'Onde-onde' tradition lives on in Indonesia
'Onde-onde' tradition lives on in Indonesia
Tony Ryanto, Contributor, Jakarta
For the majority of today's Chinese-Indonesians, the
philosophical meaning of Tang Cheh or Dongzhi probably eludes
them. The two words refer to a festival that falls on Dec. 22 --
which also happens to be the National Women's Day.
On that day, family members, young and old, receive glutinous
rice flour balls, locally known as onde-onde in accordance with
one's age.
For example, if you are 25, you are entitled to two big onde
and five small ones. The balls, made of glutinous rice flour,
usually come in three colors -- white, red and green.
The snacks are usually served warm in a small amount of syrup.
A friend told me that he feels alarmed every Dec. 22 because it
means he is getting older and older.
In contrast, a child is happy because he is getting older and
will therefore be given more freedom.
Often, children long to be adults like the Tom Hanks character
in Big, while adults want to be children all over again.
Back to Dongzhi. Few people know that it is the second most
important festival after the Chinese New Year or Lunar New Year.
It is called the "Lunar" New Year as it refers to the full moon,
in the fifteenth of each month, on lunar calendar.
The celebration is closely associated with yin and yang, which
signifies perfect balance and harmony in life. Yin is passive,
negative and feminine, whereas yang is active, positive and
masculine.
Yin and yang qualities are not connected in any way with men
and women but with the feminine and masculine qualities of the
universe.
One can safely say that yin is the source of darkness and cold
and that yang is the origin of light and heat.
Dec. 22 marks the longest night of the year. It is when
sunshine is at its weakest and daytime at its shortest. The yin
qualities are at their strongest and the coming of winter is
celebrated by farmers and fishermen who gather their harvest and
catch in preparation for winter.
Understandingly, Dongzhi is a time for thanksgiving attended
by the entire family. It is a time when they put on new clothes,
visit families, share gifts, and celebrate until the morning
comes. It also signifies optimism.
Families, who still celebrate the day, usually serve tangyuan,
the most important menu for the Dec. 22 festivities.
Tangyuan is the sweet soup of glutinous rice balls. As Chinese
syllables are generally homophonic, tangyuan is rhymed with
Tuanyuan, which means family reunion. Yuan is also closely linked
to Yuanman, which means complete.
Like the Lunar New Year, Dongzhi also calls for a complete
family reunion.
Nowadays, however, Chinese-Indonesians only provide the sticky
rice balls for their ancestors. Some still continue to paste two
or three balls on the doors of their houses, most probably it has
something to do with asking for ancestors' blessings and for
prosperity.
The celebration of Dongzhi or the winter solstice (when the
sun is at its lowest point) has been conducted since the Han
Dynasty (206 B.C. - 220 A.D.). On that day, officers at the royal
court would go on vacation. That's why there's a Chinese phrase
that says "winter vacation is greater than the new year."
There's an interesting legend attached to the winter solstice.
A carpenter named Mo Dou lived in a place where the soil was
extremely fertile, so the farmers did not have to do much work.
Instead of going to the fields, they would go to Mo Dou's
place to chat.
Mo didn't like the farmers idling away their time chatting
because it made them lazy while he himself couldn't concentrate
and subsequently couldn't do a lot of work.
So he gave a bag of magic sawdust to one of his pupils,
telling him to scatter a little onto the fields. In that way
weeds would grow and the farmers would have to work or their
crops would be affected.
But the pupil was as lazy as the farmers. He showered the
whole bag of sawdust over the fields. The farmers were unable to
get rid of the weeds and there were no crops at all.
Mo was very angry and turned his pupil into a cow. As a cow
the pupil was no more diligent. Each time he did a little bit of
work he demanded a reward in the form of glutinous rice balls.
The Buddha was not happy with the cow. So a nail was driven
into its jaw, so it could no longer complain. From that time on,
people regarded the winter solstice as the cow's birthday,
thanking the animal for its year-long toil and feeding it sticky
rice balls.
In Hong Kong, a lot of shops and offices close earlier on Dec.
22, giving employees a chance to gather with their families to
celebrate the festival. No wonder the streets are quiet this day.
But if you want to take part in the festival you can go to a
Chinese restaurant which is not yet closed and place an order for
a bowl of glutinous rice balls.
In the early 1950s Dongzhi was still more keenly felt in
Indonesia. A number of schools were closed on that day and the
children had fun eating onde-onde but were not aware what Tang
Cheh was and what it signified.