View Single Post
Old 13th June 2018, 06:24 AM   #16
A. G. Maisey
Member
 
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 6,676
Default

Novan, I used Pak Parman and Pak Pauzan as examples, but you will find this disagreement and variation in understanding right across the spectrum of all people who have heard of or who involve themselves in tangguh.

I think in Pauzan's case it was because although he came from Abangan roots, he migrated into the Santri class and he became a very devout Muslim, by denying the perceived reality of tangguh belief he divorced himself from something he saw as a lower level of belief. Similarly, although everybody else regarded him as an empu, he refused to be known as one and always referred to himself as a keris artist. He understood an empu as somebody who attempted to bring life into an inanimate object, and as a good Muslim he could not accept this, as only God can create life.

In my own case , I have done considerable research on keris development and have come to the conclusion that tangguh as it is understood today is a folk belief system.

We have all heard that the Tangguh Majapahit Keris is a thing of beauty, a major artistic achievement. Well, it just happens that we have images of the Majapahit keris that were created at the height of Majapahit power. The images below are from the bas reliefs on Candi Penataran near Blitar in East Jawa. This was the major Candi of Majapahit.

Then we have tangguhs like Singasari, and Kahuripan, Segaluh and Pajajaran, all way before Mojo.

Consider Pengging, located near where Solo airport is now, a kabupaten governed by an official from Majapahit, that many people take to be Pengging Witaradya, a legendary place dating from 9th-10th century.

The tangguh system does use names for its classifications that can be linked to eras, but those eras also occupied geographic locations. It seems to me to be more likely that tangguh relates to geographic location, or perceived geographic location, rather than historical era. All these tangguh apply to the Modern Keris, the form of the keris that came into existence some time after the 14th century, thus all keris that conform to the various tangguh classifications came into existence some time after the 14th century --- but try telling that to a True Believer, especially one who was never real strong on his high school history to begin with.

But anybody can believe whatever they wish. The whole tangguh system is so screwed up now that it would be next to impossible to sort it out --- and who wants to anyway? Commerce will always triumph.

In respect of Tuban blades.

Tuban blades are not necessarily inferior in terms of physical quality, but in the Javanese value system a trading port has no honour, whereas a kingdom does, and a kingdom that is regarded as an honorable one has more value than a kingdom regarded as having little or no honour. This concept is not at all difficult to come to terms with.

Yes, of course Tuban blades were made simply as items of trade, as in fact were most keris. If a keris is made as a pusaka it will have a chosen dhapur, a chosen pamor, it will be made with the appropriate ceremony and offerings, and it will cost multiples of the cost of a keris made for dress use or as a weapon. Most keris were not made by empus, most were made by pande keris or pande besi, or were a collaboration between a number of people, but a pusaka keris would be made by an empu.
Attached Images
   
A. G. Maisey is offline   Reply With Quote