating the sentence in one
language, then repeating it in the other. This church has a youth section
and a Sunday school.
The Geredja Pantekosta (Pentecost Church)--This church was
founded in 1929 by a Dutch preacKer and was called Pinksterkerk (Dutch,
for Pentecost Church). It has been successively headed by a Eurasian,
an American, a preacher from Menado (N. Sulawesi) and, since 1945,
by the present preacher, a man from Ambon (one of the bigger islands
in East Indonesia). Unlike the Kie Tok Kauw Hwee and the Sidang Kristus,
where the ministers are addressed by the name boksu, the leader of this
church is called broeder, which is Dutch for brother. This is a clear in-
dication that these churches were originally founded by Dutch preachers.
In 1956 the number of members was:
Peranakans
Indonesians
Eurasians
197 (baptized);
20 (.baptized);
1 (baptized);
children 211
children 24
children 0
As in the Sidang Kristus, baptism starts at fourteen.
The Indonesians are mostly Menadonese, Ambonese, Javanese,
and Timorese. Of the Sundanese, there was only one young man. Accord
ing to the preacher, Sundanese are very difficult to convert, not because
they are fanatic Moslems--he had never experienced any difficulties in209
his work with them--but because they stick to their religion and do not
want to change it for another.
The meetings of this church are also mixed as to ethnic groups,
. and the language used is Indonesian, There is a women’s section, a
youth section, and a Sunday school. They also have a funeral fund.
The Pinksterbeweging (Pentecost Movement)--This church is
usually called geredja Pinkster, to distinguish it from the geredja Pante-
kosta. It was founded by a Dutch evangelist in 1927, From the start its
members were mostly Peranakans, Until 1942 there was no permanent
pastor stationed in Sukabumi; the Dutch evangelist who lived in Bandung
came regularly to conduct the services. In 1942 a Peranakan man, one
of the members, became the assistant of the evangelist; he led the ser-
vices and took charge of the entire organization. This person is still
continuing this work. During the time of the study the writer attended
a baptismal ceremony (they adhere to complete immersion) which was
conducted by a son of the founder who had succeeded his father as the head
of the church. He also lives in Bandung and comes to Sukabumi for spe-
cial occasions, particularly for baptisms.
The number of members in 1957 was 70--28 men and 42 women--
all Peranakans, except for one Sundanese wife of a Peranakan and one
Eurasian woman. Baptism starts at twelve years. The church has a
Sunday school, attended regularly by about fifty children.
The Geredja Indjil Sepenuh (Bible church)--This is a small com-
munity, clustered around a Eurasian leader, TKe members number
about thirty, again virtually all Peranakans and mostly simple, uneducated
women.
The Sidang Masehi Advent Hari Ketudjuh (Seventh Day Adventists)--
This is also a small community, with only 44 members (in 1957), 21
Peranakans and 23 Indonesians (mostly Bataks from East Sumatra, a few
Menadonese and one Javanese, and no Sundanese at all). Baptism starts
at the age of fourteen.
The community in Sukabumi is headed by a young man from the
Batak lands, who received his training at the special school of the adven-
tists in Bandung, He is referred to by the members as guru (teacher)
and they address him with broeder.
Asked why there are relatively few Peranakans as compared
with the other churches, one of the Peranakan members of the church
council answered that Peranakans are of the opinion that the many restric-
ting regulations in this church are too burdensome. For instance, they
are not allowed to drink certain beverages, not even tea or chocolate,
nor to eat certain kinds of meat; nor are they allowed to go to the movies.
He considers these the main reasons why they have remained a small
community, although they already existed before the war.
This church is affiliated to the world organization of the Seventh
Day Adventists which has its headquarters in the United States,210
Administratively, however, they are under the supervision of the national
headquarters in Bandung.
They have a youth section, a women’s section, and also a small
primary school (not registered at the school inspection) with 23 students,
all Peranakans of the lower class.
In one aspect, this church differs completely from all other
churches: it celebrates the Sabbath on Saturday. The most active and
most prominent members are a Peranakan family consisting of a widowed
mother and several children of around thirty; the two oldest sons operate
a tailor shop. On Saturday this shop is always closed.
The Watch Tower--This is a very small community which, in
fact, consists of one Peranakan family, their relatives and close friends.
The leader is the family head of this Peranakan family. He is the owner
of a rice mill which was first operated by his father-in-law who belonged
to one of the old, respected, wealthy families in town. The writer found
that the community considers this family as rather peculiar; several
stories are circulated regarding the fanaticism of the leader. For in-
stance, one of the daughters, who is over twenty-five, is still unmarried,
although she is fairly attractive; the father is said not to allow his chil-
dren to marry anybody but fellow believers.
This type of fanaticism, however, has led to one of the first, if
not the first, legal marriage in town between a Peranakan and a Sundan-
ese, both parties of which are socially of equal status and belonging to
respectable families. During the period of the study, one of the sons of
the leader married a Sundanese girl of a well-to-do family who was a
teacher graduated from the Catholic senior teacher’s college.
The Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic community in Sukabumi is taken care of by a con-
gregation of Dutch Franciscan priests, headed by Monsignor N, J,
Geise, who has the rank of Apostolic Vicar; it is supported by a congre-
gation of Sisters working in the hospital, a congregation of Ursuline
Sisters, and a congregation of Brothers of Our Lady of Lourdes, both
of the latter congregations working especially in the field of education.
It was only in 1920 that a priest was stationed permanently in
town. Before that time, the community was cared for by priests who
came from Djakarta or Bandung. The Franciscan priests came to this
area in 1941, replacing the Jesuits who had been in charge.
Whereas the Protestant churches in Sukabumi today are predom-
inantly Peranakan, the Catholic mission, which is relatively of more
recent date, has concentrated on the Sundanese and Indonesians in
general, Asa matter of fact, there are indications that the Catholic
church follows a positive policy of avoiding identification as a Chinese
church. Monsignor Geise stated, for instance, that Peranakans present
no problem; without special attention being given to them, they find their
way to Catholicism, primarily via their children in the schools. In other211
words, the programs of action seem to be mainly directed towards the in-
digenous people; and one receives the impression that conversion of ethnic
Chinese is somewhat toned down.
The number of members, as of July 1957, was as follows:
Javanese	182
Sundanese	54
Indonesians of other areas;
Timor, Ambon, Menado 43
All Indonesians	279
Peranakans	157
Total	W
There are also some 80 students from outside Sukabumi who live
in the dormitories of the school. These are mostly Indonesians, and
some Dutch and Eurasians, making the total number of Catholics regis-
tered at the parish of Sukabumi 663 persons, adults and children.
The Catholics have a women’s club, a youth club, a small con-
sumer cooperative, and a funeral fund.
The mission operates two kindergartens, three primary schools,
two junior middle schools, one senior middle school and two teachers’
training schools. It also operates a hospital, which, although it has been
taken over by the government, is still under the care of nuns. It is the
only hospital in town (a large government hospital was being constructed
during the time of the study) and it has a very good reputation.
Summary
This account of the Christian churches shows that the majority
of them must be considered Peranakan institutions. In order of their		
Peranakan membership,	they are as follows:	
Church	No. of Peranakan members	Percentage
Kie Tok Kauw Hwee	330	32. 8
Pantekosta	197	19. 6
Sidang Kristus	180	17.9
Catholic	157	15. 6
Pinkster	70	6.9
Geredja Indjil Sepenuh	30	3. 0
Adventist	21	2.1
Watch Tower	20	2. 0
Total	1,005	100.
The Kie Tok Kauw Hwee has the largest number of adherents. It
is the oldest of the Christian churches and it was the first to start working
among the Peranakans. Also, from the start this church has had the full
support of one of the wealthy, respected families. What is even more im-
portant and what guaranteed its continuation is the fact that since 1940 the
minister or the leader of the church has always been a Peranakan. It is
only natural that a Peranakan minister has less difficulty in approaching212
people of his own ethnic group; and having had academic training, he is
equipped with better organizational methods. The Peranakans, too, are
more naturally drawn to a church headed by a member of their own group.
Besides, due to the generally high evaluation given to scholarly pursuits,
a minister with an academic training win almost automatically command
respect and admiration.
In the writer’s opinion, the factor of the leader's being a member
of the community itself accounts for much of the success of these churches.
The considerable number of Pantekosta members, for instance, is due to
the fact that, although the leader is an Indonesian, the helpers are all
Peranakans. This applies as well to the other small churches headed by
non-Chinese. If a church leader succeeds in getting the support of one
family only, he can be sure that it will work as a snowball and others will
follow. Indeed, Peranakan Protestants are very zealous, especially the
older women, in their attempts to persuade relatives and acquaintances to
come with them to the meetings. Some non-Christian Peranakans told
the writer that this system of persuasion can be very annoying., adding
that they think the Catholics better in this respect, because they keep
their religion to themselves.
One of the most important factors in the case of the Kie Tok Kauw
Hwee and the Catholic church is the attraction of the schools. From the
start, the schools set up by these Christian organizations have been highly
esteemed by the Peranakans. The policy of these schools seems to be to
keep as high a standard as possible, while taking care to prevent the reli-
gious aspects from becoming an imposition. Thus a parent’s fear that
his child might be indoctrinated is kept to a minimutn.
In the Catholic schools, for instance, only in the lower levels,
kindergarten, primary schools, and junior middle school is a prayer
performed at the beginning and the end of a school day; only the Catholics
and those ηση-Catholics who have written permission from their parents
receive religious instruction.
The majority of the students in the Catholic as well as the Protes-
tant schools are non-Christian. However, many of these non-Christian
students go to church on Sundays and join the youth organizations sponsored
by the respective churches. Many of the parents have no objection at all
to their children participating in these religious activities, but they do
oppose the taking of the final step, i. e., baptism. This attitude, of course,
not infrequently gives rise to conflicts between parents and child. The
writer was told of an extreme case that occurred recently. A girl of
over twenty, a graduate of the Catholic teachers’ training school, who
belonged to one of the old wealthy families, decided to enter a convent.
This caused great astonishment and consternation in the family. Her
father, a supporter of the Sam Kauw Hwee, immediately took all the children
(he had fourteen children in all, several already married) away from the
school. The girl became seriously ill and, when she recovered, she was
advised by her doctor to stay in a cool climate. She went to teach at a
mission school in a mountain area. The father was furious and broke
off relations with her. Later she went to the Netherlands and entered a
convent there. Recently the father has relented, however, and he does213
not object to his other children (who have been put back in school) attending
Mass regularly. In general we find that if a grown son or daughter really
insists, parents will eventually give in.
The objection against formal entrance into a church organization
is based on different considerations, depending on whether one's child
is a son or a daughter. In the case of a son, especially the eldest, tliere
is the problem of the inheritance of the paraphernalia and ritual of ances-
tor veneration; in the case of a daughter, there is the fear that she will
reduce her marriage chances because of the regulations against marriage
with a non-Christian, which is especially strict in the Catholic church.
This is clearly indicated by the fact that parents usually say that they do
not mind their daughter becoming a Catholic after marriage, i, e,, if the
husband is a Catholic.
In regard to inter-ethnic contact, it seems that it is in the Catholic
church where the conditions are most favorable for contact between the
Indonesian and Peranakan members. There is no segregation based on
ethnic differences. They mix in the different clubs, and all church and
social activities are organized together.
In regard to inter-church contact, the best relations are main-
tained between the Kie Tok Kauw Hwee and the Sidang Kristus. They in-
vite each other to their respective Easter and Christmas celebrations.
On the occasion of social performances, for instance a play or a concert,
there is an interchange of invitations between the Kie Tok Kauw Hwee
and the Catholic church. Between the latter two, however, there is also
a kind of rivalry in the field of education. We have seen that the major-
ity of the private schools are operated by these two church organizations.
Before the War it was the Protestants, then still the Dutch Protestant
church, who had the most and the best schools. They lost their largest
school building in the scorched-earth policy during the revolution, and
they were behind in reopening their schools after the war. Therefore,
the Catholics now dominate the field of education. The Protestants are
rapidly recovering their position, however, and a large school building
is under construction.
Compared with the total number of Peranakans, the Christians
constitute 16. 7 per cent (1,005:6, 006. See Chapter I, basic material on
population), and the leaders of the two leading churches, the Kie Tok
Kauw Hwee and the Catholic church, claim that their number is continually
increasing.
What are the factors conducive to the ccceptance of Christianity
among the Peranakans ?
An overriding factor is the traditionally highly tolerant attitude
toward religion which is a characteristic of the Chipese in general. This
accounts for their open-mindedness towards a variety of religions and
belief systems. V/e may then very well ask why they have not turned to
Islam. This can be answered in terms of the historical development of
the position of the Chinese in the total social structure. It seems quite
possible that before the coming of the Dutch it was not unusual for a214
Chinese to become a Moslem. Since the establishment of colonial rule,
however, the Dutch successfully divided the society into three distinct
strata based on racial grouping, with the Dutch at the top, the Chinese
in the middle, and the Indonesians at the bottom. The social structure
being such, it was only logical that a Chinese would not aspire to be
identified with a lower stratum, which would have been the case if he
had accepted Islam. Then, also, there seems to be no evidence of at-
tempts at proselytization of the Chinese by the Moslem leaders.
In view of these sociological factors it is significant that the
first Chinese Protestant communities on the island of Java came into
existence in West Java, the area where the indigenous population was
most completely Islamized. These first Chinese communities were
situated in Indramaju (in the northern part of Tjirebon), Djakarta,
Bandung, Tjirebon, Bogor, and Sukabumi. (49)
In attempting to analyze the Peranakans* attraction to Christian-
ity we must bear in mind that the attempt to spread Protestantism was
orgaiized only around 1850. It may be noted, however, that in the begin-
ning of the nineteenth century there were already English and Dutch
preachers who worked among the Chinese; but they were mainly in
Djakarta, and other big centers of Chinese settlement, (50)
One of the most important factors in the growth of Protestantism
among the Chinese has undoubtedly been the drive towards an autono-
mous status, separate from the Dutch and from the Indonesians, The
identification they sought was with the Protestant churches in China;
this is evidenced by the name Tiong Hoa Kie Tok Kauw Hwee, which,
according to Pouw (po 70, 71), was taken from the name of the church
organization set up in Shanghai in 1927. Virtually from the beginning,
Protestant churches have been headed by an ethnic Chinese leader;
therefore, the identification of these churches-with the.Dutch, or. the
the West in general, is mitigated. Great impetus to the spread of
Protestantism was given by the visit of the Chinese evangelist, Dr.
John Sung, from China in 1938-1939. In the words of Pouw; "In our
opinion the great significance of his /Dr. Sung’s7 visit is in the fact
that God used Sung in Indonesia as a ’John the Baptist,* as people some-
times call him, to open the hearts of thousands of Chinese for the
Gospel of God’s love and grace in Jesus Christ. Through the influence
of his impressive preaching many Chinese men and women came to
conversion and belief. Much misunderstanding and prjeudice towards
Christ and His Church were removed. Not a few then realized that
Christianity was not a religion of and for the Europeans only, but a
message of atonement and salvation to all people, including the Chinese.'(51)
This identification of Protestant churches as a Chinese institution is,
(49)	See Pouw, op, cit. t p. 78.
(50)	Pouw, op. cit., p. 51.
(51)	Pouw, op, cit., p. 10.215
in the writer’s opinion, one of the main causes of the success of Protes-
tantism among the Peranakans,
In regard to the spread of Catholicism, the most important factor
is undoubtedly the fact that in virtually all their operations, be it a school
or a hospital, they have succeeded in achieving the highest standards.
Peranakans highly value education; it is, thus, not surprising that many
send their children to Catholic schools, despite the risk of conversion.
Here, however, the factor of religious tolerance enters, for some
parents reason that it does not matter if their child becomes a Catholic,
because all religions are good. The schools are the main places of
Catholic recruitment, a fact indicated by evidence showing that Catholic
Peranakans are mostly young people, especially in Sukabumi. By this
method of proselytization we have the phenomenon that it is the parents
who may follow the religion adopted by the children instead of the reverse.
Thus we find that, although the Catholic church lacks the advantage of
having Chinese leaders, they are achieving success, mainly through the
students entering their schools. It should certainly be stressed that it
is through the schools that Christianity, in general, has received its
greatest impetus. (52)
Another important factor which has contributed to the receptive -
ness to Christianity is the deterioration of ancestor veneration,
mentioned before in the section dealing with this topic. The different
Christian churches vary widely in their attitude towards this traditional
behavior, ranging from a high degree of leniency to complete abolition.
We have already noted that the Catholic church is the most lenient, to
the extent of allowing some converts to retain the ancestor altar and even
to burn incense sticks; the Kie Tok Kauw Hwee comes next, prohibiting
the care of the altar and burning of incense sticks, but permitting the
eating of food that has been offered; all other Protestant churches forbid
their followers any expression of ancestor veneration, even the eating of
the food that has been offered. In the concession of the Catholic church
there is the important qualification that if a prayer is performed in front
of the ancestor altar it should conform to the Catholic belief. In the
words of one of the converts who retained the altar for some time after
baptism, "After we became Catholics we no longer prayed to the ances-
tors, but for the ancestors to God."
Thus we may conclude that the most important factors which have
contributed to the spread of Christianity among the Peranakans have been
the following: the traditional religious tolerance which accounts for the
open-mindedness towards a variety of religions and belief systems; the
deterioration of ancestor veneration causing a vacuum in religious
orientation which has made the young people especially vulnerable; the
search for identity which is made manifest particularly in the Protestant
churches; the superior quality of the activities in the Christian churches
in the realm of education, medical care, and charity, exciting admiration
and emulation. In connection with this attempt to explain the spread of
Christianity among the Peranakans in Sukabumi, the writer would like to
(52) Cf. EngBie Ong, De Chineezen in Nederlandsche-Indie (Arsen,
1943), pp. 192-193.216
point to the observations of Willmott (53) in his study of the Chinese in
Semarang, He suggests that one of the major reasons for the turning
to Christianity is the search for new religious orientations, due to or
motivated by: the spread of scientific knowledge, undermining of tradi-
tion by modernist education, problems of national orientation, insecuri-
ties and perplexities of modern life, and probably also uncertainty about
life after death.
(53) Donald E. Willmott, "Sociocultural Change among the Chinese of
Semarang, Indonesia" (Ph, D. thesis, Cornell University, 1958), p. 404,217
CHAPTER VI
EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES AND PREFERENCES
We will give a short sketch of the historical development of educa-
tional opportunities for the ethnic Chinese before going into the main body
of this chapter, which deals with the comtemporary situation: the types of
schools according to sponsor and medium of instruction, the distribution
of the ethnic Chinese students in these schools, and, finally, an analysis
of the educational preferences of the Peranakans.
Development of Educational Opportunities
Similar to the situation in other areas of Java, (1) in Sukabumi prior
to the first decade of this century educational opportunities for Chinese in
public schools were practically nil. The general pattern at that time was
that a hand-picked few of the children of wealthy Chinese, usually commu-
nity officers, were permitted to attend the schools provided for Dutch chil-
dren. For all others who wanted to give their children a formal education,
there were small private schools with Malay, Hokkien, or even Dutch as
the medium of instruction.
In Sukabumi, there were a t that time at least two private Malay -
language schools, one organized by the Chinese Protestant church and the
other run by a Pernnakan man, and two private Dutch-language schools,
both run by Dutch female teachers. These were inexpensive schools (fee
of 25 to 50 cents per month) compared with another private Dutch-language
school where the fee was so expensive that only the very wealthy could
afford to send their children there, (The children of the Kapitan at that
time and the only Peranakan physician now practicing in Sukabumi were
among the few Chinese attending the latter school.)
A radical change in this haphazard way of acquiring formal educa-
tion occurred as a result of the establishment of a Chinese-language school,
modeled after the one set up by the Tiong Hca Hwee Koan organization in
Djakarta in 1900. (The THHK organization in Sukabumi became a legal
corporation- -rechtspersoon--in 1906.) This school was an immediate
success in Sukabumi, as was the case in other areas in Indonesia where
this type of school was established. Shortly afterward, the first HCS, the
Dutch-language schools set up by the government especially for Chinese
children, was established, and it too scored an immediate success, es-
pecially with the Peranakans, By 1935 there were in Sukabumi three
(1) See Liem Thian Joe, Riwajat Semarang (Semarang-Batavia, 1933),
pp. 177, 179, and Willmott, The Chinese of Semarang, pp. 169-171.I
218
Dutch-language schootefor Chinese only (one public and two private) and
two Chinese-language schools, both private. Unfortunately, we do not
have the figures for the number of students in that year, but from the gen-
eral picture of school selection in Indonesia at that time, we may sus-
pect that the difference in the attendance in the two types of schools could
not be very great.
A crucial change occurred during the Japanese occupation. All
Dutch-language schools were ordered to close down; Chinese-language
schools were also closed, but only briefly, Peranakans were then con-
fronted with the choice between Indonesian-language or Chinese-language
schools. The former have never been attended by ethnic Chinese on a
large scale (in accordance with their policy of keeping the ethnic groups
separate, the Dutch government had also established separate HIS, Dutch-
Native schools, which were for indigenous children only), so the choice
fell, almost naturally, on the Chinese-language schools. Thus, suddenly
Peranakan children, whose forefathers, even as far back as three gen-
erations, did not speak Chinese, flooded this type of school. This was
the picture all over Indonesia in that period. In Sukabumi the existing
Chinese-language schools were united into one school. The classrooms
were situated in three of the buildings which belonged to the Protestant
and the Catholic schools and in the building of the THHK school. This
Chinese-language school continued to operate during the revolutionary
period. Thus during the Japanese occupation and for a short time after-
ward, practically all ethnic Chinese children who were in school attended
Chinese-language schools. When the Dutch troops occupied the town in
1947, however, and communication with other towns was restored, a
considerable number of the Peranakan students, especially those of se-
condary school age, moved to Djakarta or Bandung, to reenter the Dutch-
language schools already reopened there. Those, however, whose
parents could not afford the extra expenses involved in schooling away
from home, remained in Sukabumi and continued attending the Chine se-
language schools or transferred to the private Indonesian-language
schools operated by the Protestant and the Catholic churches. This
transfer to the private Indonesian-language schools is a clear indication
that what counts with the ethnic Chinese is the quality of the school, and
the language of instruction is in effect immaterial. The schools run by
these two churches have always been highly regarded and, therefore,
highly favored. We will discuss this aspect of the educational prefer-
ences in greater detail later in this chapter.
Contemporary Situation
According to sponsor, the schools can be divided into public and
private schools. The latter can again be classified into schools spon-
sored by Indonesian, Peranakans, or Totoks, According to medium of
instruction, the division is into Indonesian-language and Chinese-language
schools.
Public Schools
There are in Sukabumi 18 public primary schools (referred to as
Sekolah Rakjat, abbreviated S, R,) and 7 public junior high schools219
(referred to as Sekolah Menengah Pertama, abbreviated S, Μ. P. ), There
are no public kindergartens (referred to as Taman Kanak-kanak) nor pub-
lic senior high schools (referred to as Sekolah Menengah A tas, abbrevi-
ated S. M. A.). (2)
Disproportionately few WNI children attend public primary schools.
Asked how he views this situation, the head of the inspection office
answered that this is primarily due to the shortage of schools, which in-
deed exists. Apart from this, however, there appears to be the attitude
that the WNI can and even should, take care of themselves, because they
are considered financially better off and therefore able to afford private
education for their children.
In 1956, however, for the first time, a public primary school es-
pecially for WNI children was established. This type of school has been
erected in several of the large cities with a high concentration of Chinese,
as, for instance, Djakarta and Bandung. The main purpose of these
schools is to keep WNI children away from Chinese-language schools. To
make them attractive, the Chinese language was to be added to the curri-
culum, (To the writer’s knowledge, up to the beginning of the school year
1957, this had not happened in the school in Sukabumi. ) The establish-
ment of this type of school and the purpose for which they were erected
reminds one strongly of a similar step taken by the Dutch government in
1908, by the establishment of the HCS. It is not surprising, therefore,
that there are Peranakans who are not in favor of these schools because,
according to them, they will only perpetuate the exclusiveness of the
Peranakans.
Contrary to the expectations of the Indonesian authorities, in Suka-
bumi the interest of the WNI population in this type of school turned out to
be very poor. When the school started in August 1956, there were only
24 students, 15 boys and 9 girls, and these 24 consisted of those who had
not achieved acceptance by one of the private schools or else of those who
lived in the immediate neighborhood. The mayor told the writer about his
disappointment in this matter, because he, together with Mr. Tan Beng
Yauw, the chairman of the BPIT, had been in search of a proper site for
the school. It turned out to be impossible to find a suitable plot in the
Chinese section of the town which would be within the budget allotted for
the erection of this school. Finally it was decided to build the school on
a plot of ground owned by the municipality. This was a great disadvantage,
because it is situated at a considerable distance from the Chinese section.
(2) These data were acquired at the Inspeksi Sekolah RakjatKabupaten
Sukabumi (Office of the Inspectorate of Primary Schools in the Kabupaten
Sukabumi). This office is concerned with the primary schools only. The
inspection of secondary schools is directly from Bandting, while that of the
foreign-language schools is directly from Djakarta, On the data acquired,
information on private primary schools was-also given, but because they
turned out to be not quite accurate, the writer decided to collect the data
herself by visiting each one of these schools. The information on the sec-
ondary schools and the foreign-language schools was also acquired in this
way.220
The mayor also told the writer that if the next school year (August 1956)
the situation remained the same, he would have to consider converting
the school into a regular primary school. He expressed his amazement
at the lack of interest of the WNI population, because, though small, the
building is completely new with light and cool rooms and entirely new
equipment, in great contrast to many of the regular schools, housed in
dilapidated buildings, dark, and with broken-down furniture.
In February 1957, seven months after the school was started,
the writer met the head of the school, an Indonesian in his late forties,
who had been the head of a school in Plabuanratu. He told the writer
that he is used to teaching Peranakan children and that he lik®it, be-
cause generally speaking Peranakan children are more industrious than
Indonesian children and there is also more cooperation from the parents.
He also said, however, that it is in fact a waste of money and energy to
keep a school running for only 32 students (8 students had been added to
the initial 24). He added that there were already voices among the
teachers of the regular public schools, asking why such a nice looking
and well equipped school should be open only to a specific group of the
population who did not show indications of appreciating it at all.
