Rejang Obeisance (Sembea)

Depository document :
Professor Mervyn Aubrey Jaspan
The University of Hull, United Kingdom

The Rejang House Architecture Origin

Rumah Orang Rejang Asli (tahun 1881)

I hope this article can make sure you how the rejangese home look like. The article taken from old book with tittle "Midden sumatra III" published at year 1881. Let`s learn together :)

Rumah Rejang dari buku Midden Sumatra III (Repro by admin)

Figure 1 :
Bangunan rumah sangat bagus di temukan di desa Topos, Kabupaten Lebong. Di buat dari papan kayu Surian, dengan tiang tiang kokoh dari kayu Balam. Atapnya (h p s d) di buat dari bambu yang disusun ganda (posisi longitudinal) yang di ayam (disusun) sedemikian rupa. L adalah jendelah bagian dari rumah ini.

Figure 2 :
Lantai datar atau rata, di sanggah oleh tiang tiang.
a b c d adalah proyeksi dari atap rumah.
e f g h adalah lantai rumah yang terbuat dari bambu yang terpisah (dibelah), pada beberapa bagian malah terbuat dari kayu gelondongan ukuran setengah kaki dengan kualitas yang sangat baik.

g h i j, lantai yang lebar dan ketebalan kurang dari ketebalan lantai i j f e seperti yang terlihat di gambar.

k l m n g o, adalah salah satu koridor dari bambu (beranda kecil), T adalah jalan akses menuju rumah berupa tangga.

m n h p adalah gagian yang di buat untuk lemari yang di buat dari bambu, p q r s adalah lemari dari bambu tanpa pintu (rak).

m n u t adalah bagian yang terpisah yang pada bagian dasarnya terpuat dari batang kayu, pada bagian atasnya dari bambu sehingga rumah terdiri dari dua kamar (ruangan) besar, w u v juga demikian yang menjadi dua kamar terpisah.

Figure 3 :
Denah lantai sebuah rumah di soekoe kayo - Lebong. rumah terbuat dari papan dimana B dibuat menggnakan bambu yg di buat dari luar dengan sisi dalamnya terbuka menghadap ke dalam rumah. K merupakan kandang ayam dimana untuk membuka kandang tersebut melallui ruang G. a b terbuat dari bambu yg mana menjadi pembatas antar ruangan sehingga rumah terbagi menjadi 2 bagian. L jendela S tungku perapian.

Rumah Rejang di muara aman 1941 by KITLV (detailnya lihat di sini Link)

Sketsa Rumah Rejang dari buku Midden-Sumatra III (Trophen Museum netherland arsip)

Rumah adat di samping rumah dinas salah satu bupati, rumah rejang kah?
(Bagaimana menurut rekan rekan, rumah adat rejang apa bukan?)

Source :
KITLV
Trophen Museum Netherland
Midden Sumatra III (Book) 1881
Ethnographische Atlas, van Midden-Sumatra met Verklarended Tekst by A. L Van Hasselt 1881

Credit :
Translate and edit by Tunjang and Leicneicagra

Herbal Therapy of Rejang Folk Doctor compare it with Ayurvedic practices

Final Report on the Project Ayurveda & its Impact on Indian & Southeast Asian Societies

Dr. Rita Chattopadhyay
Professor, Department of Sanskrit,
Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India

For the medical practices of the ‘Rejang’ community who live in the highlands of South-West Sumatra, I have solely depended upon the findings of Prof Mervyn. A. Jaspan who was the Professor of South-East-Asian Sociology and Director of the centre for South-East Asian studies,
at the University of Hull, England. From 1961 to 1963, Prof Jaspan conducted field research among the Rejang community, and for approximately a year of this time he chose to be apprenticed to Man Aher, a man in his seventies who was regarded as the greatest Rejang folk doctor, historian, and ‘bard’.

According to Prof Jaspan “the phenomenon of the versatile doctor who was also an accomplished natural historian or man of letters was common in Europe until the nineteenth century” and interestingly enough, in India also, the noted Ayurvedic practitioners used to be called ‘kaviraja’ which literally mean ‘the king of the poets’ i.e. man of letters.

