New keris

[purwacarita]

Hi Alam Shah. You are right, I guess, if we do the finding and kraton people do the helping.

Originally Posted by Boedhi Adhitya

"Tosan Aji" might means "worthy Iron" or "honourable/respectable/adorable iron". It MUST have such qualities to became worthy/respected ones, not only depends on it's history. The very carefull and cautious traditional collector would then examine the keris history, especially by examining the "fate" of the owner before him. Were the owner life in prosperity or were they doomed with bad luck, living unharmoniously, or eventually, having a disease and death. Once it pass the qualification, then it worth to be called and treated as a Pusaka. That is, we can take "a lesson or benefit(=tuah)" or any spiritual meaning from them, whether it's philosophically, spiritually, or even more, "magically". This lessons/benefits are REAL (now I'm really talking about esoteric ). Any who didn't qualified, while it worth preserving/collecting, should not be treated as pusaka, since they have nothing to share, and thus, no benefit/lesson could be taken. If we receive it as an inheritance, but didn't pass "the exam", then, we should treat it as inheritage, something that connect us to the pass or families or something else, but we shouldn't expect "the lesson/benefit" from them.
This argument may only be understood and accepted with an example and wide explanation, which I think, may take a lot of bandwidths, and should not be tried. Even in the old days, this explanation/understanding would only be teached privately (and still that way today), while the commoners would be only consuming "the myth" and "legends" .

Hi Boedhi Aditya. I'm among whom have witnessed magical things done with keris. How a keris could influence the life of the owner and overthrown the fate and prosperity of the bearer, delicately indicates how people fate sometimes falls before by some keris categorized pusaka. I must disagree and I believe, that, we, human, are the ones who should conquer keris and not vice versa.

From what I know keris as remark of remembrance, is accepted by the bearer, also only if the bearer is willing to do so. There are messages verbally transmitted from the owner to the bearer before the hand over, call it again, mahar, and the bearer is given an opt. It is the decision of the bearer to accept the keris or not and at the same time accept/fulfilled the consequence/mahar. How a keris could decompose the fate of a determined man, where in the positive civilized world of mahar culture could've not been deconstructive, except money?

The words Jimat Ngucap, Pusaka Kandha. Should it be ...Amulet speaks, Keris tells, or ...Amulet and please speaks, Keris and so tells? I think the words context is different of the word lingga, which by necesh referred as mark, where if it's true it means either ...marks or ...marked or ... mark in different contexts. ~IBS

[purwacarita]

Originally Posted by marto suwignyo

It is my firm belief that to understand the keris , we must have an understanding of Javanese culture, history, and society; such understanding can only be gained from serious and consistent study in the relevent fields.

Pak Boedhi, the academics are always telling us that correct usage of the Javanese language will be dead within a very short space of time, some people are claiming that within 20 years the only people who will be able to speak Javanese correctly will be professors in universities.

I will not comment as to whether I agree with this , or not, however, I think that this demonstrates that unless those of us who do maintain an interest in Javanese culture, take a serious and studious approach to the preservation of that culture, eventually the unique features of the culture will be forgotten.

Hi marto suwignyo. I was told a legendary gurindam before the war between kingdom Sriwijaya and Singasari. King Sriwijaya sent a messager to king Singasari to deliver a roll of plain paper with one corner wripped off. However the messager himself did not know the meaning of it and could not answered king Singasari's questions about the will of king Sriwijaya. As that time Singasari influence was developing both in economics and politics far to Malacca strait, this mild sarcastic message was read as Sriwijaya would like to take over sort influence one by one, and it meant a declaration of war. Inspite of that, the messeger was still kept alive and treated descently, he was released to trip back to Sriwijaya after his head had hair cut and shaved very smoothly. This was meant so king Sriwijaya could see the message only when the messager bowed his head to the king, and so read as the humility of Singasari people to avoid war, yet the spears of Singasari which symbolized in the smooth short shaved hair, are always ready to welcome Sriwijaya.

