The forgotten traditions in Chinese New Year in Indonesia

The forgotten traditions in Chinese New Year in Indonesia

By Mauro Rahardjo

BANDUNG (JP): During President's Soeharto's reign, for more
than 30 years Chinese traditions were banned and not allowed to
be practiced. Hence, it is no wonder that most of the younger
generation have forgotten many of them.

Unlike his predecessors, President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid
is now encouraging the Chinese to fully perform their traditions.
It may possibly be difficult for the young ethnic Chinese to
practice the traditions as they may never have practiced them in
the past or even be aware of them at all as they were still
babies when the traditions were banned.

However it is interesting to know how the traditions are
related to their environment and so, even if they are not
practiced, they are still worth learning about.

Perhaps the oldest festival in China is the Spring Festival.
This is what is more familiarly known as the Chinese New Year. As
most Chinese were peasants and farmers, spring meant the coming
back to life of the earth and so it was celebrated. The feudal
rulers placed great importance on this occasion, and ceremonies
became imperative in every household.

In Chinese, the word for the arrival of spring is Nian, it
simply means "year". However, it is widely accepted that the
origin of this word was a mythical monster that was so fierce
that it threatened to destroy mankind. The monster appeared
around the time of the New Year.

In order to protect the people, the Emperor summoned a wise
man to solve the problem. The wise man approached Nian with a
challenge -- shaming it for attacking people who were much weaker
and persuading it to destroy other monsters on earth.

And Nian took up the challenge. One year later, having
destroyed all the monsters on the earth, he returned again to
terrorize mankind. However, this time when Nian showed up, some
children were playing with firecrackers. Nian was terrified of
the noise and fled. From then on firecrackers have been used to
scare away the last remaining monster on earth -- Nian.

Nian, who only existed in legend, is perhaps represented by
the Barongsay. The Barongsay dance is the most spectacular event
of the Chinese New Year festivities. The dance takes place
throughout the first few days of the Chinese New Year, and is
said to bring good luck to the households or businesses which the
dancers visit.

As the reader may already know, the dance is accompanied by
loud music played on large drums, gongs and cymbals. The use of
firecrackers, drums, gongs and cymbals are possibly related to
the role of dispelling evil, with Nian being afraid of loud
noises.

Traditionally, the climax of the Barongsay dance is the
picking off of leaves which are tied on a piece of string which
also has a red envelop attached containing money. The string is
hung above the door of the shop or house, and then the barongsay
"eats" both the leaves and the red envelop. The barongsay chews
the leaves and the band plays more softly. After a while, the
Barongsay explodes back into life while spitting out the leaves.
The spitting out of the leaves signifies that there will be good
fortune in the coming year.

Some traditions

Several days before celebrating the new year, it is important
that houses be cleaned, new clothes bought, and debts repaid. In
fact, it is believed that on the first day, it is not allowed to
sweep the floor. This belief stems from the anxiety that fortune
may be swept away from the home. Celebrating the new year means
each person has to wear new clothes, and some individuals also
have their hair cut.

During the new year, sweet and sticky glutinous rice pudding
(in Indonesia, it is known as dodol ranjang) is eaten. Rich
families may prepare more food like this to be distributed among
their poorer neighbors. It is also considered unlucky to use
anything sharp on New Year's day -- knives, scissors, etc. The
action of the sharp blades risks cutting the good fortune
anticipated in the New Year.

It is important not to use language that is negative -- having
an argument on New Year's day is to be avoided at all costs.
Words related to sickness and death are to be avoided. This even
extends to the use of words which sound like the words for death
or sickness. Finally, care must be taken not to stumble or to
break anything. This would be indicative of bad luck ahead.

Door Gods and Kitchen Gods

Among the most interesting traditions is the belief in the
existence of Door Gods and Kitchen Gods. During the build up to
the Chinese New Year, images of Door Gods are placed on the
outside doors of houses. This tradition dates back to the Tang
Dynasty.

Emperor Taizong was said to have had a dream in which ghosts
came to the palace to search for him and because of this dream he
fell ill. The next day, he sought advice from his officials. In
the end, the emperor asked two top generals, Qin Qiong and Yuchi
Gong, both of whom had fought to establish the Tang dynasty, to
stand guard outside the emperor's bedroom door.

The emperor slept soundly in the knowledge that he was
protected by these two generals, and had no further dreams of
ghosts. After a few nights, the emperor became concerned for the
generals. He ordered that two paintings be made, one of each
general. Once completed, the emperor had these hung on the door
of his room, and relieved the generals. This tale soon became
widely known, and in their eagerness to share the protection of
these "Door Gods" the common people made their own paintings and
placed them on their doors. The tradition has continued ever
since.

On the last lunar month of the year, the Kitchen God is
believed to return to heaven to give a report to the Jade Emperor
on the family's activities over the past year. This day is marked
by acts of appeasement to the Kitchen God so that he will give
the Jade Emperor a favorable report.

Traditionally, images of the Kitchen God are burned as a
symbolic act of departure. In some families, the lips of the
Kitchen God are smeared with honey or a sugar solution just
before the image is burned as it is believed that only sweet
things will be said by the Kitchen God about the family members
on his visit to heaven.