Now we would like to point out some aspects of the medical practices of the Rejang community and would try to compare it with Ayurvedic practices.

Lebong which is heartland of the Rejang is usually described not in the terms of its area, population or government but in a succinct quatrain of ten Rejang words as follows:

• Tanea ubeut, - A land of medicine;
• Tanea guau; - A land of learning;
• Tanea ubeut kaeun - Of medicine that brings recovery
• Tanea guau patjo’ - Of learning that brings insight.

Among the Rejang of Sumatra islands and in Southeast Asia in general, traditional theories of pathology relates to four main categories:

• (a) the action of natural elements, particularly water and wind;
• (b) deistic or ancestral retribution;
• (c) sorcery and witchcraft; and
• (d) poisoning.

These ideas are considered when the folk doctor in Southeast Asia examines a patient and almost always constitute a core part of both the patient’s own account or explanation of his illness and the doctor’s case history, diagnosis, and therapeutic program. In many a cases the Rejang doctor is left with metaphysical interpretations, such as retribution for evil, in the sense of antisocial actions or thoughts, serious breaches of custom, or the neglect of ancestors, kinsmen or living dependents who are in need.

The folk doctor particularly stresses the therapeutic success of medicine in two fields that lie outside surgical technology

• 1. Metabolic ailments and
• 2. Mental illness.

With regard to internal medicine, the Rejang doctor seems to have empirically derived the knowledge of the therapeutic properties of forest plants and their prescriptive effect when administered for indigestion, diarrhea, constipation and dialysis.

Now we would like to say a few words regarding the occupational professionalization, medical examination, diagnosis or treatment by a Rejang doctor.

Rejang doctor is, in no case a full-time professional worker who depends for his livelihood on his medical practice. The Rejang don’t have the habit of seeing a doctor at regular intervals for a periodic checkup. A doctor becomes aware of a case when he is summoned by the patient’s kinsmen.[Notice AS states - A doctor, who comes to see the patient even when he is not summoned, is never honored (svayamagatah - AS/I).]

The doctor responds to summons by going to the house of the sick person as soon as possible. On his arrival at the patient’s bed (mat-side) one or more close relatives describe to the doctor how in their view, the patient’s present illness originated and developed; the patient’s relatives sometimes venture their own diagnosis and suggestions for treatment; the Rejang doctor listens to all this with patience and empathy. This absence of professionalization, quite unthinkable in modern society, applies also to other areas of Rejang life. [Again, CS states - A good physician should not offer his services motivated by commercial considerations, he should do so out of his inherent, unadulterated lone for humanity.]

The conspiracy of professionalism, so widespread in modern society, is largely absent in the behavior and ethic of Rejang doctors; Rejang doctor sees body and mind indivisibly linked; Rejang doctor believes that the conscious understanding and efforts of patient, patient’s relatives, and friends are vital factors in a therapeutic process; this process furthermore includes the doctor’s own active and devoted concern for the patient; Jaspan has mentioned how greatly this caring attention on a cancer patient brought about relief or a cure, even without chemotherapeutic or surgical intervention.

Such attention may be compared with the special care given to the fortunate few who are admitted in highly expensive and sophisticated private nursing homes in big cities of India where nursing is more intimate and often more attentive. All this certainly assists treatment and recovery. But in Rajang country, this is the right and privilege of all.

We can’t but cite Caraka, who says-

“A good doctor should be as caring to his patient, as he is to his son.”
(bhisagapyaturan.... etc, - Carakasamhita-VI/1) .

“A doctor should be friendly to all”
(maitri- karunya ... bid I/9).

Also, a good doctor should be kind enough to the diseased, attentive to the curable and also attentive to him who is already cured.

I cannot conclude with certainty whether there was any direct impact of Indian Ayurvedic medicine on Rejang doctor but this much I can say with conviction that all the requisites for a great doctor prescribed by Caraka, as listed below, can be found in the Rejang doctor.