According to the chairman of the BPIT, the main objection of the
WNI population is the location of the school, which is beyond walking
distance for most of the potential students. Thus, though the school is
free, because transportation expenses have to be met, this advantage
is eliminated. Admittedly, in the private schools one has to pay a cer-
tain fee, but besides the fact that the financial capacity of the parents
is taken into consideration, the two private schools mostly patronized
by WNI children are located in or near the Chinese section, andtbe chil-
dren walk to school.
A Peranakan man in his late forties, who is very active on the
school board of the schools sponsored by the Protestant church, Kie Tok
Kauw Hwee, and who helped find a suitable location for the school, ex-
plained that apart from the matter of distance, there is another aspect
to be considered. The Peranakans and, for that matter, the ethnic Chi-
nese in general have always put a high value on education. Therefore,
they always select the best schools available, even if the fee is beyond
their means. The schools considered the best are the ones run by the
Catholic and Protestant churches. These schools were already existing
in prewar times and their good reputation has long been established.
Moreover, they have Peranakan teachers (in the Protestant primary
school, virtually all the teachers are Peranakans), a factor which is
missing in the newly erected school. The importance of this factor is
indicated by the statement of this informant that if there were only one
Peranakan among the teachers, there would surely be a more favorable
response from the WNI population. Obviously to the relief of those in-
volved in setting it up, the school started its second year (August 1957)
with almost one hundred students. According to the same informant
from the Protestant school board, this increase is due partly to the fact
that there was no more room in the Protestant and Catholic schools and
partly due to the propaganda made by the chairman of the BPIT, espec-
ially among the lower class Peranakans.221
On the junior middle school level there are seven public schools;
one regular junior middle school (S. Μ. P.), one vocational school of econ-
omics (Sekolah Menengah Ekonomle Pertama), two vocational schools for
the training of technicians (Sekolah Teknik), two junior teacher’s training
schools (Sekolah Buru B), one vocational school for training in household
skills (Sekolah Kepandaian Putri). In all these schools there are, of the
WNI, only two boys in the S, Kk'P, and two boysin one of the two schools
for the training of technicians.
It is clear that, outside of the newly-erected school specially for
the WNI, attendance of children of this group in public schools is quite
exceptional.
Private Schools; Indonesian Language
More than half of the schools in Sukabumi are private. They are
the following:
Kindergarten (Taman Kanak-kanak)	11
Primary schools (S, R, )	11
Junior high schools, subdivided into:
S. M. Pe	7
Sekolah Kepandaian Putri	1
Chinese junior high school	2
Senior high schools subdivided into:
S. M. A.	L	3
S, G. A, (senior teacher’s training school) 2
S. Μ. E. A. (senior vocational school of
economics)	1
Chinese senior high school	 1_
Total number of private schools	39
(including 3 Chinese
language)
(including 3 Chin,
lang, and 1 Dutch
language)
The Indonesian-language private schools in Sukabumi are sponsored
by the Catholic church, the Protestant church, and by several ethnic Indo-
nesian organizations. They are distributed as follows:
The Catholic church: 2 kindergartens
3 primary schools
2 junior high schools
1	senior high school
2	senior teacher’s training schools
Subtotal	10
The Protestant church; 2 kindergartens
2 primary schools
1 junior high school
1 vocational school for training in household skills-
~τ
Subtotal222
Of the schools organized by Indonesian organizations there are the
following:
The Taman Siswa (a school foundation): 1 primary school
1 junior high school
Subtotal	”2
The Parki:
Subtotal
1 primary school
1 junior high school
Of all other Indonesian organizations sponsoring schools, each
operates only one: the Gerakan Putri Islam Indonesia, a Moslem women’s
organization runs a kindergarten; the Perwari, a national women’s or-
ganization also runs a kindergarten, and so does another women’s organi-
zation· All together there are nine kindergartens in Sukabumi. (In regard
to the two omitted, the writer was assured that there are no WNI children
attending them). On the primary school level there is one school which is
the only school left with Dutch as the medium of instruction, organized by
a Dutch school foundation. On the junior high school level there is one
S.	Μ. P. operated by an organization of teachers, the Persatuan Guru
Republik Indonesia, and another operated by a Moslem organization. On
the senior high school level there is one S, Μ» A. operated by a school
foundation and one senior vocational school of economics also run by a
specific organization.
The distribution of the WNI children in these schools is decidedly
in favor of the schools operated fcy the Christian churches· The numbers
and percentages are as follows (tables showing the total numbers of stu-
dents, WNI and foreign, in these schools are given on pages 226-227).
Kindergarten
WNI students
No.	% of all WNI in Ind. kinder- gartens
	
48	28. 7
47	28. 1
0	0, 0
1	0. 6
2	1.2
3	1. 8
T67	100.
	% of all WNI
	in Ind. primary
No.	schools
354	
191	25. 3
168	22. 2
21	2.8
10	1.3
5	0.7
5	0. 6
2	0.3
	W
Name of school
1.	Mardi Juana (Catholic sisters)
2.	Kehidupan Baru (Indonesian Protestant)
3.	Bethel (Chinese Protestant)
4.	G. P. I. I. (a Moslem women’s organization)
5.	Melati (a national women’s organization)
6.	Mardi Juana (Catholic priests, Franciscans)
7.	Tunas Muda (an Indonesian women’s organization)
Primary school
Name of school
1.	Bethel (Chinese Protestant)
2.	Mardi Juana (Catholic sisters)
3.	Kehidupan Baru (Indonesian Protestant)
4.	Mardi Juana (Catholic, boys only)
5.	Mardi Juana (Franciscan priests)
6.	Taman Siswa (Indonesian school foundation)
7.	Parki
8.	Concordance Lagere school (Dutch foundation)223
Junior high school level
1.
2.
3»
4.
5.
6*
7.
8.
Name of school
S. Μ. P, keristen (Chinese Protestant)
S. Μ, P. Mardi Juana (Cath. Sisters; girls only)
S, Μ. P. Mardi Juana (Cath. Brothers; boys only)
S. Μ. P, Taman Siswa (Indonesian school foundation)
S. K. P. Kehidupan Baru (Indonesian Protestant)
S. Μ. P. Parki
S. Μ. P. -P. G. R. I, (Indonesian teachers organ.)
S. Μ. P. Kasadaran (Moslem organization)
WNI students	
	% of all Λ NI
	in Ind. junior
No.	high schools
	5772
78	26.9
73	25. 2
21	7. 2
6	2. 1
4	1.4
0	0. 0
0	0. 0
ΤΦ5	τσυ;
Senior high school level
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Name of school
S, M. A. Mardi Juana (section B and C,* Cath.)
S. G,A, Mardi Juana (Catholic)
S.G.A. Mardi Juana (Cath.; girls only)
S. M, A, Pembina (section B; Indonesian organ,)
S. M, A, Pembina (section C; Indonesian organ. )
S. M. A. Parki (section C)
S, Μ. E. A. (Indonesian organ. )
No.
18
12
10
10
4
1
% of all WNI
in Ind, senior
high schools
55-5
18. 2
12. 1
10. 1
10. 1
4. 0
1.0
ruu;-
*There are three types of S. M. A.; section A, which emphasizes humani-
ties, section B, which emphasizes sciences, and section C, which
emphasizes economics. In Sukabumi there is no S. Mo A, section A.
What accounts for the preference for Christian schools ? The an-
swer of the parents usually is that: the teachers are qualified and morally
of high standing; there is discipline, as evidenced, for instance, by the
fact that any absence has to be accounted for with a signed statement from
parent or guardian; there is control through contact between parents and
teachers in the regularly held parent-teacher meetings; and there is a
long standing reputation of successful achievement, especially in the
Catholic schools. For instance, in the past few years, about 90 per cent
of each class in the Catholic S.M.A. was graduated, a record appreciably
better than that achieved by any other senior high school. Of these private
Christian schools we note that in kindergarten there is a slightly higher
(58. 3 per cent) and in primary school a positively higher (70, 2 per cent)
preference for Protestant than for Catholic schools. In the junior high
school the situation is slightly the reverse (43. 1 per cent), while in the
senior high school the Catholic school is far in the lead because the Pro-
testants started their S, M. A. only in 1957.
To examine the extent of mixing of WNI and ethnic Indonesians,
we will compare the proportions of the two groups in each school. As we
might expect, the strong preference for the Christian schools has created
a situation whereby in the kindergarten and the primary school run by the
Chinese Protestant church, for instance, the students are virtually all
Peranakans. The complete figures are as follows:224
School		% WNI	% Ethnic Indonesians	% Others	Total
1.	Bethel (Chin. Prot. )	92. 2	7.8	0.0	100.
2.	Mardi Juana (Cath, sisters)	70. 2	22. 3	7.5	100.
3.	Kehidupan Baru (Indon, Prot. )	25.7	74.3	0. 0	100.
4.	Tunas Muda (Indon. org,)	2. 8	97. 2	0.0	100.
5.	Mardi Juana (Cath. priests)	1.6	97.6	0. 8	100.
6.	Melati (Indon. org.)	1.2	98.8	0. 0	100.
7.	G. P, I. I, (Moslem organ. )	o.o	100.	0. 0	100.
The proportion of Peranakans in the Bethel school is such that it
is generally considered a •’Peranakan school?0 ft is located on a section
of the Djalan Raja which is very convenient for the majority of them. In
addition, the school fee is lower than that of the Catholic schools. It is
not surprising, therefore, that in the Catholic kindergarten, which comes
next in preference, we find the children of well-to-do families, Perana-.
kans, ethnic Indonesians as well as several Dutch and Eurasians, (There
are two children of Dutch nationality and five Indonesian citizens of Dutch
descent.) This school has the best equipment of all the kindergartens in
town, with special small chairs and tables, nice wall decorations, a large
doll house and a great number of toys. The kindergarten run by the
Indonesian Protestant church comes third. It would appear that the Per-
anakan children in this school consist for the most part of those who did
not get accepted in either the Bethel or the Catholic school. In the other
kindergartens, attendance of WNt children is definitely exceptional.
Primary schools
School	% WNI	% Ethnic Indonesians	% Others	Total
1. Bethel	97.3	2.7	0. 0	100.
2. Mardi Juana	66, 8	30. 1	3. 1	100.
3, Mardi Juana (boys only)	53. 8	30. 8	15.4	100.
4. Kehidupan Baru	44,4	55.6	0.0	100,
5, Taman Siswa	5.8	94. 2	0. 0	100,
6. Concordant (Dutch)	5.1	5. 1	89. 8	100.
7. Mardi Juana	2.3	96.4	1.3	100.
Here the picture is	similar to that on the kindergarten level:			a
high concentration in the Bethel school, with the Catholic schools next
and the one operated by the Indonesian Protestant church third. Similar
to the kindergarten level also there is one Catholic school with only a
few WNI pupils. The explanation given by a person connected with the
Catholic schools is that in this particular school the fees are lower than
in the other school operated by the Catholics. Those who can afford to
pay a higher fee are admitted to the latter school, those who cannot, to
the former. According to the same informant all Catholic schools would
be filled with WNI students if they were to admit all applicants from this
segment of the population. And this apparently is a situation the Catho-
lic schools want to avoid. In the other primary schools WNI children
form a decided minority. In the Dutch-language school there were only225
two of them, but during the time of the study both of them (a brother and
sister, children of a Dutch-educated young couple belonging to one of the
wealthy old families in town) were transferred to the Catholic school.
	School		 WNI	% Ethnic Indone sians	% Others	Total
1.	S. Μ. P, Keristen	59. 7	39. 2	1. 1	100.
2.	S, Μ. P. Mardi Juana (girls only)	51, 0	49.0	o. 0	100.
3.	S. Μ, P. Mardi Juana (boys only)	28.0	72. 0	Q.0	100»
4.	S, K. P. Kehidupan Baru	12. 8	87. 2	0. 0	100.
5.	S. Μ. P. Taman Siswa	6.1	93.6	0.3	100.
6.	S. Μ. P. Parki	1.7	98.3	0. 0	100.
7.	S. Μ. P. P.G.R.I.	0. 0	100.	0. 0	100.
8.	S, Μ. P, Kesadaran	0. 0	100.	0. 0	100.
	At the junior high-school level,	no school has an overwhelming			
majority of Peranakans, as is the case with some of the kindergartens and
primary schools» This is due to the fact that, considering the absolute
numbers, there are far fewer Peranakan junior high school students than
ethnic Indonesian (Peranakan 290 and ethnic Indonesian 1,430, not counting
the students in the public junior high schools, who are almost all ethnic
Indonesian).
Senior high schools (S, M. A. and equivalents)
School
1.	S. M. A. Mar di Juana
2.	S. M. A. Pembina
3.	S. G. A; Mardi Juana (girls only)
4.	S, M. A. Pembina
5.	S. G.A. Mardi Juana (coed)
6.	S. Μ. E. A.
7.	S. M. A. Parki
T	% Ethnic	%	
WNI	Indonesians	Others	Tota]
23. 0	77.0	0. 0	100.
15,4	84. 6	0. 0	100.
12, 2	87. 8	0. 0	100.
9.5	90.5	0.0	100.
9.2	88, 7	2. 1	100.
4.8	95. 2	0. 0	100.
4. 2	94.7	1. 1	100.
The situation on the senior high school level is different from the
schools in the other levels. Here in all schools, even the Christian ones,
the Peranakans form a distinct minority. Peranakans form less than 13
per cent of the total student bodies in Indonesian-language private senior
high schools.
From the ethnic composition of the students in the Indonesian-
language schools we may conclude that it is in the schools sponsored by
the Christian churches where ethnic Indonesian and Peranakan children
have the best opportunity for interaction.Number of Students in Private Schools
tv
O'
WNI________________ _________Foreign_________ Total
School*	Indonesian			Chinese			O • *1 o •		desc.	Chinese			0. For. desci					
	M	F	Subt.	M	F	Subt.	M	F	Subt.	M	F	Subt.	M	F	Subt.	M	F	Total
KINDERGARTEN																		
1	5	16	21	27	39	66	3	2	5	0	0	0	1	1	2	36	58	94
2	69	70	139	30	18	^8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	99	88	187
3	0	4	4	28	19	47	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	28	23	51
4	14	26	40	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	14	26	40
5	41	39	80	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	42	39	81
6	58	62	120	1	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	60	63	123
7	47	57	104	2	1	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	49	58	107
Total	234	274	508	89	78	167	3	2	5	0	0	0	2	1	3	328	355	683
PRIMARY	SCHOOL																	
1	2	8	10	180	174	354	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	182	182	364
2	28	58	86	81	110	191	0	7	7	0	0	0	1	1	2	110	176	286
3	112	98	210	95	73	168	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	207	171	378
4	12	0	12	21	0	21	5	0	5	0	0	0	1	0	1	39	0	39
5	246	177	423	9	1	10	4	2	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	259	180	439
6	58	23	81	4	1	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	62	24	86
7	253	155	408	5	0	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	258	155	413
8	0	2	2	1	1	2	2	2	4	0	0	0	14	17	31	17	22	39
Total	711	521 1232	396 360 756	11	11	22	0	0	0	16 18 34	1134	910 2044JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL·
1	48	23	71	81	27	108	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	131	50	181
2	0	153	153	0	78	78	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	231	231
3	198	0	198	73	0	73	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	271	0	271
4	210	112	322	20	1	21	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	231	113	344
5	0	41	41	0	6	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	47	47
6	163	62	225	4	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	167	62	229
7	178	119	297	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	178	119	297
8	85	38	123	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	85	38	123
Total	882	548	1430	178	112	290	3	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	1063	660	1723
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL																		
1	124	23	147	30	14	44	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	154	37	191
2	80	93	173	3	15	18	0	4	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	83	112	195
3	0	86	86	0	12	12	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	98	98
4	54	1	55	5	5	10	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	59	6	65
5	81	14	95	6	4	10	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	87	18	105
6	76	14	90	4	0	4	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	81	14	95
7	15	5	20	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	16	5	21
Total	430	236	666	49	50	99	1	4	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	480	290	770
*
The numbers indicating the school in each section follow the order in the text.
227228
Private Schools: Chinese Language
There are in Sukabumi three Chinese-language schools: Chung
Hua Hsueh Hsiao, operating a kindergarten, primary school, junior and
senior high school; Hsin Hua Hsueh Hsiao, operating a kindergarten,
primary school and junior high school; and Ping Min Hsueh Hsiao, oper-
ating also a kindergarten, primary school and junior high school. The
first two schools are generally considered Peking-oriented and the third
KMT -oriented. The political orientation can also be inferred from the
sign in front of the school: following the national colors of Peking,
Chung Hua and Hsin Hua have a red-painted sign with the characters in
yellow, while Ping Min has a blue-painted sign with the characters in
white, the KMT colors. Another indication is the celebration of the
national day: the first two celebrate October 1, while the third celebrate
October 10 and the birthday of Chiang Kai-shek.
Chung Hua is the oldest school. It was established in the first
decade of this century, in response to the Tiong Hoa Hwee Koan move-
ment started in Djakarta. As we mentioned earlier, this school was
highly popular among all ethnic Chinese, especially before the estab-
lishment of the Dutch-language HCS,. During the Japanese occupation it
was ordered to close down but the building continued to be used for the
one Chinese-language school allowed to operate by the Japanese. The
school has two buildings, both conveniently located for the Chinese
population. They were inadequate in every respect, however, and at
the end of 1956 a new wing was constructed adjoining the building situated
at the Djalan Plabuan H, but with the front facing the street on the south
side of the railroad. It is a large and, by Sukabumi standards, definitely
imposing building, in modern style, rectangular, and with a second floor.
On the front the name of the school is painted in red in Indonesian and in
Chinese characters. This new wing was planned to accomodate the junior
and senior high school. The funds for its construction were collected
from the Chinese population in Sukabumi and other towns, not only by
soliciting donations, but also through benefit performances by the students
on such occasions as the Lantern Festival. The donors were mostly
Totoks, but there were also a number of Peranakans--owners of enter-
prises--among them. At the formal opening in September 1957, Indo-
nesian authorities and the donors were invited, while the cutting of the
ribbon was performed by the wife of the. Regent. It is clear that this
school is the leading Chinese, i, e,, foreign, school in Sukabumi,
Ping Min also has existed since prewar times and originated from
a disagreement between a Hakka male teacher and a Hunan female teacher
in Chung Hua, The school board became involved in the conflict and
around 1927 the Hakka teacher left the school and founded a new one. Not
surprisingly the school board of this new school consisted of Hakkas and
ever since the board has remained predominently Hakka. (We notice the
timing of this event, which reflects the change in the ethnic composition
of the Chinese immigrants, especially during the peak period of immigra-
tion between 1925-1931. ) At the time of the split about half of the Chung
Hua students followed the Hakka teacher to the new school, and it became
a great rival of the older one. A split occurred in Ping Min, however,
and Chung Hua became the largest Chinese school. Doth schools were229
closed down during the Japanese occupation. After the war the Chinese
language schools continued to function under one school board. Around
1951, however, influenced by the political situation in China, the contro-
versy in the school board between the followers of the Kuornintang and the
supporters of the new Peking regime exploded. Lim Beng Hok (died re-
cently, in January 1958), a prominent member of the board and active
member of the Kuornintang before the war, planned to put Ping Min school
back,into existence. He therefore reclaimed the building of Ping~Min,
which in the meantime had been occupied by Chung Hua. In the conflict
both parties asked the assistance of legal advisors. The students took
sides and threatened to start trouble. The Indonesian authorities were
represented by the head of the school inspectorate, who first kept aloof
from the conflict, then interfered, and when it turned out that neither of
the parties was willing to give an inch, threatened to close the schools.
This appears to have sobered the conflicting parties and they decided to
abandon the matter. Chung Hua remained in the disputed building, and
Ping Min was given a part of a large government building. It is very small
and without a playground.
The third school, Hsin Hua, was founded only after the war. It
also originated out of a disagreement in Chung Hua between the principal
and the school board, ending with the founding of a new school by the
principal.
From the number of students, as shown by the following table,
which gives the situation for the school year 1956-1957, the leading role
of Chung Hua is abundantly clear. This leading role is not only manifest
in the numbers but also in activities of a social and political character.
It appears that, though born out of conflict, Hsin Hua joins in the activities
of Chung Hua. Ping Min, on the other hand, as one might expect, acts as
an isolated group.
School	Chung Hua	Hsin Hua	Ping Min	Total
level_______ M F Total ~M F Total' M F Total ~M~ F total
Kindergar.	65	53	118	31	25	56	14	14	28	110 92	202
Primary	416	366	782	130109		239	153106		259	699 581	1280
Jun. High	111	120	231	49	56	105	41	40	81	201 216	417
Sen. High	36	32	68	0	0	0	0	0	0	36 32	68
Total	628	571	1199	210 190		400	208 160		368	1046 921	1967
An interesting aspect of this distribution is the preference of cer-
tain speech groups for certain schools, which shows up when we break the
students down into the different speech groups of their parents (see table
on following page). The table shows Hakkas disproportionately attend Ping
Min with Chung Hua secondii preference; Cantonese disproportionately
attend Chung Hua with Hsin. Hua second in preference; Hokkiens dispro-
portionately attend Chung Hua with Hsin Hua second in preference; Hokchia
disproportionately attend Hsin Hua with Phung Hua second in preference;
Hokchiu and Henghua disproportionately attend Hsin Hua; Mandarin and
Teochiu disproportionately attend Chung Hua; and Peranakans dispropor-
tionately attend Chung Hua.230
Distribution of Students in the Three Chinese Schools
According to Speechgroups of Barents'
Speechgroup	Chung Hua		Hsin Hua		Ping Min		Total	
	No.		Noi		No.		No.	%
Hakka	432	41.3	153	38.5	316	91.9	901	50.3
Cantonese	37	3.5	13	3.3	5	1.5	55	3.1
Teochiu	1	0. 1	0	0.0	0	0.0	1	0. 1
Hokkien	472	45. 1	164	41. 3	20	5, 8	656	36,6
Hokchia	92	8. 8	46	11.6	1	0.3	144	8, 0
Hokchiu	1	0. 1	12	3.0	0	0.0	13	0.7
Henghua	0	0. 0	9	2.7	0	0. 0	9	0.5
Mandarin	1 1	1. 1	0	0.0	2	0. 6	13	0.7
Subtotal	1046	100.	397	100.	344	100,	1792	100.
U nide ntifi e d*	153		3		24		180	
Total	1199		400		368		1972	
*No doubt for the greater part children of Peranakans who do not know
their place of origin any more.
As to the nationality of the students, WNI or alien, it turned out
to be impossible to secure reliable information. For the Chung Hua and
the Hsin Hua, the estimation of the teachers who collected the information
for the writer was respectively, 14 per cent and 17 per cent. (The un-
reliability of these figures can be checked with the figures of those who
had to transfer to national schools as we will see later, ) The informant
for the Ping Min reported that the school administration was unwilling to
give information on the citizenship of the students. This is understand-
able considering the fact that KMT supporters are in an extremely awk-
ward position in regard to their nationality.
We will examine the distribution of all ethnic Chinese students
in both the Chinese-language and the Indonesian-language schools, in-
cluding the public schools (see table on following page).
On all levels except the senior high school, a higher percentage
of the students attend Chinese-language schools than attend Indonesian-
language schools.
We know, however, that the total number of WNI is higher than
that of the alien Chinese. This means that a certain proportion of those
attending Chinese-language schools must be WNI.
Now the question is what has induced these Peranakan parents, of
whom practically none speak Chinese, to send their children to Chinese
schools? It seems plausible that in a considerable number of cases it is
simply because they could not get their children admitted to one of the
preferred private Indonesian-language schools and as they are reluctant
to send them to public schools or to those run by Indonesian organizations231
Distribution of Ethnic Chinese Students in Chinese-Language
and Non-Chinese-Language Schools
Chinese School Non-Chinese School Total
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
MALE STUDENTS						
Kindergarten	110	55.2	89	44. 8	119	100.
Primary	699	63. 0	411	37. 0	1,110	100.
Junior Middle	201	52. 5	182	47.5	383	100.
Senior Middle	36	42.4	49	57. 6	85	100.
Total	1,046	58.9	731	41. 1	1,777	100.
FEMALE STUDENTS						
Kindergarten	92	54. 1	78	45.9	170	100.
Primary	581	61. 1	369	38.9	950	100.
Junior Middle	216	65.9	112	34. 1	328	100.
Senior Middle	32	39.0	50	61.0	82	100.
Total	921	60. 2	609	39. 8	1,530	100.
TOTAL STUDENTS						
Kindergarten	202	54. 7	167	45.3	369	100.
Primary	1,280	62. 1	780	37.9	2,060	100.
Junior Middle	417	58. 6	294	41.4	711	100.
Senior Middle	68	40.7	99	59.3	167	100.
Total	1,967	59.5	1,340	41. 5	3, 307	100.232
{for reasons outlined earlier in this chapter) there is no choice but the
Chinese-language school.
Naturally to accept this as the only answer would be an over-
simplification of the matter. Thio In Lok has given a series of answers
pertaining to this question(3) which we will reproduce here (in a free
translation by the writer), because in the writer’s experience, they
bring out correctly the attitude of those Peranakans who have chosen to
send their children to a Chinese-language school,
1.	Although we accept Indonesian citizenship, culturally we re-
main Chinese. Therefore, we prefer Chinese education above every
other type of education for our children*
2.	China will one day become a powerful country. It is not im-
possible that sooner or later, especially in this part of Asia, Chinese
will supplant English, wholly or in part, as the ’’world language.”
3.	Our children understand Indonesian sufficiently for their
practical needs; it is, therefore, net necessary to send them to the
Indonesian school,
4.	Admittedly Chinese education in general is still on a rather
low standard, but we cannot deny that the standard of the Indonesian
education is hardly higher. We prefer poor Chinese education above
poor Indonesian education.
