Grave business far from dead

Grave business far from dead. Indonesia’s pluralistic society has helped bring about many different styles of motifs used in stone carving, particularly in the art of bongpay.

This art, although it comes from the province of Fuk Jian in China, is no longer dominated by Chinese motifs such as dragons and the Hong bird (the phoenix).

Eternal writing: Two workers write Chinese calligraphy on a bongpay in a workshop in Surabaya. JP/Indra Harsaputra

Suwanto Susetyo, 50, was busy watching one of his eight employees carving an image of Jesus ordered by a member of a Christian family of Chinese descent.

“The bongpay art of stone carving is changing. Apart from the motifs, the material now used is no longer greenstone, but river stone and marble,” Suwanto told The Jakarta Post a few days ago.

Bongpay (in Mandarin, Mu-bei) is Hokkien dialect for a gravestone used on Chinese graves. Bongpay were previously made from greenstone (a kind of jade), which is believed to bring good fortune to the owner. The history of the deceased and the loyalty of his or her grandchildren is usually carved on the bongpay using Han characters.

During the Tang Dynasty (618-907), a bongpay was in the center of the gravestone and included a biography of the deceased. But in the period of the Song Dynasty (960-1279), changes occurred in the writing, images used such as dragons, clouds and the Hong bird.

There are no historical records mentioning when bongpay stone sculpture first entered Indonesia. But a few bongpay artists in Surabaya believe it started between the 16th and 19th centuries, after Admiral Cheng Ho’s landed in Java, followed by totokers (traders, soldiers and other male migrants from China) who came to trade in Indonesia.

Suwanto is a third generation bongpay artist, whose grandfather, Tjio Kim Ek, came to Indonesia with his eldest son Tjwan Tik Sing in the 1930s.

Tjio Kim Ek, an artist and greenstone trader from China, initially visited Indonesia to collect money from some of his trading partners in Java. He didn’t stay for long because his wife and children were still in China.

But, after a stopover in Surabaya, Tjio Kim Ek became interested in opening a business on Jl. Bunguran near the intersection of Jl. Kembang Jepun.

As the first child, according to Chinese tradition, Tjwan Tik Sing was asked to manage the bongpay business in Surabaya.

Stone of Jesus: An artist produces a picture of Jesus on a bongpay (Chinese tombstone) in a workshop in Surabaya. JP/Indra Harsaputra

This business continued to grow until Tjio Kim Ek finally decided to stay in Surabaya. He married Kartini, a Javanese woman from Surabaya, and was blessed with four children. One of them was Sutikno, the father of Suwanto.

“Tjwan Tik Sing died in the battle of Surabaya against the allied troops. He was shot by the allies when he was a young man and never had time to get married,” said Suwanto.

Before Tjio Kim Ek passed away, he asked Sutikno to take over his bongpay stone business.

Today, Suwanto is hoping his first child, Herman Susetyo, 20, who is currently studying management at one of the private universities in Surabaya, will eventually take over the bongpay business. Meanwhile Herman’s brother, who is studying graphic design, is preparing to help his brother in the business.

“My father, Sutikno, advised me that the management of the family business should be handed over
to the eldest son, not to all the children, because he was afraid there would be fights over the business,” he said.

Suwanto said the ancient art of carving bongpay had been passed down from generation to generation, with noticeable changes over the years in the materials used, the motifs and patterns of bongpay.

In the first generation, for example, artists only made bongpay using greenstone imported from China.
Nowadays, carvers from the fourth generation use marble or granite from Italy and local river stone.

“Previously we only used Han characters, but to meet the needs of many Muslims of Chinese descent, we have learned how to inscribe Arabic on the stone,” he said. ( thejakartapost.com )