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Zheng He's legacy promotes ethnic harmony
Nowadays, during certain festivals, Yogyat residents draw water from the
wells to shower with, bathe their babies in and ritually wash their clothes.
"Zheng He left a healthy life style for local people. The ethnic Chinese here
are well-treated more or less due to Zheng He's legacy," said Bimo Yuwono,
secretary of the Indonesian Chinese Association in Yogyat.
In Bali, the largest tourist destination in Indonesia, many people worship a
Chinese businessman as a "God of Wealth." The man accompanied Zheng He,
eventually settling in Indonesia where he became treasury minister and helped
develop commercial life on the island. He was later renamed Igusti Ngurah
Subandar.
Many pilgrims come to worship at Subandar's temple on Kintamani Mountain, two
hours drive from Bali's capital, Denpasar.
Local travel guide Iwayan Djasman says like Zheng He, Subandar came from Yunnan
Province in the south of China. He married and had children in Bali, and was
keen to promote intermarriage between the Chinese immigrants and native
Balinese.
Subandar exerted quite a strong influence on the livelihood of the local
people, according to Djasman.
For example he introduced Ming
Dynasty's bronze
coins to the island, where they once circulated as official currency and were
later worshipped as gifts from heaven.
The Chinese
characters on the bronze coins were too sophisticated to understand, so
locals began to think of them as talismans, the guide explained.
Zheng Bihong, another guide, echoed Djasman's remarks, saying Chinese bronze
coins have been used by Balinese at various grand ceremonies as valuable items
of sacrifice or high-class decorations.
Subandar also brought porcelain, wood and stone sculptures to the island.
Before long, local people had mastered such handicrafts and Bali became known as
"an island of folk art." Today, shops making and selling wood and stone
sculptures have become one of its landmarks.
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Emissary