5.	We would be more inclined towards education provided by
the government if, as in the past, special schools could be established
for our group, which are brought into closer accordance with our
cultural needs,
6.	We do not agree with those who claim that joint education in
a combined school (eenheidsschool) is the only and most important way
to make our children good citizens. With the disappearance of the dis-
criminating treatment towards our group, we will automatically become
good citizens,
Mr, Thio added that "the fact that WNI parents send their chil-
dren to a foreign school (as the Chinese school actually is) as such,
should be no cause for concern. It is a common practice among wealthy
parents to send their children abroad to acquire as much knowledge as
possible for their own benefit and that of their country. With some
good will we could, therefore, explain the drive towards Chinese educa-
tion on the part of the 'Chinese Indonesians’ as simply motivated by the
desire to give their children the best possible education.” He admits,
however, that in view of the present political situation and the govern-
ment policy towards nationalization and assimilation this attitude among
the WNI is not desirable. In view of the fact that it was written in 1950,
it is interesting to note that he ends the article with the prediction that
with the increase of the number of public schools and the improvement
of their standard, there is no reason to believe that these schools
would not become as popular as the former HCS. He bases this predic-
tion on the "pragmatic attitude of the Chinese, which is sufficient
(3) Thio In Lok, "De achtergrond van het Chinees onderwijsproblem
in Indonesie,” Orientatie, XXXVUI-XXXDC (1950), 116.233
guarantee that eventually he will know which education is preferable for
his children» They only need time to realize this,"
Although eight years elapsed since this prediction was made, the
government regulation barring V7NI children from attending foreign, i, e,,
Chinese-language schools, which was implemented in January 1958,
appears to have fallen like a blow among the Chinese population in gen-
eral and the WNI concerned in particular. We will present some observa-
tions pertaining to its effect in Sukabumi, although this event occurred
after the period covered by the study. The chairman of the BPIT, who
actively helped in the organiiatibn of the transfer bf the WNI students
to national, i, e., Indonesian ^language schools, told the writer that among
the students quite a number, especially at the secondary school level,
resented this regulation immensely, even blaming their parents for not
having rejected Indonesian citizenship. The prevailing opinion in the
Peranakan community seems to be,' however, that it is indeed more logi-
cal for WNI children to attend national schools than foreign schools. Yet
they think that the government has acted too rashly and inopportunely by
fixing the time of the change in January, which is the middle of the school
year. Besides, there were no adequate preparations for the transfer.
Virtually all the existing Indonesian-language schools and especially
those of the primary school level were already overcrowded. One of the
solutions made was the opening of a new school specially for these trans-
ferred students. The name given to this primary school was Sekolah
Rakjat "Persatuan" (Indonesian word for unity). It was opened on January
20, 1958. It started with 243 s tudents, 142 (18. 2 per cent from the total
in the primary school according to the table of the distribution of the stu-
dents in the three Chinese-language schools in the school year 1956-1957)
from Chung Hua, 58 (29, 3 per cent) from Hsin Hua, and 43 (16. 6 per cent)
from Ping Min. (Note the discrepancy in the proportions compared with
the estimations given by the informants of Chung Hua and Hsin Hua in re-
gard to the proportions of WNI in these schools, which were respectively,
14 and 17 per cent). The members of the school board and the teaching
staff are all WNI. The principal is Tjen Hon Boe, one of the teachers of
Hsin Hua, a Bangka-born second generation Hakka. The chairman of the
school board is Lie Go, a second generation Hokkien from Nan An, a
wealthy iron-workshop owner. The curriculum follows the national
schools, but with the study of the Indonesian language eight hours a week
and Chinese four hours. The transfer of WNI students of the secondary
school level was accomplished more smoothly, because all could be
admitted to the existing national schools.234
CHAPTER VII
LIFE IN THE COMMUNITY
In this chapter the Peranakan community will be viewed within the
context of the larger society and within the context of the community it»
self, in regard to the specific aspects of civic, political, and social acti-
vities. We will give a brief recapitulation of the administrative structure
of the town in order to have the proper setting against which to view the
community; examine the participation of the Peranakans in civic activities
within the larger society, which will include participation in political af-
fairs; discuss the participation of Chinese, Totoks, and Peranakans in
formal organizations; and summarize the relations among Peranakans,
Totoks, and ethnic Indonesians.
Administrative Structure
We have already noted that from January 28, 1957, the status of
the town of Sukabumi is that of a Kota Besar, i. e., an autonomous unit
of the second level, equal to a Kabupaten. At the head of this administra-
tive unit is the kepala daerah (regional head), who is referred to as wali
kota (mayor).
Asa Kota Besar, Sukabumi has a legislative council, the Dewan
Perwakilan Rakjat Daerah or DPRD, elected by the population of the
town. The first election (1) occurred in August 1957, with the fol-
lowing results:
15 seats divided among seven parties:
PNI (Indonesian Nationalist Party)	4 seats
Masjumi (Consultative Council of
Indonesian Moslems)	4	"
PKI (Indonesian Communist Party)	3	"
NU (Ulama Association)	1	seat
Baperki (Citizenship Consultative Council)	1	"
IPKI (League for the upholding of
Indonesian Independence)	1	"
PPPRI (Police Employees Association)	1	"
The members of the DPRD elect from among themselves an ex-
ecutive council, the Dewan Pemerintah Daerah or DPP. The wali kota
is the chairman of this body. (2)
(1) For a comprehensive study of Indonesian political parties, see
Herbert Feith, The Indonesian ^Elections of 1955 (Cornell Modern Indo-
nesia Project, Interim Reports Series; Ithaca, N. Y., 1957).
(2) For a better understanding of local government, see John D. Legge,235
The daily administrative work is performed by the executive gov-
ernment (Pemerintah Harian) (as distinguished from the executive council)
which is an appointed body, consisting to the wali kota, the sekertaris
(secretary), the wedana (district head) and the tjamat (sub-district head).
These four persons are appointed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. They
constitute the pamong pradja. This corps of officials is assisted by the
pamong desa, consisting of the lurah (village head) and his assistants:
a penulis (secretary), mandor (inspector), and polisi desa (village police).
The position of the lurah seems rather ambiguous. He is elected by the
people of the kelurahan. (3) He is on the government payroll, but the
amount he receives is minimal. He derives his income primarily from
the yield of the rice fields traditionally allocated to village heads and
from the remuneration he receives from issuing certificates (e. g.,
identity cards) and from acting as witness in transactions (e. g., the
purchase of land or a house). This income is shared with his assistants
who are not on the payroll of the government, but are volunteer workers.
All lurahs expressed their dissatisfaction to the writer about the way their
work is rewarded. It would appear that they aspire to be recognized as
full government officials, because they claim that they put in a full-time
job, often extending after the usual office hours. It is they who are in
charge of the implementation of the government regulations, so it is
indeed true that the pamong desa is indispensable for the effective opera-
tion of the government.
Participation in Civic Activities
Where do the Chinese fit in this structure? We have seen that in
Sukabumi the office of wijkmeester was abolished only in 1957. During
the several years after independence and before the abolition of the
wijkmeester post, those Peranakans who did not reject Indonesian citizen-
ship during the 1949-51 option period could be registered at three places:
the officefof the wijkmeester, the kelurahan office, or the special office
for minority groups at the Balai Kota. The abolition of the office of
wijkmeester has important consequences in that now legally a clear-cut
division among the ethnic Chinese is made between the citizens (WNI)
and the aliens (Asing), the former registering at the kelurahan and the
latter at the Balai Rota.
Citizenship
This brings us to the crucial and confusing question of citizenship.
We will not go into the details of this complicated issue (a comprehensive
monograph on the subject has been completed by Donald E. Willmott,
Problems of Regional Autonomy in Contemporary Indonesia (Cornell
Modern Indonesia Project, Interim Reports Series; Ithaca N, Y. , 1957).
(3) The writer was informed that the first election occurred in 1956.
Three of the four incumbents at that time were re-elected. The interest
of the population was very low, so much so that in some areas the
election could not be held at the first meeting for which it was scheduled
and a second meeting had to be called.236
The National Status of the Chinese in Indonesia), (4) but we will attempt
to bring out the attitudes towards Indonesian citizenship as observed
among the Peranakans in Sukabumi.
During the time of the study the national status of the Chinese
had been determined by the Citizenship Act of 1946 and the Round Table
Conference in The Hague during the second half of 1949 which, in regard
to citizenship, agreed on the passive system for Chinese, This meant
that Peranakans automatically became Indonesian citizens, unless they
rejected this citizenship with a written declaration to the Court House
within the two-year period from December 27, 1949 to December 27,
1951.(5)
As we might expect, in Sukabumi the majority of those who re-
jected Indonesian citizenship are local-born people of China-born
parents or China-born father and local-born mother. The considera-
tions which led some third- and later-generation Peranakans to reject
Indonesian citizenship seem to spring from emotional rather than
rational factors. It would appear that there is some ground for these
emotional feelings to play a role if we consider the fact that during the
period of anarchy after the surrender of the Dutch and the turbulent
times of the revolution, Sukabumi was one of the areas where the
Chinese population was exposed to severe material and even personal
loss. We have already mentioned that as a result of the scorched earth
policy applied by the revolutionary army, an entire block of shops
and residences of Chinese was burned down. We must point out, how-
ever, that in the execution of this policy it was not these residences
which were, the target, but storehouses of estate products which were
adjacent to these private dwellings. Other Chinese-owned property
destroyed at that time included two of the largest printing plants, two
of the largest textile factories, aid several rice mills situated in vil-
lages bordering on the town. These actions were, of course, highly
deplored by the people whose interests were involved, a sentiment they
did not refrain from expressing openly, claiming that this was highly
unfair, because they were just peaceful traders who did not want to
get involved in the conflict· It is precisely this attitude of non-
involvement and standoffishness in the Indonesian struggle towards in-
dependence, displayed by the majority of ethnic Chinese, which has
caused the Indonesians to accuse them of cooperating with the Dutch.
That these events have influenced the rejection of Indonesian citizen-
ship is illustrated by the case of a Peranakan family, acquaintances of
the writer, in which all the sons, who were already married at that
time, chose Chinese citizenship because during the revolution the
eldest brother was killed by revolutionists who mistook him for a
Eurasian at a small railroad station between Djakarta and Sukabumi,
(4)	Cornell Modern Indonesia Project, Monograph Series; Ithaca, N, Y.,
1961,
(5)	The latest development in this issue is that following the Chou-
Soenario Agreement, the active system has been adopted, requiring
Peranakans to make an official declaration of choosing either Indonesian
or Chinese citizenship within a two-year period from January 20, I960
to January 20, 1962.237
Another factor which induced rejection is a feeling of racial iden-
tity, which is clearly expressed in the following example of the reasoning
given by a Peranakan man of over seventy, who claims to be a devout
follower of the teachings of Confucius: "I did not submit a petition to
thian (Peranakan equivalent of God) to come into the world as a Chinese,
yet Ϊ was born as such, so this must have been the will of thian. If you
are born a Chinese, how can you possess another nationality than that
of China. Being born a Chinese you will remain a Chinese," Of his
family only he and his wife rejected Indonesian citizenship; his children
and other close relatives are all WNI.
This phenomenon of a family being partly alien and partly WNI is
not uncommon. Of the family mentioned above of which all the sons are
rejectors, for instance, the old mother who is the head of the grocery
store they operate is WNI. Of a Hakka family of which both parents are
China-born and the three sons and one daughter all born in Indonesia,
all except the oldest son are aliens. This person told the writer that he
had chosen Indonesian citizenship to facilitate the continuation of his
business (which is a stationery store), because it was to be expected,
he said, that foreign enterprises will encounter difficulties. This attitude
is another indication of the pragmatic view on life of Peranakans and
Chinese in general which we have encountered earlier in their attitude
toward the local beliefs. Thus we find that those who did not reject
regard those who did as having taken a rash and unrealistic step. They
reason as follows: "We were born here and so were our fathers and
grandfathers and even earlier ancestors. They are all buried here and
we also expect to be buried here. Why then should we reject the citizen-
ship of a country where we have lived for so many generations. If we
choose Chinese citizenship this will mean that we will be foreigners in
this country, because it is very doubtful whether we will ever move to
China." The chief judge informed the writer that the court has received
a considerable number of requests from rejectors who want to annul their
act. Several Peranakans confirmed that they know of a number of persons
who regret having rejected Indonesian citizenship. These are especially
those in business, because of the stringent regulations and special taxes
imposed on foreigners and foreign enterprises.
How Do These WNI View Their Position as Indonesian Citizens?
The writer has discussed this question with the head of the Informa-
tion Office and the head of the political section of the Municipal Hall, which
is the registration office for foreigners. Both stated that they regret to
note that many of the WNI of Chinese descent are citizens in name only;
in their behavior they do not act like true citizens at all, they claim,
giving as evidence of this charge the exclusive character of their organiza-
tions and the preference displayed by a number of them for sending their
children to foreign, i. e. , Chinese schools. The head of the Information
Office added that when a social activity is organized involving the whole
town, the Chinese, citizens as well as aliens, usually keep aloof, giving a
contribution in money or in kind only, as if by acting in this way they have
given their share in the project. They never participate actively, i. e.,
they never devote their time or thought to these activities. The claim of
many Peranakans that they are not interested in politics but only in the238
opportunity to earn a decent living in a quiet and peaceful way, is con-
sidered incompatible with the present drive towards developing the
country. In answer to this, many Peranakans, especially those engaged
in business, maintain that in their own way, by developing the business
sector of the society, they also contribute their part.
We will now proceed to examine to what extent the accusation of
participation in civic activities is true. The writer had the opportunity
to look into this matter by observing several officially organized social
programs and the activities on national holidays. The participation in
the elections for DPRD, which is, of course, also a measure of partici-
pation in civic activities, will be treated separately in a subsequent section.
In November 1956 an order was given by the local military com-
mander for a clean-up movement to be held from the first until the 10th
of November. It consisted of cleaning the streets every afternoon from
three to four p. m. The head of the Information Office informed the
writer that each kelurahan was to provide 100 men a day and of the total
Chinese population 50 men a day. These persons were to assemble at
the public meeting hall before the work started.
On the first day of the movement there not only were 30 Chinese
present, but they even outnumbered the Indonesians. The majority of
them were Totoks, many of them owners of the shops along the Djalan
Raja. Of the Peranakans, the writer noticed several members of well-
known families. One of the latter informed the writer that this large
turnout of Chinese had been caused by an announcement issued by the
BPIT (Badan Permusjawaratan Indonesia Tionghoa, the Peranakan social
organization which is a continuation of the Chung Hua Tsung Hui--This
organization will be treated in detail in a subsequent section) that all
Chinese, citizens as well as aliens, must participate actively in this
movement and that those who were not willing to do so would be liable to
punishmnnt according to the regulations of the military commander.
Asked about this, the head of the Information Office told the writer that
the chairman of the BPIT had perhaps inserted the strong warning because
he had encountered the displeasure of the military commander at the
meeting summoned by the latter to talk about this movement. The
meeting was called just one day before it was to start. The chairman of
the BPIT, Mr. Tan Beng Yauw, was also summoned as the representative
of the Chinese community. When he was asked to provide for 30 Chinese
every day, he replied that this was impossible on so short a notice. The
commander then had become impatien*: saying that he would hold Mr.
Tan responsible for the execution of this command.
Thus on the first day a great number of Chinese were gathered
in front of the public meeting hall, each carrying a broom and a basket
or a broom only. There were hardly any vehicles on the streets and a
great clamor ensued when all these men started sweeping. It turned out
that they made fun out of it, sweeping at random in all directions,
causing the dust to fly up in the air, so that most of them covered their
faces with handkerchiefs which, naturally, heightened the hilarity. On
this first day all civil and military authorities took part in the sweeping.239
The following days, fewer and fewer people joined in this campaign. The
most persistent were the school children, who swept certain parts of the
town in the morning also. The best organized were the students of the
Peking-oriented Chung Hua school and the KMT-oriented Ping Min school.
They had formed work groups led by a teacher or one of the senior
students; the Ping Min students dressed in their scout uniforms.
As we might expect, the Chinese in general could not see the
necessity or the benefit of this type of activity. Due to the specific
character of the occupation of the majority of them, a private enter-
prise requiring their own personal operation or supervision, it is under-
standable that they tended to view this campaign as an annoying interfer-
ence into the effective pursuit of their occupation. Characteristically
enough, one of the well-to-do Peranakans who did participate expressed
resentment not towards the organizers of the campaign but towards the
chairman of the BP1T who, according to him, had intimidated his own
group by inserting a threat he had invented himself. From the point of
view of the chairman, however, this was certainly the most effective
way to comply to the request of the military commander.
On November 11, 1956, President Soekarno made a visit to the
town, (We will notice here the connection between the timing of the
cleaning-up campaign and this visit. ) He arrived in the morning, but since
the day before, people from the neighboring villages had been coming into
town. Hours before his arrival people were already crowding into the town
square where he was to make an address. When he arrived, he was re-
ceived with loud cheering and waving of flags. His address was made in
Sundanese which, of course, appealed highly to the audience. The squarg
and the streets around it were then one great mass of people. Among the
audience the writer noticed little isolated groups of Peranakans and
Totoks, but they were completely drowned in the huge mass of Indonesians.
On such national, .holidays as Independence Day on August 17th,
flags are displayed in front of virtually every shop or residence. On
this occasion one can immediately spot the concentration of alien Chinese
in the shopping center by the combination of Indonesian and Peking-China
flags in front of most of the shops. (Nationalist China flags are, of course,
out of the question as Indonesia does not recognize the Taiwan government. )
Outside this area the number of Peking-China flags is very small. WNI
hoist only the Indonesian flag. At the mass meeting in the town square,
which is always held on this occasion, representative groups of all the
schools, including those operated by alien Chinese, participate and join
the parade afterwards. The say of the Gie Say Hwee is usually also pre-
sent, while in the celebration of 1956 the Baperki appeared with a large
paper lotus flower, the symbol of this organization.
Peranakan Participation in Political Affairs
In this section we will make a distinction between interest in exter-
nal political affairs and interest in internal political affairs, the latter
including a separate section on the Baperki and another separate section
on the DPRD elections in 1957. Before we start off, however, we want to240
make clear again that in the realm of politics we must use the distinc-
tion between WNI and A sing, rather than Peranakan and Totok, because,
while virtually all Totoks are A sing, not all Peranakans are WNI,
External (Chinese) Political Affairs
We will first give an idea of the political climate among the
aliens, because one might expect that whatever interest in Chinese poli-
tical affairs exists among the Peranakans would be modeled after the
activities in this alien group.
In Sukabumi, as in other places in Indonesia, the alien Chinese
are split up into a pro-Peking and a pro-Taipei group. Except for an
outbreak of hostility around 1951, however, centered around the schools,
the two groups apparently live peacefully together, without any overt
indication of enmity.
There is no doubt as to which group has more adherents. This
is conclusively indicated by the fact that of the three Chinese-language
schools, the two largest are Peking oriented. We have also mentioned
that, on the occasion of Indonesian national holidays and on the first of
October, the national holiday of Peking-China, one will notice the
Peking-China flag next to the Indonesian flag in front of virtually every
Totok-owned shop and residence.
The importance and the strength of the Peking-oriented group is
especially manifest in the celebration of its national holiday on October
first. The celebration of 1956 was organized by a special committee
made up of members of the Lien I Hui (a newly-formed organization
which seems to function as the alien counterpart of the BPIT. This or-
ganization will be treated in more detail further on in this section) with
the full support of the Chung Hua school. It consisted of a meeting open
to the public in one of the largest theater buildings, where commemora-
tion speeches in Mandarin and Indonesian were held. On the second and
the third of October, free performances were given by the students of
the Chung Hua school. The highlight of the celebration was the recep-
tion on the evening of the first, in the largest (Peranakan-owned) res-
taurant in town. For this occasion the place was decorated with red
and yellow (the colors of Peking China) streamers and large red melon-
shaped Chinese lanterns. It was open to invited people only: Indonesian
authorities and all alien Chinese (who were asked to contribute a cer-
tain amount to help cover the expenses). The writer was informed that
about 400 people had been invited, among whom were all high Indonesian
authorities. Of the latter were present the regent, the mayor, wedana,
tjamat, secretary of the Municipal Hall, head of the office for aliens,
heads of the other offices (for example, the information office and the
school inspection) and the members of the court of justice. All of them
were accompanied by their wives. There were also lower-ranking
officials, mostly clerks of the Municipal Hall, Altogether there were
perhaps about 50 or 60 Indonesians present.241
As to the Chinese, there were only men present and virtually all
were Totoks, Asked why no women were present (except for a group of
about fifteen women, who looked after the refreshments and who kept
separate in a secluded corner), one of the members of the receiving
committee, a lady teacher of the Chung; Hua school, explained that in the
Totok community the wives are never invited to accompany their husbands
to formal meetings or receptions. According to another lady teacher,
the Totok women in Sukabumi are still old-fashioned and even if invited
would not venture to come.
Of the Peranakans, the writer noticed only the chairman of the
BPIT. Of the few western-educated Peranakans who had rejected
Indonesian citizenship, it is remarkable that not one appeared. The
writer knew of one who had received an invitation and who explained
to her that he did not want to show up in order to avoid being known
as possessing Chinese citizenship.
The reception was opened with speeches by the regent, the mayor,
and one of the leading members of the Totok community (in Mandarin and
translated in Indonesian), each ending with three cheers for the respec-
tive countries. Then the national anthems of both countries were played
by the school band.
This formal part of the evening was followed by a banquet in buffet
style (a style becoming increasingly popular at big parties of all ethnic
groups). The Indonesian authorities as the guests of honor were the first
to be invited to make a choice of the food displayed on several tables.
There was Indonesian as well as Chinese food, but no pork was used.
This was in consideration of the Indonesian guests, who, being Moslems
or regarded as such, are not supposed to eat pork.
After the banquet a performance was given by the students of the
Chung Hua school, which consisted of the new Chinese folk dances which
are at present very popular in Chinese-language schools and several
Indonesian dances and songs. One of these Indonesian dances was the
well-known tari pajung (umbrella dance) performed in such a lively and
charming way that it excited the general admiration of the Indonesian
guests. It was noticeable that at this reception as well as at the per-
formance at the theater the Indonesian dances received the loudest
applause.
The tenth of October, the national day of Nationalist China (Taiwan),
was also celebrated by the KMT group, but it was an almost exclusive
affair, which is, of course, the result of the non-recognition of the
Taiwan government by the Indonesian government. This celebration took
place in the Ping Min school. In the morning there were festivities for
the students and their parents only, while in the evening there was a re-
ception, In front of the school a gate was erected of bamboo and pink-
colored paper with one large, illuminated cherry blossom in the center.
Unlike the October first celebration where the guests were asked to sign
their name in an ordinary book with a fountain pen, here they were
asked to write with a Chinese brush on a pink-colored silk scroll. A group242
of older men were watching as people wrote their names. It was obvious
that these older men had a high regard for calligraphy. In the reception
room a large colored picture of Dr, Sun Yat-sen was on the back wall
flanked by a large Indonesian and Chinese Nationalist flag.
The people participating at this reception were virtually all Totoks
and again there were practically no women among them. There were
no Indonesian authorities at all, except for several men who the writer
was informed were security officers. In regard to the absence of Indo-
nesian authorities (this aroused the writer’s curiosity, because only the
day before the mayor had told her that he is usually invited to this cele-
bration and he has always attended it, though not in his function as gov-
ernment official, because Indonesia does not recognize Taiwan, but
unofficially, as he does not want to discriminate between the two factions
in his town), one of the prominent members of the KMT group, a wealthy
Hokchia goldshop owner, explained to the chairman of the BPIT (again
practically the only Peranakan present) who seemed upset about this
absence, that they had not been invited because he was told that the
Chinese Nationalist flag would not be allowed to be displayed should
those authorities be present.
It was surely for this reason (that no Indonesian authorities
would attend the celebration) that no consideration in the choice and
preparation of the food was taken for the few Indonesians who did come.
All dishes were mixed with pork and the writer observed that the Indo-
nesians present barely touched the food. Nor were the speeches or the
announcement of the items of the performance translated. This per-
formance was given by the students of the Ping Min school and the boy
and girl scouts. It consisted of nondescript dances performed by little
girls, several Chinese and English (the American top hits popular at
the time) songs and a short Indonesian farce. There was also a hired
Indonesian orchestra playing modern Indonesian and western music.
Compared to the October first celebration, this one gave the impression
of being disorderly and poorly organized.
To what extent do Peranakans participate in these politically
loaded activities? It would appear that we have to make a distinction
between the celebration on October first and that on October tenth.
Taking the highlight- of both, the reception, we have seen that in the
case of the October first celebration it is an exxlusively alien affair,
but of those Peranakans who, though culturally not China oriented,
possess Chinese citizenship, virtually none turned up. In the case of
the Double Ten celebration the national status does not seem to play an
important role, but it is the political affiliation which determines par-
ticipation, This is, of course, because Nationalist Chinese citizenship
is not recognized in Indonesia, Thus among the adherents of the KMT,
there may be people who for the sake of convenience and expediency
have chosen Peking citizenship, though politically opposed to it; then
there are those who can be considered stateless; and, finally, those
who, having been born in Indonesia, have taken Indonesian citizenship.
Of the latter, however, only those who are culturally China oriented
turned up.243
Thus we may conclude that Peranakans in general do not participate
in activities which are related to China, be it Peking or Taiwan. A Dutch-
educated man in his early thirties, whose father had been a prominent mem-
ber of the local China Relief Fund (a fund-raising organization which was
set up by Totoks and Peranakans, referred to by the latter as Fonds Ainal
Tiongkok, shortly after the beginning of the Sino-Japanese war and which
was extremely enthusiastic in its support of the Chinese war effort),
ascribed this lack of interest to the bitter experience Peranakans had
during the Japanese occupation, when virtually all those who had been
prominent members of leadnig organizations, especially those related to
the KMT, were put in camps or brought before the Kenpeitai, the notorious
Japanese secret police.
However, even though there is no participation in activities related
to either Peking or Taiwan, we do find that Peranakans feel a certain pride
in the fact that Peking-China has risen to become one of the powerful
nations of the world. This kind of interest is seen in the fact that, when-
ever a Peranakan returns from a visit to China, he has to go around giving
formal or informal talks. Most Peranakans justify this type of interest by
saying that it is only natural to have these feelings for a country which is
one’s country of origin and that these feelings should certainly not be
equated with feelings of loyalty in the political sense.
As to Taiwan, there is almost no one who still cherishes a regard
for Chiang Kai-shek; his precipitous defeat seems to have been too great
a shock.
