Tatung: Protecting the Spirit of Acculturation for Centuries

KOMPAS/EMANUEL EDI SAPUTRA

A tatung (shaman) in traditional costume rides a litter during the parade of tatung on 19 Feb. 2019 at the Cap Go Meh Festival in Singkawang, West Kalimantan. Tatung are known as spiritual healers.

The Cap Go Meh celebration in Singkawang, West Kalimantan, would not be what it is without the tatung parade. Tatung is the Hakka Chinese word for a person possessed by gods or ancestral spirits, apparently making him resistant to pain. It is a reflection of Chinese-Dayak acculturation.

The aroma of incense sticks filled the room at the Cetiya Chau Liu Nyian Shai in Singkawang on Wednesday (5/2/2020) evening. Hendry Frans Wong, 25, a tatung and traditional healer, was treating a patient. Almost every day, he receives ailing people wanting to get better.

Wearing a white vest bearing Chinese characters, Hendry wrote a prayer in Chinese on a yellow paper for the treatment. “I do not set any price. If anyone wants to pay me, they can give me whatever amount,” he said.

I am one of 13 siblings. Twelve of us are tatung. I consider it my destiny.

He has been a tatung since he was only 7 years of age. His father was also a tatung. “I am one of 13 siblings. Twelve of us are tatung. I consider it my destiny,” said Hendry, who is also skilled in making tatung dresses and is a denture maker.

As is the case with many tatung, when gods or ancestral spirits possess him, Hendry becomes apparently resistant to pain from sharp weapons. This can be seen during big celebrations, such as a temple anniversary and Cap Go Meh (the celebration that takes place 15 days after Chinese New Year).

Other than inheriting the job from their fathers, some become tatung by studying the art from senior tatung. Others follow a calling they see in their dream. Alun, 30, who makes tatung dresses, is among them.

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Colorful lights and lanterns on Wednesday evening (5/2/2020) decorate the area around the Dragon Monument, the landmark of Singkawang, West Kalimantan.

To be a tatung, they hold rituals to summon the spirits of gods or ancestors to enter their bodies. Such rituals are commonly carried out in temples. The summoned spirits must be in line with the prepared tatung dress.

For the culmination of the Cap Go Meh celebration on Saturday (8/2), some 843 tatung will join the parade in Singkawang. They will be paraded on palanquins on the major thoroughfares while displaying their immunity to pain and performing rituals to clean the city of bad luck.

Not only locals of Chinese descent can be tatung. Dayak people can, too, and one of them is Gregorius Agung, 29, from the Pangalangok Nek Itapm community. Gregorius teaches traditional Dayak arts at a school in Singkawang and has a traditional Dayak healing practice.

I am glad to join the tatung parade every year. It unites everyone.

The city of Singkawang preens itself in preparation for the tatung parade, the highlight of the Cap Go Meh celebration. Prior to Chinese New Year, which was commemorated on Jan. 16, Singkawang’s thoroughfares had been decorated with 10,000 lanterns. On Thursday, a stage for the Cap Go Meh celebration was set up on Jl. Diponegoro.

Tatung also began their preparation. On Wednesday afternoon, Gregorius and his friends cleaned the palanquins that would be used for the parade.

“I am also fasting on a diet of rice and sayur bening [clear and sweet vegetable soup]. I am glad to join the tatung parade every year. It unites everyone,” he said.

Hendry shared Gregorius’ sentiment. He had prepared his tatung dress and palanquin. He also consumes vegetarian food. “According to Chinese tradition, this is to maintain our physical health and agility,” Hendry said.

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Gregorius Agung, 29, a Dayak tatung (shaman), polishes a litter on Wednesday (5/2/2020) that will be used in a parade of tatung on Saturday (8/2/2020), during the Cap Go Meh Festival in Singkawang, West Kalimantan.

Acculturation

The tatung are a product of Chinese-Dayak acculturation that has been around for centuries. Cultural observer and former Singkawang mayor Hasan Karman said the city had seen intensive Chinese-Dayak acculturation since between the mid-1700s and the 1800s. At the time, there were many mining ventures in Monterado (currently part of Bengkayang regency). Common Chinese-Dayak marriages support this acculturation.

The acculturation that manifests itself in the tatung tradition is possible because both the Dayak and Chinese ethnic groups have traditions that involve supernatural powers and ancestral spirits.

As the story goes, there was once an outbreak of disease in Monterado, for which no cure was available. According to local shamans, the outbreak was caused by an evil spirit and a cleansing of the city was necessary. Soon, a ritual of parading Chinese and Dayak tatung was held.

Afterward, the outbreak ended. The ritual ended up becoming a tradition inherited through generations to be held during the Cap Go Meh celebration.

The tradition was preserved for centuries as all ethnic groups hold firmly to their cultural heritage. The tatung parade as a product of acculturation has become a well-preserved shared property.

West Kalimantan-based Chinese cultural observer XF Asali said tatung, or tah thung in the Hakka dialect, is derived from a religious tradition of Taoists in mainland China. Tatung is a condition, in which a person is possessed by the spirits of ancestral warriors or heroes.

Apart from having supernatural abilities, tatung are also believed to be able to treat people suffering from mysterious diseases that are hard to explain with modern medicinal science. “During the Japanese colonial era, people from the village would ask tatung for help if they had any illness. This was due to financial reasons and the absence of modern medical professionals in the village,” Asali said.

Tatung in Singkawang have gone through acculturation, so that local spirits may also possess them. Unsurprisingly, some tatung are possessed by the spirits of Dayak war commanders.

KOMPAS/EMANUEL EDI SAPUTRA

A tatung (shaman) in traditional costume rides a litter during the parade of tatung on 19 Feb. 2019 at the Cap Go Meh Festival in Singkawang, West Kalimantan. Tatung are known as spiritual healers.

Social capital

Singkawang Mayor Tjhai Chui Mie said that Chinese New Year and Cap Go Meh celebrations in Singkawang are hoped to serve as social capital in a diverse society. The social capital is necessary as a resource for regional development.

“Investors love peaceful regions. People have an active role in achieving this as a way of contributing to regional development,” he said.

Maintaining a spirit of togetherness and harmony is a collective effort. As proof of this togetherness, the Chinese New Year and Cap Go Meh organizing committee accommodates members of various ethnicities, including the Chinese, Dayak and Malay. In the holidays of other religions, the togetherness is also deeply felt.