A.

Title

The Chinese New Year Celebration in Ketapang, West Kalimantan

B. Background of the Study

Chinese New Year is an annual event that celebrated by Chinese people in the world to

symbolized the new life is begin. Chinese New Year is about new beginnings. It is a chance

for everyone to wish for good luck in the year ahead. People visit with friends and family

(Ancient & Calendar, 1912).

Chinese New Year is a special celebration for all Chinese communities including Chinese

communities in Ketapang, West Kalimantan. Chinese community in Ketapang is different

from Chinese community in other part of Indonesia especially Java. There are some

differences between Chinese community in West Kalimantan and Java. First, almost all of

Chinese community in Ketapang speaks in Chinese language even Tio cu or Khek, but in

Semarang only a few of them can speak Chinese language. In Ketapang, people still believe

in chit gwe pua, the 15th day on the 7th month of Lunar (Chinese) Calendar, known as “hari

hantu” where they have to ”pai sin kui,”, or pray to ”sin kui” or in Indonesian known as

“hantu gentayangan” and in English is haunt ghosts. By praying for them, Chinese

community believes that can help “sin kui” or haunt ghosts to go back to their nation that

known as other dimension, dimension where ancestors live. In that day all of the ancestors

also come and hang around. While in Semarang, it’s so rare to do that tradition, because they

think that tradition is not popular anymore.

 Based on the writer’s experience as a Chinese Indonesian originated from Ketapang,

West Kalimantan, she celebrated the Chinese New Year with her family, not only family but

also with her friends. Actually they celebrate it for 15 days. For the first of Chinese New

Year, they named “Kwe Ni” and for the 15th day is Cap Go Meh. In Ketapang, almost all of

Chinese community who celebrate it, they will visit their family, neighbor, and their friend.

In Ketapang, Chinese New Year identic with ‘kue keranjang,”one of the typical or

compulsory cake in Chinese New Year celebration, shared by Chinese people to relatives

who didn’t celebrate it. In Java, only a few provide the “kue keranjang.”

The writer found the thesis entitles “THE PRACTICE OF CELEBRATING CHINESE

NEW YEAR IN SEMARANG” by Dessy Paramita 2013. The thesis by Dessy makes the

writer interest to do the research because there are some differences between Semarang and

Ketapang Chinese communities to celebrate Chinese New Year and that is the main reasons

for writer to do this research.

The writer saw that the ways Chinese Indonesians in Semarang celebrate Chinese New

Year are different from those of Chinese Indonesians in Ketapang. Although the writer has

mentioned some possible differences but she has not done a thorough research on those.

Therefore in this study, the writer intends to find the detailed process of Chinese New Year

celebration in Ketapang, West Kalimantan to prove the writer’s assumption.

C. Field of the Study

The field of the study is folklore especially folk custom.

D. Scope of the Study

This study focuses on Chinese communities in Ketapang celebrate the Chinese New

Year from Chiu It- Cap Go Meh celebration

E. Problem Formulation

There are the questions that are formulated as follows:

1. How do Chinese communities in Ketapang celebrate the Chinese New Year from

Chiu It-Cap Go Meh?

2. Why they celebrate it different from other areas in Indonesia, especially

Semarang?

F. Objective of the Study

The objectives of the study are:

1. To explain how Chinese community in Ketapang celebrate Chinese New Year

from Chiu It-Cap Go Meh

2. To show the different tradition of Chiu It-Cap Go Meh of Chinese New Year in

Ketapang, West Kalimantan with other areas especially Semarang.

G. Significance of the Study

This study will help students to more understand about folklore. Hopefully the

students can learn and understand about the tradition of Chinese New Year in

Ketapang, West Kalimantan.

H. Definition of Terms

1. The Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year is an annual event that celebrated by Chinese people in the

world to symbolized the new life is begin. Chinese New Year is about new

beginnings. It is a chance for everyone to wish for good luck in the year ahead.
People visit with friends and family (Ancient & Calendar, 1912). Most of Chinese

people must celebrate it because this is their tradition and they must celebrate it for

15 days.

2. Ketapang Chinese

Ketapang Chinese is communities who were born, grew up, and live in Ketapang.

3. Chiu It

Chiu It is the first days of Chinese New Year which means 1st in Lunar Calendar.

4. Kwe Ni

Kwe Ni is Chinese New Year in Tio Ciu language which means people had pass

the last year.

5. Cap Go Meh

Cap Go Meh is the 15th day or the final day of Chinese New Year
 CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

This chapter the writer will explain about Chinese community in Ketapang, folklore,

Chinese New Year, and Cap Go Meh.

A. Chinese Community in Ketapang

Ketapang is a town in Kalimantan Barat that has a big Chinese community in

there. The Chinese people are spread throughout the area in Ketapang. This Chinese

community celebrates the Chinese events together with joy. They are very happy when

they celebrate it. They will show barongsai with so many fireworks, and all Chinese

community will gather together to welcome the event. Celebrating Chinese traditional

culture is an example of folklore. There are so many klenteng and monastery in there.

Chinese community in Ketapang …..

