China News Service, Jakarta, April 1st: Why does Indonesian Badik "embroider" dragons and phoenixes?
——Exclusive interview with Dani Placosa, consultant of the Textile Research Group of the Indonesian Heritage Association and batik researcher
Author Li Zhiquan Chen Shimeng
In Indonesia, everyone from the president to the common people wear Batik on every important occasion. This kind of clothing with rich colors and patterns is regarded by Indonesians as national clothing and a symbol of national identity. The Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway, which will be officially opened for operation in October 2023, will adopt the traditional batik style of Batik in the interior design of the station and carriage seats.
Indonesia is the "country of a thousand islands", and different regions have different characteristics of batik. Among them, there are design styles with dragons, phoenixes, auspicious clouds, lotus and other animals and plants or Chinese patterns as the main patterns. Why does Indonesian Badik use Chinese elements? What is the relationship between Indonesian Badik and China? Danie Prakosa, a consultant to the Textile Research Group of the Indonesian Heritage Association and a researcher on batik for nearly 20 years, recently accepted an exclusive interview with China News Service's "East-West Question" to discuss these topics.
The interview transcript is summarized as follows:
Reporter from China News Service: Please introduce Indonesian Badik. What kind of development process has it experienced?
Dany Placosa:
Batik is Indonesia’s ancient batik technique. It also generally refers to the floral cloth dyed by this technique or the clothing made of it. It has penetrated into all aspects of Indonesian people’s lives, so it is regarded as Indonesian. A symbol of national identity.
A model shows off Indonesian batik clothing. Photo by Huang Yanmei
During the early Javanese Dynasty (1293-1527), batik was the official dress worn by kings and government officials. Although ordinary people outside the palace also want to wear batik, the batik pattern used by the royal family is expressly prohibited outside the palace. These specific royal patterns are called "Larangan" in Javanese, which also means "forbidden". The growing demand for batiks among civilians created many business opportunities, and more styles besides the "Larangan" pattern were designed.
Danie Prakosa shows off her collection of batik fabrics. Photo by Li Zhiquan
Indonesian traditional batik is either created in the royal palace or developed among common people. No matter which pattern has a beautiful meaning. Javanese people use batik in daily life and traditional ceremonies from conception to birth, through childhood, adolescence, marriage, and death. It can be said that batik is an integral part of Javanese life. The traditions of Javanese society, especially those involving batik, still survive today. In Javanese families and society, the philosophical meaning contained in each batik pattern is passed down to the next generation.
Danie Prakosa shows off her collection of batik fabrics. Photo by Li Zhiquan
On October 2, 2009, Badik was included in the Representative List of Human Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO. This day was subsequently designated as "Badik Day" by the Indonesian government. Badik has a long history and is still flourishing in contemporary times, which is the main factor why it can become the world's intangible cultural heritage. Today, Batik is not only a national treasure of Indonesia, but also a treasure of the world.
China News Service reporter: How did Badik enter the international stage?
Dany Placosa:
The Indonesian government attaches great importance to promoting the development of the batik industry and has promulgated two regulations specifically for it. In addition to designating October 2 each year as "Badik Day", it also requires government officials to Wear a batik once. In addition, many schools in Indonesia require students to wear batik, and they must also wear batik when entering some offices. In fact, all segments of the fashion industry, such as men's clothing, women's clothing, senior clothing, children's clothing, have widely accepted and used batik fabrics, and can be worn in both formal and informal occasions.
Danie Prakosa shows off the batik worn by Mandela. Photo by Li Zhiquan
After Badik became an intangible cultural heritage of mankind, it became a world-famous cultural symbol of Indonesia. It became more fashionable and trendy, favored by foreign consumers, and gradually entered the world stage. In Indonesia's national celebrations and large-scale national events, including when the Indonesian government hosts international conferences, batiks are often tailor-made for the leaders attending the conference. Former South African President Mandela liked to wear batik, and he once wore batik to places outside Indonesia. Indonesian President Joko often wears Batik in some major state events. His hometown Solo is the city of Batik.
Nowadays, foreigners working and studying in Indonesia will buy several batiks to wear to formal events. They think this is a fashionable dress and can bring them closer to the locals.
Reporter from China News Service: In addition to local Indonesian elements, Batik’s batik patterns also use Chinese elements such as dragons, phoenixes, and auspicious clouds. What is the significance of these patterns?
Dany Placosa:
As the world's largest archipelagic country, Indonesia plays an important strategic role in Asian trade. For hundreds of years, businessmen from China, India, Europe and the Middle East have come to Indonesia to do business and settle here. In the early days, Chinese and Indonesian people interacted in daily life. In this process, Chinese culture began to have an impact on Indonesia, including the impact on batik patterns. Chinese culture, mainly carried by objects (such as plates and jars), traveled across the ocean to Indonesia, where it met and blended with Indonesian traditional batik patterns and became integrated.