I was about to disbelieve that the symbolic language, also in keris, is about to lost. I feel like the language itself is the spirit of people of Indonesia from ancient time to todays. But as I see the crisis of twin kings of PB and how Indonesia is having a continuous stress under economic pressure which force people to busily do what they do for living, ...and a murder committed by royal family of Bali. I think you are right! This unique feature will be forgotten, not because we have less interests in it, ...but because whoever maintains interests in Javanese/Balinese culture and takes a serious and studious approach to the preservation of these cultures, does not have the power to drive a living energy to the culture. Bali is a little lucky as the driving power is vastly held in traditional spiritual religion of Hindhu, but in Java where kraton is the stronghold of keris culture instead of Islam religion, ...I hope HB of Jogjakarta at least could do something about the crisis, more than any authoritive people outside kraton.

Though I think that culture approach is slight less important than to understand to energy which dwells inside keris, losing the culture is losing the self. But as powerless citizen, I am among those who only could hope that authoritive people could appreciate the culture itself and respect symbolic language both national and traditional. Like the symbolic language of Bhinneka Tunggal Ika, which reflected in Upacara Bendera in country palace. ~IBS

[Raja Muda]

Salam hangat Mas Purwa,

Despite the active efforts of enthusiasts and collectors throughout Nusantara, as well as our brethren in the rest of the world, I can't help but fear for keris culture's survival in the next 100 years or so. Already, the number of empus are declining in Java, so the ancient spiritual elements linked to the keris might be lost.
At least, there are efforts to teach the art systematically there.
I would be interested to know if the same decline is happening in Sumatera and Makkasar, if any of the practitioners of the keris arts are still plying their trade. I know Brunei sponsors the making of keris but I have never seen a contemporary Brunei forged keris to judge the quality of the workmanship.
In Malaysia, I guess we're having a somewhat similar predicament. Unlike in Java, there is a dearth of books on pakem in the Malay tradition, things are often passed down by word of mouth, or based on real examples of keris made by past masters.
The ranks of the Pandai Besi are fast thinning and I guess you could count less than 10 active ones in the east coast states of Kelantan and Terengganu, and perhaps many, many more tukang ukir adept in constructing the sarung and hulu. Amogst these you have people who are able to forge a fairly beautiful contemporary melela, with reasonably refined skills in forging and cold working (though I regret to say that I've seen one resorting to power tools on TV, to expediate the process, no more tedious filing ) but there are those who stick to making the cheap, low quality keris (called keris kahwin locally, since their chief function is to be worn at weddings) with the recognisable bicycle chain pamor.
I doubt that even the keris kahwin makers would survive if there is no support from the greater public. Too often they have turned to making gardening tools and farming implements, despite the competition from cheap, mass produced imports from China since kerises aren't selling. I know the bias among collectors leans towards antique pieces but I guess if you have some funds to spare, it's still a good idea to acquire a well made new piece as your contribution to preserving the art. Of course, passing something new as antique is a no no in my books .

[purwacarita]

Hi Raja Muda. Contribution sounds @#$%&* in preserving the art. It is the culture we are talking about where art is only a part of it.

I guess the spirit of education, which reflected in symbolical words of hing ngarsa sing tuladha, hing madya mangku karsa, tut wuri handajani, is a good start to solve the cultural problem culturally when not just implied in formal education fields. It's a theorical good driving force, don't you agree? Any knows how to convert theory to practise?

[marto suwignyo]

Pak Purwa
Yes, we can set an example, we can try to influence, we can try to teach, and we can start with our children as soon as they begin to understand, but have you noticed that the members of each new generation invariably know more, and are wiser than their parents?

Perhaps in a rural, or a village situation, the traditional Javanese heirarchy may still survive, but in the towns and cities, there is little use for heirarchically structured language. Bahasa daerah may be taught in SMP, but the teaching of Krama Inggil , or Madya, remains a family thing, and time spent on learning this can seem to be time wasted in today's ultra competitive environment. Some of the non essential trappings of culture can hardly compete with the necessity to earn a living.

Theory and practice.....

When I wrote:-

"unless those of us who do maintain an interest in Javanese culture, take a serious and studious approach to the preservation of that culture, eventually the unique features of the culture will be forgotten."