Internal (Indonesian) Political Affairs
As is true elsewhere, few Peranakans in Sukabumi join political
parties. Some time before the general elections in 1955 the PSI (Socialist
Party) was rather popular among the Peranakans. Quite a number of them
supported or sympathized with this party and there was even one Peranakan
on the executive board. As the PSI deteriorated, the support of most of
the Peranakans went to the Baperki. There is one party, however, the
Partai Mur ba (usually translated in English as the Proletarian Party and
characterized as national-communist)(6) which put up a Peranakan as
second candidate in the election of the DPRD in August 1957. This man,
who is in his middle fifties, was the only Peranakan candidate in the
election apart from the Baperki candidate. He is one of the Peranakans
who carries an Indonesian alias; his name as stated on his identity card
is Yap Cheng Tie alias Asep Achmad Gazali. (7)
(6)	See George McT. Kahin, Nationalism and Revolution in Indonesia
(Ithaca, N. Y., 1952), pp. 313-ll9, and also Feith, op. cit., p. 9.
(7)	As to the origin of his name, he told the writer the following story:
his parents were not legally married. (Though he did not mention it ex-
plicitly, from his story and from several people who know him, the writer
concluded that his mother was a Sundanese from Tjiandjur. ) When the
Japanese occupied Indonesia, all Chinese, whether Totok or Peranakan,
were required to register, for which they had to pay a certain fee. Because244
The Baperki
Sukabumi also has a local chapter of the Baperki. This organiza-
tion is the only one among the Peranakans which participates in the field
of Indonesian politics. We will examine its development and its role
among the Peranakans in this town.
The Sukabumi chapter of the Baperki was founded on March 13,
1955, exactly one year after an organization with this name was first
founded in Djakarta and six months before the first general elections. (8)
The development of its membership in the one year from March 1955 to
May 1956, covering the election period, was as follows:
	Male	Female	Total
March 13, 1955 (foundation)	415	27	442
Increase since March 13, 1955	168	25	193
Total		5^3—		52		~τττ—
Decrease since March 13, 1955	59	8	67
Total on April 30, 1956	524		Ώ		~ΤξΟ	
Included in these figures are members of Tjibadak and surroundings	44	5	49
Total of Sukabumi only, on April 30, 1956	480	T9 519
We will notice here that, when we subtract the decrease figure
and the figure for Tjibadak and surroundings, at the end of this one-year
span the real increase was only 77. It was to be expected that there would
not be much fluctuation in membership because, when the Sukabumi
chapter was founded, the Baperki had already become quite well known
among Peranakans in general. Thus, at its foundation and after that
during the few months before the election, the potential number of mem-
bers must have been quite exhatfsed.
before the war he had been active in KMT groups, he wanted to change his
name so as to avoid arrest. From relatives on Ids mother’s side he
came to know that she was still related to nobility and that he was, there-
fore, allowed to use a certain name. The one they suggested is the alias
he now carries. After that time he used both names, but sometimes only
the one or the other "according to convenience." One of his friends told
the writer that he has the nickname Atjep from Kasep which is a Sundan-
ese word meaning handsome but is only applied to boys. He has an Indo-
nesian wife. Interestingly enough, the writer first met this person at
one of the performances of the Gie Say Hwee of which he was an active
member and one of the founders. lie was one of the members who stated
that the purpose of the club is to preserve among the Peranakan youth
something of the Chinese cultural heritage.
(8) The basic data on the Baperki in Sukabumi has been taken from the
first issue of a small local publication of this chapter, which appeared
in May 1956. See also the special issue of the Baperki, published in con-
nection with its third annual congress in October 1955, called Nomor
Kongres Se-Indonesia ke IH, 1955.245
The leading members of the executive board during the year 1956-
1957 were as follows:
Advisor:
Chairman:
Vice Chairman I:
Vice Chairman Π:
Secretary
Treasurer:
Information section:
Bureau on citizenship
problems:
Daily executive board
Thio In Lok
Tan Beng Yauw
Tan Hoa Kim
Sim SoenKwan
Lauw Pho Han
Lie Pie Jam
Tan Kee Hiap, Thio In Lok
Tan Beng Yauw, Thio In Lok
Tan Beng Yauw, Tan Hoa Kim,
Lie Pie Jam, Lauw Pho Han,
Tan Kee Hiap
Next to these there are seven regular members (komisaris, and
seven assistant members (komisaris pembantu) of the board. Here
follows a short biographical sketch of each of the above personnel:
Mr, Thio In Lok is a Peranakan in his early fifties, a member of
one of the old wealthy families in town. He is a graduate of a Dutch-
Chinese normal school (Hollands-Chinese Kweekschool) and has been a
teacher ever since, except during the Japanese occupation. During the
Indonesian-Dutch negotiations after the war he was a member of the Indo-
nesian delegation to the Round Table Conference in the Netherlands. He
is considered one of the knowledgeable persons on Peranakan life and
customs and has published several articles. He is the oldest son 6f the
Peranakan woman who owns the small Kwan Im temple mentioned in the
section on religion. During the time of the study his family lived in Suka-
bumi, but he himself stayed in Djakarta for his teaching job at a senior
high school and a part-time job in a firm, coming to Sukabumi only for
extended weekends, For this reason his participation in organizational
activities and community life in general was rather limited.
Mr, Tan Beng Yauw is a Peranakan in his early fifties also who
used to operate a warong (small grocery store, in a village adjoining the
eastern border of the town. Due to the insecurity of the area after the
war, he quit his store and moved to the town. He became one of the most
active members of the Chung Hua Tsung Hui and was soon elected chair-
man, a position he has occupied for the past several years. We have al-
ready mentioned that he is a full-time paid worker of this organization.
As chairman of the leading organization in the Chinese community, he is
considered by the Indonesian authorities to be the representative of this
community and is consequently always the person invited on public occa-
sions. Mr. Tan is highly regarded by most of the Peranakans and espec-
ially by the lower-class people who come to consult him on all kinds of
matters. Because of his frequent contact with the Indonesian authorities
he is regarded by the latter group as an influential person who can help
in matters related with the government. Next to being an advisor in these
matters, he is also frequently called upon to arbitrate in private conflicts.
The writer noticed, however, that the group of wealthy, educated Perana-
kans does not have a high regard for him. This seems partly due to the246
fact that they do not need him, as they themselves usually have direct
contact with the Indonesian authorities and partly because socially and
intellectually (he has only been to the Malay-language primary school
of the Chinese Protestant church) he is not considered to belong to their
group. The writer never met him at their intimate parties.
Mr. Tan Hoa Kim is a Peranakan in his early forties who is
employed as a staff member of one of the large textile factories in town.
He was the chairman of the campaign committee for the election of
Parliament in 1955.
Mr. Sim Soen Kwan is a Peranakan in his early thirties, originally
from Tjibadak. He moved to Sukabumi in 1947 after the Dutch troops
occupied the town. He was then employed at the office of the assistant
resident and,after the withdrawal of the Dutch, at the office of the
Kabupaten. He quit after about a year and became a member of the ad-
ministration of the Chung Hua Tsung Hui where he also stayed for about
a year. Then for about two years he had no regular employment; in
1955 he returned to work again at the Kabupaten office. He is the only
Peranakan government official in town. As for education, he has been
to a Dutch primary- and junior middle school and then to the school for
agriculture in Bogor (then called the Middelbare Landbouw School)
which he did not finish because of the outbreak of the war. ϊη the cam-
paign for the general election in 1955 he was an active propagandist of
the Baperki, while in the election for the DPRD in 1957 he was put up
as the only candidate of this organization. He lives in a small petak
house in one of the back streets of Djalan Plabuan II (District J on Map 4,
page 27 above).
Mr. Lauw Pho Han is a Peranakan in his early thirties who is the
assistant of Mr. Tan Beng Yauw. He is secretary of the Baperki, BPIT,
and Sam Kauw Hwee. His position is purely administrative. Like Mr.
Tan he is a full-time paid worker,
Mr. Lie Pie Jam is a Peranakan in his late fifties, related to one
of the wealthy families in town. He has been a very active member of
the Sam Kauw Hwee and a one-time member of the temple board. He is
one of the owners of the flower shop which provides the flowers for the
sedan-chairs of the temple gods during the procession on the occasion of
the Lantern Festival. During the time of the study, however, he had
become completely inactive due to a severe stroke early in 1956.
Mr. Tan Kee Hiap is a Peranakan in his late fifties. He was
mentioned in the section on the influence of the Sundanese religious
setting as the person who works as a kind of supervisor at the largest
tea factory in town and who is married to a Sundanese woman.
It is highly significant that of all these leading members of one
of the leading organizations, only two, Mr. Thio In Lok and Mr. Lie
Pie Jam, belong to wealthy old families, and only one, Mr. Lie, is an
independent enterpriser, all others being wage earners. None of these
people occupies a position of power in the entire community, except for2AX
the chairman perhaps, 'but whatever influence he has is clearly only limited
to the lower class group. It would appear that the function they perform is ‘
largely that of administrators. As a matter of fact, the fact that the chair-
man and secretary of both the Baperki and the BPIT (and of the Sam Kauw
Hwee also) are the same persons and consequently the offices are at the
same place and, moreover, both of them are full-time paid workers,
strongly points to this administrative function, fulfilling the traditional
position of the link between the Chinese community and the authorities.
That the Baperki has the support of the majority of the Peranakans
is indicated by the fact that people who have leading positions in another
party, as for example the Parkindo or the PSI, are still willing to become
a member of the board of the Baperki, This was, of course, considered
a major achievement, which was mentioned specifically in the local publi-
cation mentioned above in the following way: "We regard the willingness
of Messrs, Tan Keng Siong and Tan Siok Hien, outstanding members of the
Parkindo and the PSI, respectively, to join the executive board of the
Baperki, a significant moral victory.”
During the first election of the DPRD in August 1957, which the
writer was able to follow closely, the campaign of the Baperki was one of
the best organized, next to that of the Pig. It received substantial aid
from the central executive board.in Djakarta. Three of its active members,
among who was Boejoeng Saleh, the most outstanding ethnic Indonesian
member, came to deliver campaign speeches. Three public speeches
were given in various parts of the town.
The results of the three elections held show clearly the increase
of popularity of this organization, the last one scoring 25 per cent higher
as compared with the first one:
Number of votes for the Baperki
Election for the Parliament in 1955	1106 votes
Election for Constituent Assembly in 1955	1174	"
Election for DPRD-Kota in 1957	1383	”
The popularity of the Baperki can be ascribed to the prevailing
opinion among -the Peranakans that this is the one organization which best
serves and defends the interests of the minority groups, i. e. , the WNI
of Chinese descent.
The Election for the DPRD in August 1957
We will give an account of the first election for the DPRD which
was held in Sukabumi on August 10, 1957, as it relates to the WNI of
Chinese descent. Because the town of Sukabumi was a Kotapradja belonging
to the province of West Java, each voter had to cast two votes: one for the
DPRD Kotapradja and one for the DPRD Propinsi. We will give the results
of the former only, however, as this is most relevant to the study and,
moreover, already sufficient to get a picture of the course of the election.248
Sixteen parties and organizations participated in the election for
the DPRD Kotapradja:
PNI (Indonesian Nationalist Party)
IPKI (League for the upholding of Indonesian Independence)
Perwari (a women's organization)
Masjumi (Consultative Council of Indonesian Moslems)
NU (Ulama Association)
PSU(Islamic Association Party)
PKI (Indonesian Communist Party)
Partai Murba ( Proletarian Party)
PSI (Indonesian Socialist Party)
Parkindo (Protestant Party)
Partai Katolik( Catholic Party)
Persatuan Rakjat Desa (a peasant’s organization)
PPPRI (Police Employees Association)
Gerakan Pilihan Sunda (Sundanese Election Movement)
Pagujuban Sunda (a Sundanese regional party)
Baperki (Citizenship Consultative Council)
In only two of these parties and organizations do Peranakans
appear on the list of candidates: for the Murba the second candidate,
Yap Cheng Tie alias Achmad Asep Gazali, and for the Baperki the
only candidate, Sim Soen Kwan.
From the information available at the four Kelurahan the number
of eligible WNI-Ghinese descent voters was found to be as follows:
No. of		Per cent of total eligible voters	Total number of eligible voters
Kelurahan	eligible voters of Chinese descent		
Kota Kaler	126	1.5	8,521
Kota We tan	1,355	14. 5	9,315
Kota Kidul	396	4.6	8,644
Kota Kulon	655	6« 6	9,927
Total	2,532		36, 407
As could be expected, based on the results of the former elec-
tions, the majority of the votes of the WNI-Chinese descent was given
to the Baperki,
Kelurahan
TCota" Wetan	Kota Kulon	"KSta Kidul	Kota Kaler	Total
WNI of Chinese descent eligible to vote	1355	655	396	126	2532
Votes for Baperki	678	401	267	37	1383
Voting rights not used or votes	(50%)	(61%)	(67.4%) (29.4%)		(54, 6%)
given to other parties (on the	677	254	129	89	1149
assumption that all Baperki votes
were cast by WNI of Chin, descent)249
In the attempt to find out the distribution of WNI votes for other than
the Baperki, an ecological analysis was made on the assumption that all
Baperki votes were cast by WNI, Those parties which for obvious reasons
WNI voters would not have been interested in--such as the Moslem parties,
the women’s organizations, the regional organizations, the peasant and the
police employees organizations--have been left out of the calculations.
The procedure was as follows: the results of the polling stations in the
areas with an almost similar density of the WNI Chinese descent popula-
tion were grouped together. In each group the results of the parties likely
to have received support of these WNI voters were compared and com-
puted. This analysis showed the order of preference in regard to the
parties outside of the Baperki to be: Parkindo; PSI; Mur ba; Katolik; PKI.
In regard to the Baperki it was to be expected that it would have the
first preference. Typical is the explanation for this given by a Peranakan
in his early sixties, the owner of a stationery store who is a well-known
personality in town: "We Peranakans are non-party, therefore we vote for
the Baperki." This statement is a clear indication of the effectiveness of
the strong emphasis the Baperki has always put on its non-partyness, a
psychologically clever move to appeal to people who have traditionally
shown an aversion towards participation in politics. Thus many Perana-
kans take it for granted that they should vote for the kembang terate
(the lotus flower, the symbol of the Baperki).
The Parkindo coming out first among the parties outside of the
Baperki is an indication, first, of the considerable number of Peranakan
Protestants and, second, of the effectiveness of the campaign of the
Christian leaders to make their followers aware of their specific interests
as Christians, which they claim can only be taken care of by Christian
parties. Thus, one of the Peranakans who is active in the Parkindo as
well as the Baperki told the writer that he is convinced that Peranakan
Christians voted in favor of either the Parkindo or the Partai Katolik and
not for the Baperki. (In this election the two Christian parties made an
agreement to pool their votes. )
As to the PSI, we have already mentioned how before the rise of
the Baperki it received some support among the Peranakans, probably not
in small part due to the strong backing it has always received from Keng
Po, the most widely read newspaper among the Peranakans in Sukabumi.
In regard to the Murba, it is surely the fact that a Peranakan was put up
as one of its candidates which drew some Peranakans to vote for it.
Finally, as to the question of whether the WNI-Chinese descent
took an active part in this election, the answer is surely in the affirma-
tive. This can be shown by the following calculation: the total number of
votes for the Baperki is 1, 383, or 54. 6 per cent. We may assume that
these were all given by WNI of Chinese descent. The total number of
votes for the Parkindo-Partai Katolik is 781. The total number of Peran-
akan Christians is 900 (after subtracting the about 100 Totoks). If we
assume that one-third of them was eligible to vote, then there would be
300 WNI-Chinese descent who voted for the Christian parties. It is highly
probable that this figure is still a conservative estimation, because it is
unlikely that the majority of the 781 votes for these two parties were given250
by Indonesians, as there are certainly fewer Indonesian than Peranakan
Christians. Besides, there are the votes that must have been given to
the PSI and the Murba. So it would appear that we may add 400 non-
Baperki votes to tlxe I’i 383 votes for the Baperki, which makes a total
of 1, 783 votes, The total number of WNI-Chinese descent eligible to
vote is 2, 532, from which we may conclude that at least 70 per cent of
them turned up at the polling stations, (9) This compares not unfavor-
ably with the total number of valid votes cast by non - WNI -C hine s e
descent voters, which is 79 per cent.
Participation in Formal Organizations
The organizational activities of the Totoks and the Peranakans
will be discussed together in this section because there is, in fact, only
one organization which is exclusively alien, all others being more or
less culturally determined along the dichotomy of Totok-Peranakan,
some with a majority of the former, others with a majority of the latter.
Virtually all of them have Chinese (in the Mandarin or in the Hokkien
pronunciation) names or, if they have changed to an Indonesian name,
are still referred to by their Chinese name.
The Lien I Hui--This organization is only recently formed
(July 1956), probably in view of the change of the name of the Chung
Hua Tsung Hui into Badan Permusjawaratan Indonesia Tionghoa (Con-
sultative Body of Indonesian Chinese), abbreviated ΒΡΓΪ, on November
1, 1956. Structurally the Lien I Hui seems to be the counterpart of the
BPIT in that it is also a coordinating body to which other organizations
are affiliated. As such it seems to be the leading organization which
acts for the alien community in relations with non-aliens. We have al-
ready seen that it played the leading role in the October first celebra-
tion of 1956. This is a conclusive indication that its political orienta-
tion is decidedly pro-Peking, This is also shown by the fact that its
office is situated in the pro-Peking Chung Hua school. The members
of the board are predominantly Hokkiens, with the most important ones
also serving as members of the school board of the Chung Hua school.
The Eng Tjhun Kong So--This is the speech group association of
the Hokkiens coming from the district of Yung Ch’un. This is one of
the oldest associations in town, having been founded in 1910, The nu-
cleus is formed by the kongsi of owners of salted-fish shops. (There
are only two kongsis in town; the other one is that of porksellers,)
The association owns a spacious building, built before the war from
funds accumulated by the donation of a few cents for each kilogram of
trasi (shrimp paste, the basic ingredient for the sambal, the relish
(9) This figure is computed by subtracting the figure of the assumed
WNI-Chinese descent votes (1,783) from the total valid votes (28,508)
which gives the total valid non-WNI-Chinese descent votes: 26,725.
This figure is divided by 33, 875, which is the number of the total
eligible voters (36,407) minus the total of the eligible voters of Chi-
nese descent (2, 532).251
made of pounded hot pepper which is indispensable in the Indonesian as
well as the Peranakan menu) sold by the members of the kongsi. This
building is rented to the public for wedding or birthday parties or any
other kind of party.
Membership is open to all men (the fact that there are no women
members indicates the traditional structure of this type of association)
of Eng Tjhun origin and their descendants, regardless of place of birth
or nationality. No dues are collected. In fact it boils down to this, that
those who can claim to be of Eng Tjhun origin have the privilege of
renting the building at a rate about one-third of the amount asked from
non-Eng Tjhun people.
The board is elected annually, but for the past several years the
chairman has been a local-born man of China-born parents, educated in
China, who has been a principal of the Chung Hua school. He is an Indo-
nesian citizen, a strong proof that this association is not restricted to
aliens,
In regard to political orientation, it is generally considered pro-
Peking, though the chairman claims that it has no political color whatso-
ever, It is not surprising that it is regarded as such, because alien
Hokkiens are virtually all citizens of Peking China.
The Hak Suk Kung Hui--This association is the Hakka counterpart
of the Eng Tjhun Kong So. IF is a very young association, founded only in
1954--a clear indication of the much more recent settlement of Hakkas in
this area. It also owns a spacious building which is rented to the public
for parties.
Membership is open to Hakka men and their descendants, regard-
less of place of birth or nationality. The officers are elected for a
period of two years.
This association is generally considered pro-KMT, presumably
because among the leading Hakka men there are quite a number who are
known as being pro-KMT or at the least not pro-Peking,
These three organizations are the largest and the most community-
wide. They are generally considered to be Totok organizations, because
in their cultural and political outlook they are decidedly China oriented,
either Peking or Taipei. The Lien I Hui can be categorized under what
Willmott calls the ’’community leadership organizations";(10) it acts
indeed as spokesman for the interests of the alien community, it serves
as intermediary between this community and the government (though
during the time of the study still indirectly through the BPIT) and it is the
agency to which members of the community turn when they are in need of
help and guidance. The two speech group associations seem to be based on
the idea of the traditional mutual aid associations. As far as their function
(10) Willmott, The Chinese of Semarang, p, 135,2S 2
goes, however, they clearly perforin a service that is extended beyond
their members by providing their building for the use of non-members
also.
Next to these large organizations which cater to the social needs
of the community, there are the clubs which are formed by small groups
of people who share a certain specific interest or a certain specific hobby.
There is the Su Chung Hsiao Yu Hui, the organization of students and ex-
students of the high school level of the Chung Hua. Composed of students
of a Peking-oriented school, this organization is also considered pro-
Peking. Then there are the clubs set up for purely recreational purposes,
as for instance sports and music clubs. These are the Yeh 1 Shih, a
Chinese boxing and barongsai club, which has Totok Hokkien as well as
Peranakan members (but a majority of the former), and the Hua Chiang
Shih, a music, (western instruments) and barongsai club, also of Totok
Hokkiens and Peranakans but with a majority of the latter. Both clubs
have their meeting place in the Eng Tjhun Kong So building.
We will now discuss the organizations which are generally con-
sidered Peranakan organizations. There are six of them:
BPIT, the former Chung Hua Tsung Hui (social organization)
Baperki (political organization)
Sam Kauw Hwee (religious or rather spiritual association)
Djin Gie Hwee (funeral association)
Gie Say Hwee (recreational club)
PPSMI (organization of Indonesian-language middle school
students, formerly called Chung Lien Hui)
The five organizations, starting from the Baperki down, have
already been covered in the sections on political behavior, public reli-
gious activities, funeral practices, the activities in the temple on the
occasion of New Year and the feast day of Kwan Kong, and in the section
on education, respectively. It remains only to discuss the BPIT.
The BPIT (Badan Permusjawaratan Indonesia Tionghoa, literally,
Consultative Council of Indonesian Chinese) is a continuation of the
Chung Hua Tsung Hui, which was, in turn, a continuation of the Hua
Ch^ao Tsung Hui (Overseas Chinese Central Association), the only
Chinese organization allowed to operate during the Japanese occupation.
The change into Chung Hua Tsun^ Hui occurred after the war, when it
became a federation of organizations to which all Chinese organizations
could affiliate themselves. Organizations with the same name and pur-
pose exist or existed in virtually all places with a sizeable Chinese
community.
In regard to the change into BPIT, which occurred on November
1, 1956, an announcement in Indonesian and Chinese was sent to all
members (on October 1) explaining this act as follows:
As we all know, since the Indonesian government has
issued the Citizenship Act there are two groups with a
different status not only among those born in China but253
also among those born in Indonesia. One part became
Indonesian citizens and another part chose Chinese
citizenship.
Asa result of this situation, it is very difficult for
the Chung Hua Tsung Hui, whose members consist of
60 per cent WNI and 40 per cent Chinese citizens, to
continue its activities in the same way as in the past,
unless the name and status are changed in accordance
with the change of status of the members.
Considering the fact that an organization with the
structure and the activities such as the CHTH is still
necessary among us, therefore, as happened in other
towns, (11) the executive board of the CHTH made the
decision to change the name of the CHTH as of
November 1, 1956 into:
Badan Permusjawaratan Indonesia-Tionghoa
Abbreviated BPIT
which will continue performing the activities of the
CHTH. (12)
The purpose and activities of the BPIT as outlined in their statutes
clearly point to the truly social character of this organization. Its function
as intermediary is also definitiely brought out by its aim of "establishing
feelings of brotherhood between Indonesians and Chinese," and its acting as
"informant" to pass on regulations and decisions of the government. It is
surely this function of intermediary which has induced the leaders of the
organization to continue keeping its membership open to aliens. The office,
situated in one of the annexes of the former residence of the Chinese
kapitan and open daily with a staff consisting of the chairman, secretary,
and an office worker, actually serves as a consultation bureau. This
office is generally referred to among the Peranakans as kantor Tsung Hui
(kantor is Indonesian for office), even after the name was changed. People
in conflict with the police, confused by the assessment of their taxes or
anything connected with the government, and not infrequently also those
involved in private conflicts (difficulties with neighbors or in business
transactions, etc. ) all come to this office to ask the advice or the arbi-
tration of the chairman, Mr. Tan Beng Yauw. Here is also situated the
office of a Peranakan solicitor from Djakarta who holds office on certain
days of the week. It is primarily in his function as chairman of the BPIT
that Mr. Tan is known in the community, among the Peranakans as well as
the Totoks (although he is also chairman of the Baperki and the Sam Kauw
Hwee). As such he, in fact, performs the role of tlie former kapitan Or
luitenant and later wijkm eester of the Chinese. We have seen that he was
the person called by the military commander to represent the Chinese
(11)	For instance, in Bogor.
(12)	Translation from the Indonesian text by the writer. This organiza-
tion still has an official Chinese name in Chinese characters.254
community in connection with the clean-up campaign. As far as the
Indonesian authorities are concerned, it is the BPIT in the person of
Mr. Tan which represents the Chinese community as a whole. Mr. Tan,
who does not speak Chinese at all, in turn relays announcements and in-
structions to the Totok community through Mr. Lim Eng Kauw, the
recognized leader of the pro-Peking group (local born of Fukien-born
parents, Chinese education, in his middle forties, wealthy owner of a
salted fish shop) and, until his death in 1957, through Mr. Lim Beng
Hok, the recognized leader of the pro-KMT group (China-born Hokkien
man, in his early sixties, wealthy gold shop owner).
The BPIT also functions as the organization which provides help
for the old and tbe needy. It has a special relief fund from which, during
the time of the study, nine men, two women, and two children received
weekly support. At the time of Chinese New Year, about a week before,
a special distribution is held for all who are considered as needy. To
find out who really needs help, the aid of the Protestant churches and,
of course, also of the Sam Kauw Hwee is asked. (It is interesting to
note that the Catholic Church was not included. Asked why, the chair-
man replied that there are no needy people among them.) This distribu-
tion gives a good indication of the number of poor people in the Chinese
community. In 1957, about ninety persons were found to be eligible for
help. Each received a package consisting of one pound of tapioca flour,
one ounce of tea, one ounce of sugar, one ounce of coffee, one bottle
of soya'sauce, some cakes, one piece of cloth (for women to make a
kabaja), one shirt for men and cash from ten up to forty rupiah.