(1) Srute paryavadatatvam... etc. A good doctor should possess sound knowledge, efficiency experience and basic integrity as well.
(2) A physician should not offer his services motivated by commercial considerations, but
should do so out of his inherent, unadulterated love for humanity. (ibid- 6/1)

These are conspicuous in the Rejang doctor, as represented by Man Aher. Hence the saying of Caraka the greatest name in Indian Ayurveda is absolutely true to the medical practices of the Rejang people of Sumatra Island in Southeast Asia.

After arriving the doctor then examines the patient by palpation. When an examination, has been completed the doctor is usually offered sweetened black coffee or tea with a handful of bananas and biscuits.

After leaving the patient, the doctor seeks certain herbs. After coming back to the village in the late afternoon he shreds the roots, leaves, or barks as necessary and boils them. Thereafter he strains the liquid medicine or potion and pours it into a container made of bamboo or glass. The medicine is brought to the home of the patient, and instructions are left about dosage and about when and how often the medicine is to be taken.

To a Rejang doctor the first step in any diagnosis is to determine whether the ailment or disease belongs to the ‘hot’ or ‘cold’ variety. Like Indian Ayurvedic medicine the theory underlying such contradictory classes i.e. ‘hot and cold’ contains both metaphysical and somatic elements. ‘Hot’ illness requires febrifuges such as quinine and cooling drugs whereas ‘cold’ ailments require heat and sedatory treatment.

A further method of categorizing maladies is based on four principal pathogenic sources:

• (1) wind,
• (2) spirits
• (3) poison and
• (4) worms.

We come directly to the second category. This is an area where the empirical competence of Rejang medicine no longer operates, and the doctor virtually says “I have examined the patient. diagnosed such and such symptoms, and treated him accordingly, but without success. There are probably more powerful influences at work”. From this remark, the patient’s kinsmen conclude that they must now turn to either expelling some harmful spirit or poisonous substance from his body. They perform the ‘rite’ called ‘Kedurai’ wherein the ritual food- offering consists of rice, boiled in saffron, parched rice, coconut oil and a grilled leg or wing of chicken. In some cases the doctor is seen in a role of devil-exorciser.

It is interesting to note that at the end of rituals of Pattini also (to be discussed later on) people, in many parts of Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu, eat the foods consecrated to the goddess Pattini. The most important of these cooling foods are rice, cooked in milk, turmeric water and water in margosa leaves.

Link with Ayurveda

In this context, I would like to mention the causes of mental illness as they are enumerated by Caraka as Viruddha-dusta etc.(Caraka-samhita/ Cikitsasthana/IX/4). Caraka says the neglect of ancestors, kinsmen, teachers and brahmins are some of the major causes that relate to mental
illness. He also says that ‘curse’ from the ancestors may be one of the causes of ‘Jvararoga’ or fever. He says tasya prakrti (CS/Ci/12).

Now I would like to highlight some aspects of Indian Ayurvedic Medicine. It goes without saying that Ayurveda is more than a system of physical medicine, because its underlying ideas have permeated religion and ritual. An analysis of these meta-medical concepts must begin with the fundamental principles i.e. muladharma of Ayurveda, which include the doctrine of the five bhutas (basic elements of the universe); the tridosa (three humors); and the seven dhatus (physical components of the body).


The five elements are

• (1) ether
• (2) wind
• (3) water
• (4) earth
• (5) fire.

The said five elements are constituents of all life, and as such also make up the three humors and the seven physical components of the body.

The pivot, round which Indian medical science revolves, is the conception that the body is preserved and guided by the three vital elements, viz wind (vata), bile (pitta) and mucus (kapha). The body is fit when these are in a harmonic balanced condition. Due to the imbalance of these three humors the body becomes vulnerable to the attack of diseases.

Since these three are also fundamental to body-functioning they are also known as tridhatu or
the basic components of the body. [But this term must not be confused with the more common
use of the word dhatu for the seven components of the body.]

According to the Ayurvedic medicine universal element of ‘wind’ appears in the body as a humor and is also called wind (vayu); fire appears as bile (pitta), and water as phelm (kapha or slesman). As mentioned before illness is said to be due to upsetting of the homeostatic condition of these ‘tridosas’.

