Chapter II · Man and his Place in the Universe

(a) Creation of Man

A common feature in Malay romances and legends is a description of the supernatural development of a young child in the interior of some vegetable production, usually a bamboo.

Sir W. E. Maxwell has pointed out the fact of the existence, both in Malay and Japanese legends, of the main features of this story, to which he assigns a Buddhistic origin. He tells the story as follows:—

I myself have heard among the Selangor Malays similar legends to the above, which, as already pointed out, are common in Malay romances. A parallel myth is described in the following words:—

The usual story of the first creation of man, however, appears to be a Malay modification of Arabic beliefs.

Thus we are told that man was created from the four elements—earth, air, water, and fire—in a way which the following extract, taken from a Selangor charm-book, will explain:—

“God Almighty spake unto Gabriel, saying,

‘Be not disobedient, O Gabriel,

But go and get me the Heart of the Earth.’

But he could not get the Heart of the Earth.

‘I will not give it,’ said the Earth.

Then went the Prophet Israfel to get it,

But he could not get the Heart of the Earth.

Then went Michael to get it,

But he could not get the Heart of the Earth.

Then went Azrael to get it,

And at last he got the Heart of the Earth.

When he got the Heart of the Earth

The empyrean and crystalline spheres shook,

And the whole Universe (shook).

But the Heart of the Earth was then too hard;

He mixed Water with it, and it became too soft,

(So) he mixed Fire with it, and at last struck out the image of Adam.

Then he raised up the image of Adam,

And craved Life for it from Almighty God,

And God Almighty gave it Life.

Then sneezed God Almighty, and the image of Adam brake in pieces,

And he (Azrael) returned to remake the image of Adam.

Then God Almighty commanded to take steel of Khorassan,

And drive it down his back, so that it became the thirty-three bones,

The harder steel at the top, the softer below it.

The harder steel shot up skywards,

And the softer steel penetrated earthwards.

Thus the image of Adam had life, and dwelt in Paradise.

(There) Adam beheld (two ?) peacocks of no ordinary beauty,

And the Angel Gabriel appeared.

‘Verily, O Angel Gabriel, I am solitary,

Easier is it to live in pairs, I crave a wife.’

God Almighty spake, saying, ‘Command Adam

To pray at dawn a prayer of two genuflexions.’

Then Adam prayed, and our Lady Eve descended,

And was captured by the Prophet Adam;

But before he had finished his prayer she was taken back,

Therefore Adam prayed the prayer of two genuflexions as desired,

And at the last obtained our Lady Eve.

When they were married (Eve) bore twins every time,

Until she had borne forty-four children,

And the children, too, were wedded, handsome with handsome, and plain with plain.”

The magician who dictated the above account stated that when Azrael stretched forth his hand to take the Heart of the Earth, the Earth-spirit caught hold of his middle finger, which yielded to the strain, and thus became longer than the rest, and received its Malay name of the “Devil’s Finger” (jari hantu).

The following extract (from a Malay treatise quoted by Newbold) fairly describes the general state of Malay ideas respecting the constitution of the human body:—

(b) Sanctity of the Body

So in Leyden’s translation of the Malay Annals (1821) we read—

1. The royal Betel-box.

2. The Long K’ris—a kind of rapier used for Malay executions.

3. The two royal Swords; one on the right hand and one on the left (all of the articles mentioned hitherto being carried in front of the Sultan).

4. The royal “Fringed” Umbrella (payong ubor-ubor), carried behind the right-hand sword-bearer.

5. The royal “Cuspadore,” carried behind the left-hand sword-bearer.

6. The royal Tobacco-box, carried at the Sultan’s back.

A list of the Jĕlĕbu regalia (given me by Ungku Said Kĕchil of Jĕlĕbu) ran as follows:—

1. A single-bladed Sword (pĕdang pĕmanchor).

2. The Long K’ris (k’ris panjang, pĕnyalang), used for executions.

3. The royal Lances (tombak bĕndrang).

4. The royal Umbrella (payong kabĕsaran).

5. The royal Standard and Pennants (tunggul ular-ular).

6. The royal Ceiling-cloth and Hangings (tabir, langit-langit dewangga).

7. The “Moving Mountains” (gunong dua bĕrangkat), perhaps the names of two peaked pillows.

8. The royal Drums (gĕndang naubat); said to be “headed” with the skins of lice (kulit tuma) and to emit a single chord of twelve tones when struck (dua-b’las bunyi sakali di-pukol).

9. The royal Trumpet (lĕmpiri or nĕmpiri). Each of these was also said to emit a single chord of twelve notes. 10. The royal Gong. 11. The royal Guitar (kĕchapi).

12. The royal rĕbab or Malay fiddle.

But the extraordinary strength of the Malay belief in the supernatural powers of the regalia of their sovereigns can only be thoroughly realised after a study of their romances, in which their kings are credited with all the attributes of inferior gods, whose birth, as indeed every subsequent act of their after life, is attended by the most amazing prodigies.

