Do you know about Baba Nyonya Culture before?
I made this blog because I want to share about Peranakan Cultue that is very unique. Have you ever visited Museum Peranakan in Singapore or Baba Nyonya in Malacca?
Well, If you haven’t yet. I will take you to the journey of the ancient Baba Nyonya culture.
Peranakan and Baba Nyonya in chinese (峇峇娘惹 / baba niang re) are terms used for the descendants of late 15th and 16th-century Chinese immigrants to the Nusantara region during the Colonial era. It applies especially to the ethnic Chinese populations of the British Straits Settlements of Malaya and the Dutch-controlled island of Java and other locations, who have adopted partially or in full Nusantara customs to be somewhat assimilated into the local communities. They are the elites of Singapore, more loyal to the British than to China. Most have lived for generations along the straits of Malacca and not all intermarried with the local Malays. They are usually traders, the middleman of the British and the Chinese, or the Chinese and Malays, or vice versa. They almost always have the ability to speak two or more languages. In later generations, some lost the ability to speak Chinese as they became assimilated to the Malay Peninsula’s culture and started to speak Malay fluently as a first or second language.
While the term Peranakan is most commonly used among the ethnic Chinese for those of Chinese descent also known as Straits Chinese (土生華人; named after the Straits Settlements), there are also other, comparatively small Peranakan communities, such as Indian Hindu Peranakans (Chitty), Indian Muslim Peranakans (Jawi Pekan) (Jawi being the Javanised Arabic script, Pekan a colloquial contraction of Peranakan) and Eurasian Peranakans (Kristang) (Kristang = Christians). The group has parallels to the Cambodian Hokkien, who are descendents of Hoklo Chinese. They maintained their culture partially despite their native language gradually disappearing a few generations after settlement.
In both Malay and Indonesian, ‘Peranakan’ is defined as ‘descendant’ with no connotation of the ethnicity of descent unless followed by a subsequent qualifying noun, such as for example Cina (Chinese), Belanda (Dutch) or Jepang/Jepun (Japanese). Peranakan has the implied connotation of referring to the ancestry of great-grandparents or more distant ancestors.
Baba is a Persian loan-word borrowed by Malaysian as an honorific solely for grandparents; it was used to refer to the Straits-Chinese males. The term originated with Hindustani speakers, such as vendors and traders, and became part of common vernacular. Female Straits-Chinese descendants were either called or styled themselves Nyonyas. The word nyonya (also commonly misspelled nonya) is a Javanese loan honorific word from Italian Nona (grandma) meaning: foreign married Madam. Or more likely from the word Dona, from the Portuguese word for lady. Because Javanese at the time had a tendency to address all foreign women (and perhaps those who appeared foreign) asnyonya, they used that term for Straits-Chinese women, too, and it was gradually associated more exclusively with them. nona in javanese means lady.
Straits-Chinese were defined as those born or living in the Straits Settlements: a British colonial construct of Penang, Malacca and Singapore constituted in 1826. Straits-Chinese were not considered Baba Nyonya unless they displayed certain Sino-Malay syncretic physical attributes.
Ancestry
Most Peranakans are of Hoklo (Hokkien) ancestry, although a sizable number are of Teochew or Cantonese descent. Originally, the Peranakan were mixed-race descendents, part Chinese, part Malay/Indonesian.
Baba Nyonya are a subgroup within Chinese communities, are the descendants of Sino-indigenous unions in Melaka, Penang, and Indonesia. It was not uncommon for early Chinese traders to take Malay/Indonesian women of Peninsular Malay/Sumatera/Javanese as wives or concubines. Consequently the Baba Nyonya possessed a mix of cultural traits.
Written records from the 19th and early 20th centuries show that Peranakan men usually took brides from within the local Peranakan community. Peranakan families occasionally imported brides from China and sent their daughters to China to find husbands.
Some sources claim that the early Peranakan inter-married with the local Malay/Indonesian population; this might derive from the fact that some of the servants who settled in Bukit Cina who traveled to Malacca with the Admiral from Yunnan were Muslim Chinese. Other experts, however, see a general lack of physical resemblance, leading them to believe that the Peranakan Chinese ethnicity has hardly been diluted. One notable case to back the claim is of the Peranakan community in Tangerang, Indonesia, known as Cina Benteng. Their physical look is indigenous, yet they dutifully adhere to the Peranakan customs, and most of them are Buddhist. Some Peranakan distinguish between Peranakan-Baba (those Peranakan with part Malay ancestry) from Peranakan (those without any Malay ancestry).
