Malay Cosmology
For the Malays, trees and wood have never been mere commodities. Throughout the centuries, the Malays have developed a great respect for trees in general, and there are many recurrent motifs and symbols still in circulation in the Malay world that testify to the importance of trees to the Malay mind-set. Prior to beginning any performance of shadow puppet theatre (Wayang Kulit), the audience is presented with the static image of the great tree of life itself, the pohon budi, which represents the primordial tree that has stood from the beginning of time and whose branches and roots reach out into the infinite. To the left and right of the tree stand the opposing ranks of characters, good and bad. The drama that follows takes place within a moral and epistemological universe that is understood by the Malay mind-set: one where the forces of good and evil are constantly in conflict with one another, yet bound in a cosmic equilibrium where nature finally reigns supreme. The image of the great tree of life that is seen in carvings, shadow puppets, weavings and the like all indicate the extent to which the cult of trees had become deep-rooted in the Malay world.
On the exoteric level of life in the profane world, wood was an invaluable material that the Malays could not do without. The success or failure of their kingdoms depended on it, and the Malay world was necessarily one that was integrated with the rest of nature. But this reliance on wood as an enabling, empowering and life-sustaining resource was not merely a relationship that was acted out on a profane and material level. The cosmology of the Malays has always been one that was predicated on the division between the seen and the unseen, the material and the metaphysical, zahir and batin. This duality is reflected in the Malays' understanding of everything that came into the orbit of the Malay universe, which included the natural world as well. As Malay civilization developed, so did its understanding and appreciation of wood itself. By and by, Malay civilization evolved what can be termed a 'cult of wood', which invested the material with a plethora of hidden, esoteric meanings and values. One of the most important concepts in this unseen universe was the notion of semangat kayu. Today, there are several obstacles hindering our understanding of this complicated term. Foremost, we live in a modern age where rationality and positivism hold sway and where all things metaphysical are deemed as mythical, fantastic, preposterous or, at best, incomprehensible. How, then, can we understand the world of the Malay woodcarver, for whom the semangat of kayu was a perfectly tangible, sensible and comprehensible phenomenon?
The hilt of a keris tajong employing Langkasukan motifs on the body. Drawing by Nik Rashiddin Nik Hussein.
The tree of life (pohon budi), a leaf-or tree-shaped puppet carved from skin or leather which opens and closes all performances of the shadow puppet play (Wayang Kulit). It is sometimes also utilized during a performance as a stage property to represent a tree, a forest or a mountain. From the collection of master puppeteer Pak Dollah of Kelantan. Photograph by William Ha raid-Wong.
JEBAK PUYUH (QUAIL TRAP) (FL010)
Restored in Kelantan, late 20th c., angsana wood, bamboo floor, ivory door, ribu-ribu ribs, kapas binding, 33.4 x 30.8 x 23. 1 cm
Restored by Nik Rashiddin Nik Hussein, this old quail trap features a new front of angsana wood and ivory. Bunga tanjung motifs decorate the panels flanking the door. Leaves of the saga kenering, a type of creeping plant with black-spotted red beans, are used to form the gunungan. Two mythological sea monsters (makara) with ruby eyes are carved on the stepping board which triggers the net trap when a bird alights on it. The original basketwork cage (not visible) is very finely woven. (See also pages 100-3.)
The ketam guri motif used on the gunungan of the mosque pulpit on pages 26-7. Drawing by Norhaiza Noordin.
Petals of the bunga teratai (lotus) form the decoration at the foot of the grave of Che Ku Tuan Nawi at Makam di Raja, Langgar, Kota Bharu (see pages 60-1).
The concept of semangat serves as our starting point. Semangat has been (sometimes erroneously) translated as 'spirit', 'life force', 'soul' or 'essence'. None of these translations is entirely correct. An understanding of the concept of semangat first requires an understanding of the cardinal concepts of Malay cosmology itself. Scholars like Skeat (1900), Maxwell (1907), Endicott (1970) and others have attempted to construct a rational typography of concepts and values found in Malay metaphysics. Although there remains much work to be done to fully enumerate and classify the components that make up this manifold universe, we are now better able to speak about the hierarchy of concepts and values that make up the order of knowledge in the Malay metaphysical system at least.
From the Malay point of view, the universe is made up of a myriad of elements and objects that all come from one common source, the Creator itself. Mere existence in the world is already a miracle that testifies to the presence of a Creator and the link between creation and its Creator. Even a speck of dust owes its existence to this point of origin and prime mover of all things. Everything that exists, living or inanimate, bears the mark of the Creator in some way or other. This understanding of the process of creation, and of the link between human beings and the Creator, had existed even in the pre-Islamic era, but with the coming of Islam it was revised and developed further under the rubric of the concept of Tauhid, or the Unity of God.
The most rudimentary trace of this link to the Creator is what Malays refer to as the semangat or the 'vital force' of all things. It is a form of primal energy and vitality, invested in all things that are created as a result of the act of creation itself. It resides in all things that exist, and it disappears only when the object it belongs to is finally reduced to non-existence or non-being. At the most fundamental level, all things possess semangat to some degree or other.
Semangat is, in turn, linked to two other vital forces: nyawa (breath of life) and run (spirit of life). Living things possess the latter two elements while inanimate objects possess at least semangat. Human beings possess semangat, nyawa and ruh, the combination of which bestows man with rational agency, reflective intellect and creativity. It is also this that allows man to think and to realize his station in the universe, and through this knowledge to try to come to a better and more direct understanding of his relationship with creation and the Creator. Other living things may possess semangat and nyawa, but lack the intellectual and emotive capacities of human beings that allow for reflection and moral consideration. In the universe of the Malays, there are numerous lesser evolved spirit entities that may well react and interact with human beings, but without the moral considerations and deliberation of rational agents. At times they appear as naively benevolent, while on other occasions they manifest themselves as amoral malevolent forces bent on mindless destruction and violence. Endicott (1970) has noted that for the Malays, living trees are of particular importance as they often serve as an abode for such spirits, good or bad.
CEILING PANEL OF PULPIT (RT019F)
Surau Langgar, Kelantan, 1874, cengal wood, 21.8 x 21.8 x 1.29 cm
This small panel from the ceiling of a mosque pulpit (mimbar) comprises entwined stems carved with Langkasukan motifs. The carving style is the same as that on the tomb of Che Ku Tuan Nawi (pages 60-1). The outline of each corner takes the shape of a lotus bud or stupa.
The living tree is
