Editorial DirectorTimothy Auger

EditorIbrahim Tahir

Project CoordinatorHe Liwei

DesignerMonica Fansikas Dwinita

Production ManagerSin Kam Cheong

First published in 2012 byAsian Civilisations Museum for the Peranakan Museum39 Arnemian Street Singapore 179941peranakanmuseum.sgwww.edmbooks.com

Designed and produced byEditions Didier Millet121 Telok Ayer Street, #03-01Singapore 068590www.edmbooks.com

Colour separation byUnited Graphic

Printed in Singapore byKHL Printing

Text Asian Civilisations Museum 2008Overall design and images Editions Didier Millet 2008

All right reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means. electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any other information storage and retrieval system, without the prior written permission by the copyright owners.

ISBN:978-981-4068-68-0

c

c

Peranakan, a Malay term meaning ‘locally born’, describes certain early diasporic communities in Southeast Asia that assimilated aspects of indigenous Malay culture mainly ethnic Chinese groups, with a small proportion that are ethnic Indian as well as ethnic Eurasian. The Chinese Peranakans absorbed some elements of European culture as well during colonial times, adding another dimension to the unique hybrid culture that is the focus of this guide.The information in the accession records of the Raffles Museum (1887-1969), is incomplete. The first object of clear Peranakan provenance in the records is a coral-ground porcelain jar with cover (kamcheng) acquired for $15 in 1963. It is interesting to speculate why, in a museum that displayed ethnographic material of the region, almost 100 years passed before

Peranakan material culture started to be collected. It would seem that to the curators of the time, the Chinese Peranakans-a thriving, evolving and influential community in the late 19th and early 20th centuries-did not fall within their scope of study and was therefore not represented in the museum. However, the influence of Peranakan communities began to wane after World War II, and by the 1960s their vary indentity was in danger of being lost. So by starting to collect Peranakan material, were the curators of the museum (by then re-named the National Museum) adopting the methods of their British predecessors? Had the Peranakan culture become a threatened culture in the eyes of these curators? The fact that acquisitions of Peranakan material at this time were made by the curators of Ethnology, and of History, suggests that this may have been the case.

Who are the Peranakans?

Dragonis the highest-ranking animal in the Chinese animal hierarchy, strongly associated at one time with the emperor and hence power and majesty (the mythical bird fenghuang was the symbol of the Chinese empress), still recognized and revered. Its origins are vague, but its “ancestors can be found on Neolithic pottery as well as Bronze Age ritual vessels.”Tradition has it composed of nine different animals, with nine sons, each with its own imagery and affiliations. It is the only mythological animal of the 12 animals that represent the Chinese calendar.

Dragon symbol usually appeared in wedding basin and pillow ends. It is believed that use of pillow, and bolster ends on the wedding bed is a practice that ancerstors of the Peranakan Chinese in the region from the local population during the long period of time that they had residd in the region.

Kerosang are decorative sets of brooches used as fasteners on blouses. They are most commonly found ingroups of three, although sets of up to five do exist. Kerosang weren worn by ladies of many communities in island Southeast Asia including both indigenous and mixed heritage groups and so tracing the origins of the kerosang is difficult. Most outhors suggest that they came from the Malays, who call them kerongsang.

While the earliest kerosang were relatively simple, kerosang styles evolved freely from their origin-possibly in the 18th century-to their present-day configurations. The earliest known examples of kerosang were simple circlets, sometimes decorated with faceted granulation and wire filigree, or set with gems. Somewhat later, a style known as the kerosang Melaka evoled with a slightly larger central brooch known as the kerosang ibu or ‘ mother’ and two smaller ‘child’ brooches known as the kerosang anak.

PhoenixIt is described as a bird with a colorful plumage and a tail of gold and scarlet (or purple, blue, and green according to some legends). It has a 500 to 1000 year life-cycle, near the end of which it builds itself a nest of twigs that then ignites; both nest and bird burn fiercely and are reduced to ashes, from which a new, young phoenix or phoenix egg arises, reborn anew to live again. The new phoenix is destined to live as long as its old self. The Phoenix’s ability to be reborn from its own ashes implies that it is immortal, though in some stories the new Phoenix is merely the offspring of the older one. In very few stories they are able to change into people.

Sometimes, we can see the symbol of phoenix in pillow ends, wedding certificate holder and wedding basin. It is particularly notable for the design at the centre in which a flying phoenix and a dragon painted in iron-red enamel chase a gold-painted flaming pearl amidst clouds, set againts a bright yellow ground.

Ang Ku KuehAng ku kueh translates directly from Hokkien into “red tortoise cakes”. They are glutinous rice cakes with various sweet fillings served on a banana leaf. You will most commonly see mung bean or peanut fillings. The Angku are moulded into the shape of a tortoise to signify longevity and its red colour symbolises luck. Traditionally, the Chinese would give these red delights to relatives and friends to celebrate weddings, birthdays, or a newborn’s first month.

The contributions of Peranakan food to the culinary landscape of Singapore and Malaysia are numerous, and include the famed kueh kueh, colorful cakes and confections made of glutinous rice flour and coconut milk and serikaya.

ButterfliesThis pair of butterfly was used on a peranakan wedding bed as symbols of fertility and were thus associated with weddings. Like many items associated with the wedding, they were commissioned or purchased in pairs, and in auspicious colours and motifs. Butterfly motifs can be found in beadwork, furniture embroidery, silver, porcelain, jewellery and batik.

Fertility hangings were used on wedding to bless the wedding couple in the hope that the first-born will be a son that will carry on the family name and lineage. It is interesting that although the Peranakans in Singapore, Malacca and Penang have always been known to have a strong matriarchal influence within their communities.

PeonyThe Peony flower is among the longest-used flowers in ornamental culture. It is a traditional floral symbol of China, where it is called (mu-dan). In 1903, the Qing Dynasty declared the peony as the national flower.

Peonies have been cultivated in Asia for more than a thousandjears. Requiring such careful cultivation, they were flowers that only the rich could ajjord to grow in Japan. Therefore the peony symbolizes prosperity for the Japanese.

The peony flower grants its recipient the power to keep a Secret. In its tightly clenched petals, nymphs could hide.

Insectsare a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax, and abdomen), three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and one pair of antennae. They are among the most diverse groups of animals on the planet, including more than a million described species and representing more than half of all known living organisms.

Sometimes insects can appear in tablecloth. The tablecloth was most problably for a spring table in the wedding chamber, where the bride and groom have their first meal together.

In the tablecloth alone, there are many auspicious meaning have been stiched in it. The insects itself such as dragonfly and grasshopper, represent the fertility and abudance.

Qilin(chilin) A mythical hoofed Chinese chimerical creature known throughout various East Asian cultures. It is said to appear in conjuction with the arrival of the sage.

Qilin usually appear in certificate holder, pillow ends. qilin sometimes side by side with phoenix. Peranakans belives that qilin is the symbol of fertility.

Tempat surat ( Wedding Certificate holder) was probably one of a set of wedding embroidery made for use by a Nyonyafrom Palembang for her wedding. It is decorated on both side with traditional Chinese phoenix and qilin motifs, stiched with glass beads on a velvet base.