China News Service, Jakarta, February 29th
: Why can we see the cultural integration between China and Indonesia from Chinese temples?
——Exclusive interview with Yuan Ni, President of the Indonesian Chinese Writers Association and Chinese writer
China News Service reporter Li Zhiquan
Indonesia consists of more than 17,000 islands, among which there are thousands of Chinese temples scattered on the main islands, the oldest of which is more than 800 years old.
In Jakarta, Singkawang, Palembang and other places where Chinese people gather, there are dozens or even hundreds of temples.
How did these Chinese temples come to Indonesia?
How to see the integration of Chinese and Indonesian cultures from the perspective of Chinese temples?
Yuan Ni, the general chairman of the Indonesian Chinese Writers Association and a Chinese writer, recently accepted an exclusive interview with China News Service's "East-West Question" to tell the story behind the Chinese temples in Indonesia.
The interview transcript is summarized as follows:
China News Service reporter: Why are there so many Chinese temples in Indonesia?
Yuan Ni:
During the Ming and Qing dynasties and the early years of the Republic of China, a large number of overseas Chinese came to Indonesia across the ocean.
When overseas Chinese went to Nanyang, most of them were "self-employed".
Living in a strange environment, they need a kind of spiritual sustenance.
As more and more villagers gather together, the local overseas Chinese gradually develop a desire to connect with each other, unite and cooperate, and help each other. They usually form associations based on their ancestral place, hometown or clan name. Indonesia has Fujian, Hakka, Cantonese and other ethnic groups. Ancestral temples built by people from Zhao and Yongding.
With these temples, overseas Chinese living abroad also have a kind of spiritual sustenance.
Therefore, it has become a common practice to build temples to appease the gods.
With the passage of time, although the identity of overseas Chinese later changed to Chinese, the spiritual and cultural core of building temples to appease the gods has always been there.
Currently, there are thousands of Chinese temples in the main islands of Indonesia, and almost all major cities have one or two traditional Chinese temples.
Judging from the distribution, these temples are mainly established in places where overseas Chinese first landed, such as East Java, Central Java, West Java, Jakarta, Palembang, Aceh, Pontianak, Singkawang and other places.
People worship at the Kaizhang Shengwang Temple (also known as Chen's Ancestral Temple) near Panchilan China Town in Jakarta. The temple has a history of more than 200 years.
Photo by Li Zhiquan
China News Service reporter: What are the functions of these Chinese temples, and what are the differences between the past and now?
Yuan Ni:
Indonesian Chinese temples have two main functions, one is religious function, and the other is social function.
The religious function is mainly reflected in sustenance of the soul, worshiping ancestors, performing rituals, etc., including respectfully inviting monks, Taoist priests, and Buddhist nuns to chant sutras and achieve salvation.
Whenever there is a happy event or a funeral at home, Chinese Indonesians like to go to the temple to ask for fortune from the gods and pray for blessings.
People worship at the Kaizhang Shengwang Temple (also known as Chen's Ancestral Temple) near Panchilan China Town in Jakarta. The temple has a history of more than 200 years.
Photo by Li Zhiquan
Chinese temples hold two spring and autumn festivals every year, namely worshiping ancestors during Qingming Festival and worshiping during the Bon Festival in the seventh month of the lunar calendar.
In some larger temples in Indonesia, poor people from all over the world, regardless of race or color, gather on the night of July 14th every year. As soon as the temple doors open on July 15th, the person in charge will bring the packaged oil, Give them rice, sugar, etc.
Chinese believers believe that giving alms to poor families during the Bon Festival will bring blessings.
The social functions of Chinese temples are mainly reflected in running schools, serving as places for friendship, nostalgia, and discussion.
It should be noted that not all Chinese temples have schools, but most of them have Chinese cram schools, such as Baishi Zongyi Temple and Luban Temple in Jakarta. Even during the ban on Chinese language, schools were still opened here. , and set up extracurricular classes to teach Chinese.
The main purpose is to let the disciples learn to chant sutras, and also to let the nearby children learn Chinese.
Some local Islamic schools also send students to cram schools to learn Chinese and then teach it to their classmates.
The earliest school set up in an Indonesian temple was a free school founded by overseas Chinese Lei Zhenlan in "Jinde Academy" in 1787, called "Mingde Academy". The funds were donated by the overseas Chinese organization's mansion, and the Four Books and Five Classics were taught.
On January 3, 2007, children in the kindergarten of the Confucius School under the Wende Temple in Tangerang, Indonesia, learned Chinese under the leadership of a Chinese teacher.
Photo by Wang Linan
In the early years, due to lack of information, neighbors, fellow villagers, and old friends of the overseas Chinese in Indonesia would usually go to the temple to offer incense on Buddha’s birthday and the first and fifteenth day of every month, and then gather together to discuss current affairs, Talking about everyday things and exchanging information about their hometown, the temple gradually turned into a social place.
In addition, many unresolved matters will be settled in the temple, and the temple has also become a place to resolve disputes.
Kaizhang Shengwang Temple (also known as Chen's Ancestral Temple) near Panchilan Chinatown in Jakarta.
