Carnival enlivens Zheng He celebration
Carnival enlivens Zheng He celebration
Suherdjoko and Harry Bhaskara, The Jakarta Post/Semarang
After waiting in vain for the Sam Poo carnival procession on a
side street here, Unun realizes that she has made a mistake. The
procession had passed Jl. Pemuda, the street where she was
sitting down with her nine-year-old daughter under a tree,
earlier in the morning on Thursday.
"I wanted to see the procession because I was told that the
Solo royal carriage is taking part," she told The Jakarta Post,
"besides the carnival itself would be exciting to watch".
Her daughter who looked disappointed said: "I had skipped my
class today to see the procession".
Some people in the street, however, seemed to be unaware about
the procession.
A newspaper vendor and a side-street cigarette seller said
they were not sure what time the procession was going to take
place.
Unun later decided to go to the Sam Poo Kong temple at Gedung
Batu where participants of the procession rested for a few hours
before making the same five-kilometer journey to Tay Kak Sie
temple in Chinatown where the procession began at 5 a.m. in the
morning.
For Tjahjono Rahardjo, a professor of environmental science at
the Sugijaprata Catholic University, the annual Sam Poo carnival,
is a familiar event.
"I came to the Tay Kak Sie temple at four o'clock in the
morning. I always take part in the procession wherever I can," he
told the Post.
Lion dancers including those from the Diponegoro Military
Headquarters led the procession followed by dozens of people with
painted faces that made it look like they were wearing Chinese
masks. The people wore black trousers and long-sleeved shirts
with gold embroidery depicting Zheng He's horse attendants (Che-
Kun) as well as those grateful people who had their wishes
fulfilled by the gods (Bhe-Kun).
Three altars carrying offerings from Chinese temples including
those from Tay Kak Sie followed, carried on the shoulders by
devotees, the way people bore traditional chair sedans in the
past.
"Zheng He" himself, dressed in a brilliant red and golden
yellow battle dress with a sword on his side, rode a handsome
horse flanked by his two guards on horseback in similar suits,
preceded by the Semarang police corps on horses.
The black horse-drawn royal carriages from Solo came later
followed by the famous Ponorogo reog dance from East Java at the
end of the procession.
Except at a few narrow bends, the procession barely disturbed
the flow of traffic as motorists were able to maneuver their way
along the side of the procession.
The procession was greeted by Minister of Trade and Industry
Mari E. Pangestu, West Java Governor Mardiyanto and Semarang
Mayor Sukawi Sutarip at the office of the mayor on its way home
to Tay Kak Sie temple.
Abdul Latief, a Chinese-Indonesian Muslim visitor from
Cirebon, said that as a Muslim he was very proud of Zheng He.
"Islam recognizes three stages of faith. They are iman
(belief), Islam and ichsan (virtue)," Abdul said.
Bintoro, a Chinese-Indonesian who resides in Semarang hailed
the Zheng He celebration.
"The Chinese admiral", he said, "could serve as a model for
Chinese-Indonesians in terms of peace and friendship".
Dr. Leung Kam Ching, a professor of astronomy at the
University of Nebraska who came all the way from the United
States, said he was stunned by the ignorance of the people about
Zheng He.
"Most Semarang people only know about Sam Poo Kong, which is
the famous temple in the city," he said.
Tjahjono lamented the absence of an Indonesian translation of
the text of what otherwise would have been a very enlightening
photographic exhibition at the Central Java Trade and Promotion
Center (PRPP).
"The photo captions were only in English. I am convinced that
the message would not reach the public. If I had come with my
son, I would have had to translate them for him," he said.
The huge PRPP complex, which houses several exhibits including
Zheng He's photo exhibition by internationally acclaimed
photographer Michael Yamashita and a trade and handicraft
exhibition, looked deserted on Thursday morning.
A festive mood was in the air up to midnight on Wednesday when
residents were able to choose between entertainment at either Sam
Poo Kong, Tay Kak Sie or PRPP sites as the three places offered
international standard cultural shows.
Singers and dancers entertained huge audiences at the three
locations featuring a Wu Shu martial arts show, Chinese acrobats
and Islamic dances from Xin Chiang city.
But the hundreds of revelers had to jostle for at least 10
minutes on the narrow riverside road on the way to Tay Kak Sie
temple before they were able to position themselves in front of a
make-shift stage aboard a replica of Zheng He's boat anchored in
the narrow Semarang river.
Minister Mari said on Wednesday that Zheng He's celebration
could be exploited as an opportunity to promote trade.
"It so happens that Zheng He's mission was trade," the
minister said of the trade and diplomatic emissary of the Ming
dynasty.