'Onde-onde' tradition lives on in Indonesia<\/p>\n
Tony Ryanto, Contributor, Jakarta<\/p>\n
For the majority of today's Chinese-Indonesians, the
\nphilosophical meaning of Tang Cheh or Dongzhi probably eludes
\nthem. The two words refer to a festival that falls on Dec. 22 --
\nwhich also happens to be the National Women's Day.<\/p>\n
On that day, family members, young and old, receive glutinous
\nrice flour balls, locally known as onde-onde in accordance with
\none's age.<\/p>\n
For example, if you are 25, you are entitled to two big onde
\nand five small ones. The balls, made of glutinous rice flour,
\nusually come in three colors -- white, red and green.<\/p>\n
The snacks are usually served warm in a small amount of syrup.
\nA friend told me that he feels alarmed every Dec. 22 because it
\nmeans he is getting older and older.<\/p>\n
In contrast, a child is happy because he is getting older and
\nwill therefore be given more freedom.<\/p>\n
Often, children long to be adults like the Tom Hanks character
\nin Big, while adults want to be children all over again.<\/p>\n
Back to Dongzhi. Few people know that it is the second most
\nimportant festival after the Chinese New Year or Lunar New Year.
\nIt is called the \"Lunar\" New Year as it refers to the full moon,
\nin the fifteenth of each month, on lunar calendar.<\/p>\n
The celebration is closely associated with yin and yang, which
\nsignifies perfect balance and harmony in life. Yin is passive,
\nnegative and feminine, whereas yang is active, positive and
\nmasculine.<\/p>\n
Yin and yang qualities are not connected in any way with men
\nand women but with the feminine and masculine qualities of the
\nuniverse.<\/p>\n
One can safely say that yin is the source of darkness and cold
\nand that yang is the origin of light and heat.<\/p>\n
Dec. 22 marks the longest night of the year. It is when
\nsunshine is at its weakest and daytime at its shortest. The yin
\nqualities are at their strongest and the coming of winter is
\ncelebrated by farmers and fishermen who gather their harvest and
\ncatch in preparation for winter.<\/p>\n
Understandingly, Dongzhi is a time for thanksgiving attended
\nby the entire family. It is a time when they put on new clothes,
\nvisit families, share gifts, and celebrate until the morning
\ncomes. It also signifies optimism.<\/p>\n
Families, who still celebrate the day, usually serve tangyuan,
\nthe most important menu for the Dec. 22 festivities.<\/p>\n
Tangyuan is the sweet soup of glutinous rice balls. As Chinese
\nsyllables are generally homophonic, tangyuan is rhymed with
\nTuanyuan, which means family reunion. Yuan is also closely linked
\nto Yuanman, which means complete.<\/p>\n
Like the Lunar New Year, Dongzhi also calls for a complete
\nfamily reunion.<\/p>\n
Nowadays, however, Chinese-Indonesians only provide the sticky
\nrice balls for their ancestors. Some still continue to paste two
\nor three balls on the doors of their houses, most probably it has
\nsomething to do with asking for ancestors' blessings and for
\nprosperity.<\/p>\n
The celebration of Dongzhi or the winter solstice (when the
\nsun is at its lowest point) has been conducted since the Han
\nDynasty (206 B.C. - 220 A.D.). On that day, officers at the royal
\ncourt would go on vacation. That's why there's a Chinese phrase
\nthat says \"winter vacation is greater than the new year.\"<\/p>\n
There's an interesting legend attached to the winter solstice.
\nA carpenter named Mo Dou lived in a place where the soil was
\nextremely fertile, so the farmers did not have to do much work.<\/p>\n
Instead of going to the fields, they would go to Mo Dou's
\nplace to chat.<\/p>\n
Mo didn't like the farmers idling away their time chatting
\nbecause it made them lazy while he himself couldn't concentrate
\nand subsequently couldn't do a lot of work.<\/p>\n
So he gave a bag of magic sawdust to one of his pupils,
\ntelling him to scatter a little onto the fields. In that way
\nweeds would grow and the farmers would have to work or their
\ncrops would be affected.<\/p>\n
But the pupil was as lazy as the farmers. He showered the
\nwhole bag of sawdust over the fields. The farmers were unable to
\nget rid of the weeds and there were no crops at all.<\/p>\n
Mo was very angry and turned his pupil into a cow. As a cow
\nthe pupil was no more diligent. Each time he did a little bit of
\nwork he demanded a reward in the form of glutinous rice balls.<\/p>\n
The Buddha was not happy with the cow. So a nail was driven
\ninto its jaw, so it could no longer complain. From that time on,
\npeople regarded the winter solstice as the cow's birthday,
\nthanking the animal for its year-long toil and feeding it sticky
\nrice balls.<\/p>\n
In Hong Kong, a lot of shops and offices close earlier on Dec.
\n22, giving employees a chance to gather with their families to
\ncelebrate the festival. No wonder the streets are quiet this day.<\/p>\n
But if you want to take part in the festival you can go to a
\nChinese restaurant which is not yet closed and place an order for
\na bowl of glutinous rice balls.<\/p>\n
In the early 1950s Dongzhi was still more keenly felt in
\nIndonesia. A number of schools were closed on that day and the
\nchildren had fun eating onde-onde but were not aware what Tang
\nCheh was and what it signified.<\/p>",
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