Photo by Li Zhiquan
Compared with the past, the function of Indonesian temples now is mainly to provide faith and spiritual sustenance.
In some Buddhist halls, eminent monks and masters lecture and promote Dharma, and explain traditional Chinese culture.
Temples are also places where many young people gather and communicate, such as discussing and deciding on charity activities and other plans.
Reporter from China News Service: How will temples be passed down during the interruption of Chinese education?
Yuan Ni:
The Suharto regime announced in 1969 that six religions were officially recognized, including Buddhism and Indonesian Confucianism, and required every Indonesian citizen to believe in one religion.
At that time, all temples in Indonesia were required to be named in Buddhist Sanskrit, and many non-Buddhist temples would set up separate temples.
There are also some temples that put away the plaques hanging in front of the temple doors and did not hang them up again until 2000.
During the most difficult years, thanks to the existence of temples, the Chinese Indonesians had a place of spiritual sustenance and some traditional culture was preserved.
However, in some temples in remote areas, because the Chinese temple owners do not understand Chinese, although they still adhere to the ancestral precepts and worship the gods and Buddhas passed down from generation to generation, many of them can no longer tell what gods and Buddhas they are worshiping.
The temple, which integrates Taoism, Buddhism and Confucianism with traditional Chinese culture as its core, has become the spiritual home of several generations of Indonesian Chinese who have left their homeland.
The picture shows an old Chinese man who has guarded the Confucius Temple in Tangerang City, Jakarta for decades, offering incense to the statue of Confucius.
Photo by Wang Linan
China News Service Reporter: What are the similarities and differences between the signed poems in Chinese temples in Indonesia?
Yuan Ni:
The signing of poems in Indonesian Chinese temples mainly depends on which god is enshrined.
The signed poems in Chinese temples in Indonesia are usually divided into "Thunder Rain Master's Hundred Lots", "Sixty Years Lot", "Guanyin One Hundred Lots", "Guanyin Twenty-eight Lots", "Mazu Sixty Years Lot" and "Guan Sheng Emperor's One Hundred Lots". ", and the medicine sticks of Yaowang Temple include 120 lots and 60 lots.
Most of these signed poems are ancient poems and prose, which have been passed down from generation to generation, ranging from hundreds of years to decades.
The signed poems were constantly copied, and some of the handwriting was blurred. Later generations of temple worshipers or hosts had to copy them. The shapes were similar but could not be read. We had to guess based on the context.
In a sense, this is also an inheritance of Chinese temple culture.
Reporter from China News Service: How can we see the integration of Chinese and Indonesian cultures from the perspective of Chinese temples?
Yuan Ni:
Overseas Chinese attach great importance to incense. Wherever there are Chinese people, incense will continue to be available.
During the inheritance, Chinese culture and customs will be integrated with local culture.
One of the key factors why Indonesian Chinese temples are better preserved is their integration with the local area.
For example, the poems signed by Chinese temples in Indonesia are basically translated into Indonesian. This is to adapt to the problem of believers who do not understand Chinese. Although the poems cannot be fully translated, the annotations can be translated, such as "If you have fame and fame, don't be too late" and "Seeking financial peace." , "How about marriage" and so on.
In 2007, a trilingual national school model that taught in three languages: English, Chinese, and Indonesian gradually emerged in Indonesia and was widely recognized by the Chinese community.
The picture shows students from Chongtek Trilingual National School in Yogyakarta.
Photo by Yang Beizhao
Take the autograph poem of Emperor Guan Sheng as an example: The first lot (Jiajia Daji) "Standing alone towards the clouds, the first class of thousands of officials in the Jade Palace, wealth and glory will be given to you from heaven, blessings like the East China Sea and longevity like mountains..." Indonesian translation For: No.1 (Sangat Baik) Bunyinya: Dengan Tindakan agung dan tetap menuju keatas langit. Diantara sekalian pengawal dalam keraton berkedudukan terutama. Thian kasihkan padamu kekayaan, keagungan dan kemakmuran. The translation cannot get the whole point, but the essence is correct.
Through these poems, Chinese and Indonesian languages have reached understanding and integration.
Also because there are Indonesian translations and temples that host Indonesian sign interpretations, Indonesian friends in the Java area will also go to the temples to ask for signed poems and better understand the Chinese through the temples.
Chinese temples in Indonesia do not distinguish between believers. Whether they are Fujianese or Hakka, whether they are Chinese or not, and regardless of their skin color, they can visit freely.
In order to help more people understand the stories of Chinese gods and Buddhas, some temples have also set up Indonesian websites.
The inheritance of Chinese temples in Indonesia is also the result of the exchange and blending of Chinese culture and Indonesian local culture.
(over)
Interviewee profile:
Yuan Ni, formerly known as Ye Lizhen, was born in Meixian County, Guangdong Province, China (now Meizhou City), and was born in Jakarta, Indonesia. She is the third generation of Chinese descent.
President of the Indonesian Chinese Writers Association and a Chinese writer.
Deeply influenced by Chinese literature since childhood, he has been obsessed with literary creation and has written collections of short stories, essays, and Chinese-Indonesian bilingual poetry collections.
He has conducted specialized research on Indonesian temple culture.