Indonesian Chinese Language Education and Confucian Culture

Issuing time:2025-01-06 15:03Author:Wen HaimingSource:Thinking Through Confucius

WhenConfucian culture spreads in China itself, most people would not seriouslythink about the relationship between Confucian culture and Chinese languageeducation, since the spread of Confucian culture is naturally based on theChinese language. That is, if one does not understand the Chinese language, itwill be difficult to spread Confucian culture. Moreover, we can see that whenConfucian culture spread to other regions in history, it usually relied on theChinese cultural circle. It seems that Confucian culture should naturally bebased on Chinese language education. Although relying on the Chinese languageseems to have been the basic situation of the development of Confucian culturefor more than two thousand years, the spread of Confucian culture in Indonesiain the past few decades is quite special. The particularity of the relationshipbetween Indonesian Chinese language education and Confucian culture is that, onthe one hand, due to the weakening of Indonesian Chinese language education,the inheritance and development of Indonesian Confucian culture have naturallybeen hindered; on the other hand, due to the efforts of overseas Chinese, thereligious dimension of Confucian culture not only has not been weakened, buthas been strengthened unprecedentedly.

Statue of Confucius in Beautiful IndonesiaMiniature Park, Jakarta

Whyhas such a situation appeared? We need to start from the characteristics ofConfucian culture, which is both philosophical and religious, so as to understandthe characteristics of Confucian culture in Indonesia. In particular, thereligious inheritance of Confucian values can even transcend language, and doesnot completely depend on whether Chinese language education itself isuniversal. In Indonesia, the weakening of Chinese language education is ahistorical fact, so the inheritance and development of Confucian culture havealso been affected accordingly. That is to say, philosophical research andin-depth intellectual exchanges on Confucianism have also been greatlyweakened. However, because Confucian culture has religious characteristics suchas valuing the family, filial piety to parents, cherishing kinship sentiments,respecting brothers and sisters, benevolence toothers, living together in harmony, and regarding the world as one family,despite the historical situation of setbacks in Indonesian Chinese languageeducation, the Chinese ethnic group has not weakened their inheritance ofConfucian culture but, on the contrary, cherish, maintain, and develop thesereligious advantages of Confucian culture. Therefore, to a certain extent,although the philosophical and intellectual nature of Indonesian Confucianculture has been weakened by the impact of changes in Chinese languageeducation, its religious nature has been better inherited and developed.

First,turbulent living conditions have strengthened the religious nature ofIndonesian Confucian culture. Confucian culture itself was born in thehistorical background of the collapse of ritual propriety and music. Theturmoil of the Spring and Autumn period gave birth to Confucius’ thought thatfilial piety is the root of benevolence, while the flames of the Warring Statesperiod stimulated Mencius’ conception of benevolent love. Later Confucians tooall sought to establish an ideal character and relieve people from suffering indeveloping Confucianism, so Confucian culture has a strong religious nature inaddition to its philosophical nature. In Indonesia, Chinese language educationhas been devastated, and the survival and development of the Chinese peoplehave been very difficult. However, these historical conditions have preciselystrengthened the Confucian cultural values of Indonesian Chinese to a certainextent, and developed into a set of localized rituals with religious meaning aswell as an Indonesian system of Confucian classics. Therefore, the Chinesecommunity pays more attention to filial piety to parents, respect and love forelders, and benevolence to others. It also cherishes Confucian religiousconcepts such as “All within the four seas are brothers” and the “Mandate ofHeaven,” and has formed in practice a system of ritual and music with religiousmeaning.

