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7 The Chinese and the Early Centuries of Conversion to Islam in Indonesia

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Chinese Indonesians
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148 JEAN GELMAN TAYLOR7The Chinese and the EarlyCenturies of Conversion to Islamin IndonesiaJean Gelman TaylorINTRODUCTIONThe Chinese community in Indonesia has been the focus of CharlesCoppel’s life of scholarship. He has examined the history of Chinesemigration to Indonesia and focussed on the legal status of the Chinese,their relationship to minority communities of Christians and Arabs, andon the space Chinese occupy in independent Indonesia (Coppel 2002).The occasion of the celebration of Charles Coppel’s academic career hasprompted me to tease out from the writings of a number of (mainlyWestern) specialists some connections between the Chinese and Islam inIndonesia. The survey suggests that an important function played by theChinese in the history of Indonesian societies was to hook those societiesinto an Islamic network that exposed them to Muslim people, ideas, andknowledge.Linking the Chinese to Islam’s origins in the Malay–Indonesian worldis a sensitive subject in Indonesia. And yet there is a persistent associa-tion between the Chinese and Islam, especially in traditions narratingIslam’s early beginnings in Java. In North Java, for example, from Bantento Kudus, Chinese cultural influences are discernible in the constructionof old mosques with their characteristic tiered roofs with curving finials(Salmon 1980; Heuken 1982). Chinese cultural influences are evident inthe ceramic plates embedded in the walls of the Cirebon palaces (Tjahjono1999, p. 87) and in the colours and motifs of Cirebon batik cloths (Elliot1984). Chinese metalworks and gun foundries and Chinese militias cre-ated the military importance of the sultanate of Gresik in the sixteenthcentury (Carey, P. 1984). According to Chinese tradition, the port had
© 2018 ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute/Singapore

148 JEAN GELMAN TAYLOR7The Chinese and the EarlyCenturies of Conversion to Islamin IndonesiaJean Gelman TaylorINTRODUCTIONThe Chinese community in Indonesia has been the focus of CharlesCoppel’s life of scholarship. He has examined the history of Chinesemigration to Indonesia and focussed on the legal status of the Chinese,their relationship to minority communities of Christians and Arabs, andon the space Chinese occupy in independent Indonesia (Coppel 2002).The occasion of the celebration of Charles Coppel’s academic career hasprompted me to tease out from the writings of a number of (mainlyWestern) specialists some connections between the Chinese and Islam inIndonesia. The survey suggests that an important function played by theChinese in the history of Indonesian societies was to hook those societiesinto an Islamic network that exposed them to Muslim people, ideas, andknowledge.Linking the Chinese to Islam’s origins in the Malay–Indonesian worldis a sensitive subject in Indonesia. And yet there is a persistent associa-tion between the Chinese and Islam, especially in traditions narratingIslam’s early beginnings in Java. In North Java, for example, from Bantento Kudus, Chinese cultural influences are discernible in the constructionof old mosques with their characteristic tiered roofs with curving finials(Salmon 1980; Heuken 1982). Chinese cultural influences are evident inthe ceramic plates embedded in the walls of the Cirebon palaces (Tjahjono1999, p. 87) and in the colours and motifs of Cirebon batik cloths (Elliot1984). Chinese metalworks and gun foundries and Chinese militias cre-ated the military importance of the sultanate of Gresik in the sixteenthcentury (Carey, P. 1984). According to Chinese tradition, the port had
© 2018 ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute/Singapore

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents v
  3. Preface vii
  4. Charles Coppel: A Brief Biography x
  5. Contributors xiii
  6. Glossary xvi
  7. Introduction: Researching the Margins 1
  8. 1 Anti-Chinese Violence and Transitions in Indonesia: June 1998–October 1999 14
  9. 2 Reconstituting the Ethnic Chinese in Post-Soeharto Indonesia: Law, Racial Discrimination, and Reform 41
  10. 3 Buddhism and Confucianism in Contemporary Indonesia: Recent Developments 77
  11. 4 Portrait of the Chinese in Post-Soeharto Indonesia 95
  12. 5 The Makam Juang Mandor Monument: Remembering and Distorting the History of the Chinese of West Kalimantan 105
  13. 6 Confucianists and Revolutionaries in Surabaya (c1880–c1906) 130
  14. 7 The Chinese and the Early Centuries of Conversion to Islam in Indonesia 148
  15. The Agony of Love: A Study of Peranakan Chinese Courtship and Marriage 165
  16. 9 Peranakan Chinese and Wayang in Java 185
  17. Index 209
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https://doi.org/10.1355/9789812305442-012

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents v
  3. Preface vii
  4. Charles Coppel: A Brief Biography x
  5. Contributors xiii
  6. Glossary xvi
  7. Introduction: Researching the Margins 1
  8. 1 Anti-Chinese Violence and Transitions in Indonesia: June 1998–October 1999 14
  9. 2 Reconstituting the Ethnic Chinese in Post-Soeharto Indonesia: Law, Racial Discrimination, and Reform 41
  10. 3 Buddhism and Confucianism in Contemporary Indonesia: Recent Developments 77
  11. 4 Portrait of the Chinese in Post-Soeharto Indonesia 95
  12. 5 The Makam Juang Mandor Monument: Remembering and Distorting the History of the Chinese of West Kalimantan 105
  13. 6 Confucianists and Revolutionaries in Surabaya (c1880–c1906) 130
  14. 7 The Chinese and the Early Centuries of Conversion to Islam in Indonesia 148
  15. The Agony of Love: A Study of Peranakan Chinese Courtship and Marriage 165
  16. 9 Peranakan Chinese and Wayang in Java 185
  17. Index 209
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