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.