The point, which I would like to discuss here, is related with bhutavidya or demonology, a major division of the eight branches of Indian medical literature. Although the Universe consists of five elements (bhutas), from the point of view of rural societies of India and other countries, the most important are fire and water. Increase in fire diminishes the element of water, causing a general depletion of environmental fertility and excessive bile in the human body; this results in heaty infectious diseases e.g. chicken pox, measles, mumps, conjunctivitis, plagues and pestilences. The most notorious heaty disease was small pox - which is totally eliminated today. Thus, the interpretation of these diseases and the mode of cure became strongly associated with religion and ritual — a meta-medical interpretation of illness and its cure. If illness is caused by the anger of one of the humors, the meta-medical view postulates that the anger of a deity causes the increase in heat which stimulates the humor.

However, with regard to mental illness, the Rejang believe that mental health or ill health is a function of an individual’s reciprocal acceptance by kin, neighbors and the village community generally. The Rejang doctor uses his knowledge of herbal drugs for relieving his patients of anxiety states and hypertension.

Source :

• http://kewalyamyayurveda.com/Images/spices-ayurvedic-01.jpg
• http://www.ayurveda-berkeley.com/ayurvedic_medicine_what_is_it.htm
• http://ayurvedicwellness.com/wp-content/photos/ayurveda/main-ayurvedic.jpg
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayurveda
• www.postf.org/upload/200931714314981_1.pdf

Antichi egizi nel Pacifico: cercavano oro

Con l’opera di Barry Fell, che ha trovato corrispondenza tra la lingua e l’alfabeto Maori e l’antica lingua libica, studiando iscrizioni sparse per gli oceani Indiano e Pacifico, e persino nelle Americhe, appare opportuno rivedere alcuni aspetti dei resoconti dell’antico Egitto sui viaggi, le esplorazioni e la ricerca dell’oro. Perciò ho tradotto da Quiring il testo “Die Goldinsel des Isador von Sevilla, Aegypter der 20. Dynastier als Entdecker und Kulturbringer in Oestasien”.