Chinese Indonesian Cultural Park in Beautiful Indonesia Miniature Park, Jakarta

Second,pressure has turned into motivation and built a consensus on promoting Chineselanguage education. The difficult historical situation has made the Chinesecommunity more cohesive, and it also pays more attention to the basic values ofConfucianism such as loyalty, forbearance, sincerity, and integrity. For example,Indonesian Confucian temples all regard “loyalty and forbearance” as the coreconcept of Confucianism, and encourage Confucian believers to work hard tobuild harmonious family and community relations in practice. Harmony within thefamily and clan is the cornerstone of harmony among ethnic groups, especiallyin the face of external pressure, so unity and harmony within the Chineseethnic group is even more important. Therefore, the Chinese community shouldunite to promote Chinese language education. Chinese language education is bothlinguistic and cultural education, and it transcends religion and ethnicity.There are already Chinese schools in Indonesia that can carry out Chineselanguage education without the restrictions of religion and ethnicity. Theirsuccessful experience needs to be promoted. Chinese language education cannotrestrict itself to the Chinese community, and indeed there are many people fromother religions and ethnic groups who can speak Chinese fluently and engage inresearch on related issues. This has created an invisible pressure on theChinese who have forgotten the Chinese language, so the Chinese community mustunite, rise up, and work together to promote and revitalize Chinese languageeducation.

Third,education and culture should be developed simultaneously, and other culturesshould be learned from and absorbed. Historically, Confucian culture was goodat absorbing the advantages of other cultures. When promoting Confucianculture, Indonesian Chinese absorbed the advantages of various cultures basedon equal exchange and dialogue, and conducted in-depth dialogues with variousreligions and cultures. It can be said that the localization process ofConfucian culture in Indonesia has become part of the historical process ofcreative transformation and innovative development of Confucian culture. On thebasis of the five principles of nation-building (panchasila), the Indonesian Chinese develop and promote loyalty andforbearance, not doing to others that which one would not have them do tooneself, people as promoting the dao,and living in harmony. This is a new development of the traditional Confuciantheory of cultivating, ordering, governing, and pacifying, which is of greathistorical significance and cultural value. Indonesian Chinese languageeducation has long been maintained through Buddhist temples, especially thoseof the Great Way of Maitreya and other systems. While receiving Chineselanguage education, the Chinese do not reject exchanges and interactions with variousreligious cultures, learn from each other, and promote the innovation anddevelopment of Confucian culture.

Textbooks published by Confucius SupremeCouncil of Indonesia

Fourth , the development of Indonesian Chinese language education is conducive to communicationbetween ethnic groups and religions. Some Indonesians learned Chinese in adifficult historical situation, and today they have become the backbone ofChinese language education. These talents need to be especially cherished andprotected, because they are the foundation for the Chinese community to promoteChinese language education today. At the same time, we must see that thedevelopmental history of Indonesian Confucianism, as a specific form ofConfucian culture development, shows that Confucian culture and religious consciousnesscan be inherited without completely relying on Chinese language education. Inhistory, this can be said to be a relatively unique historical and culturalphenomenon. For historical reasons, although the absolute number of IndonesianChinese who choose Confucianism is relatively small, establishing Confucianismand getting the state to recognize it can help promote the development ofConfucianism and Chinese language education, and also requires the Chinese tounite with all parties to continue to make arduous efforts. Therefore, althoughthe promotion of Chinese language education mainly concerns Chinese, it shouldnot be limited by religion or ethnic groups. It is necessary to unite forcesfrom all sides, and promote Chinese language education in multiple aspects andat multiple levels in religious communication, ethnic communication, anddialogue among civilizations.