Language
The language of the Peranakans, Baba Malay (Bahasa Melayu Baba), is a creole dialect of the Malay language (Bahasa Melayu), which contains many Hokkien words. It is a dying language, and its contemporary use is mainly limited to members of the older generation. English has now replaced this as the main language spoken amongst the younger generation.
In Indonesia, young Peranakans can still speak this creole language, although its use is limited to informal occasions. As is the case with many languages, young Peranakans have created new words (and lost others), so there is normally a difference in vocabulary between the older and younger generations.
Culture
Clothing
The Peranakan retained most of their ethnic and religious origins (such as ancestor worship), but assimilated the language and culture of the Malays. The Nyonya’s clothing was identical to that of the native Malay’s: baju panjang (long dress), batik sarung (batik wrap-around skirt) and kerongsang (brooch). Beaded slippers called Kasut Manek were a hand-made made with much skill and patience: strung, beaded and sewn onto canvas with tiny faceted glass beads from Bohemia (present-day Czech Republic). In modern times, glass beads from Japan are preferred. Traditional kasut manek design often have European floral subjects, with colors influenced by Peranakan porcelain and batik sarongs. They were made onto flats or bedroom slippers. But from the 1930s, modern shapes became popular and heels were added.
In Indonesia, the Peranakans develop their own Kebaya, most notably ‘kebaya encim’, and developed their own batik patterns, which incorporate symbols from China.
Religion
Baba Nyonya subscribed to Chinese beliefs: Taoism, Confucianism and Chinese Buddhism, celebrated the Lunar New Year and the Lantern Festival, while adopting the customs of the land they settled in, as well as those of their colonial rulers. There are traces of Portuguese, Dutch, British, Malay and Indonesian influences in Baba culture. A certain number of Baba Nonya families were and still are, Catholic.
Food
From the Malay influence a unique ”Nyonya” cuisine has developed using typical Malay spices. Examples are Chicken Kapitan, a dry chicken curry, and Inchi Kabin, a Nyonya version of fried chicken. Pindang bandeng is a common fish soup served in Indonesia during the Chinese new year and so is a white round mooncake from Tangerang which is normally used during the Autumn Festival. Swikee Purwodadi is a peranakan dish from Purwodadi, it is a frog soup dish.
Marriage
It was not uncommon for early Chinese traders to take Malay women of Peninsular Malay or Sumatera as wives or concubines.
Consequently the Baba Nyonya possessed a synergistic mix of Sino-Malay cultural traits.
Written records from the 19th and early 20th centuries show that Peranakan men usually took brides from within the local Peranakan community. Peranakan families occasionally imported brides from China and sent their daughters to China to find husbands.
Marriages within the community and of similar stature were the norm. Wealthy men prefigured to marry a chin choay: or matrilocal marriage where husband moved in with wife’s family.
Proposals of marriage were made by a gift of a pinangan, a 2-tiered lacquered basket, to the intended bride’s parents brought by a go-between who speaks on behalf of the suitor. Most Peranakans are not Muslim, and have retained the traditions of ancestor worship of the Chinese, though some converted to Christianity.
The wedding ceremony of the Peranakan is largely based on Chinese tradition, and is one of the most colorful wedding ceremonies in Malaysia and Singapore. At weddings, the Dondang Sayang, a form of extempore rhyming song in Malay sung and danced by guests at the wedding party, was a highlight. Someone would begin a romantic theme which was carried on by others, each taking the floor in turn, dancing in slow gyrations as they sang. It required quick wit and repartee and often gave rise to laughter and applause when a particularly clever phrase was sung. The melodic accents of the Baba-Nonya and their particular turns of phrase lend to the charm of this performance.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peranakan)
If you’ve read the story about Peranakan above, Indonesia has so many Peranakan Descendant. You know what My biggest ambition is , I want to make a Peranakan Museum in Indonesia. I want to let world know that Indonesia has so many peranakan. If you read the text above, Nusantara used to be Indonesian. Some of the Peranakan dishes may be so familiar.
Do you know Tjong A Fie Mansion in Medan?
I think it was one of the Peranakan Mansion. I really want to make Tjong A Fie Mansion to be a museum of Peranakan just like in Singapore and Malacca.
Unfortunately, Indonesian Government isn’t aware about it, If They are aware it can save peranakan culture in Indonesia and can make income for Indonesia especially Medan.
I want to organize the museum to be well known. I have some plans to make it.
Tomorrow I will write about Peranakan Dishes. How to cook them.. My fav is Ayam Pong Teh..
yumm..yumm.. Peranakan Kueh oso nice lo
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Peranakan also has a wedding culture that’s very unique.
I’ll write later about peranakan wedding.
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