Classic patterns on traditional Chinese clothing. Photo by Zhang Yun
The classic flower and bird patterns on the representative traditional clothing of the Qing Dynasty court. Photo by Du Yang
Badik with Chinese elements is mainly distributed in the northern coastal areas of Java, Indonesia, such as Rasem, Tuban, Semarang, Pekalongan, Cirebon, Garut, Indramayo and other places. Batik has a history of hundreds of years in these areas, and there is a proper name in Indonesian called "Pasisiran Batik". In the past, ivory-white Chinese ceramics were often seen on the batiks of Rasem, the batiks of Tuban and Indramayo were famous for their phoenix patterns, and the "auspicious cloud" pattern of the batiks of Cirebon combined native clouds with Nanjing cloud brocade. color matching. All these can prove the influence of Chinese culture on Indonesian batik.
Flower patterns on tiles, a traditional Chinese building component. Photo by Zhang Tao
Pattern and blue print works with the auspicious decoration "Phoenix Pattern" as the theme. Photo by Xu Congjun
Until now, Indonesian batik still uses animal patterns from Chinese mythology, and the most common ones include dragons. Wearing a batik with patterns such as "dragon" is believed to bring good luck. Although there are also specific forms of dragons in Indonesian Javanese traditional stories, the dragons influenced by Chinese culture have unique shapes and have beautiful meanings of protection, exorcism, good luck and fertility.
China News Service Reporter: Why is it said that Badik witnessed the integration of Chinese culture and Indonesian culture?
Dany Placosa:
As mentioned above, batik is an integral part of Indonesian life. Badik originated during the Kingdom of Java, when Chinese merchants came to Indonesia for trade and brought Chinese culture to Indonesian society. At that time, most of the Chinese businessmen who arrived and settled in Indonesia were single or did not bring their families. Therefore, many Chinese married Indonesians. The marriages influenced the cultures of the two peoples. The offspring they gave birth to were called "Peranakan" (Peranakan). . In order to adapt to the local culture, Chinese women living in Indonesia began to wear sarongs. Since batik is an important cultural symbol in Indonesia, Chinese people also use batik as wedding clothes in order to integrate into Indonesian life.
In the mid-19th century, the Dutch colonists achieved great success in the Batik market, and the Chinese doing business in Indonesia also saw this business opportunity. In the development of the batik industry, Indonesian Chinese and their descendants adapted to market demand and innovated batik pattern designs. The origins of batik and China are also mainly reflected in the combination of classic Javanese patterns and traditional Chinese elements when designing batik patterns.
In addition to the innovation of patterns, Chinese entrepreneurs also taught skills to batik craftsmen. Most of these craftsmen are local Indonesians. After mastering the superb batik craftsmanship, they designed patterns with Chinese cultural elements and produced exquisite batik. cloth. The batik created by Chinese descendants not only reflects Chinese culture, but also reflects Indonesian culture. It is not only popular among locals, but also has a special status in Chinese families in Singapore and Malaysia.
On July 6, 2011, the Indonesian Embassy in China opened the first batik cloth workshop in Nanning, Guangxi, displaying Indonesian batik cloth technology and products in China for the first time, promoting this Indonesian tradition that has been rated as a world intangible cultural heritage. Art. Photo by Lin Hao
China News Service Reporter: How to view the exchanges, mutual learning, and harmonious coexistence between different countries, different ethnic groups, and different civilizations from the perspective of Badik's development?
Dany Placosa:
When the Chinese came to settle in Indonesia, people from the two ethnic groups learned from each other and exchanged skills. The two cultures influenced and integrated with each other. This is a natural process. On the one hand, China is one of the countries promoting the development of batik craftsmanship in Indonesia. On the other hand, Indonesians invented a unique batik tool "Canthing", which together with the skills of Chinese merchants creates more exquisite batik.
Batik is a very exquisite art and a manifestation of the intersection of cultures from different countries. In addition to Chinese elements, Badik also uses Arabic calligraphy, European bouquets, Japanese cherry blossoms and other patterns, which shows that Indonesia is a very culturally diverse country. (over)
Interviewee profile:
Dany Placosa. Photo by Li Zhiquan
Dany Placosa was born into a batik family in Semarang, Central Java, Indonesia. She has loved wearing and making badiks since she was a child, and badiks have become a part of her life. So far, she has been engaged in research on batik for nearly 20 years, promoting and introducing batik to enthusiasts from different countries around the world.
Dany Prakosa is a consultant to the Textile Research Group of the Indonesian Heritage Association and is now the director of the batik circle at the International Women's Club of Jakarta, which was founded in 1950 and has about 400 members.