Chinese Indonesians
Chinese Indonesians, also known as Chindo, Orang Tionghoa or simply Tionghoa, are Indonesians whose ancestors arrived from China at some stage in the last eight centuries. While their long-standing presence is well established, Indonesia’s 2020 national census does not systematically record ethnic data, making precise estimates of the Chinese Indonesian population difficult.
The 2010 census, the most recent Indonesian census to record ethnic categories, reported 2,832,510 Chinese Indonesians. More recent estimates differ considerably, with Indonesian demographic experts estimating around 3.28 million, while the Taiwan-based Overseas Community Affairs Council estimates as many as 11.15 million. Depending on which estimate is used, they could represent either the fourth largest or the largest overseas Chinese community in the world.
Chinese people and their Indonesian descendants have lived in the Indonesian archipelago since at least the 13th century. Many came initially as sojourners, intending to return home in their old age. Some, however, stayed in the region as economic migrants. Their population grew rapidly during the colonial period when workers were contracted from their home provinces in Southern China.
Discrimination against Chinese Indonesians has occurred since the start of Dutch colonialism in the region, although government policies implemented since 1998 have attempted to redress this. Resentment of ethnic Chinese economic aptitude grew in the 1950s as Native Indonesian merchants felt they could not remain competitive. Under the Suharto government backed by the United States during the Cold War, systematic massacres against ethnic Chinese occurred in the name of "anti-communism". Later, government action propagated the stereotype that ethnic Chinese-owned conglomerates were corrupt. Although the 1997 Asian financial crisis severely disrupted their business activities, reform of government policy and legislation removed most if not all political and social restrictions on Chinese Indonesians.
The development of local Chinese society and culture is based upon three pillars: clan associations, ethnic media and Chinese-language schools. These flourished during the period of Chinese nationalism in the final years of China's Qing dynasty and through the Second Sino-Japanese War; however, differences in the objective of nationalist sentiments brought about a split in the population. One group supported political reforms in China, while others worked towards improved status in local politics. The New Order government dismantled the pillars of ethnic Chinese identity in favor of assimilation policies as a solution to the so-called "Chinese Problem".
The Chinese Indonesian population of Java accounts for nearly half of the group's national population. They are generally more urbanized than Indonesia's indigenous population but significant rural and agricultural communities still exist throughout the country. Declining fertility rates have resulted in an upward shift in the population pyramid, as the median age increases. Emigration has contributed to a shrinking population and communities have emerged in more industrialized nations in the second half of the 20th century. Some have participated in repatriation programs to the People's Republic of China, while others emigrated to neighboring Singapore, Taiwan, and Western countries to escape anti-Chinese sentiment. Among the overseas residents, their identities are noticeably more Indonesian than Chinese.
Classification
The term Chinese Indonesian has never been clearly defined, especially for the period before 1900. There was no Indonesian identity or nationality before the 20th century. The ethno-political category Han Chinese was also poorly defined before the rise of modern Chinese nationalism in the late 19th century. At its broadest, the term Chinese Indonesian is used to refer to anyone from, or having an ancestor from, the present-day territory of China and Taiwan. This usage is problematic because it conflates Han Chinese with other ethnic groups under Chinese rule. For instance, Admiral Zheng He, who led several Chinese maritime expeditions into Southeast Asia, was a Muslim from Yunnan and was not of Chinese ancestry, yet he is generally characterized as Chinese. This broad use is also problematic because it prioritizes a line of descent from China over all other lines and may conflict with an individual's own self-identity. Many people who identify as Chinese Indonesian are of mixed Chinese and Indonesian descent. Indonesia's 4th president Abdurrahman Wahid is of Arab, Chinese, and Javanese ancestry.Some narrower uses of the term focus on culture, defining as Chinese Indonesian those who choose to prioritize their Chinese ancestry, especially those who have Chinese names or follow aspects of Chinese religion or culture. Within this cultural definition, a distinction has commonly been made between peranakan and totok Chinese. Peranakan were generally said to have mixed Chinese and local ancestry and to have developed a hybrid culture that included elements from both Chinese and local cultures. Totoks were generally said to be first-generation migrants and to have retained a strong Chinese identity.
Other definitions focus on the succession of legal classifications that have separated Chinese from other inhabitants of the archipelago. Both the Dutch East India Company and the Dutch colonial government applied complex systems of ethnic classification to their subjects, based on religion, culture and place of origin. Chinese Indonesians were sometimes classified as Natives, sometimes as Chinese, sometimes as Foreign Orientals, a category that included Arabs, Indians and Siamese. After independence, the community was divided between those who accepted Indonesian citizenship and those who did not. Under the New Order of President Suharto, citizens of Chinese descent were formally classified as "Indonesian citizens of foreign descent". In public discourse, they were distinguished from native Indonesians as non-pribumi.
