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With reference to indonesia, the first reaction of the majority was “the most populous muslim country in the world”. Yet, in this vast sea of islam, a hindu island, bali, is magically floating. Eighty-eight per cent of the population is hindu, and their homes are open to the shrines, and the ganmelan music in the temples continues day and night, and fire dances and skin movies tell stories from the epic "romojana." why bali? Why has java become a subject of islam and bali has kept the hindu fire? Behind this lies a sad song about the “geographical black” of the fairies, the rise and decline of empires, the exodus of elites and the horrors at gunpoint of dutch colonists。
Indonesia doesn't recognize bali? The “special status” revealed by the visa waiver policy
Many chinese visitors to bali for the first time had the illusion that bali was an independent country. After all, going to bali is exempt, while going to other parts of indonesia requires landing or electronic signatures. This difference in policy coincides with the unique identity of bali in the indonesian map。
Indonesia, with an entire population of more than 270 million, is the country with the largest muslim population in the world, but bali is hindu. There are more than 4. 2 million people on the island, 88 per cent of whom are hindu, only 8 per cent islamic, and sporadic christianity and buddhism. Even more amazingly, instead of shrinking with time, the hinduism in bali is spreading out. The kopp writer, who had met a bali-style hindu temple in the east indonesian city of shui shui, wished chinese tourists a great deal of excitement, took out all the instruments used for their rituals, and finally took a few coins from the vault. Those coins are very strange -- they are square-hole money, they are vaguely spelt out with the words "dry-tung treasure", but the pen is twisted and twisted, and clearly a man who doesn't speak chinese “draws” like that. These imitations, known as south china trade money, bear witness to the centuries-old interweaving of chinese, hindu and south-east asian indigenous civilizations。
A lost son-in-law triggers a "geographical black": the fairies split between bali and java. Island
In bali and the neighbouring island of java, subtle geographical discrimination still exists. In the hindu legend of bali, there is an interesting story: bali and java were linked in ancient times. One of the fairies, whose son did not learn well, learned to gamble with the bad guys, lost a fortune and ran home to his father for money. The cactus were so angry that their weapons broke the hard-wired link between bali and java. Since then, a strait has emerged between bali and java, and the pure hindu society in bali has finally ceased to be affected by the “worst things” on java。
What is the historical truth behind this legend? Java is the most developed region of indonesia since ancient times, with the largest population and the most developed agriculture. But it is on java that the hindu kingdom was eventually replaced by islam, while bali became the last refuge for hindu elites. The balinese people use that story to express a cultural pride: we are pure, we are not like you. This “geographical black” paragraph, which continues to look at today, is still a bit pompous and helpless。
03 the sea empire is full of people and the elites of islam
The true foundation of modern indonesia is the full empire, which is roughly equivalent to the chinese constitutional period. When the empire's naval forces were strong and strong, they conquered much of malaysia in the north, took sumatra to the west and went east to papua. And it is hinduism that is the dominant faith of the empire。
The question arises: how did the hindu empire, which was so powerful on java, become an islamic world? This has to start with india. Since the eighth century a. D., india has been invaded by muslims, and by about the twelfth century the hindu and buddhist communities of the indian mainland began to decline for a long time. The religious and cultural impact from india has weakened. Meanwhile, islamic businessmen and missionaries entered south-east asia along trade routes. The rise of the ottoman turkish empire also brought islam to the malay islands by merchant ship. More and more of the malay small kingdoms have converted to islam — because they receive military support from the turks when they confront european colonists。
So, on java, there is a single muslim power. The original hindu elite — brahmin, bradley, and their best craftsmen — cannot stay and die and begin to flee. They discovered a strong hindu state on bali, and they crossed the sea. The exodus of elites brought a large number of rich people and top craftsmen to bali. Until today, bali can be described as the highest art level in indianized communities across south-east asia. Traditional art here is not a specimen in a museum, but a living daily, created and inherited daily。
04 expeditioned warriors: dutch colonists rocked
There is another important reason why hinduism can be so complete in bali: the dutch colonizer truly conquered bali for just over 30 years. It was not the dutch who did not want to take it sooner, but the balinese who resisted too much。
When the kingdom of bali was finally defeated by the dutch army, the warriors made a move that shocked europe: they came out in line and asked the dutch to shoot themselves. Not for surrender, but for death. This collective approach to death has shocked the dutch. Since then, they have added awe to the bali native community, and, together with the short period of colonization, have been unable to overhaul the local social fabric. The outbreak of world war ii and the end of the dutch colonial era allowed the hindu tradition of bali to remain intact。
From the cactus split the strait, to the hindu elite crossing the sea, to the gruesome and sad song of the warriors facing the gun — the “driven history” of the bali hindu religion — is a legend of how the south-east asian sea civilization holds the last fire species under the waves of islamization and colonial hoofs. And the faith on this island is no longer a simple replica of hinduism. It combines the classical art of java, the indigenous voodoo of bali, and even the chinese, and has grown into a unique world of living gods。
In the next article, we will go into the world: to see how bali's triad gods are “embracing rohans”, to see how monkey god hanuman in south-east asia is turning from god to a “sweet tourist”, and to see that poor-looking hero who looks like a bow-in-the-box warrior being shot through a single arrow — a far more strange drift than you think。