They are usually invulnerable, and are gifted with miraculous powers, such as that of transforming themselves, and of returning to (or recalling others to) life; in fact they have, in every way, less of the man about them and more of the god. Thus it is that the following description of the dress of an old-time Raja falls easily into line with what would otherwise appear the objectless jargon which still constitutes the preamble of many a Malay prince’s letters, but which can yet be hardly regarded as mere rhetoric, since it has a deep meaning for those who read it:—

“He wore the trousers called bĕraduwanggi, miraculously made without letting in pieces; hundreds of mirrors encircled his waist, thousands encircled his legs, they were sprinkled all about his body, and larger ones followed the seams.”

Next came his coat. It was “of reddish purple velvet, thrice brilliant the lustre of its surface, seven times powerful the strength of the dye; the dyer after making it sailed the world for three years, but the dye still clung to the palms of his hands.”

“The next article described is his turban, which, among the Malays, is a square handkerchief folded and knotted round the head.”

He wore the Malay national garment—the sarong. It was “a robe of muslin of the finest kind; no ordinary weaving had produced it; it had been woven in a jar in the middle of the ocean by people with gills, relieved by others with beaks; no sooner was it finished than the maker was put to death, so that no one might be able to make one like it. It was not of the fashion of the clothing of the rajas of the present day, but of those of olden time. If it were put in the sun it got damper, if it were soaked in water it became drier. A slight tear mended by darning only increased its value, instead of lessening it, for the thread for the purpose cost one hundred dollars. A single dewdrop dropping on it would tangle the thread for a cubit’s length, while the breath of the south wind would disentangle it.”

Finally, we get a description of the way in which the Raja (S’ri Rama) set out upon his journey.

In addition to the sanctity of the regalia, the king, as the divine man, possesses an infinite multitude of prerogatives which enter into almost every act of his private life, and thus completely separate him from the generality of his fellow-men.

These prerogatives are too numerous to be mentioned in detail, but the following extract from Leyden’s translation of the “Malay Annals” will give a general idea of their character and extent:—

A number of other particulars bearing on this subject will be found in other parts of the text, and in the Appendix references are given to other works for additional details, which are too numerous to be recorded here.

Similar prohibitions are still in force at the courts of the Malay Sultans in the Peninsula, though a yellow umbrella is now generally substituted for the white, at least in Selangor.

A distinction is also now drawn between manufactured yellow cloth and cloth which has been dyed yellow with saffron, the wrongful use of the latter (the genuine article) being regarded as the more especially heinous act.

Finally, it must be pointed out that the greatest possible importance is attached to the method of saluting the king.

In the “Sri Rama” (the Malay Ramayana) we read, even of the chiefs, that—

“While yet some way off they bowed to the dust,

When they got near they made obeisance,

Uplifting at each step their fingers ten,

In the king’s audience hall the formal salutations are performed in a sitting posture, and in this case, too, the greatest attention is paid to the height to which the hands are raised. The chief twice makes salutation in a sitting posture as he advances, and at the third advance bends over the Sultan’s hands, two more salutations being made on his way back to his place.

A flagrant infringement of any of the prerogatives of the Sultan, such as those I have described, is certain, it is thought, to prove fatal, more or less immediately.

The only person who, in former days, was not in the least affected by the royal taboos which protected the regalia from the common touch was the (now I believe extinct) official who held the post of Court Physician (Maharaja Lela). He, and he alone, might go freely in the royal apartments wherever he chose, and the immunity and freedom which he enjoyed in this respect passed into a proverb, the expression “to act the Court Physician” (buat Maharaja Lela) being used to describe an altogether unwarrantable familiarity or impertinence.

Plate 1.—Some of the Selangor Regalia.

Models, representing part of the regalia of H.H. the Sultan of Selangor—two small drums, the tufted (cowtail) lances, the trident, the k’ris (dagger) called B’rok Bĕrayun, and the sacred trumpet (lĕmpiri).

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This trumpet and the drums of the Selangor regalia were kept by the present Sultan (then Raja Muda, or Crown Prince of Selangor) in a small galvanised iron cupboard which stood (upon posts about three feet high) in the middle of a lawn outside His Highness’ “garden residence” at Bandar. His Highness himself informed me that they had once been kept in the house itself, but when there they were the source of infinite annoyance and anxiety to the inmates on account of their very uncanny behaviour!

Having shown the wide gulf which divides the “divine man” from his fellows, I have still to point out the extent to which certain portions of the human frame have come to be invested with sanctity, and to require to be treated with special ceremonies. These parts of the anatomy are, in particular, the head, the hair, the teeth, the ears, and the nails, all of which I will take in their order.