History
Early interactions
The first recorded movement of people from China into Maritime Southeast Asia was the arrival of Mongol forces under Kublai Khan that culminated in the invasion of Java in 1293. Their intervention hastened the decline of the classical kingdoms such as Singhasari and precipitated the rise of the Majapahit empire.Chinese Muslim traders from the eastern coast of China arrived at the coastal towns of Indonesia and Malaysia in the early 15th century. They were led by the mariner Zheng He, who commanded several expeditions to Southeast Asia between 1405 and 1430. In the book Yingya Shenglan, his translator Ma Huan documented the activities of the Chinese Muslims in the archipelago and the legacy left by Zheng He and his men. These traders settled along the northern coast of Java, but there is no documentation of their settlements beyond the 16th century. The Chinese Muslims were likely to have been absorbed into the majority Muslim population. Between 1450 and 1520, the Ming dynasty's interest in southeastern Asia reached a low point and trade, both legal and illegal, rarely reached the archipelago. The Portuguese made no mention of any resident Chinese minority population when they arrived in Indonesia in the early 16th century. Trade from the north was re-established when China legalized private trade in 1567 through licensing 50 junks a year. Several years later silver began flowing into the region, from Japan, Mexico, and Europe, and trade flourished once again. Distinct Chinese colonies emerged in hundreds of ports throughout southeastern Asia, including the pepper port of Banten.
File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM De Chinese zeilschepen Yonken Sin Tong Heng en Tek Hwa Seng bij Poeloe Samboe TMnr 10010680.jpg|thumb|alt=Black and white view of the ocean with an island visible on the horizon to the right. A sailing ship on the left shows the full length of its hull while another on the right shows its forward bow.|Chinese junks Sin Tong Heng and Tek Hwa Seng in the Sambu Island, Singapore Strait, 1936
Some Chinese traders avoided Portuguese Malacca after it fell to the Portuguese in the 1511 Capture of Malacca. Many Chinese, however, cooperated with the Portuguese for the sake of trade. Some Chinese in Java assisted in Muslim attempts to reconquer the city using ships. The Javanese–Chinese participation in retaking Malacca was recorded in "The Malay Annals of Semarang and Cerbon".
Han Chinese in Indonesia forbid parallel cousin marriage which Han culture bans. Hui Muslims marry parallel cousins.
Chinese in the archipelago under Dutch East India Company rule (1600–1799)
By the time the Dutch arrived in the early 17th century, major Chinese settlements existed along the north coast of Java. Most were traders and merchants, but they also practiced agriculture in inland areas. The Dutch contracted many of these immigrants as skilled artisans in the construction of Batavia on the northwestern coast of Java. A recently created harbor was selected as the new headquarters of the Dutch East India Company in 1609 by Jan Pieterszoon Coen. It grew into a major hub for trade with China and India. Batavia became home to the largest Chinese community in the archipelago and remains so in the 21st century. Coen and other early governors-general promoted the entry of Chinese immigrants to new settlements "for the benefit of those places and for the purpose of gathering spices like cloves, nutmeg, and mace". The port's Chinese population of 300–400 in 1619 had grown to at least 10,000 by 1740. The VOC ruled migrant ethnic groups in Batavia using 'officers' drawn from each community, usually with the title kapitan or majoor. These officers had a high degree of authority over their community and undertook negotiations between the community and VOC authorities. Dutch colonial rule saw the beginning of anti-Chinese policies, including killings and ghettoization.File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Pas in Nederlands-Indië aangekomen Chinese arbeiders wachten op het terrein van de Deli Planters Vereniging op het opmaken van de immigratiecontracten TMnr 60014328.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Several dozen men are in squatting positions in front of building. Inside, men dressed in white are sitting behind tables and standing by.|Chinese workers from Swatow, Canton province, China, await the preparation of their contracts by immigration officials at Medan's labor inspectorate, Belawan, North Sumatra 1920–1940
Most of those who settled in the archipelago had already severed their ties with the mainland and welcomed favorable treatment and protection under the Dutch. Some became revenue farmers, middlemen within the corporate structure of the VOC, tasked with collecting export–import duties and managing the harvest of natural resources; although this was highly profitable, it earned the enmity of the pribumi population. Others worked as opium farmers. Following the 1740 Batavia massacre and ensuing war, in which the Chinese rebelled against the Dutch, the Dutch attempted to place a quota on the number of Chinese who could enter the Indies. Amoy was designated as the only immigration port to the archipelago, and ships were limited to a specified number of crew and passengers depending on size. This quota was adjusted at times to meet demand for overseas workers, such as in July 1802 when sugar mills near Batavia were in need of workers.
Han Chinese peranakan rebels and Javanese Muslims both fought against the Dutch in the Java war in 1741 while Madurese Muslims allied with the Dutch. The Javanese Susuhunan Pakubuwana II joined the Chinese against the Dutch while the Dutch relieved the Madurese prince of his allegiance to the Susuhunan.
Han Siong Kong founded the Han family of Lasem at this time.
Chinese who married local Javanese women and converted to Islam created a distinct Chinese Muslim peranakan community in Java. Chinese rarely had to convert to Islam to marry Javanese abangan women but a significant amount of their offspring did, and Batavian Muslims absorbed the Chinese Muslim community which was descended from converts. Adoption of Islam back then was a marker of peranakan status which it no longer means. The Semaran Adipati and the Jayaningrat families were of Chinese origin.
Dayak women were married by the first Chinese men to settle in Borneo and this was recorded in the Hailu by Xie Qinggao who was a merchant. After growing their initial population through this they began marrying each other's daughters.
Peranakan community formed from local women in Java, Batavia marrying Hokkien Chinese migrants and they followed Chinese folk religion. Pure blood totok Chinese dominated Semarang after swamping out Peranakan Chinese when migrating in the late 18th century. However they intermarried with Peranakans from Batavia. Han Siong Kong of the Han family of Lasem moved to Lasem in east Java, from his home of Zhangzhou in Fujian and his wife was not Chinese. Four of his sons married Peranakan women and one son of his married a Javanese woman and converted to Islam.