Usually rice is also included in the package, but as at that time it was
extremely expensive, there was not enough money collected to buy it.
Some of the articles were bought with money donated by the Chinese com-
munity, Totoks as well as Peranakans, and some were presented by
shopkeepers. Those who were to receive a package were notified to
come to the office of the BPIT on a certain day at eight in the morning.
By 11 o’clock the writer had counted 78 persons: Peranakans, 28 males
and 31 females; Totoks, 6 males and 3 females; Indonesians, 10 females
(widows or wives of Chinese men). All these people had to sigh their
names, which revealed that 33 were able to write, while 7 wrote their
name in Chinese characters; all others made a thumb print. Thus, of
the poorest group in the community, 50 per cent were illiterate, We
may infer from this that, with only about one per cent to be considered
needy, there is no problem of pauperism in the Chinese community of
Sukabumi.
The BPIT office is also the place where transients who are on
their way to look for a job in Bogor or Djakarta, but find themselves
short of money to continue the trip, might apply for transportation money,
which they usually get.
Thus we find that in regard to organizational activities, there-
is a distinction between Peranakan organizations and Totok organiza-
tions, a distinction which is generally recognized by the community it-
self. The former are characterized by the use of an Indonesian name
(BPIT, Baperki, PPSMI) or a Hokkien-derived name (Sam Kauw Hwee,255
Gie Say Hwee). The BPIT, of course, has a unique position due to its offi-
cially recognized function as the link between this community and the gov-
ernment. There are indications, however, that a separation will occur,
with the Lien 1 Hui taking over this function for the alien community, and
Mr. Lim Eng Kauw as its spokesman, one of the recognized leaders of this
community, already known to the Indonesian authorities, for he often
accompanies Mr. Tan in discussions with them. Another characteristic
of Peranakan organizations is the use of Indonesian in meetings, announce-
ments, and publications. This is a clear indication that the organizational
separation between these two groups is based on culturally determined
factors which has produced the dichotomy Peranakan-Totok. As to
national status, we may safely assume that virtually all of the members
are WNI.
In regard to the Totok organizations, they are characterized by the
use of a Chinese name, usually in the Mandarin pronunciation, except for
the speech group associations, the use of Chinese at meetings, again
usually Mandarin which points to the influence of the Chinese-language
schools where Mandarin is the language of instruction, and the use of
Chinese characters in their announcements and publications. We have al-
ready noticed that, except for the Lien I Hui, all other Totkk organiza-
tions seem to disregard the national status of their members. It would
appear that in this area, too, a change is pending which is primarily due
to the government regulation of prohibiting WNI to attend alien, i. e. ,
Chinese schools (a large proportion of the members of these organizations
have been drawn from these schools) and the clear-cut division in national
status between WNI and aliens.
Thus we may conclude that next to the schools it is in the organiza-
tional activities that we will no longer have to make the distinction among
the ethnic Chinese along the culturally determined dichotomy of Peranakan-
Totok, bdt along the dichotomy determined by national status, WNI-Alien,
In regard to participation in Indonesian organizations, we have al-
ready mentioned that few Peranakans join any of the political parties. This
is true of the other types of organizations as well. This was confirmed in
regard to the women also by the president of the BKQW, the Badan
Koordinasi Organisasi Wanita (the Coordinating Body of Indonesian Women’s
Organizations). The only Peranakan women’s organization is the women’s
section of the Chinese Protestant church, which was not affiliated with
the BKQW at the time of the study, but the president informed the writer
that steps were being taken in that direction.
There is, however, an exclusive club formed by the top officials
of the town, among others the mayor, the regent, the patih (second in
rank to the regent), the djaksa (public prosecutor), notary public, which
Peranakan large enterprisers, among others the managers of the big
theaters and the owner of one of the largest textile factories, have been
invited to join. The club has meetings once a month, the members taking
turns acting as host. Originally the setup was for each host to give a
talk on his occupation, in order that they might get some idea of one
another’s work, but the writer was informed that this program was of256
short duration. Soon the club turned into a regular social club with card
playing, gossiping, and eating {the wives of the meinbers also join the
meetings).
It is, in fact, only in the hobby clubs that we find inter-group
mixing, as for instance in the tennis clubs, hunting groups, in arranging
cock fights and listening to the perkutut bird. (13) Of the seven tennis
clubs in Sukabumi which are affiliated with the Pelti, the national tennis
association, only two are exclusively Indonesian; all others are mixed
Indonesian-Peranakan, several also including some Eurasians. The
mixed club with the largest membership is the STC (Sukabumi Tennis
Club) which has seven ethnic Indonesian members, nine Peranakans,
one Eurasian,and one German. This is the oldest tennis club in town
and is considered the elite club because among its members are the
regent, the chief judge, the public prosecutor, the secretary of the
municipal hall, one of the top-ranking officers of the police training
school, the best-known Peranakan physician, the only German surgeon,
the Peranakan owner of one of the largest textile factories, and the
Peranakan owner of the largest printing plant. It is in this western
game that the western-educated Indonesian and the western-educated
Peranakan find their meeting ground for social interaction. And it is
through contacts in this field that the wealthy Peranakans who form the
western-educated group establish relationships with the top administra-
tive officials who constitute the elite among the Indonesians, making it
unnecessary for them to contact the chairman of the BPIT, for instance,
to act as intermediary in their dealings with the government.
Intergroup Relations
In the final section of this chapter we will examine the pattern
of social interaction between the members of the three communities:
Totok-Peranakan, Totok-Indonesian, and Peranakan-Indonesian. The
approach we will take is to determine the pattern of interaction in,
first, public institutions and public situations such as in church, school,
formal organizations, business, and at the polling station during the
election, and second, private institutions and private situations such
as informal recreational and social clubs, formal and informal enter-
taining, and incidence of intermarriage and conversion to Islam.
Totok-Peranakan
Social interaction in public institutions and public situations--
Chur ch and school are tKe two important places in'this category:
1. Interaction in church--As there are no Totoks among the
Catholics, we may omit the Catholic Church in this discussion. (During
(13) The perkutut is a bird belonging to the pigeon family, with a parti-
cular way of cooing which the lovers of these birds can listen to for
hours on end. There are even perkutut contests. These birds are usu-
ally kept in a cage which during the day is hoisted on a tall bamboo pole
in the front or back yard of the house. This is a hobby usually found
among older men only.257
the time of the study, an attempt was made by a Dutch refugee missionary
from China to get in touch with Totoks, but to the writer’s knowledge, he
was not successful.)
Among the Protestants there are Totoks in the two largest churches:
the Tiong Hoa Kie Tok Kauw Hwee and the Sidang Kristus. In the former,
the Totoks, who form a small Hokkien-speaking group with service in
Hokkien, are completely separate from the Peranakans. In the latter
church there is no separation of services, but still social interaction
seems not to extend beyond the formal meeting in church and the equally
formal situation of attending a wedding reception after the church cere-
mony, for instance. This is especially the case when both husband and
wife are Totoks. If the wife is a Peranakan, the degree of social inter-
action with other Peranakans is immediately much higher.
2. Interaction in school--Practically all ethnic Chinese children of
school age are local born; this situation follows from the fact that few im-
migrants have come since the last few years before the Pacific war.
During the school year 1956-1957, of the ethnic Chinese children in school,
more than half (59, 5 per cent) were attending Chinese-language schools:
on all levels except the senior high school there was a higher proportion
in Chinese-language schools than in Indonesian-language schools. As we
have pointed out in the chapter on education, this means that there must
be a considerable number of children of Peranakans attending Chinese
schools.
Among the students themselves there seems to be no indication of
a distinction made between Peranakan and Totok parentage. This can be
attributed to the fact that for all of the students the medium of instruction,
Mandarin, is a language they have to learn from the start, because even
among the children of China-born parents the language they speak at home
is usually not Mandarin, but one of the regional languages of the area of
origin of their parents. The means of communication among all these
children, prior to acquiring facility in Mandarin,is Sundanese add Malay.
It would appear that it is only among the small number who continue
in senior high school that we notice a positive orientation towards China,
which is indicated among others by the fact that they usually speak
Mandarin among themselves. Among those who quit school at the junior
high level or even earlier, the children of Peranakans remain Peranakan
oriented, while the children of Totoks either continue their China
orientation or become Peranakan oriented also, depending on their occu-
pation and association.
Since the implementation of the government regulation prohibiting
WNI children from attending alien schools, however, a radical change in
die"’ education system has occurred, in that from then on ethnic Chinese
children who are WNI no longer have the opportunity to acquire a formal
education which would foster an orientation towards China. Although this
has not resulted in an immediate and complete integration of ethnic Chi-
nese children in public schools (a situation which is partly caused by the
technical factor of lack of schools), yet there are positive indications of258
the breakdown, of the exclusiveness of the ethnic Chinese, which is
especially true on the secondary school level. Thus in the field of
formal education we will eventually have a clear-cut distinction between
ethnic Chinese students who are China oriented and aliens, and those
who are Indonesia oriented and Indonesian citizens.
Interaction in formal organizations «--The, formal organizations in
Sukabumi are recognized by the community itself as either Peranakan or
Totok, although many of them are not exclusive in their membership.
There seems to be a positive correlation between the type of organiza-
tion and the type of the majority of the membership, i. e., Peranakan or
Totok, The organizations in Sukabumi can be distinguished into six
types or categories:
Mutual aid organizations: the two speech group associations
and the funeral association.
Social organizations: the Lien I Hui and the BPIT.
Recreational clubs: the Yeh I iShih, Hua Chiang Shih, and the
Gie Sai Hwee.
Students* organizations: the Shu Chung Hsiao Yu Hui and the
-----------------------------------------------------
Political organization: Baperki.
Religious or spiritual organization: Sam Kauw Hwee.
In the first category, the mutual aid organizations, the two
speech group associations are considered Totok organizations, though
both have Peranakan members also, while the funeral association is
considered Peranakan, though it includes some Totok members. All
three organizations have two things in common: first, they function as
a kind of mutual aid society in that members enjoy certain privileges
in the use of property owned by the association, and second, they have
an impersonal character, in that organized social activities seem to
be kept to a minimum. Thus it would appear that in this type of organ-
ization, the main attraction is its utilitarian aspect. This would be
especially true of the minority group in each of these organizations.
Comparing the three organizations as a whole as to the importance we
may attach to this function of the utilitarian aspect, it is perhaps least
applicable in the Hakka association, more so in the Eng Tjhun associ-
ation and most so in the Peranakan funeral association. These differ-
ent degrees of cohesiveness no doubt reflect the characteristics of the
majority of the members in each of these organizations. The Hakka
association was founded only a few years back, from which we may in-
fer that it is set up to fill a need which is acutely felt at the present
time. Moreover, Hakkas are more recent immigrants, which accounts
for two facts: there are fewer Peranakans, thus creating a more homo-
geneous membership; there is a stronger need for group formation.
The Eng Tjhun association is of a much older date, resulting in a wider
range of membership, from completely Totok to completely Peranakan,
which is, of course, not conducive for the formation of a homogeneous
group. The Djin Gie Hwee has been from the start a predominantly
Peranakan organization. The character of this type of organization is
congenial to the Peranakans, who are generally lacking in organizational
spirit. As we have noted earlier, membership in this association func-
tions as a kind of insurance and it does not require more than the259
payment of monthly dues and a certain specified amount whenever a mem-
ber dies, Thus, despite the mixed membership, the character of these
organizations is not conducive to the formation of close sodal interactions
between Totoks and Peranakans.
Of the second category, the social organizations, the Lien I Hui
is considered completely Totok, although it includes members who are
technically Peranakan. On the other hand, the BPIT, although member-
ship is open to Totoks, is considered completely t’eranakan, which is
due to its unique position as the link between the Chinese community as
a whole and the Indonesian government. The BPIT as such, however, does
not provide opportunities for socializing, because internally it functions
more or less as a coordinating body, to which smaller organizations and
clubs can affiliate themselves. Thus in this type of organization also
there is a minimum of opportunity for social interaction between Totoks
and Peranakans.
The third category, the recreational clubs, shovsa different picture.
All three clubs have a mixed membership, but in the Yeh I Shih the Totok
element predominates and in the Hua Chiang Shih the Peranakan element,
while the Gie Sai Hwee is almost completely Peranakan except for a few
Totoks, among them one of the ex-coaches for Chinese boxing, . All three
clubs have two things in common: they are youth clubs consisting mostly
of students and ex-students of Chinese-language schools and their form
of recreation is China oriented: the playing of the lion and/or the dragon
and the practice of Chinese boxing. Since these members are mostly
young people, as in the school situation, we have to point out that the
Totok element we are referring to designates the cultural orientation,
because technically virtually all these youths are Peranakans. It would
appear, therefore, that the effect of these clubs is a preservation of a
certain aspect of the Chinese cultural heritage, resulting in the re-
inforcement of Peranakanization and not so much in an increase in China
orientedness.
In the fourth category, the students’ organizations, there is a posi-
tive split, in that the Su Chung Hsiao Yu Hui is an organization of students
of Chinese-language schools, while the PPS~MI is its counterpart for
students of Indonesian-language schools. To the writer’s knowledge there
is no formal or informal relationship between these two organizations.
In the fifth category, the spiritual organization, the Sam Kauw
Hwee is totally Peranakan, with the meetings, publications, and announce -
ments in Indonesian. We have already indicated that the formation of this
organisation can be considered as the expression of a desire for reintegra-
tion and reassertion of their specific identity by Peranakans.
In the sixth category, the political organization, the Baperki
by its participation in Indonesian politics is by definition a Peranakan
organization.
Interaction in the realm of business--We have already noted that
Totoks are virtually all engaged in business, the majority of them
operating small retail shops. However, an observation supported by many260
Peranakan as well as Totok informants is that when both a Totok-owned
shop of a certain type and a Peranakan-owned exist, Peranakans tend to
patronize the latter rather than the former. This seems to be partly an
indication of group solidarity in the economic field (because when the
Totok owner of a shop has a Peranakan wife who also helps in the shop,
there are also a considerable number of Peranakan patrons) and partly
the result of the fact that most Totok-owned shops carry lower quality
goods and' have, moreover, less variety. The largest grocery store,
textile shop, and iron-ware store are operated by Peranakans, for in-
stance, Many of the well-to-do among the Peranakans even make special
trips to Djakarta or Bandung for shopping purposes,
Totok and Peranakan shop owners also have little contact with
each other, except in those branches which are monopolized by Totoks,
e. g„, the iron-ware stores. These are almost all owned by China-born
Hokkiens coming from the same village in the vicinity of Hsia-men.
There is one shop among them, however, which is owned by a Peranakan
in his early forties, belonging to one of the wealthy old families in town.
He is a very genial man who knows practically everybody in town, Totoks
as well as Peranakans. He told the writer that he can get on very well
with the Totok shop owners. He talks Malay with them, mixed with,
some Hokkien, which he has picked up through his frequent contacts with
them. He added, however, that his relations with them are strictly on
the business level. They meet in the store and he seldom or never
comes to their house, nor does he invite them to his house. (Both he
and his wife had a Dutch school education. ) He seems to be one of the
few Peranakans accepted by the Totoks; he has been chosen a member
of the school board of the Chung Hua school, the members of which are
virtually all China-born Hokkinns, even though he does not speak Chinese
and does not have children attending the school. (He has only one
daughter and she attends the school run by the Chinese Protestant church. )
He told the writer that he does not understand why he was selected to
serve on the board, because he does not know Chinese at all, which was
the reason why he had been to the meetings only once or twice during the
year of office. The writer suspects that besides his geniality it is the
fact that he has rejected Indonesian citizenship, thereby becoming a
Chinese citizen, which has contributed to his acceptability among the
Totok Hokkiens.
In the manufacturing branch there seems to be more contact be-
tween these two groups. The manager of one of the largest textile fac-
tories told the writer that his greatest buyer is a China-born Hokchia
man. This person functions as middleman between the producer and the
(usually Totok) wholesale buyers, concentrated in the well-known
Pintu Xetjil business center in the Chinatown of Djakarta. The manager
of the largest Peranakan-owned tea factory also informed the writer
that his agents are Totok men, who buy the tea for the dealers, who
sort, mix, and pack it, prior to marketing.
Both managers are of the opinion that Totok buyers are excellent
customers, because they are reliable and competent persons and, being
Totoks themselves, can make better deals with the many Totok wholesale
and retail enterprisers.261
Social interaction in private institutions and private situations--
Informal recreational and social clubs of mixed iotoks and Peranakans
appear to exist only in the form of gambling clubs. The writer was in-
formed of several Peranakan and Totok men who are known as regular
gamblers. The games they play are mah-jong and Chinese cards.
Entertaining, informal or even formal, seems hardly to exist between
these two groups. On the occasions of Totok weddings and parties which
the writer attended hardly any Peranakans were present, and vice versa.
At a Hakka wedding, that group to which the writer belonged were the
only Peranakans. This was also the case at a party given by a Hokchia
man on the occasion of his first son becoming one month old. At a wedding
of which the bride was a Peranakan and the groom a local-born adopted
son of Totok parents, the members of the family of the bride were the
only Peranakans present at the party given by the family of the groom.
The Same situation can be seen at funerals. At the Totok funerals the
writer attended, there were few Peranakans, while at the Peranakan
funerals there were virtually no Totoks, It would appear, however, that
where the wife of a Totok man is a Peranakan, the situation can be differ-
ent. In one of the weddings described in the section dealing with this
topic, for instance, we have seen how, despite the fact that the father of
the groom was a Totok, the celebi-ation was completely dominated by
Peranakans,
Intermarriage between Totok men and Peranakan women has always
occurred, but in the instances observed in Sukabumi, the Peranakan women
were virtually all of the lower class. The men are usually Hokkiens,
Quite a number of the owners of the small shpp§ along the Djalan Plabuan
II and its side streets and in the vicinity of the, temple, for instance, are
found to have Peranakan wives. It is not infrequent that these marriages
are not legal, i. e„ not officially registered, though in the case of a first
marriage of the Peranakan woman, the sembahjang samkai may have been
performed. -Qne of the judges at the court told the writer that many a
Peranakan woman had come to court to bring a charge against her husband
for deserting her and the children. In these cases, the judge said, it is
very difficult to hold the husband responsible, because the marriage is
not considered legal.
Asked why, compared to the Hokkiens, few Hakkas marry
Peranakan women, a local-born Hakka man of China-born parents, him-
self as well as his younger brothers and sisters all married to China-born
or local-born Hakkas, explained that, besides being more recent immi-
grants than the Hokkiens, Hakkas in general are more determined to
return to their native country after having saved enough money. Therefore,
he said, it would not be wise to marry a Peranakan woman, because it is
doubtful whether she would be able to feel at home in the native place of
her husband. Thus Hakka men often return to their village to get a wife
and then come back with her to Indonesia.
This lack of social interaction between Totoks and Peranakans is
the result of the crucial difference in cultural orientation as expressed in
language, education, occupational performance, and practices and cus-
toms, creating intergroup prejudices of which both groups are sharply262
aware. The relationship between these two groups is aptly described
by the former wijkmeester, a Peranakan, by the statement that
"Totoks and Peranakans are like oil and water," in other words, they
can never come together. The greatest barrier is, of course, formed
by the difference in language, resulting in the impossibility of free and
easy communication. We have already noted that the home language of
the Peranakans in Sukabumi is a mixture of Sundanese and Malay and
in western-educated families a mixture of both plus Dutch. Among the
children of these families who attend Chinese-language schools the use
of Mandarin is, of course, limited to the school environment, but even
then it is often mixed with Sundanese and Malay, The home language of
Totoks, on the other hand, is one of the local dialects of their area of
origin in China and for the younger generation, Mandarin. The only
other language they would know is a working knowledge of Sundanese
and Malay.
There are definitely mutual feelings of superiority between
these two groups. Totoks look down on Peranakans because they have
lost some of the crucial characteristics of being a Chinese: they do not
speak Chinese, they are unable to eat with chopsticks. The ability to
do the latter seems to be considered an important indication of
"Chineseness"; Peranakans who show skill in handling chopsticks never
fail to evoke a pleased surprise among Totoks. Then, of course, there
is the choice of Indonesian citizenship. This choice has placed the final
barrier between the two groups. The writer noticed that Peranakan stu-
dents of Chinese-language schools who have Indonesian citizenship are
very reluctant and even ashamed to disclose this. Totoks refer to
Indonesians as hoan-d, a Hokkien term meaning foreigner or barbarian,
but in a derogatory sense. It would appear that when a Totok wants to
express contempt for a Peranakan he refers to him as a person who
has jlp hoan (jip meaning to enter, to come in), i. e., become Indonesian.
In the obcupational field, Totoks have a high evaluation of being
one’s own boss, even though on an extremely small scale; therefore,
they tend to look down on Peranakans, a considerable number of whom
are wage earners. Totoks have also a high evaluation of frugality and
the ability to save which is indicated by their willingness to live on as
low a standard of living as possible. A China-born Hokkien married to
a Peranakan woman has given the following striking comparison in this
respect: When a Totok can afford to spend 15 rupiah a day on food, he
will save at least 2, 50, for instance, by cutting down on the variety of
dishes. A Peranakan, however, will use up all. This is a highly inter-
esting comparison, because, as we will see later, this very same
inability to save is a characteristic Peranakans ascribe to Indonesians.
Peranakans, on the other hand, also feel superior to Totoks.
In the first place, we have to bear in mind, however, that the Totoks
with whom Peranakans usually come in contact are the small warong
keepers and small retail shop owners, who are, of course, of low
socio-economic status. Thus we find that Peranakans consider Totoks
uneducated and illiterate, because they cannot read and write Latin
letters. Their speech, especially that of Hakkas,is considered queer,263
crude, and loud, "as if they are fighting continuously," Little Peranakan
children like to imitate them, and this is generally considered very funny.
Another cause for hilarity is the way Totoks speak Malay or Sundanese.
Peranakans consider Totcks also as lacking in cleanliness: their shops
and their way of living is considered unclean and untidy. Eating with chop-
sticks is all right, but not the use of one’s own chopsticks to pick up food
from the serving dishes, which is considered downright unhygienic,
especially by those who have had a western education. A Peranakan,
Dutch-educated young woman told the writer how horrified she was when,
at a Totok dinner, her host picked up some choice morsels with his chop-
sticks and put them on her plate. Peranakans often refer to a Totok as
orang entjek, a term which is a combination of the Indonesian word orang
(a man, a person) and the Hokkien-derived term entjek, which is the kin-
ship term for FaYBr. It has a derogatory connotation and stems from the
fact that Totok warong and shop keepers are usually addressed with entjek.
It is not considered as an extension of the use of the kinship term iteself,
however, because it is used as a term of address even though the person
involved is clearly much older than the father of the speaker. (If it were,
the proper terms would be empe or pe. )
In the occupational field there is also a high evaluation among
Peranakans placed on being one’s own boss, but they tend to seek this in
the field of the free professions. There is no doubt also about the high
evaluation of frugality and thriftness, and hard work, though Peranakans
admit that Totoks surpass them at these virtues. In regard to business
practices, Peranakans concede that Totoks achieve more, which they
attribute to the greater daring and boldness of Totok businessmen in ap-
proaching officials and bribing them. They claim that as immigrants
who have no vested interests yet and no good reputation to uphold, Totoks
can afford to resort to this kind of practice. Although there is a certain
admiration for this toughness and perseverance, yet there is a tendency
to consider these traits as unfavorable and possibly detrimental to the
interests of the Chinese community as a whole.
It would appear that Peranakans with certain vested intrrests,
especially those engaged in business, are inclined to make a sharp distinc-
tion between Totoks and Peranakans or rather between aliens and WNI»
claiming that the stereotype of all Chinese being rich and sharp and
shrewd businessmen applies to the aliens only. This points in a positive
sense to an increasingly widening gap between the two groups and in a
negative sense to a lack of solidarity between them.
Totok-Indonesian
Social interaction in public institutions and public situations --A dis-
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cussion of the interaction m church, school, formal organization, and at
the polling stations during the election can safely be omitted, because the
occurrence of these situations is highly improbable. The form t>f inter-
action which we observe between these two groups is limited to the realm
of business: the shopkeeper-customer relationship, and in the exchange
of services for payment: employer-domestic servant or production worker.
In other words, the relationship between these two groups is characterized
by a highly impersonal attitude and completely determined by the utilitarian264
aspect: Totoks view the ethnic Indonesians as useful production workers
and easy customers, while the ethnic Indonesians view the Totoks as use-
ful employers and as the providers of commodities which are within their
budget. Outside the commercial sphere there is also the formal contact
which occurs occasionally, for instance on such formal occasions as the
opening of the new section of the Chung Hua school and the reception on
the first of October, when Indonesian authorities are invited.
Any closer social interaction is precluded by the language barrier
and by the great cultural difference between the two groups. The writer
was made vividly aware of this difference when observing the highly
puzzled expression on the faces of the Indonesian onlookers watching the
burning of the paper articles on the occasion of the big annual offering
of the Hakka women and viewing the display of food offerings on the
occasion of the offering for the neglected spirits.^ These acts must be
the more puzzling to them in view of the extreme frugality displayed
by Totoks in other aspects of their daily life.
One form of interaction which should not be underestimated is
the employment of Indonesian domestic servants, especially of those
who look after the children. Undoubtedly it is these Indonesian "nurses"
who are responsible for the intrusion of the language of the local area
in speech at home, also manifest in the frequent use of Sundanese among
the first generation local-born children, as we observed in the Chinese -
language Chung Hua school, for instance. It is no doubt this form of
interaction also which constitutes the first steps towards Peranakaniza-
tion of the ethnic Chinese child of Totok parentage.
Social interaction in private institutions and private situations--
From the above it follows that interaction in this area can only be mini-
mal, if it is not entirely non-existent. The writer has not observed any
Totoks entertaining Indonesians, either formally or informally, nor the
reverse.