I was writing emotionally, rather than logically. As we grow older I believe many of us become conservative in the way in which we view the world that is passing from us, and we tend to regret that things are not able to stay forever as we have known them.Change, and new ways seem to be foriegn to us and to lack the integrity of the ways with which we are familiar.The ways in which a society handles the problems which face it must change in order to allow the society to cope with the changing world around it, just as the ways of the individual members of a society must change to allow each of those people to survive as circumstances change.As the societies within a culture change, these societal changes must inevitably impact upon the cultural values that are held at the time of change, and eventually, the change in society, is reflected in a cultural change.

Javanese culture and society is not the same in the year 2005, as it was in 1905, or 1605, or 1305.

The Javanese language itself is primary indicator of this ongoing change. Prior to the rise of the Mataram dynasty, the Javanese language did not appear to contain the multi level structure which became the dominant feature of the language as it has existed for the last couple of hundred years. However, although this use of language is a primary indicator of the nature of the society as it exists at any time, it may be argued that language of and by itself is not a core value of a culture, but merely a reflection of the values of the moment, within the culture.

This change in the use of language is not unique to our own language, but applies across the entire expanse of all language, with the exception of those languages which are recognised as being dead. If we live, we change. If a language does not change, it will die. Language, reflecting culture provides the same tale in respect of any culture:- where a culture is unable to change, that culture will die.

A core value of Javanese culture is its ability to absorb from other cultures and societies those things that will benefit the society, and to discard those things which will weaken it. When Java has taken from an outside source, she has invariably synthesized that which which she has taken, and remoulded in her own image, so that something which was originally Hindu, Chinese, Dutch or Portuges re-emerges as something which has taken on the form, colour or structure of Java, but which has built upon a foriegn foundation. This characteristic of our culture is at once its strength, and its weakness.

The culture of Java may not be able to return to the agricultural roots of Mataram and Majapahit, but the ability of the Javanese people to select the best from other cultures and societies , and then to reshape these things in ways that will benefit and strengthen Javanese and Indonesian society, and re-inforce Javanese culture, is the very reason why Javanese culture will never be absorbed into any "world culture", but rather will continue to retain its own unique identity.

So, although our professors warn us that the Javanese language is all set to disappear, what they really mean is that the Javanese language forms that our ancestors needed to survive in a heirarchical society, will disappear.In modern Indonesia the tiered societal structure that our grandfathers were familiar with is becoming flatter with every passing day. Our language will inevitably change to reflect this flattening structure. But the language will not die, it will live , as the culture of Java will continue to live, because both language and culture are strong enough to change.

If we are to identify a single value as the defining value of Javanese culture, then from a historical point of view this value must be the ability to absorb, synthesize, recreate.The history of Javanese culture and society is one of adaption and survival.As an icon of Javanese society the keris has also changed through the years , and because of its ability to change it survives today, and will continue to survive as long as it can continue to change to fulfil the needs of the changing society and culture of which it is a part.

In my previous post I wrote emotionally, this time I have attempted to write logically.

Javanese society, culture, and the blossoms of the culture will survive, simply because the nature of the culture is to change with the change of seasons.

[nechesh]

Very well put Marto. Change is the nature of ALL living things. It applies to entire cultures as well as people. The days of the empu are gone and the culture of keris is changing. Personally, i see no problem with a smith using power tools to help him create a keris at this point. It is merely the tool. What's important is how it is used. In fact, i think the smith might be a bit foolish not to explore the best possible tool for any particular job and an electric powered one might just be the ticket. Keris making is EVOLVING, for better or for worse. But i will say that some of the keris being made today are probably of the highest quality on a pure technical scale than have ever been made before.BTW, there are some very high quality keris being made these days that are never seen outside Jawa. They are being made for select group of Javanese buyers. And as was just pointed out to me just recently, many of the finest keris in museums in Europe were actually new when they were collected.

[John]

Can one not say ever since the "big bang"...since single celled organism appeared...changes, evolution have been in motion...the limitlessness of duality in play as the way of the universe?

The word culture has been used a lot but what would the true definition of "culture"? No doubt every sword was once new whatever influences, "form/s of the moment" they took on the moment they did.