Fifth,Confucian religious consciousness can transcend ethnic groups and religionsthrough belief in ancestral Heaven. Although Indonesian Chinese believe indifferent religions, they all inherit an understanding and awareness ofancestral Heaven. It can be said that the religious spirit of overseas Chineseto expand their territories under the guidance of ancestral Heaven is an importantpart of the globalization of the spirit of the Chinese nation. Ancestral Heavenis not a dead idol, nor a static memorial tablet, but a real existence withlife and power. Ancestral Heaven is not an external objectification, because itoverflows in all between heaven and earth, is present on the spot, beautifuland speechless, and has infinite power. Ancestral Heaven is not the ancestor ofa specific person or a certain ethnic group, but the ancestral Heaven of allbetween heaven and earth. Ancestral Heaven is not a heavenly ancestor, becauseit is Heaven by virtue of being ancestral, and not ancestral by virtue of beingHeaven. Ancestral Heaven is not a personal god, not a heavenly ancestor withpersonality. Indonesian Chinese have a power of unlimited vitality throughexperiencing the endlessly productive creative power of ancestral Heaven, andthey constantly maintain and protect their belief in their ancestors and inheaven and earth. The living conditions of overseas Chinese are themselvesexpanding in their marginal domains, which are the real boundary of thesurvival consciousness of the Chinese nation. The ancestral Heaven they pray toand call upon is not an externally transcendent personal god or Emperor ofHeaven. The strength of the belief in ancestral Heaven that the Chinese rely oncomes from the marginal survival, expansion, and development experience ofoverseas Chinese in the world. They believe that every bite of food they eatand every drop of water they drink is a gift from their ancestors’ affectiveconnection to the mother of heaven, earth, and nature, so they are full ofgratitude. Chinese who are overseas have a common ancestral heaven, so they areconnected by body, mind, and spirit. It can be seen that belief in ancestralHeaven can transcend the boundaries of ethnic groups and religions. Even if theChinese are integrated with other ethnic groups, Chinese blood still flows, andeven if the Chinese believe in other religions, they will not deny the realexistence of ancestral Heaven.

The Confucius Temple in Beautiful IndonesiaMiniature Park, Jakarta

Inshort, Confucianism has not only a philosophical dimension, but also aprofoundly religious nature. In terms of ritual systems, cultural classics,etc., the creative power of ancestors and heaven and earth can be interpretedreligiously. Therefore, the globalization of Confucian culture can be adaptedto local conditions and change from time to time. Chinese language education inIndonesia is an important practical process for the spread of Chinese culture,especially Confucian culture. Indonesian Chinese learn and understandConfucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, and communicate with other religions andcultures, which itself is a situational unfolding of the fine traditionalChinese culture under historical conditions. The fine traditional Chineseculture is an endlessly productive culture, and the great dao of Chinese culture is originally based on the dao of heaven. Therefore, Chineselanguage education in Indonesia can be described as a social and historicalpractice of “extending the dao ofHeaven to understand human affairs.” Indonesian Chinese engaged in Chineselanguage education need the persistence of “rashness and setbacks areunavoidable,” since there is still a long way to go to inherit Confucianculture. The Indonesian Chinese understand the dao of heaven in practice, and the elite among the Chinesemaintain the ideal that “the great dao isnot alone, the world is one family,” and retain the fire of the Confucianculture of the great dao. This sparkof wisdom is an invaluable treasure and will surely becarried forward.

作者简介：

Professor Wen Haiming

Professor Wen Haimingreceived his Ph.D. in comparative philosophy from the University of Hawai’i in 2006. He is now a professor at the School of Philosophy, Renmin (People’s) Universityof China (RUC), and the Beijing Center (TBC, since 2007).

He holds variouspositions, including Associate Director of the Nishan World Center forConfucian Studies, Associate Director of the Committee for Scholarship andCommittee for Membership of the International Confucian Association (ICA),Special Expert of the Confucius Research Institute and Shandong TaishanScholar, Director of the Center for Studies of the Yijing (the Book ofChanges) at the School of Philosophy, Renmin University of China, and the Academyof Confucian Studies, Nishan World Center for Confucian Studies, and AssociateEditor-in-Chief for Studies of Confucianism (Kongziyanjiu) and Confucian Academy (Kongxuetang).

ProfessorWen has published about 10 books in English and Chinese, edited or co-editedaround 40 books, and published more than 70 journal articles in English andChinese. He has also been invited to present more than 100 papers in over 20countries worldwide.

PrevShadows of the Sage: Images of Confucius in Wei-Jin Thought and Their Philosophical Significance

NextConfucian Culture and its Responsiveness to Our Current Global Challenges

Share to：