Quiring aveva già trattato l’argomento delle scoperte oceaniche di Egizi e Fenici e sui più antichi ritrovamenti di ferro e acciaio. Egli sostiene che gli antichi Egizi erano sin da antichi tempi familiari con l’Oceano Indiano e con la parte occidentale del Pacifico, in particolare con il Mar della Cina. Egli comincia dal commento ad una persistente leggenda sull’esistenza di un’Isola d’Oro, nelle Indie Orientali, e racconta di spedizioni partite alla fine del sec. XVI alla ricerca di quella mitica isola. In tutta l’area dell’Oceano Indiano, egli dice, solo Sumatra poteva ricevere un tale nome. “Se vogliamo trovare un fondamento alla leggenda dell’Isola d’Oro, dobbiamo immergerci nella più profonda antichità. La seconda Dinastia dell’Antico Egitto (ca. 2890–2686 a.C.) aveva abbandonato lo sfruttamento dei giacimenti d’oro lungo il fiume, ormai poco vantaggiosi, per andare a scavare il metallo nel “deserto” tra il Nilo ed il Mar Rosso. I primi cercatori d’oro l’avevano setacciato dalle sabbie fluviali, ma ora si puntava a cercare i filoni nella viva roccia. Sotto Sahure (V Dinastia, ca. 2494–2345 a.C.) sono registrati i primi viaggi marittimi dal Mar Rosso alla Terra di Punt, ricca d’oro e d’antimonio. I viaggiatori portarono 6000 deben (1 deben = circa 91 grammi) di elettro, probabilmente oro fluviale proveniente dai fiumi Zambesi e Save, nell’attuale Mozambico. I viaggi verso Punt proseguirono con intensità durante la VI Dinastia (ca. 2345–2200 a.C.)… Troviamo il racconto di un esattore di tasse che percorse la rotta verso Punt almeno undici volte, impiegando ogni volta tre anni per il viaggio d’andata e di ritorno. Un tale viaggio richiedeva un gran coraggio e i navigatori se ne vantavano. Dopo l’espulsione degli Hyksos, Thutmosis I (1525–1512 a.C.) riprese i viaggi verso le Indie. Sulle scogliere dell’isola di Tombos, una sua iscrizione lo celebra come il comandante delle isole del Gran Mare che circonda il mondo. I suoi successori continuarono con successo i viaggi alla ricerca di beni preziosi. I magnifici bassorilievi di Hatschepsut (ca. 1500 a.C.) nel tempio di Dair el Bahri mostrano ampiamente tali viaggi. Anche Ramses II (1304–1237 a.C.) si considerava il signore dell’Africa e degli Oceani. Su una statua di granito nel tempio di Luxor reclama il controllo del Gran Mare che circonda le terre e delle terre meridionali abitate dai Neri, sino alle regioni paludose ed ai “confini dell’Oscurità” ed alle “colonne del Cielo”. I viaggiatori verso Punt, dei quali gli Egizi raccontarono i successi per circa 1400 anni, scoprivano coste ed isole nell’Oceano Indiano, apparentemente sino alla latitudine del Circolo Polare Antartico (i confini dell’oscurità)! Sotto Ramses III (1198–1166 a.C.) i viaggi alle Indie divennero grandi spedizioni. Il Papiro Harris parla d’un viaggio in cui furono inviati 10.000 tra marinai e mercanti, e probabilmente esperti minatori e cercatori d’oro e d’altri preziosi. La fine delle guerre di Troia e la sconfitta dei Popoli del Mare da parte di Ramses III avevano restituito agli Egizi la loro libertà di movimento per mare. Sul Mediterraneo e sul Mar Rosso non navigavano soltanto le flotte del Faraone, ma anche quelle dei templi di Amon, Ra e Ptah. Il commercio marittimo dovette espandersi come mai prima d’allora. Le navi costruite con legname di cedro raggiungevano i 67 metri di lunghezza. Quando, 2700 anni dopo, le compagnie inglesi nel 1893 cominciarono a sfruttare le miniere di quella che chiamarono Rhodesia (oggi Zimbabwe e Zambia), scoprirono che il rame e gli altri metalli erano stati estratti sin dall’antichità, con strumenti in uso anche nell’antico Egitto. Ferner trovò nella regione aurifera dello Zambesi una rozza figurina d’argilla che rappresentava Thutmosis III e nello Zimbabwe un lingotto d’oro con la stessa forma di quelli custoditi nel tempio di Medinet Habu, all’epoca di Ramses III. Dopo l’estrazione di circa cinquemila tonnellate d’oro, improvvisamente gli antichi minatori abbandonarono le miniere, nel sec. IX a.C. Nel 1896 si trovarono antiche opere di miniere d’oro sulla costa occidentale di Sumatra. Mentre i ricercatori della Redjang Lebong Co. svolgevano ricerche nell’area aurifera, nel 1897, trovarono tra gli scarti d’una vecchia miniera a Lebong Donak frammenti contenenti oro e argento, estratti da una profondità di 30 metri e poi trasportati da oltre 10 km di distanza. In quella regione mineraria, come nell’antico Egitto, in Nubia e nel Sud Africa, si usava estrarre il materiale e poi lavarlo nelle correnti fluviali per l’estrazione finale del metallo. Si pensò