Instances of a union between a Totok and a Sundanese woman do
exist, however, but these tend to be of an earlier date, i. e., these were
mostly unions which have existed since the prewar period. The writer
observed one case, for instance, where the Totok Hokkien man who
operates a small warong is about seventy or older and the Sundanese
woman around sixty. At the distribution of packages on the occasion of
Chinese New Year, sponsored by the BPIT, there were ten Indonesian
women who were wives or widows of Chinese men. (Though in the regis-
tration for this distribution no differentiation was made between Totok
and Peranakan, we may safely assume that there must have been Totoks
among these men. ) They were older womnn and the striking thing about
them was that the writer was able to recognize only two of them immed-
iately as ethnic Indonesian, The other eight looked so completely
Peranakan in features and dress that she did not suspect them to be
ethnic Indonesians before the chairman of the BPIT pointed them out to
her. According to him, these women have been married to Chinese for
a long time and they have adoptdd the Peranakan way of dress and their
customs. From the way he drew the writer’s attention to these women265
and the way he talked about it, it is clear that he took this phenomenon of
' the Peranakanization of the ethnic Indonesian wife of an ethnic Chinese
as something which follows as a matter of course. It is obvious that these
unions have been highly significant, because they form the source of re-
cruitment to add to the ranks of Peranakans.
There is no doubt that due to their high evaluation of certain char-
acteristics as, for instance, frugality, thriftiness, and hard work,
Totoks feel themselves superior to Indonesians, whom they consider
. lacking in these abilities. As one might expect, there is today among
* them a strong apprehension as to their position in Indonesia. Many of
them realize that it is becoming increasingly untenable due to the
stringent regulations of the government, not only towards commercial
but also organizational and educational activities of aliens. The writer
has met several who stated that they are seriously considering leaving
the country because the situation is becoming increasingly unbearable
to them. The Indonesian, on the other hand, is often unable--or if advan-
tageous for his interests prefers not--to distinguish between Totoks and
Peranakans and usually lumps them together. We will, therefore, view
the attitude of Indonesians towards Totoks together with that towards
Peranakans in the next section.
As for conversion to Islam, the writer has not come across any
incidence of this among Totoks.
Peranakan-Indonesian
The social interaction between these two groups appears in all the
forms mentioned above, but the fcrm of intergroup interaction in which
Peranakans participate seems to be related to their socio-economic level
as expressed in education, wealth, and occupation. Not surprisingly,
of course, interaction in public institutions and public situations exists on
all levels. However, intergroup recreational and social clubs and formal
and informal entertaining appears to be limited to the top level western-
educated, wealthy private enterprisers who associate with the western-
educated, top-ranking Indonesian administrative officials. Intermarriage
and conversion to Islam, on the other hand, seem to exist primarily only
on the bottom level of the social structure.
Social interaction in public institutions and public situations--
Church and school are the two important places in this category,
1. Interaction in church--Except for the Catholic church, where
they form 64. 1 per cent of the total membership, there are only two other
Christian churches in which Indonesians constitute a considerable propor-
tion of the membership. In all others there are none of them or only a
negligible few. Among the Seventh Day Adventists, half of the members
are Indonesians (23 out of 44, in 1957), while in the Geredja Pantekosta
(in 1956), ten per cent of its members are Indonesian (44 out of a total
of 453), In both these churches the Indonesians are mostly not new con-
verts; but Christians from outside Java: Bataks, Menadonese, Ambonese,
Timorese. There are some Javanese, but virtually no Sundanese (one in266
the Geredja Pantekosta and none among the Adventists). In both churches,
also, although the religious leaders are Indonesians, it appears that the
policy and decision making is largely in the hands of the Peranakan coun-
cil members. Of the other Protestant churches, the Kie Tok Kauw Hwee
has its separate Indonesian counterpart in the Geredja Pasundan, with
which it has joint meetings only once a month and for the celebration of
Christmas, In the Sidang Kristus ( in 1957) there are only five Indonesian
members (Sundanese wives of ethnic Chinese men) out of a total of 255.
The Pinkster Beweging counts only one Sundanese member (the wife of
a Peranakan) out of a total of 70 ( in 1957). The Geredja Indjil Sepenuh
seems to have no Indonesian members at all, while in the Watch Tower
one Indonesian member was added through marriage with one of the sons
of the leader.
It would appear that it is only in the Catholic church that we find
a relationship between Peranakans and Indonesians which is on an equal
basis, resulting in effective cooperation in joint activities. This type
of relationship is no doubt promoted by the fact that a considerable num-
ber of Peranakan Catholics and of Indonesian Catholics as well, are
young people who meet each other in school and in the Serodja, the
joint youth organization sponsored by the Catholic church.
2. Interaction in school--Peranakan children attending Indone-
sian-language schools are strongly concentrated in the private schools
organized by the Protestant and the Catholic churches. This has put a
limitation on the possibility of interaction with Indonesian students in
that it has created schools with students who are virtually all or
predominantly Peranakan. This high concentration of Peranakan chil-
dren in a particular school is especially evident in the kindergarten and
the primary school level, but becomes progressively less in the junior
and senior high school. In other words, mutual exposure increases with
the level o£ education and the age of the students. We have seen that in
the Catholic schools this intergroup interaction is promoted through the
Serodja, the youth organization which, encompasses both groups. We
have already indicated that a change ir the pattern of Peranakan educa-
tion has occurred as a result of the prohibition against attending alien
schools. This does not apply so much to the secondary school level but
certainly does in the levels below. Although we may not expect a break-
up of the existing predominantly Peranakan schools, yet we may expect
that more Peranakan children will attend schools which are predominantly
Indonesian, thus ending the educational separation which the Dutch
introduced and which was,in effect, maintained after the war, partly
due to the shortage of schools.
Interaction in formal organizations--There are very few indica-
tions of Peranakan participation in Indonesian formal organizations.
The writer was able to trace some evidences of participation only in
Indonesian political parties: in the Mur ba, the second candidate for the
DPRD Kota was a Peranakanj in the PSI, Partai Katolik, Parkindo and
PNI there is also at least one card-carrying member in eack of them.
Obviously, these cases are exceptions, as is also the case with the two
Indonesian members in the Sam Kauw Hwee. The latter is the only case267
of Indonesian participation in Peranakan organizations the writer is aware
of. Thus formal organizations are certainly not the place where we would
find interaction between Peranakans and Indonesians.
Interaction in the realm of business--Interaction in this area is
seen abundantly in the daily relationship between Peranakan shopkeeper-
Indonesian customer, Peranakan housewife-Indonesian itinerant or
market vendor. The relationship in this area often takes the form of
the so-called langganan relationship, an Indonesian term, used by the
buying party to refer to the shop or the vendor he regularly buys from as
well as by the selling party to refer to a regular customer. In the
langganan relationship the contact is not strictly commercial, but acquires
a more or less personal note, involving trust and, therefore, opening up
the possibility of buying on credit. Then there is the sometimes close
but always highly unequal relationship between Peranakan master or
mistress and Indonesian domestic servant. Due to the greater appeal of
factory work and the ideas of freedom and equality generated by the achieve-
ment of independence, the willingness to become domestic servants among
the Indonesians is rapidly decreasing. This growing problem has resulted
in the import of servants from poor areas in central Java. (Some
families try to find a solution by employing poor Peranakans. The writer
was acquainted with two families, both employing a Peranakan woman as
a cook and help for the little children. Both employers, young western-
educated Peranakan women, told the writer that in the beginning they had
:felt very awkward with the situation, not knowing exactly how to treat her,
because she could not be considered a servant, and yet she was also not
on equal terms with the family. Both stated, however, that after the
initial awkwardness they felt happy about the arrangement.) Finally there
is the relationship between the Peranakan employer-Indonesian employee
and worker, and the relationship between Indonesian and Peranakan
businessman, In the area of public contact it is perhaps only in the latter
relationship that both parties are on an equal status. As to the mixed
business associations, according to the files of enterprises (excluding re-
tail shops and small cottage industry)available at the employment office
(Kantor Penempatan Tenaga), there was one company, a car dealer, and
service station, where an ethnic Indonesian was registered as the director
and a Peranakan as the associate director, and a bus compnny, where an
ethnic Indonesian functioned as the director and a Peranakan as head of
personnel.
Interaction at the polling stations--This was an observation made
during the election for the t)PRD which was held on Saturday, August 10,
1957. In order to observe participation of the WNI to best advantage, the
writer visited the polling stations with the highest number of WNI eligible
voters. It is, of course, not possible to make a comparison of the pre-
sence of WNI voters at these polling stations because they were visited at
different times. They should, therefore, be viewed as an illustration of
the attitude of the WNI during the voting itself. It was remarkable for in-
stance, that in the five polling stations visited in Kota Wetan (the
Kelurahan with the highest proportion of ethnic Chinese) at the time of the
visit, which was within four hours of the time the voting started, there
were disproportionately few WNI waiting in line, In each of these polling268
stations the number of WNI eligible voters was about 25 per cent of the
total, yet at the time of the visit only about 10 per cent of those present
were WNI, The situation in four polling stations in Kota Kidul and Kota
Kulon, two in each (both are Kelurahan with a high concentration of Per-
anakans in certain areas) seemed to be different, in that the composi-
tion of the waiting line was not so conspicuously disproportionate. In
one of the polling stations in Kota Kidul, for instance, where the eligible
WNI voters formed only one-third of the total, almost half of the people
in the waiting line during the time of the visit were WNI, Of the thirteen
polling stations visited, this was the only one where the writer ob-
served two Peranakans among the officials in charge. In the other
polling station, with only one-seventh of the eligible voters being WNI,
one-fourth of the waiting line was formed by WNI. In two of the polling
stations in Kota Kulon, each with WNI constituting slightly over one-
third of the eligible voters, there were at one o’clock in the afternoon
in one of them 12 WNI in the waiting line and only 5 ethnic Indonesians;
in the other there were around noon 15 WNI among the 30 people pre-
sent. In attempting to account for these differences, we should keep
in mind that Kota Wetan is an area with a high concentration of aliens,
while Kota Kidul and Kota Kulon have a high concentration of WNI.
(Kota Kaler has relatively speaking very few of both. The highest
number of eligible WNI voters in any one of the polling stations in this
Kelurahan was 36; the next after this was one with only 14, In the one
with 36, around 9:30, there was not cue WNI among the 150-odd people
waiting. Because it has different characteristics in terms of the ethnic
Chinese population, we have left this Kelurahan out of this particular
discussion. ) Secondly, we have to keep in mind that there are many
more lower class, uneducated people in Kota Kidul and Kota Kulon than
in Kota Wetan,, It would appear that in the latter, with its high concen-
tration of aliens, WNI are somewhat self-conscious about showing up
at the polling stations, because this would reveal them, to the aliens,
as people who have rejected their "Chineseness.” The writer observed,
for instance, that WNI in this area prefer to go back and forth several
times waiting for an opportunity when they would be able just to cast
their vote and leave, rather than to stand in line. In Kota Kidul and
Kota Kulon, where the proportion of aliens is much lower, there is far
less manifestation of this kind of inhibition. In all the polling stations
visited, however, there seems to be little interaction between the WNI
and ethnic Indonesian voters. The WNI usually cluster together, a
situation which is made possible by the fact that often several neighbors
decide to go to their polling stations together. In connection with this
observation, the writer acquired a highly interesting interpretation of
the voting behavior of the WNI by one of the well-known Peranakans in
town, who was also a member of the propaganda committee of the
Baperki. According to him, the surprisingly high participation of the
traditionally a-political Peranakans in the election should not be inter-
preted as an indication of political consciousness, but rather as as in-
dication of fear. In his opinion, logically Peranakans would prefer to
stay at home; the fact that they did get up and go to the polls is to him
an indication that they are afraid that if they did not do so the party
which they believe is best able to defend their interests might not be able
to acquire sufficient numbers of votes, and then there would be nobody269
to champion their interests. In general, there seemed to be very little
indication of intergroup interaction at the polls.
Social interaction in private institutions and private situations--
We have noted the existence of intergroup tennis clubs and of an intergroup
social club. We have also noted that this type of interaction on an equal
status seems to be limited to the western-educated, wealthy Peranakan
private enterprisers and the elite group of western-educated top-ranking
officials. The common ground where they meet is their western education
which has resulted in a more modern outlook and a liking for games intro-
duced by westerners. Among the older, mostly non-western-educated
men, there are also the get-togethers for the purpose of listening to the
perkutut bird or for cock fighting. Thus, informal groupings of mixed
Peranakans and Indonesians exist, usually with a shared hobby as the basis
for their existence.
Formal entertaining usually occurs on the occasions of Lebaran
and Chinese New Year. At the Lebaran reception held at the residence of
the regent, however, there were no Peranakans present. This is under-
standable if we consider the fact that this meeting has a religious connota-
tion in that it has the purpose of asking one another forgiveness for pos-
sible wrongs committed during the past year, in accordance with Islam,
The writer was informed that later in the day two of the wealthy Perana-
kans who belong to the same tennis club as the regent had come to visit
him. These people also paid a visit to the mayor. On the occasion of
Chinese New Year the writer noticed the mayor visiting one of these two
people, a western-educated owner of one of the largest textile factories.
There is also an exchange of invitations for weddings and other formal big
parties, e. g., a birthday, a circumcision, or an engagement. At the Per-
anakan funerals the writer attended there were usually also a few Indone-
sians present, and the indications are that this is also a reciprocal situa-
tion. It would appear, however, that this type of more or less formal
reciprocal visiting on an equal footing is limited to the group of wealthy
western-educated Peranakans and the group of elite and similarly western-
educated Indonesians.
One of the Peranakans operating a printing plant told the writer
that he and other enterprisers often receive an invitation for a wedding or
a circumcision ceremony from Indonesians they are not acquainted with at
all but who live in a kampong neaiby. According to him, these invitations
are sent with the covert purpose of obliging the invited person to send a
present, usually in the form of money, even though he does not come
personally.
As to informal entertaining, this seems to be found only among
several of the wealthy western-educated Peranakans and the western-
educated Indonesian high officials, especially among those who are of the
same tennis club or other recreational clubs. The person with the most
frequent relations with Indonesian authorities is the western-educated
owner of one of the largest textile factories who lives in an unpretentious
looking but surprisingly spacious house with modern interior, in the area
where the old wealthy families are clustered. He is a member of the elite270
social club and also of the elite tennis club. During the office year
1956-1957» he was the vice-chairman of the local chapter of the national
tennis association. Often his house is the meeting place of the parties
organized by these clubs. At one of the parties of the tennis association
which the writer attended» those present were Indonesians» Peranakans»
and Eurasians and» after the business part was taken care of» there was
card playing and social dancing where the couples were mixed,
A Peranakan in his early thirties» a Dutch-educated member of
one of the old wealthy families, who manages the family estate» told the
writer the following: "I can get on very well with Indonesians» in busi-
ness as well as outside, I count several real friends among those of
the same educational level as I a'm. With them I play cards, go to the
movies and make hunting trips."
Another Peranakan in his early thirties, also Dutch-educated
and co-owner of the largest printing plant, explained his relations with
Indonesians thus: "In the tennis club I am on very friendly terms with
the Indonesian members, just as with the other Peranakan members.
With some I even have fairly intimate contact; we call each other by
first names and come to visit each other in an informal way." He
added that he and his friends, i. e», Dutch-educated Peranakans of the
well-to-do group, all have friendly relations with Indonesians of the
same educational and socio-economic level.
Intermarriage between Peranakan men and Indonesian women
mostly occurs among lower-class Peranakans. It is generally con-
sidered a social disgrace, because it is usually only those Peranakans
who are too poor to make a decent marriage (which is what marriage to
a Peranakan woman would be considered), who take an Indonesian woman,
which necessarily implies that the latter would be of the lower, if not the
lowest, class among her own people. These unions are usually not legal,
i. e.» they just live together, without any official registration or any
ceremony according to Islam (at the penghulu), or the Chinese custom
(with the sembahjang samkai). The term for such a union is piara,
which is the Indonesian word for to keep, to raise, to cultivate^ The
woman is then designated with the term piaraan or njai.
Among the well-to-do Peranakans, however, the writer noticed
also a number with Sundanese wives. According to a Peranakan woman
in her middle fifties who belonged to one of the rich old families, these
unions usually start as a piara-relationship, which may later be legal-
ized when it proves to be lasting. She recounts the case of one of her
late, older brothers who, after his Peranakan wife died, lived with a
Sundanese woman who used to work as a laundress (but not with the
family). His mother was terribly upset, saying that if he wanted to re-
marry, he should have no difficulty finding another Peranakan woman.
As he was determined to keep this woman, however, she resigned her-
self to the situation. She must have said that she had already done her
duty as a mother when arranging his first marriage and she could cer-
tainly not be held responsible for any subsequent unions, A case the
writer was acquainted with was that of a Peranakan man in his middle271
fifties, of China-born Hakka father and Peranakan mother, who had been
to China for his education. The wife of one of his nephews told the writer
that, when back in Indonesia as a young man, he had fallen in love with a
Totok girl. However, for reasons which are not known to her, they were
not allowed to marry each other. The man then declared that he would
never marry, but later he took a Sundanese woman. This union lasted
and was recently legalized. During the time of the study, a marriage
occurred between the son of one of the well-to-do, old Peranakan families
and the daughter of a well-to-do Indonesian family. The wedding party
was held at the house of the groom in the morning and at the house of the
bride in the evening. After marriage the young couple lived in a section
of the house of the girl's parents. The writer was informed that, in
Sukabumi, this is one of the extremely rare cases of a legal marriage be-
tween a Peranakan man and an Indonesian woman; here the families of
both parties are of an equally respectable status in the society.
How rare these incidences of legal intermarriage are is clearly
illustrated by the figures computed from the Civil Registration list for the
entire Kabupaten Sukabumi, (14) where we find that during the thirty-
three year period from 1920-1953, of the total of 499 registered marriages
of Chinese, only 15, or 3 per cent, were those of a Peranakan man and an
Indonesian woman. The figures we used are in chronological order as
from 1940; prior to that year there were entries for 1920 and 1930 only.
From 1920 to and including 1943, there were no inter-ethnic marriages
registered; in 1944 there was one, and from 1945 to and including 1948
again none. Only from 1949 do we find the following figures for inter-
ethnic marriage:
	Total registered marriages of Chinese	Marriages of Chinese men- Indonesian women	% of Total
1949	32	4	12i50
1950	31	1	3. 23
1951	96	4	4, 17
1952	85	4	4. 71
1953	45	1	2. 22
In striking contrast to these figures, based on the registration list
for the election of the DPRD in August 1957, the writer was able to deter-
mine the number of Peranakan-Indonesian unions as follows:
Peranakan men	-	Sundanese women	133
Peranakan women	-	Sundanese men	 2
Total	135
Besides these there were four cases of Sundanese widows retaining
the Chinese surname of their late husband. These figures reveal that, of
the 812 family heads registered as having married status, 16. 6 per cent
(14) Derived from Gouw Giok Siong, "Segi-Segi Hukum Peraturan Perka-
winan Tjampuran" (Doctoral thesis, Djakarta, 1955), pp„ 47, 48 and
Table D, p. 209.272
are inter-ethnic unions between Peranakans and Sundanese.
Although these two sets of data cannot be compared* nevertheless
they bring out that there is much more amalgamation than one would sus-
pect from reading the registered marriages,, If the area noted for its
low incidence of Chinese-Indonesian marriages (15) already achieves a
proportion of over 15 per cent, one wonders what the actual figures for
other areas are.
As to the incidence of conversion to Islam, we have already
noted that the number of Chinese Moslems is negligible. (Total number
of registered converts from 1951 to 1956 is 17, 10 males and 7 females. )
We have also noted that in this area the term to denote a convert, mualap,
is usually associated with Chinese converts and has, moreover, the
derogatory connotation of a hobo or a tramp. This indicates that,
although they have adopted names similar to those used among the
Sundanese and thus removing one of the major visible differences,
yet they are not completely accepted in the larger society. As to their
position in their original community, we have noted that they appear
to be completely removed from it, as indicated by the fact that they
have little or no interaction with members of it.
Thus we observe that there is a far greater degree of social
interaction between Peranakans and Indonesians than between Peranakans
and Totoks. This is, of course, primarily due to the absence of the
language barrier which has largely facilitated the possibilities of com-
munication, However, inter-ethnic prejudices undoubtedly exist be-
tween these two groups. A large number of Peranakans still feel
superior to Indonesians but this seems confined to the area of business
and commercial skills and performances. The writer noticed, for in-
stance, that Peranakans have a high regard for the Indonesian physicians
in town, which is indicated by the fact that they come to consult them,
even though there is a Peranakan doctor of high reputation who,
incidentally, has quite a number of Indonesian patients. Thus it would
appear tha£ as far as the professional occupations are concerned,
Peranakans recognize the abilities of Indonesians. This appreciation
might be viewed as an indication of a greater evaluation of non-
commercial activities as an occupational choice. The feelings of
superior skills and performance in business and commerce is based
on experiences such as the following; Speaking of the Indonesian owner
of a printing plant, one of the Peranakans also engaged in this type of
enterprise told the writer that, despite sixteen years of experience in
this business and a loan from the Bank Industrie (Industrial Bank), this
man is unable to run it effectively^ He attributes this to what he con-
siders one of the crucial shortcomings of Indonesians, the inability to
handle money. This man had told him at one time that he had made a
profit of a few hundred rupiahs. When asked what he had done with it,
the answer was that he had spent it. Thus, the Peranakan concluded,
this man had considered those few hundred rupiahs as a total profit
(15) See Volkstelling 1930, VH, 93,273
which he could use up entirely. He finished his story by saying that the
Indonesian enterpriser would have been completely astounded if somebody
had told him that his profit was only the amount left after subtracting the
costs and that, of this amount, he should use only half, saving the other
half for investment. Another Peranakan told the experience of a friend
who set up a joint enterprise with an Indonesian, This friend lost a con-
siderable amount of money because his associate handled it freely, buying
a car immediately, for instance. The inability to save and the inclination
towards extravagance are two of the characteristics considered deplorable
by Peranakans which they hold to prevail among Indonesians, Thus, a
Peranakan shop owner gave the following comparison: if a Chinese has
ten rupiahs, he will use four and save six or use it for investment. But
if an Indonesian has ten rupiahs, he will spend twenty. (We will notice
here the similarity with the Totok opinion of the Peranakan. ) As soon as
an Indonesian has some money, he will buy a car or an ice box or he will
get himself another wife, In connection with the latter, there is no doubt
that Peranakans consider themselves to be morally on a much higher level
than Indonesians, in fact higher than any other ethnic group, With their ?
strong adherence to matrimonial stability, which still views divorce as a
social disgrace, it is not surprising that they consider people whom they
perceive to be easy on these matters as lacking in moral standards.
Another highly evaluated characteristic which they consider lacking among
Indonesians is perseverance and the ability to· work hard. They are gen-
erally aware of the accusation Indonesians throw at them that they have
become wealthy at the expense of the country, because as the stereotype
among the Indonesians goes, Chinese immigrants came to this country
possessing only the underpants on their body and now they are among the
richest in the country. To this the answer of Peranakans is usually that
Indonesians who adhere to this stereotype do not realize that Chinese have
improved their position by working themselves to death, saving every
penny, and denying themselves any of the pleasures of life. Peranakans
are also aware of the envy towards their achievements, which they
recognize as one of the causes of the resentment, exploding into violence
in the absence of an effective government as, for instance, at the collapse
of the Dutch rule and later of the Japanese rule and then during the
revolutionary period.
It is understandable that these experiences cannot but create a cer-
tain apprehension as to their further treatment, not only legally by regula-
tion made by the government, but by the people themselves. Many Peran-
akans, for instance, found it incomprehensible that, at the time of the
collapse of the Dutch rule, the very servants who had worked for a family
for tens of years participated in the looting of this family. It is interesting
to note that there are people who blame the Japanese for this kind of
treatment of the Chinese. A Peranakan woman in her early fifties, for
instance, who,until the turbulent times after the war, operated a warong
in a village adjoining the eastern border of the town told the writer that
in her warong the customers were virtually all Sundanese and she was
on very friendly terms with them. During the war, when food and other
elementary necessities like medicine were scarce or unavailable, she had
always been willing to help those in need from the small supply she had
stored away before the war exploded. Some of those she had known in the274
village still come to visit her. With these, mostly older people, she
said, she Can get on very well, but she does not understand the younger
generation, those who, according to her, have been corrupted by the
Japanese, whom she blamed for creating a feeling of resentment in them
towards Chinese. However, to whomever they trace the causes for the
way the relations are at the present between Indonesians and Chinese
(the most popular explanation for the origin of friction between the two
groups is the creation, by the Dutch, of separate castes along ethnic
lines), most Peranakans seem to realize that they now have to make a
conscious choice of their national status and act accordingly. This, of
course, involves the re-evaluation of their position in the larger society
and the long-term process of adjustment to it.
As for the Indonesians, we have already noted that the average
man usually lumps Totoks and Peranakans together, referring to them
as orang Tjina, a term that they have only recently realized is felt as
derogatory by the Chinese. (16) This inability to distinguish between
the two groups is, of course, not surprising considering the fact that
physically there is hardly any difference between most of them, a sim-
ilarity that is also found in their occupational activities. Indonesians
seem, in general, to have towards Chinese feelings of mistrust because
they are considered too sharp and too shrewd in their business practices.
Connected with this, they are considered to possess a contemptible
characteristic--they are only interested in money making.
Indonesians mistrust WNI in particular because of their choice
of Indonesian nationality. The most frequent accusation is that they
are opportunists, that they are WNI in name only, an accusation that
the Indonesians substantiate by pointing to the fact that Peranakans
still have their own organizations and even their own schools. The most
bitter accusation is, however, that during the revolutionary struggle
most Peranakans kept aloof and, in the areas where the Dutch returned,
resumed their occupations as retail traders and middlemen, an attitude
that in Indonesian eyes is equated wph collaboration with the Dutch. It
would appear that the attitude of Indonesians is that it is the WNI who
has to make the first move, who has to show the sincerity of fiis choice
of Indonesian nationality; in other words, they expect the WNI to give
proof of his loyalty to Indonesia. One of these proofs seems to be to
come out of their exclusiveness and associate with Indonesians on an
equal status. This points to another source of resentment among Indo-
nesians, the feelings of superiority that they are aware still exist among
many Peranakans. Thus, as a western-educated Sundanese woman told
the writer; ’’Naturally the Peranakans are the ones who have to approach
us first, because we are the original people here. We only say; you
are welcome, do come."
