"ln this thesis I discuss about the ancestor worship in in the Chinese-Hakka family and community in Singkawang-West Kalimantan (Borneo). The central concem of this study is the description and analysis of ancestor worship in rituals of death within family as conducted at the home, at place managed by Chinese burial association, and burial place, before and after burial.
The main issue raised in this thesis is the function of ancestor worship for Hakka family and community of Singkawang, which based on Mauss (1992) and Suparlan (l978)?s exchange theory is to tighten the kinship relations between family members who are alive or living in this world-the ?real world? and their ancestors in the atier-life world or the ?unreal world?.
The reason for the Hakka people of Singkawang to worship their ancestors. besides showing their filial piety (xiao) to ancestor. is also to ask for protection and assistance from them. In the time of needs or problems, members of a Hakka family or community will ask their ancestor spirits to help and protect him or her, and in return they will reciprocate the ancestors? help by providing food and beverages, as well as by paying respect to them, and all of these are conducted through rituals at the burial place or temples. This form or exchange is always maintained because it benefited both sides.
Death and death rituals in Hakka family are the most important part ol ancestor worship among the Chinese-Hakka in Singkawang. There would be no ancestor worship without death and death rituals. According to Hakka people?s beliefs, the well-being of their ancestors in the after-life will determine their well- being or the well-being of related family in this life.
In Chinese culture, as stated by Mencius, the most revered Confucian philosopher after Confucius himself, ?the greatest of all sins is to have no sons to carry on the ancestral line and continue the ancestors? worship? (see McCreey in Scupin, 2000: 286). Therefore, ?sons? is the operative world for Chinese in general. Traditional Chinese society is a patrilineal society in which Family surname and the right to a share of the family property descends from father to son. Daughters, once they married, their duty is to serve their parents-in-law, to worship their husband?s ancestors, and above all, to provide sons to continue their husband?s family line. Thus, usually daughters are not expected to share the burden of ancestor?s worship within their original family. In this thesis, I show that in Hakka family and community in Singkawang, in contrast to the abovementioned Chinese tradition, daughters who have married, together with their husbands, could come and share the burden of ancestor worship duty in the daughters? original family, as long as they do not take the place of sons as the leader of the family. Hakka family and community in Singkawang too see ancestor worship as means to gather members of related family, from both patrilineal and matrilineal sides, at one place and at a particular time, not only to conduct rituals and to worship their ancestors, but also to talk about family economy as well as other metters among family members.
The ancestor worship of Haldta family and community in Singkawang does not only benefit members of related family, but, as a matter of fact, also provides some advantages for members of other ethnic groups, such as the Madurese and the Dayaks, particularly those who live near the Chinese burial place. During Ching Ming Jie or Chinese Toms Festival and Zhong Yuan Jie or Hungry Ghost Festival, these people-the Madurese and the Dayaks--could ask to help Hakka families to clean or cut grass on their ancestors? graves in return for a little money."
Depok: Fakultas Ilmu Sosial dan Ilmu Politik Universitas Indonesia, 2005