B. Folklore

Folklore is an expressive culture that belongs to a certain group of people and this

includes traditions that are common to the culture, or group Folklore also includes

customs, forms, and celebratory rituals such as Chinese New Year and weddings,

traditional dances, and others. Folklore manifests itself in many oral and verbal forms,

folklore itself is the whole traditional complex of thought, content, and process – which

ultimately can never be recorded in its entirety; it lives only in its performance or

communication, as people interact with one another. (1968: 9) (Birchall, 2006). Fairy
 tales, proverbs, and jokes are one example of folklore in oral form. Abrahams drew

attention to performance to underscore the active, relevant uses of folklore in everyday

life, but in doing so, narrowed the scope of materials that folklorists considered to

contemporary verbal expressions.(Ben-Amos, 1971)

C. Chinese Folk custom

Folk custom is the passing down of elements of a culture from generation to generation,

especially by oral communication and cultural practices that are preserved by tradition

(Holiday, 1996) (“Dessy Paramita,” 2017). Based on Jin (2004) these are the aspects of

Chinese folk custom, that in daily food, clothing, shelter and transportation, custom

rituals and ceremonies; holidays and festivities, beliefs and taboos. One of the important

festivals in Chinese culture is Chinese New Year.

D. Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year is an important event that must be celebrated by Chinese

people in the world. All of Chinese community celebrate it in many ways, they’re

celebrated it quietly because they’re remembering days that have passed and also family

and friends who have died. Some people also celebrate it with noisy excitement, that

means they’re so excited for new year, and new year is here.(Jango-Cohen, 2005)

During Chinese New Year eve, family gather together to have a dinner. The

dinner not only delicious but also the dishes has symbol for the new year, like duck

stands for long life and dumplings is bring riches and family togetherness (Jango-Cohen,

2005). Also during the Chinese New Year celebration, people try to be more patient, they
 can’t get angry or say sick and sad. The new life is starts from that day. Family members

and friends give each other gifts. Children often get red envelopes. The envelopes are

called “ang bao”. They have money inside. They are a promise of good luck in the year

ahead.

E. Cap Go Meh

Cap Go Meh is the 15th days of Chinese New Year celebration. Cap Go Meh

celebrations originated in age-old traditional Chinese folk religiosity, and even in

this era of tourist-oriented commodification of such events, its ritual elements,

like exorcisms, can still be understood as expressions of popular religious

impulses.(Chan, 2009)
 CAHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

A. METHODOLOGY

In collecting data about Chinese New Year in Ketapang, the researcher will

apply a qualitative research. Qualitative research focuses on the characteristics of

language as communication with attention to the content or contextual meaning of

the text (Budd, Thorp, & Donohew, 1967; Lindkvist, 1981; McTavish & Pirro, 1990;

Tesch, 1990) (Shannon, 2014). The writer will collect the data from people who

born, live and celebrate in Ketapang, and also really understand what is Chinese New

Year.

1. Participants

Participants of this research are the Chinese community in Indonesia from

Chinese ethnic background who are born and live in Ketapang. The writer formulates

some criteria in choosing the participants.

a. The participants were born from Chinese ethnic group and live in

Ketapang.

b. The participants were born from Ketapang Chinese ethnic group who

stays in Semarang.

The participants come from Chinese Ketapang who live in and still celebrate

Chinese New year.The writers will using a snowball method to take the information.

The writer asked the participants chosen to indicate another participant with the same

criteria. The following is the data of the participants

 No Gender
1 A
2 B
3 C
4 D
5 E
6 F
7 G
8 H
9 I
10 J
11 K

2. Instrument

The writer did the research by interviewing the participants with open-ended

questions (by recording the conversation), taking pictures and videos, and making

outline to understand how Chinese people in Ketapangcelebrate Chinese New Year

until Cap Go Meh.

The writer takes the following procedures to collect the data:

a. The writer observed how Chinese community in Ketapang celebrate chinese new

year

b. The writer made a list of questions on Chinese New Year celebration.

c. The writer interviewed the participants based on the writer’s interview protocol on

Chinese New Year.

 d. The writer transcribed the recorded conversation and analyzes the result to obtain the

answer to the research questions.

3.2.Data Analysis

In order to come to the answer of the research questions, the writer will use

the data collected to understand how Chinese community in Ketapang celebrate the

Chinese New Year and Cap Go meh, also the reason they celebrate it.
BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ancient, T. H. E., & Calendar, C. (1912). Chinese new year.

Ben-Amos, D. (1971). Toward a Definition of Folklore in Context. Journal of American

Folklore, 84(331), 3–15. https://doi.org/10.2307/539729

Birchall, C. (2006). Knowledge Goes Pop. From Conspiracy Theory to Gossip. Culture machine

series. Retrieved from application/pdf http://swbplus.bsz-bw.de/bsz252110250inh.pdf

Inhaltsverzeichnis%5Cnapplication/pdf http://swbplus.bsz-bw.de/bsz252110250vlg.pdf

Verlagsinformation

Chan, M. (2009). Chinese New Year in West Kalimantan : Ritual Theatre and Political Circus.

World, 3(April 1990), 88–99.

Dessy Paramita. (2017). Semarang.

Holiday, D. R. (1996). Folklore: What is it?, Vol. IX, N.

Jango-Cohen, J. (2005). Chinese New Year. (Shannon Barefield, Ed.), Clinical Neurophysiology.

Carolrhoda Books, Inc., a division of Lerner Publishing Group Soft.

https://doi.org/10.1016/S1388-2457(03)00181-0

Jin, Z. W. (2004). Chinese Folk Arts.

Shannon, S. E. (2014). Three Approaches to Qualitative Content Analysis, (December 2005).

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