(16) It is interesting to note that, in the statutes of the Tiong Hoa
Hwe Koan, written in 1900, the Chinese themselves use the term
Tjina, and it is only in the statutes of 1928 that this term is found to
be changed to Tionghoa.275
As we have noted, a rapprochement socially between Peranakans
and Indonesians does exist, though admittedly still limited to the upper
crust of western-educated people who have largely departed from their
traditional way of life and have found a mutual meeting ground in their
modern and more or less secularized outlook.
Undoubtedly the situation most conducive to a high degree of
social interaction is in the schools, where, due to the prohibition of
WNI attending alien schools, educational exclusiveness will disappear,
a phenomenon which we already observe, not so much in the primary
school level where there are still schools which are almost exclusively
Peranakan, but certainly in the secondary school level.276
CHAPTER VIII
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
From this study we have been able to confirm the existence
of two distinct groups of ethnic Chinese, Totoks and Peranakans, each
with its own identity and interests.
The Totoks are characterized by a social, cultural, and politi-
cal orientation towards Peking-China or Taiwan. In the context of the
larger society, however, they are oriented towards themselves; in
other words, they have a strong sense of group identity. This is indica-
ted by the fact that they have their own formal organizations, their own
private schools with Chinese as the medium of instruction and a con-
siderable number of the teachers imported from or trained outside of
Indonesia; social interaction is primarily if not solely within their own
group; contact with both Peranakans and Indonesians is largely limited
to the impersonal area of business and commerce. Culturally they
stand out as a separate group, with their specific subsistence pattern
in regard to clothing (though limited to the older womenj, food, and
housing. There is hardly any indication of an aspiration towards
acceptance in the larger society. As to their national status, virtually
all of them are aliens.
The Peranakans are not characterized by a social, cultural,
and political orientation towards Peking-China or Taiwan. It may
appear from the findings of this study that they are oriented towards
Indonesia. We have noted the greater similarity of the Peranakan sub-
sistence pattern to that of the Indonesians than to that of the Totoks,
We have indicated the strongly acculturative aspect of the socialization
of the Peranakan child. He is often taken care of by Indonesian servants;
the language spoken in all Peranakan homes is a mixture of Malay and
low-style Sundanese (in some cases with the addition of Dutch). We
have also shown at length the incorporation of elements of the indigen-
ous culture into the family structure, which is indicated by the form of
kin grouping, approaching the bilateral form through the prevalence of
ambilocal and neolocal residence patterns. Related to this phenomenon
is the change in the kinship terminology, where terms derived from
Hokkien have been maintained for the relatives older in age and gener-
ation from ego, but an adoption of Indonesian terms has occurred for
relatives younger in age and generation than ego. In the realm of be-
liefs, there are also clear evidences of the influence of the indigenous
beliefs, among others in the observance of the selamatan and in the
consultation of dukuns.
Despite this high degree of incorporation of traits of the indig-
enous culture, however, there is a low incidence of social interaction
in the sense of informal contacts on an equal level. There is, of course,277
continuous contact in public institutions and public situations, but this is
not matched with an equal amount and frequency of interaction in private
institutions and private situations. Peranakans have their own formal
organizations. There is, for instance, the Sam Kauw Hwee, the existence
of which can be considered an expression of the desire among Peranakans
to preserve (and proclaim) their specific identity. More significant still,
there is the Baperki, an organization of a political character which
champions the interests of the Peranakans. We have seen how it received
the support of the majority of the Peranakans in Sukabumi for the DPRD
election in 1957. To join an Indonesian organization is exceptional for a
Peranakan.
In the field of education there is no formal segregation but, due to the
preference of Peranakans for private schools, there are several on the
primary school level where the students are almost exclusively
Peranakans,
By defining assimilation as a social process measured by the degree
and intensity of social interaction, (1) we may conclude that the Peranakans
in Sukabumi are still far from being assimilated into the larger society.
Admittedly, there is a high degree of acculturation, but the elements of
the indigenous culture they have adopted have been incorporated and rein-
tegrated with elements of the Chinese culture they have retained in such
a way as to create something new, which might very well be called
"Peranakan culture." We would suggest, therefore, that the phenomena
we have observed among the Peranakans should be interpreted as indica-
tions of an accommodation, a "working relationship" between groups
which insist on their own identity and their own interests.
Are there trends which would indicate a change in this situation?
In the last few years several joint enterprises have come into existence;
also intergroup recreational clubs (though largely limited to the elite
level). Perhaps the most drastic change came about in January 1958
with the prohibition of WNI children attending Chinese-language schools,
which cuts off the main avenue for their acquiring a non-Indonesian
orientation. Through lack of space in the public schools, however, the
existing concentration of Peranakans in certain schools has continued.
Nevertheless, with the increase of the number of public schools and the
improvement of their standard, we may expect that more Peranakans
will attend them; the popularity of the private Indonesian-language
schools suggests that there is no objection in principle to this type of school.
In the political field we have seen the full support given by the WNI to
the Baperki. It should be noted, however, that this phenomenon has been
interpreted by a well-informed Peranakan as an indication of apprehension
rather than an awakened political consciousness.
(1) Cf. G. William Skinner, "Chinese Assimilation and Thai Politics,"
Journal of A sian Studies, XVI, No, 2 (February 1957), 237,278
We have noted an especially strong feeling of apprehension in
regard to the economic field. The government policy of giving special
support to the "economically weak," a category from which in practice
all ethnic Chinese, including the WNI, are a priori excluded, coupled
t with the drastic economic measures and the special taxes levied on the
alien Chinese, have created feelings of uneasiness and insecurity among
the WNI. It appears that these feelings have given rise to one of two
attitudes: Some of the WNI resort to over-compensation by insisting
that it is only the alien Chinese who are the wealthy businessmen and
it is only they who are to be blamed for any economic imbalance.
Hence, there have been statements to the effect that the Indonesian
government is justified in taking stringent economic measures towards
the alien Chinese and levying special taxes on them. Others among
the WNI raise their voice in protest against what they consider to be
discriminatory treatment based on ethnic group and accuse the govern-
ment of treating them as "second class" citizens.
We may expect that the dual nationality treaty put into effect on
January 20, I960 (which requires all those who possess double citizen-
ship--practically all those who until then have been considered WNI--
to make an active choice between either Indonesian or Chinese
citizenship), will put an end to the ambiguous nationality status of the
majority of the Peranakans. The act of a conscious choice of Indone-
sian citizenship, in the opinion of the writer, will intensify the need
felt by the WNI to re-evaluate their position in Indonesia and to adjust
themselves accordingly. The resultant effect of this re-evaluation is
evident in the positively pro-assimilationist attitude expressed in
statements of recognized leaders among them. (2) This attitude, the
writer believes, will put the WNI on the road towards a more stable
accommodation and finally toward full assimilation.
(2) See, for instance, the statements of influential spokesmen such as
Siauw Giok Tjhan, member of parliament and leader of the Baperki
group, and those of a group of young intellectuals, presumably led by
Tjung Tin Jan, also a member of parliament. See Star Weekly, March
26, I960, pp. 1-3; April 2, I960, p. 5; April 16, I960, pP 405.
Though they differ about the method of achieving assimilation, there
is no doubt about their pro-assimilationist attitude.APPENDICESI
28θ
The first column lists the Peranakan form in the spelling most commonly
used among Peranakans in Java. Alternative spellings of any frequency
are also given. In those cases where the Peranakan form includes a
segment not derived from Hokkien, that part of the form is put in paren-
theses.
The romanization of Hokkien follows the system used by the Rev. Carstairs
Douglas in his standard dictionary: Chinese-English Dictionary of the
Vernacular or Spoken Language of Amoy, with the Principal Variations of
the Chang-chew and Chin-chew Dialect (London, 1899).
The English meaning refers to the Peranakan, not the Hokkien form.
Please see the end of this glossary (p. 287) for a list of the few
Chinese terms cited in the text in their Mandarin form.281
APPENDIX I
GENERAL GLOSSARY OF PERANAKAN FORMS
Peranakan form	Hokkien form from which the Peranakan form is derived	C	haracters	English meaning of the Peranakan form
anglo	hang-ΐθ·		A small, portable earthen- ware stove.
angpao	slng-pau	'e,	A money gift wrapped in red paper.
(balik) to	toh		The ceremony three or seven days after the funeral.
batjang	bah-tshng.	ft ίί·	Rice stuffed with meat, wrapped in bamboo leaves in a triangular shape.
bio	bi5		A Chinese temple.
bongpai	bong-pgli	%	A tombstone.
dji	ft		Two.
djie jan	ji-Qn	i’ ή	The special character used in names, indicating to which generation of a certain family a person belongs.
djip hoan	jip-hoan		To become an Indonesian (used in a derogatory sense).
gin tjoa, gin tsoa	gQn-tsod, gin-tsod	Ά i	"Silver" joss paper.
	goSn-siau	-fr 71, I*]	The first full moon of the Chinese lunar calendar; the Lantern Festival.
hao	h&u		Filial piety, filial duty.
hebi	h£-bi		Dried shrimps.
hiolow,	hiu"-l8		Incense burner, incense
hiolo		W	'jSQ.	pot.
ho	ho		Expression of approval or agreement.282
Peranakan form	Hokkien form from which the Peranakan form is derived	Characters	English meaning of the Peranakan form
hoana	hoan-A	&	Term used by Peranakans and Totoks to refer to
		zj%.	an Indonesian (in a derog- atory sense).
hoat koe,	hoat-k6e		A cake made of rice flour;
hoat kwee			an important offering item.
hoen be	hfin-bd		"Spirit horses"; a special
			kind of joss paper, burned on the 2Uth of the 12th month and on the Uth of
			the 1st lunar month.
Hong Sin	Hong Sin	Μ 4Φ	"The Elevation of the Gods"; title of a book, relating the mythological
			history of the Chou dynasty.
hu	hu	/X.	Ashes, especially of burned joss paper or charm paper.
hu low tsoe,	hu 18-tsu.	Λ	i	A member of the temple
hu lotju			board.
hu tao ke,	hu th&u-ke	β'· sti	A member of the temple
hu taokeh			board.
hui, hwe,hwee	hoe	ej	Association, society.
iet peng	iQ-png, ip-png	Λ’ fe	Rice cooked with hempseed, oil and ginger, used spec- ially after the birth of a child.
			
			
kauw	kdu	i°i	A dog.
ketjap	k8e-chiap	$.ί ·:|	Soya-sauce.
kilin	kl-lln	Μ	The unicorn; a mythical animal.
kirn lo	kim-18	i> *ί & fa	A furnace for burning joss paper.
kim tjoa,	kim-tsod		"Gold" joss paper.
kirn tsoa			
kio	kio	-*Γ	Sedanchair in which the
			images are carried during a procession.
kitang	ki-t&ng		A medium.285
Peranakan form	Hokkien form from which the Peranakan form is derived	Characters
kwee nengko	kde-nBg-ko	a t
kongsi kwee ku	kong-ei ku-k6e	A'# *·'·
kweetjang	ki"-ts&ng	
liong	U8ng, l@ng	& nt
majou, maju	m^-ifty mo&"-i(l	
mie	ml"	
mi soa	πϋ“-εοδ,η	
ngokok	ngd-kok	& &
ngo seng	ng6-seng	& Π
pai	p&i	
pat im	pat-im	
patkwa	pat-ko&	' II··
patkwa teng	pat-ko&~t£ng	
peh tjun	p£ l^ng-tsfin	;ίξ < M
potjia	p3-chid, pS-chi<-bii	
English meaning of the
Peranakan form
Sponge cake.
A firm, a company.
"Turtle" cake.
A cake made of rice flour
mixed with alkaline,
wrapped in bamboo leaves
in a triangular shape.
Dragon.
Oil from hempseed, used
in a special kind of chick-
en soup.
Noodles.
A kind of vermicelli made
of wheat flour.
The ritual of showering
five kinds of grains on
the descendants of a dec-
eased person on his
internment.
One of the main offering
items consisting of a
combination of five kinds
of meat.
To do reverence to; to
worship;the way of greet-
ing by folding the hands
and shaking it up and down.
An orchestra consisting of
eight musical instruments.
The eight diagrams.
A small temple or a shrine
constructed in an octagonal
shape.
Dragon boat festival.
"Guardian" spirits of
infants.28U
Peranakan form	Hokkien form from which the Peranakan form is derived	Characters	English meaning of the Peranakan form
put hao	put h&u	& <	Unfilial.
sai, say,	sal		Lion; the lion or tiger
(barong)sai			specially performing during the New Year season.
samkai	sam-k&i	i- K	The three gods presiding over heaven, earth and water; among Peranakans usually considered as one entity, synonymous with Thian: God.
			
			
Sam Kok	Sam Kok	il	"The Three Kingdoms"; title of a famous book.
sam seng	sam-seng	n	One of the main offering items consisting of a comb- ination of three kinds of meat.
			
			
samsie	1		A tiger or lion very similar to the barongsai, but with a short body.
sang djit	s&ng-jit	ilt '3	Presenting the bride’s parents with the auspicious date proposed for the wed- ding day.
sha	san	—	Three.
sia tao	sia-th6·		Offering to the god of the earth in the cemetery, usual- ly performed after the
			tombstone is erected.
sien tji,	sin-chi,		Ancestral tablet.
sien tju	sln-tsd		
sin	sin		A spirit; a deity.
sintjhia	sin-chi&“		New Year* s Day.
sio pwee	chit-siS“-poe	- ± £	The favorable throw with the divining blocks: one with the convex side and the other with the flat side up.
siu, sioe	siS		Long life.285
Peranakan form	Hokkien form from which the Peranakan form is derived	Characters	English meaning of the Peranakan form
sioe kirn, sioe-kim	siU-kim	# £-	"Long life" joss paper.
sioe pan, sioe-pan	siU-pdn	*	A Chinese coffin.
(sodja) kui	kui-pAi		To kowtow.
song soe kick	song-sS-ki6k	< * S)	An association or a section
of an association which -
takes care of matters con-
cerned with funerals and
tangsin	t&ng-sin, t&ng-ki	ί		mourning. A medium.
		4	&	
tang tjeh	tang-chfe,	X- V	gp	Feast of the wintersolstice.
	tang-cheh			
tahu,	tau-hu	5	fit 'to	Soya-bean cake.
taohu				
			4^	
taoge	tau-g£	c? ΐΛ	/Γ	Bean sprouts.
tao ke low	tao-ke-lo-tsd			Used to refer to the member.'
tsu				of the temple board as a
				group.
taotjio	tau-chihn	£	©	Bean sauce.
te liao	t^-liau			Confectionary for offering
				purposes.
tepekong	toS-peh-kong	λ	16 £	Used to refer to deities
and images in temples in
general.
theehwee	t£-ho<?	&	A tea party.
theepai	tS-p&i		Ceremony of offering tea to the older (in generation) relatives by the bridal couple.
thian	thien	λ	God, heaven, divine.
thiam hio	tidm-hiu"	s %	The simple offering of serving tea and burning
incense sticks on the first
and fifteenth of each lunar
month.28(3
Peranakan form	Hokkien form from which the Peranakan form is derived	Characters
thikong	thi"-kong	7\. A
tjap go meh	tsdp-go·-mi", tsdp-gUtmS"	"t ^5. ft.
tjek thay	chek-tSi	
tjeng beng, tjing bing	chheng-b&ng	0/i
(tjabut) tjiam sie	t’iu ts'iem s±, thiu-chhiam-si	
tjin lang	chhin-lSng	Ma
tjintong	chhin-tSng	M f
tjio ko	chhiii"-ko*, chhiii"-ko-pi"	
tjio tao	chhiU"-th£lu	
toa	toS	Λ
tong tju pia	tiong-chhiu-pid"	
tsai, tjai	ts&i	4$
tsai hu, tjai hu	ts&i-hti	-Μ &Ί
tsai ma, tjai ma	chh&i ma	$
ts’ia low tsoe, tjia low tsoe	chi&n-lo-tsii k	* *4 A
ts’ia tao ke, tjia tao ke	chiA"-tao-ke	
English meaning of the
Peranakan form
God of Heaven.
Night of the 15th of the-
lst lunar month; the Lan-
tern Festival.
A candlestick.
"Feast of the tombs" on
the 5th of the 5th lunar
month.
To draw lots by means of
the divining sticks.
Used to refer to persons
of the same surname, but
with wham no actual rel-
ationship can be traced.
Relatives of the same
surname.
Offering to the neglected
spirits on the 7th of the
7th lunar month.
Ceremony of "dressing the
hair" on the wedding day;
a rite de passage, marking
the entrance into adulthood.
Great, the oldest, honorable.
Mid-autumn cakes, specially
offered and eaten on the
15th of the 8th lunar month.
Wealth.
Treasurer of the temple
board.
A Buddhist "nun"; a female
vegetarian who-joins a
Buddhist group.
Chairman of the temple board.
Member of the temple board.287
Peranakan form	Hokkien form from which the Peranakan form is derived	Characters	English meaning of the Peranakan form
tsu, tju	tsd	4*	Posterity.
(wajang)	pb-te-hl		Chinese puppets.
po te hi
ADDENDUM: CHINESE TERMS CITED IN THEIR MANDARIN FORM
Wade-Giles
romanization	Characters	English description
chieh2-hun1cheng4-shu1	1	Marriage certificate
shan1-shui3	Ja ”K	Landscape.
t’ung1-shu1	A t	Almanac.
Yin1-Yang2	Tl Pl	Male and female principles.I
288
This appendix makes explicit the basis for grouping under comparable
occupational categories data from the 1930 census and that collected by
the writer in 1956. It has reference to the Table on page 5U of the
text. The Roman numerals in both parts of this appendix refer to the
inclusive categories used in the 1950 census report. The Arabic numbers
in "A" refer to the coded subcategories used in the 1930 census report.
The Arabic numbers in "B" refer to the numbers as used in the Table on
page 51.289
APPENDIX II
A. Outline of Occupational Categories as Defined
by the Census of 1950*
1.	Production of raw materials: 1. ordinary native agriculture;
ΈΓ. growing fruits, vegetables and flowers; 5. cultivation
of sugar cane, not being native cultivation; 4. all other
non-native cultivation; 5. cattle breeding; 6. fishing;
7. hunting; 8. forestry; 9. gathering raw vegetable
products (i.e. forest products); 10. salt products; 11. oil;
12. all other minerals.
II.	Industry: 13. makers of food, drink, tobacco, etc.;
li” workers in metal; 15. manufacture of textile goods;
16. ceramics; 17. workers in wood and bamboo; 18. manu-
facture of means of conveyance; 19. workers in leather;
20. makers of articles of dress; 21. all other industries.
III.	Transport: 22. rail- and tramway-workers; 23. post-office,
telegraph and telephone service; 24. road transport;
25. transport by water, aviation, etc.
IV.	Trade: 26. victuals, tobacco, etc.; 27. textile goods;
281ceramics; 29. wood, bamboo and articles thereof;
30. means of conveyance; 31. articles of dress and leather;
32. shops and hawkers; 35. wholesale and commission;
54. trade of other sorts; 55. credit institutions.
V.	Liberal Professions and Arts: 36. religion; 37. medicine;
3^1 law; 39. artists, journalists; 40. teaching, education.
VI.	Public service: 4l. the village; 42. local government;
Ϊ31 native spates; 44. government; 45. police; 46. army;
47. navy.
VII.**
Other occupations: 48.
49. domestic service;
described occupations;
persons living on their income;
50. improductives; 51. insufficiently
52. social and scientific institutions.
* Census 1930, Vol. 7, p. 136.
These categorizations are based on classification according to
enterprise; therefore all clerks and other workers in a certain
enterprise are grouped under this enterprise.
** Category VII, 51. "insufficiently described occupations," see note
to table on page 34·I
290
B. Regrouping of the Occupational Categories of the
1956* * Figures to Make them Comparable with the
Categorization of the 1930 Census Figures*
1.	Production of raw materials: none.
II.	Industry: 1. Owners large factories.
2.	Owners sawmills, transport companies and
contractors.
10. Staff large enterprises.
III.	Transport: 13. drivers.
IV,
Trade:	3.
------ U.
5.
6.
7;
8.
12.
lU.
owners gold shops.
shop owners, businessmen.
owners restaurants.
tooth-artisans and trad, doctors.
owners photo shops.
owners repair shops.
shop employees.
artisans and service-workers.
V.	Liberal Professions and arts:
9. professionals and semi-professionals.
VI.	Public Service: 17. Policemen and army rankers.
9. Government officials.
VII.	Other Occupations: 15. Laborers.
l6. Unskilled labor for hire.
* The category of Students is excluded.292
The coding for the kin types uses		the	following elements:
Fa	Father	Pa	Parent (Fa or Mo)
Mo	Mother	Sb	Sibling (Br or Si)
OBr	Older brother	Br	Brother (OBr or YBr)
YBr	Younger brother	Si	Sister (OSi or YSi)
OSi	Older sister	Ch	Child (So or Da)
YSi	Younger sister	Sp	Spouse (Hu or Wi)
So	Son	>	’older than’
Da	Daughter		’younger than'
Hu	Husband		
Wi	Wife		
When two abbreviations are joined together without break, a possessive is
assumed. Thus FaFaBr is to be read "father’s father’s brother."
Kin types are discriminated as necessary for the Hokkien system. The kin
types are presented in three lists:
A.	Relatives through Father, Father’s Father and Father’s Descendants
B.	Relatives through Mother and the Father’s Mother
C.	Relatives through Spouses and Children’s Spouses.
Within each list kin types are cited generation by generation ascending
to descending. Within each generation, the order of kin types, while
somewhat arbitrary, generally lists lineal relatives in the middle.
A question mark in the Peranakan column indicates that the writer’s
Peranakan informants could not supply a term of reference for the remote
kinsman in question.
Ill
HOKKEEN AND PERANAKAN CHINESE KIN TERMS
A. Relatives Through Father, Father's Father and Father’s Descendants
Code for
Kin Type	Hokklen form
Great Grandparent*s Generation
Characters
Peranakan form
FaFaFaESi	bo·-p6-ts6
FaFaFaESiHu	tiu"-kong-ts6
FaFaFaYBr	chek-kong-ts<5
FaFaFaYBrWi	chfm-p8-ts0
FaFaFa	tsd, kong-ts6, tai-kong
FaFaMo	ts6-m£, tai-md
FaFaFaOBr	peh-kong-ts6
FaFaFaOBrWi	peh-p$-ts<5
Grandparent's Generation	
FaFaFaESiSo > FaFa	pidu-peh-kong
Wi of above	pidu-peh-ρδ, pidn-peh-jfi
FaFaFaYBrDa > <FaFa	ko’-pB
Hu of above	tiQa-kong
FaFaESi	ko· -p3
FaFaESiHu	tiu”-kong
FaFaYBr	chek-kong
FaFaYBrWi	chlm-pO
FaFa	kong
m£
FaMo
At fcj.	?
-A\. 'ίΛ	?
d*A. /·ώ 4.0-	?
	?
4ft, £ 4-0 > za	kongtjo
4ft	ma* potjo
Jfy	4&	?
# 4a	?
1b	pekong
A Ί6 £	peem
	
At	kopo
	thiokong
	kopo
jt "a	thiokong
	tjekong
	tjimpo
	kong, engkong
ma’, ema'291»·
Code for
Kin Type	Hokkien form	Characters	Peranakan foi
Grandparent’s Generation (cont.)			
FaFaOBr	peh-kong	1έι 'a	pekong
FaFaOBrWi	peh-p3, peh-ώ	ife	peem
FaFaFaOBrSo < FaFa	chek-kong		tjekong
Wi of above	chim-po	W	tjimpo
FaFaFaOBrSo >FaFa	peh-kong		pekong
Wi of above	peh-po, peh-ώ		peem
Parent’s Generation			
FaFaESiSo < Fa	pi&i-chek	fa	tjek, entjek
Wi of above	" -chim		tjim, entjim
FaFaESiSo > Fa	” -peh	&	pe, empe
Wi of above	" -ώ		em
FaFaYBrDa XFa	chhin-tong-ko*	1 It	koh
Hu of above	”	" -ko’-tiG"	fe t it t	kothio
FaESi	ko·	At	koh
FaESiHu	ko·-tiu"	AH A.	kothio
FaXBr	chek		tjek, entjek
FaYBrWi	chim		tjim, entjim
Fa	lau-pS		papa
Mo	lau-bd		mama
FaOBr	peh		pe, empe
FaOBrWi	ώ	A®	em295
Code for
Kin Type	Hokkien form	Characters	Peranakan form
Parent’s Generation (cont.)			
FaFaOBrSo < Fa	chhin-t6ng-chek	fe £	tjek, entjek
Wi of above	”	” -chim	u £ 4-	tjim, entjim
FaFaOBrSo >Fa	”	” -peh	#■4 £ 16	pe, empe
Wi, of above	”	" -ώ		em
FaFaFaOBrSoSo 4 Fa	"	’’ -chek	?£ 1 ί»-	tjek, entjek
Wi of above	”	” -chim	M 1	tjim, entjim
FaFaFaOBrSoSo > Fa	”	” -peh	£ ife	pe, empe
Wi of above	”	" -ώ		em
FaFaFaOBrSoDa >< Fa	”	” -ko·	M i «4	koh
ffii of above	”	" -ko--tiun	£ n Λ	kothio
Ego’s Generation			
FaFaXBrDaSo < ego	pi0,u-sio-tl	Ί-	ade piao, sudara* piao
Wi of above	" -ti-hS		thehu, or description
FaFafBrDaSo >ego	" -hian	fL	engko piao, sdr. piao ;·
Wi of above	" -hiae-s6		enso
FaESiDa < ego	ko· -pi&i-sio-moai”	-4s A ')> -tl·-	ade piao, sdr. piao
Bu of above	”	" -moain-hu	-ii	maihu (man speak- ing) or descript- ion; enthio (vonrn speaking) or description
* Sudara hereafter abbreviated sdr,296
Code for
Kin type	Hokkien form
s Generation (cont.)