in un primo momento che le miniere fossero state sfruttate dai cinesi al principio del sec. XIX, ma ciò era improbabile. I cinesi non facevano scavi profondi. Verso il 1500 a.C. in India fu iniziato lo scavo d’una miniera a Mysore, e poi fu abbandonato, dimenticato per 3400 anni sino a che gli Inglesi non lo riaprirono nel 1880. In ogni caso, la popolazione dell’Asia meridionale ed orientale estraeva oro, magnetite e pietre preziose direttamente dalle sabbie fluviali, senza andare a scavarli in miniere profonde. Mentre scrivevo la mia “Storia dell’oro”, mi sono convinto che le antiche miniere d’oro di Sumatra risalissero al periodo 1200–500 a.C. Nessun popolo dell’Asia orientale o meridionale poteva avere intrapreso tale operazione. Tutto intorno all’Oceano Indiano, il quel periodo, sono gli Egizi erano interessati all’estrazione dell’oro su grande scala. Senza una loro influenza, si trovavano solo piccoli sfruttamenti locali e non miniere. Potevano essere solo gli Egizi a sfruttar le miniere d’oro in Sud Africa e a Sumatra, e ciò diviene quasi una certezza se si considera il resoconto pubblicato da Pauthier e Bazin, secondo il quale nel 1113 a.C. l’imperatore cinese Tachoking ricevette ambasciatori dal regno di Ni–li, probabilmente dall’Egitto, che avevano compiuto un lungo viaggio a bordo di “case che nuotavano” e che sapevano determinare la loro posizione “osservando il sole ed i corpi pesanti” per sapere in quale regione ed in quale regno si trovassero. Anche P. Freise, senza conoscere le antiche miniere di Sumatra, concluse che quegli ambiasciatori fossero egiziani. L’ambasceria presume anche che i Faraoni (e possono essere soltanto i Ramessidi della XX Dinastia) conoscessero l’esistenza del regno cinese. Lunghe navi con cercatori d’oro viaggiavano sotto Ramses III non solo verso il sud, sfruttando i monsoni, ma anche verso l’est sino alla costa settentrionale di Sumatra. Con il monsone di sud–ovest, navi di soli dieci metri di lunghezzza e 2,7 m di larghezza possono attraversare la distanza da Aden a Sumatra in dodici giorni. Poiché i giacimenti auriferi di Benkoelen sono a meno di 40 km dalla costa di Sumatra e l’alluvione aurifera si estende sino al mare, cercatori d’oro con esperienza non avrebbero potuto ignorarli. Sumatra poteva produrre sino a 100 tonnellate d’oro. Gli egiziani sarebbero stati così il primo popolo proveniente dal Mediterraneo a passare attraverso gli stretti di Malacca e a viaggiare sino al sud della Cina, al fiume Huang Ho, e poi sino alla capitale che era, allora, Singanfu, nella provincia di Shenxi. Le miniere furono probabilmente abbandonate a causa del declino egiziano, verso la fine della XX Dinastia. L’influenza culturale egizia nell’Asia orientale non scomparve, tuttavia. In Cambogia, improvvisamente si passò dalle culture paleolitiche all’uso di strumenti dell’Età del Bronzo: asce di tipo simile a quelle mediterranee (Tullenbeile). Senza l’influenza egiziana, non sarebbe possibile spiegare una tale improvvisa evoluzione. Menghin proponeva un lungo percorso circolare attraverso la Russia e la Siberia. Se invece possiamo ammettere un influsso egiziano per via marittima nell’Asia sud–orientale, risolveremmo una difficile questione sugli sviluppi culturali in quest’area. Quella forma particolare delle asce appare nel Medio Oriente ed in Egitto intorno al 1850 a.C. e vi permane sino al 700 a.C., la stessa epoca in cui esse compaiono nel Sud–est asiatico. Sotto l’influenza egizia, potrebbe essere iniziata l’attività di lavaggio delle sabbie aurifere nella penisola di Malacca, il “Chersoneso d’Oro” del Periplo del Mare Eritreo. Il geografo Tolomeo ha registrato diversi nomi di località dell’India interna, collegati con SAB o SAM (in egiziano, SAM indica l’oro estratto dai fiumi). Similmente, in Sud Africa gli Egizi lasciarono nomi collegati all’operazione del lavaggio dell’oro, come Save e Zambesi (fiume dell’oro). Dopo la morte di Ramses III (1166 a.C.), ci fu un declino della potenza egizia. Le relazione con l’Oriente si interrruppero, probabilmente, verso il 1090 a.C.”.
Source :
http://blog-pigreco.blogspot.com/2009/05/antichi-egizi-nel-pacifico-cercavano.html

Fatmawati Soekarno Sang Bunga Teratai

Source :

Kumpulan cerita rakyat Nusantara 2

Oleh Ade Soekirno Ssp, Ade Soekirno

Diterbitkan oleh Grasindo, 2005

ISBN 9797328996, 9789797328993

A Pre-mortuary Father Mandate - `Oral Literature` of Rejang People

Depository document :
Professor Mervyn Aubrey Jaspan
The University of Hull, United Kingdom

Karakteristik Morfologis dan Genetik Itik Talang Benih di Curup, Bengkulu