To the same category (of sacred things having physical connection with the body) should doubtless be referred such objects as the eyebrows, the saliva, and soil taken from the (naked) footstep, all of which are utilised by the magician to achieve his nefarious ends.

(c) The Soul

Thus in a charm given in the Appendix we find—

“Hither, Soul, come hither!

Hither, Little One, come hither!

Hither, Bird, come hither!

As this mannikin is the exact reproduction in every way of its bodily counterpart, and is “the cause of life and thought in the individual it animates,” it may readily be endowed with quasi-human feelings, and “independently possess the personal consciousness and volition of its corporeal owner.” Thus we find the following appeal addressed to the soul in the charm just quoted:—

“Do not bear grudges,

Do not bear malice,

Do not take it as a wrong,

Do not take it as a transgression.”

These quasi-human attributes of the soul being so complete, it is an easy stretch of the imagination to provide it with a house, which is generally in practice identified with the body of its owner, but may also be identified with any one of its temporary domiciles. Thus in the charm already quoted we read—

“Return to your own House and House-ladder,

To your own House-floor, of which the planks have started,

And your Roof-thatch ‘starred’ with holes.”

“Cluck! cluck! Soul of this sick man, So-and-so!

Return into the Frame and Body of So-and-so,

To your own House and House-ladder, to your own Clearing and Yard,

To your own Parents, to your own Casing.”

And this is no mere chance expression, for in another charm the soul is adjured in these words:—

“As you remember your own parents, remember me,

The soul “appears to men (both waking and asleep) as a phantom separate from the body of which it bears the likeness,” “manifests physical power,” and walks, sits, and sleeps:—

“Cluck! cluck! Soul of So-and-so, come and walk with me,

Come and sit with me,

At the present day the ordinary Malay talks usually of only a single soul, although he still keeps up the old phraseology in his charms and charm-books. For the rest, it would appear that there may be some method in the selection and arrangement of colours.

Now in all, I believe, of what are now called the Federated Malay States, and probably in all Malay States whatsoever, yellow is the colour used by royalty, whereas the more exalted and sacred colour, white (with occasional lapses into yellow), has been adopted by Malay medicine-men as the colour most likely to conciliate the spirits and demons with whom they have to deal. Thus the soul-cloth, which, by the way, is always five cubits long (lima hasta), is sometimes white and (much more rarely) yellow, and hence in the first instance just quoted, the yellow cloth, being, next to white, of the colour which is most complimentary to the demons, is the one which is put outside; and in the second instance, for similar reasons, the white cosmetic is to be used first.

(d) Animal, Vegetable, and Mineral Souls

To the Malay who has arrived at the idea of a generally animated Nature, but has not yet learned to draw scientific distinctions, there appears nothing remarkable or unnatural in the idea of vegetation-souls, or even in that of mineral-souls—rather would he consider us Europeans illogical and inconsistent were he told that we allowed the possession of souls to one half of the creation and denied it to the other.

The following tale, which is entitled Charitra Mĕgat Sajobang, and is told by Selangor Malays, will serve as an illustration of the idea of Human Origin:—

“There was a married Sakai couple living at Ulu Klang, and they had a son called Mĕgat Sajobang. When he grew up he said to his mother, ‘Mother, get me a passage, I want to go and see other countries.’ She did so, and he left Ulu Klang; and ten or twelve years later, when he had grown rich enough to buy a splendid ship (p’rahu), he returned with his wife, who was with child, and seven midwives, who were watched over by one of his body-guard with a drawn sword. His mother heard the news of his return, and she made ready, roasting a chika (monkey) and lotong (monkey), and went with his father on board their bark canoe to meet their son.

“As they approached they hailed him by his name; but he was ashamed of their humble appearance, and forbade his men to let them on board. Though his wife advised him to acknowledge them, ‘even if they were pigs or dogs,’ the unfilial son persisted in turning them away. So they went back to the shore and sat down and wept; and the old mother, laying her hand upon her shrivelled breast, said, ‘If thou art really my son, reared at my breast, mayest thou be changed into stone.’ In response to her prayer, milk came forth from her breast, and as she walked away, the ship and all on board were turned into stone. The mother turned round once more to look at her son, but the father did not, and by the power of God they were both turned into trees of the species pauh (a kind of mango) one leaning seawards and the other towards the land. The fruit of the seaward one is sweet, but that of the landward one is bitter.

“The ship has now become a hill, and originally was complete with all its furniture, but the Malays used to borrow the plates and cups, etc., for feast days and did not return them, until at last there were none left.”

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Colours of Cloths (used to enwrap the lump of earth from the footprint). Colours of Cosmetics (used by the sick man). Colours of Rice (such as may be used by medicine-men).

... white white Highest Color.

yellow ... yellow Medium Color. ,,

... ... blue.

red red red.

... ... purple or orange

... ... green.

black black black. Lowest Color. ,,