FaESiDa > ego
Characters
Peranakan fora
Hu of above
FaESiSo < ego
Wi of above
FaESiSo > ego
Wi of above
FaYBrDa <ego
Hu of above
FaYBrDa > ego
Hu of above
YSi
YSiHu
YBr
YBrWi
Wi
OBr
OBrWi
ko·-pidu-chi
”	"	-chi-ha
"	"	-slo-ti
"	"	-ti-hu
”	”	-his"
”	"	-hiaB-s6
chek-peh-sio-moaiB
"	"	-moain-hu
”	"	-chi
"	"	-chi-hS
sio-moBi**
moBi”-hB
sio-tl
tY-hu
b6·, hu-jxn-ltng,
tsa-b6*-l9ng or
teknonymy
hia", toa-hia"
hiaB-e6,
toa-hia"-s6
	&	
	%-	Λ.
	t-	■)'
	&	Hi-
it		
	ic	/l
		•M4-
	1f3	
'i'
%
tsa- <
i £·
λ -<
atji piao,
sdr. piao
tjihu
ade piao,
sdr. piao
thehu or
description
engko piao,
sdr. piao
enso
ade tjintong,
sdr. tjintong
maihu (man sp.)
or description;
enthio (.woman
sp.) or descrip-
tion
atji tjintong,
sdr. tjintong
tjihu
ade or ade perempuan
maihu (man sp.)
or description;
enthio (woman -
sp.) or descrip-
tion
ade or ade lelaki
thehu or
description
bini or "mamanja
anak", "mamanja
si X"
engko
enso
Code for
Kin Type	Hokkien form	Characters
Ego's Generation (cont.)
Peranakan form
OSi	chi, toa-chi	-4$, Λ	
OSiHu	chi-hu		
FaOBrSo 4 ego	chek-peh-sio-tl	fa 1b	•l·
Wi of above	"	" -ti-hu	'ife	
FaOBrSo > ego	"	" -hia"	Yq	
Wi of above	"	" -hia"-s6	■fat.	
FaFaOBrSoSo < ego	chhin-tBng-sio-ti	a i	•b
Wi of above	"	" -ti-nu	it f	$
FaFaOBrSoSo >ego	"	" -hia“	it ϊ	
Wi of above	"	" -hian-s6	t	
FaFaOBrSoDa < ego	"	" -sio-moai"	it Ϊ'	-b
Hu of above	"	" -moain-hu	a t	·££ A-
FaFaOBrSoDa >ego	"	" -chi	is, t	-έ/Φ
Hu of above	"	" -chi-hu	Ά i	
FaFaFaOBrSoSoSo < ego	"	” -sio-tl	ft t	
Wi of above	"	’’ -ti-hu	a %	
atji
tjihu
ade tjintong,
sdr. t jintong
thehu or
description
engko t jintong,
sdr. tjintong
enso
ade masih tjintong
sdr. masih tjin-
tong, or descrip
tion.
thehu or
description
engko, sdr.masih
tjintong,or
description
enso
ade, sdr. masih
t jintong, or
description
maihu (man sp.)j
enthio (woman
sp.) or des-
cription
atji, sdr. masih
t jintong, or
description
tjihu
ade, sdr. masih
tjintong pr
description
thehu or
description298
Code for
Kin Type	Hokkien form
Characters
Peranakan form
Ego*s Generation (cont.)
FaFaFaOBrSoSoSo	chhin-t6ng-hia"			tt f		engko, sdr. masih
>ego						tjintong, or description
Wi of above	u	If	-hia“-s6	tt $		enso
FaFaFaOBrSoSoDa	II	tt	-sio-modi*	tt t		ade, sdr. masih
<ego						tjintong, or description
						
Hu of above	If	If	-moai"-hu	tt 1		maihu (man sp.);
						enthio (woman sp,) or des- cription
						
FaFaFaOBrSoSoDa	If	ft	-chi	tt 1		atji, sdr. masih
> ego						tjintong, or description
						
Hu of above	It	ft	-chi-hu	ttl		tjihu
Child*s Generation
FaESiSoDa	pidu-tea-b6· -sun-d, pidu-tit-ΐύ	tsa-	PCJ tjutju piao, 2 5,-Z-	keponakan, or Xx. "3C	description	
FaESiSoDaHu	pidu-sun-sdi	a a	tjutju mantu or description
FaESiSoSo	pidu-sun-d, pidu-tit	<<- m w &	tjutju piao, keponakan, or description
FaESiSoSoWi	pidu-sun-j s im-pS, pidu-tlt-sim-pu		tjutju mantu or description
FaYBrDaDa	chek-peh-goe-seng-ld	rfa. 1 &	t jut ju piao, keponakan, or description	
FaYBrDaDaHu	”	" -goe-seng-sdi	ifa Hi	tjutju mantu or description	
FaYBrDaSo	” -goe-seng	Ί'β	tjut ju piao, keponakan, or description
FaYBrDaSoWi	"	" -gbe-seng-sim-ρΰ	tjut ju mantu or
		description
YSiDa	goe-seng-ΐύ	©j *<g -fr-	tjutju piao, anak
		ade, or keponakan
YSiDaHu	goe-seng-sdi	tjutju mantu or
description.299
Code for
Kin Type
Child*s Generation
YSiSo
YSiSoWi
YBrDa
YBrDaHu
Da
DaHu
So
SoWi
OBrSo
OBrSoWi
OSiSo
OSiSoWi
OSiDa
OSiDaHu
FaOBrSoSo
FaOBrSoSoWi
Hokkien form
(cont«)
goe-seng
goe-seng-sim-pu
tsa-b6· -sun-k,
tit-ln
sun-ski, tit-ski
tsku-k,
tsa-b6*-kia“
kia"-ski
kia", hau-si"
sim-pu
sun-k, tit
sun-sim-pu,
tit-sim-pu
goe-seng
goe-seng-sim-pu
gee-seng-1ύ
goe-seng-ski
chek-peh-sun-k,
chek-peh-tit,
tdng-sun-k,
tong-tit
chek-peh-eun-siiu-ρΰ,
chek-peh-tit-sim-ρΰ,
SXXXS’ t * r
ri M
tjutju mantu
Characters
ftt- «
M <
tsa-τ^^-
■U ★%,■** *%■
tsku-k ,
tsa-Ίψ -kla“
kia”-^
kia*1,^ it
%
~t&
p5}
•fa. ί'β 1%
Φ
r'i? «
Peranakan form
tjutju piao, anak
ade, or keponakan
tjutju mantu
tjutju tjintong,
anak ade, or
keponakan
tjut ju mantu
anak or anak
perempuan
mantu or babah
mantu
anak or anak
lelaki
mantu or njonja
mantu
tjutju tjintong,
anak engko, or
keponakan
t jut ju mantu
tjutju piao, anak
atji, or
keponakan
tjutju mantu
tjutju piao, anak
atji, or
keponakan
tjut ju mantu
tjutju tjintong,
keponakan, or
description500
Code for
Kin Type
Hokkien form
Characters
Peranakan form
Child*s Generation (cont.)
FaOBrSoDa
chek-peh-tsa-b6*-sun-6, ^'ffebsa-^^	tjutju tjintong,
chek-peh-tit-lu, rf-s/ife "45 -£	keponakan, or
tSng-tsa-b6 · - sun-6, sg -j, φ 33. p g
tBng-tit-Ιύ
FaOBrSoDaHu
chek-peh-sun-shi,
tBng-sun-shi
FaFaOBrSoSoSo
chhin-tong- sun-6,
chhin-t&ng-tit
t &
M f ft p*3
M f *i.
description
tjutju mantu
Wi of above
FaFaOBrSoSoDa
Hu of above
tjutju tjintong,
keponakan, or
description
chhin-t6ng-sun-sim-pu,	·$Φ tjutju mantu
chhin-tong-tit-sim-pS.
chhin-t6ng-tsa-b6·-sun-6,	jutju tjintong,
chhin-tSng-tit-Ιύ	-£■	keponakan, or
°	description
chhin-t6ng-sun-s6i,
chhin-tong-tit-s6i
&
tjutju mantu
FaFaOBrSoDaSo	chhin-tCng-goe-seng
Wi of above
FaFaOBrSoDaDa
tjutju piao,
keponakan, or
description
chhin-tSng-goe-seng-sim-pu	$%-$. tjutju mantu
•41·
chhin-tSng-tea-b6’-goe-seng,	Jut ju piao,
chhin-t^ng-goe-seng-ld	keponakan,
description
or
Hu of above	chhin-tSng-goe-seng-s6i	if- tjutju mantu
FaFaFaOBrSoSoSoSo chhin-tong-sun-6
M f ft H
Wi of above
chhin-tSng-sun-sto-jfi, fa f
chhin-tong-tit-sim-pS -- ■*- -	>
tjutju tjintong,
keponakan, or
description
tjutju mantu
FaFaFaOBrSoSoSoDa chhin-tSng-tsa-b6·-sun-6,	tjutju tjintong,
chhin-tong-tit-ΐύ	-£■ kenonakan. or
Hu of above
keponakan, or
description
chhin-t^ng-sun-shi	tjutju mantu501
Code for
Kin Types	Hokkien form
Grandchild’s Generation
Characters
Peranakan form
FaESiSoSdDa	pi6u-tit-sun-ΐύ	ic
Hu of above	” -tit-sun-shi	
FaESiSoSoSo	" -tit-sun	-ii tit
Wi of above	" -tit-sun-sim-pu	
YSiSoDa	goe-seng-sun-ΐύ	£>l· « < Tt'
YSiSoDaHu	goe-seng-sun-shi	ig tit
YSiSoSo	goe-seng-sun	« tit
YSiSoSoWi	goe-seng-sun-sim-pQ.	gfi ig tit <
YBrDaDa	goa-tit-sun-ld	if- τίί tit
YBrDaDaHu	" -tit-sun-shi	tit tit
YBrDaSo	" -txt-sun	tit tit·.
YBrDaSoWi	’’ -txt-sun-sim-pu	'ti tit tit
DaDa	” -sun-ΐύ	til· tit. -tit
DaDaHu	" -sun-shi	4$.
DaSo	” -sun	ti tit.
DaSoWi	" -sun-sim-pu	til· til· iM- tit
SoDa	lSi-sun-lS, lai-tsa-b6·-sun	(*) tit -tr i^-tsa-
SoDaHu	lai-sun-shi	
SoSo	" -sun	
SoSoWi	" -sun-sim-pu	
OBrSoDa	tit-sun-1ύ	-H fa *
OBrSoDaHu	tit-sun-shi	fa
tjutju piao or
description
tjutju mantu
tjutju piao or
description
tjutju mantu
tjutju piao or
description
tjutju mantu
tjutju piao or
description
tjutju mantu
tjutju piao or
description
tjutju mantu
tjut ju piao or
description
t jut ju mantu
tjutju or
tjutju luar
tjutju mantu
tjutju or
tjutju luar
tjutju mantu
tjutju or
tjutju dalem
tjutju mantu
tjutju or
tjutju dalem
tjutju mantu
tjutju tjintong,
or description
tjutju mantu502
Code for
Kin Type	Hokkien form	Characters	Peranakan form
Grandchild’s Generation (cont.) OBrSoSo	tit-sun		tjutju tjintong <
OBrSoSoWi	tit-sun-sim-ρΰ	^x	-4,1-	description tjutju mantu
FaOBrSoSoDa	chek-peh-tit-sun-ΐύ r|yt, it) ·£!	tjutju.tjintong
Hu of above	”	" -tit-sun-sai ^.χ. 4 a	or description t jutju mantu
FaOBrSoSoSo	"	” -tit-sun	ifx. Vfl -41	tjutju tjintong
Wi of above	or description "	" -tit-sun-sim-	iii|t jutju mantu	
FaFaOBrSoSoSoDa	pu chhin-tbng-tit-sun-lS	-k.*	tjutju tjintong
Hu of above	"	" -tit-sun-shi^ % -^1	i*|>	or description tjut ju mantu
FaFaOBrSoSoSoSo	"	" -tit-sun	tjutju masih
Wi of above	"	" -tit-sun-sim-ρΰ	tjintong or description tjutju mantu
Great Grandchild’s Generation
B.	ka"-nd"-sun, cheng-sun ka"-nd”- Relatives Through Mother and Father’s		bujut Mother
Great Grandparent’s	Generation		
MoFaFa	goa-kong-tsb, goa-tai-kong		kongtjo
MoFaMo	gba-tsb-md, goa-tai-mb		ma’ potjo
MoMoFa	goa-kong-tsb, goa-tai-kong	9Y &	kongtjo
MoMoMo	goa-tsb-mb, gba-lt§i-m&	th K	ma’ potjo
FaMoFa	goa-kong-tsb, goa-tai-kong	?l·	kongtjo
FaMoMo	goa-tsb-mb, goa-tai-md	H 4a 4$,	ma' potjo503
Code for
Kin Type
Hokkien form
Characters
Peranakan form
Grandparent* s Generation
MoFaESi	ko· -p3		-tr		kopo
MoFaESiHu	tlu"-kong				thiokong
MoFaYBr	chek-kong				tjekong
MoFaYBrWi	chim-po				tjimpo
MoFaCBr	peh-kong	lb			pekong
MoFaOBrWi	peh-po, peh-ή			ife ■&&	peem
MoFa	goa-kong	fV	-A		kong, engkong
MoMo	goa-md				ma’, ena.'
MoMoEBr	ku-kong	& %			kukong
MoMoEBrWi	klm-ρδ		2#		kienpo
MoMoESi	1-pS		-$r		iepo
MoMoESiHu	tlu“-kong	jt-			thiokong
FaMoEBr	ku-kong	<2. %			kukong
FaMoEBrWi	klm-ρδ				kiempo
FaMoESi	t-P6		'-ir		iepo
FaMoSiHu	tiu“-kong	λ			thiokong
Parent’s Generation					
MoFaBrDa	chek-peh-i	■fa	46		ie
MoFaBrDaHu	"	" -i-tlu"	fa	46		iethio
MoFaBrSo	"	" -ku	■ί»λ.	4 b		engku
MoFaBrSoWi	"	" -kirn		46	«f-	engkiem
MoESi	bd-1				ie
MoESiHu	bd-l-tlu"				iethio
MoEBr	bd-ku				engku
MoEBrWi	bd-kim				engkiem504
Code for
Kin Type
Ego’s Generation
MoFaBrSoCh
MoFaBrSoChSp
MoSiCh
MoSiChSp
MoBrCh
MoBrChSp
Child’s Generation
Hokkien form
Characters
Peranakan form
pidu-hia",
pidu-sio-ti,
pidu-chi,
pidu-moai"
pidu-hia n.-s6,
pidu-ti-hu,
pidu-chi-hu,
pidu-moai n-hu
i-pidu-hia”,
i-pidu-sio-tx,
i-pidu-chi,
i-pidu-modin
i-pidu-hian-s6,
i-pidu-tx-hu,
i-pidu-chi-hS,
i -pidu-modi " -hu
Kd-pidu-hxa”,-
KQ-pidu-sio-tl,
Ku-pidu-chi,
ku-pidu-moai "
ku-pidu-hian-s6,
ku-pidu-tl-hu,
ku-pidu-chi-hu,
kS.-pidu-moai"-hu
&		
&		
		Λ,
&		K
		$L> ?
	&	'i'
	&	>
	&	
	£	& <
	$	
		A
		Λ
λ
4* -m-
engko piao, at ji
piao, ade piao,
or sdr. piao
enso piao, tjihu
piao, thehu piao,
maihu piao (man
sp.), and enthio
piao (woman sp.),
or description
idem
idem
r	&	
$3 %		·?· ^>,
		
	&	
	&	jl
I		
	&	
		A
idem
idem
Same as with relatives through Fa,
except that before the kinship term
the attribute pidu is added
Grandchild’s Generation
Same as with relatives through Fa,
except that before the kinship term
the attribute pidu is added
Same as with rel-
atives through Fa,
except that before
each kinship term
the attribute piao
is added
Same as with rel-
atives through Fa,
except that before
each kinship term
the attribute piao
is added.305
c.	Relatives Through Spouses and Children’s Spouses			
Code for Kin Type	Hokkien form	Character		Peranakan for
Parent’s Generation				
HuFaESi	ko- -p6		& -tc	kopo
HuFaESiHu	tiu“-kong	X	/ *	thiokong
HuFaYBr	chek-kong			tjekong
HuFaYBrWi	chim-po			tjimpo
HuFaOBr	peh-kong			pekong
HuFaOBrWi	peh-po, peh-ώ		•4,1'Θ	peem
HuFa	toa-koa”	X	6	mertua
HuMo	toa-ke	X	X	mertua
HuMoEBr	ku-kong	fea		kukong
HuMoEBrWi	kim-po		4	kiempo
HuMoESi	i-p6			iepo
HuMoESiHu	tlu“-kong	X		thiokong
WiPaSb and Sp	same as for HuPaSb and Sp			same as for HuPaSb and
WiFa	tiu"-l&ng	X	X	mertua
WiMo	tIun-6	X		mertua
Ego’s Generation				
HuESi	ko*		X	koh
HuESiHu	ko' -tlun			kothio
HuYBr	sio-chek	.1·	-4k	tjek, entjek
HuYBrWi	sio-chim	■)'		tjim, entjim
HuOBr	peh	4t)		pe, empe
HuOBrWi	ώ			em306
Code for
Kin Type	Hokkien form	Characters	Peranakan form
Ego’s Generation	(cont.)		
Hu	ang, ta--po· -l&ng, tiong-hS, teknonymy	A .	papanja anak, laki
WiESi	b6· -ί		ie
WiESiHu	b6·-T-tiun	λ	iethio
WiEBr	b6·-ku	%	ku, engku
WiEBrWi	b6’-kirn		kiem, engkiem
Wi	b<5·, -tsa-bd* -lang, hu-jin-l&ng, teknonymy	tip .	A λ„ (<)	mamanja anak, bini
ChSpFa	chhin-ke	Ά £	tjhinkhe, besan
ChSpMo	chhin-A	is.	tjeem, besan
Child’s Generation
HuSbCh	same as for	same as for
WiSbCh	SbCh	SbCh5C?
APPENDIX IV
SUNDANESE KIN TERMS*
A. Consanguineal Relatives and Their Spouses
Code for
Kin Type	Sundanese Form
PaPaPaPaPaPaPa
PaPaPaPaPaPa
PaPaPaPaPa
PaPaPaPa
PaPaPa
PaPaPaSb
PaPa
PaFa
PaMo
PaPaEBr
PaPaEBrWi
PaPaESi
PaPaESiHu
PaPaOSbCh
Wi of above
PaOSi
PaOSiHu
PaOBr
PaOBrWi
Mo
Fa
kait siwur
udeg-udeg
djanggawareng
bao
ujut or bujut
ujut or ujut tigigir
bujut or bujut tigigir
embah or ejang or:
aki
nini
aki or aki tigigir
nini or nini tigigir
nini or nini tigigir
aki or aki tigigir
uwa or uwa tigigir
uwa or uwa tigigir
uwa or uwa isteri
uwa or uwa pameget
uwa or uwa pameget
uwa or uwa isteri
pun indung, pun biang or
pun ibu
pun bapa
* For the coding of kin types please see the note to Appendix III, page 292.
The kin types are cited generation by generation from ascending to
descending.308
Code for
Kin Type
PaYSi
PaYSiHu
PaYBr
PaYBrWi
PaPaYSbSo
Wi of above
PaPaYSbDa
Hu of above
PaPaPaSbChChCh
PaPaSbChCh
PaSbCh
OSb
Wi
Hu
YSb
Ch of senior dulur mindo
Ch of senior dulur misan
OSbCh
Da
DaHu
So
SoWi
YSbCh
Ch of junior dulur misan
Ch of junior dulur mindo
Sundanese Form
bibi or embi
paman or emang
paman or emang
bibi or embi
paman or paman tigigir
bibi or bibi tigigir
bibi or bibi tigigir
paman or paman tigigir
dulur mintelu
dulur mindo
dulur misan or dulur sabrajna
pun lantjeuk
pun bodjo or pamadjikan
pun lantjeuk or salaki
pun adi
alo mindo
alo misan or alo sabrajna
alo
anak or anak nu awewe,
budak or budak nu awewe
minantu
anak or anak nu lalaki,
budak or budak nu lalaki
minantu
suan
suan misan or suan sabrajna
suan mindo509
Code for Kin Type	Sundanese Form
ChCh	intju
ChChCh	bujut
ChChChCh	bao
ChChChChCh	djanggawareng
ChChChChChCh	udeg-udeg
ChChChChChChCh	kait siwur
Wi	B. Affinal Relatives pun bodjo or pamadjikan
Hu	pun lantjeuk or salaki
SpOSb	dahuan
SpYSb	adi beuteung
SpPa	mitoha or mertua
SpPaOSb	uwa
SpPaYBr	paman or emang
SpPaYSi	bibi or embi
ChSp	minantu
ChSpPa	besan511
APPENDIX V
NAMES OP DEITIES
Peranakan	Hokkien form from which the Peranakan form			English form or
form	is derived	Characters		Description
Bie Hian Kong	Bi HiSn Kong	1	i £	Name of the temple in Sukabumi.
Giok Hong Sang Tee	Giok-h£>ng-siong-tfe	£	ί -t £	The Jade Emperor of Taoism.
Han Tan Kong	Han-t&n-kong, HiSn-1oan -kong			The main god of the temple in Sukabumi.
Hok Tek Tjeng Sin,	Hok-tek-chfeng-sin,	4®		God of the earth
Thow Tek Kong	Th6’-tS-kong	JL	-4?	and the graves.
Houw Tjiang Kun	H6·-chihng-kun	/I	« *	The tiger-god.
Kut Goan	Khut-goSn	fa	ft	The minister of the Ch’u dynasty in memory of whom the Dragonboat Festival is held on the 5th of the 5th lunar month.
Kwan Im	Koan-im	B		Goddess of mercy.
Kwan Im Hud Tjouw	Koan-im-hut-ts6	a	< =fs	Kuan Yin, ancestor of Buddha.
Kwan Im Lam Hay	Koan- im-l&n-hdi	a	4)	Kuan Yin of the South seas.
Kwan Im Po Sat	Koan- im-pho-sat	a	e σ f/|	Kuan Yin, Boddhisattva.
Kwan Kong,	Koan-kong,	$		God of war; the
Kwan Tek Kong,	Koan-tfe-kong,	/MS		famous hero of the
Kwan Tek Kun	Koan-tfe-kun		f Po	period of the Three Kingdoms.
Kwee Seng Ong	Keh-sfeng-ong			A deity of the surname Keh, alleged to be the ancestor of the people of Fukien.
Kuei Sing	Khoe-seng	TA	%	God of literature.
Lauw Pi	L&u-pl			One of the heroes of the period of the Three Kingdoms.512
Peranakan form	Hokkien form from which the Peranakan form is derived	Characters	English form or Description
Tio Hoey	Tiu"-hui	& <	One of the heroes of the period of the Three Kingdoms.
Tio Kong Beng	Tio-kong-b£ng	$	The minister of the Chou dynasty worshipped as Han Tan Kong.
T jauw Kun Kong	Tshu-kun-kong	% 'Z	The Kitchen-god.
Tjouw Soe Kong	Ts6· -su-kong	ϊψ 'λ	A black-faced idol.313
APPENDIX VI
*
NAMES OF ORGANIZATIONS,
SCHOOLS AND NEWSPAPERS

Form of roman- Hokkien form from
ization used in which the Peranakan
Sukabumi	form is derived	Characters
Chung Hua Hsueh Hsiao	(Mandarin)	
Chung Hua Tsung Hui	(Mandarin)	

Chung Lien Hui	(Mandarin)	
Djin Gie Hwee	Jin GI Hoe	Λ <·
Eng Tjhun Kong So	Eng Chhun Kong S6	?i<	? f- h
Gie Say Hwee	Gl Sai Hoe	t
Hak Suk Kung Hwee	(Hakka)	1 · ί ί +
Hsin Hua Hsueh Hsiao	(Mandarin)	
Hua Chiang Shih	(Mandarin)	# ίί it
Hua Ch* iao Tsung Hui	(Mandarin)	< < & f
Keng Po	Kbng Pb	it
Description
A Peking-orientated
Chinese school.
The community org-
anization which was
a continuation of
the one set up by
the Japanese and
which is now re-
placed by the
B.P.I.T. (in
Sukabumi).
Federation of
(Indonesian) high
school students.
A funeral assoc-
iation.
Association of
people from Yung
Ch’un.
A recreational
club (Chinese box-
ing, lion and
dragon playing).
Association of
Hakkas.
A Peking-orientated
Chinese school.
A recreational
club (music, lion
playing).
The name of the
Chinese organization
set up during the
Japanese period.
A Peranakan-owned
and edited Indo-
ne s ian-language
daily.314
Form of roman-	Hokkien form from			
ization used in	which the Peranakan			Ϊ
Sukabumi	form is derived	Characters	Description	
Khong Kauw Hwee	Khbng Rah Hoe	f-	The Confucian Society.	i
Kuomintang	(Mandarin)	® A j!f	The Chinese Nation-	
			alist Party.	
Lien I Hui	(Mandarin)	& t	A federation of foreign Chinese associations.	
Ping Min Hsiieh	(Mandarin)	f 9 U	A KMT-orientated	
Hsiao		i	7	Chinese school.	
Sam Kauw Hwee	Sam Khu Hoe	Ijk	Three Religions Society.	
San Chiao Ching	(Mandarin)	^8 If (fr	Youth section of the	
Wien Hui			Three Religions Society.	
Sin Po	Sin Pb	ίή ifl	A Peranakan-owned and edited Indo-	
		& i it A f	nesian-language daily.	
Su Chung Hsiao	(Mandarin)		Association of	
Yu Hui			(Chinese) high school students and alumni.	f
Tiong Hoa Hwe	Tibng Hoa Hoe Ko&n	f f if	A community organ-	-
Koan			ization concentrating on education.	
				
Tiong Hoa Kie	Tiong HoS ΚΪ Tok	Ψ -i & ΐ f	The Chinese Protest-	
Tok Kauw Hwee	Khu Hoe		ant Church.	
Yeh yu shih	(Mandarin)		A recreational club	
(Chinese boxing,
lion and dragon
playing).
*