It was, in fact, the tree, one of the most vital elements in the natural environment, that kept the forces of nature in check. The tree was magical, but far from sinister. For it was the tree that provided the Malays with the defences and fortifications that protected their settlements and towns. The walls and palisades that were made from the trunks of trees and from bamboo were the barriers that kept out the numerous threats from the world of men and nature. Both invading armies and wild beasts (not to mention ghosts and forest spirits) were thus kept at bay.
| Assalamualaikum, | Assalamualaikum, |
| Aku datang ini bersahabat sahaja, | I have come in peace, and friendship, |
| Sahaja nak mencari hat kebidupan, | Come to seek my livelihood, |
| Janganlah engkau mengharu-hara aku, | (O ye spirits) please do not harm me, |
| Dan anak isteri aku, | Or my family, |
| Dan rumah tangga aku, | Or my home, |
| Dan segala kampung halaman aku, | Or my village and community, |
| Aku yang nak tumpang sababat ini, | For 1 count on your good will, |
| Mintalah selamat pulang balik. | And may you let me return safely. |
The tree was also the vital source that provided so much material for the daily maintenance of civilized Malay life. Wood was the natural element that kept Malay society together, literally. It provided them with houses, and within those houses, walls. (Thus the tree not only kept out the forces of nature, it also served to ensure that the existing social relations within this compartmentalized society could be maintained as well.) Trees provided the Malays with tools to work with, to farm with, to write with, to eat with and to fight with. It was, in short, the singular natural element upon which all of Malay civilization depended. Civilization, as the Malays knew it then, was almost impossible without this natural element. However, the Malays never forgot the fact that the tree also came from that chaotic and uncontrollable world of natural forces. Its presence in the midst of human society signified the penetration of nature into the world of men. As such, its status and role in the context of Malay civilization was always an ambiguous one.
The tree was the boundary marker that denoted the distinction between the kasar and the halus, the jungle and the settlement, the chaos without and the order of things within. It was therefore accorded the respect and awe that was due to it. And even when it was brought within the purview of human civilization as a resource and tool, it maintained its aura of mystery as something that was originally beyond the pale of humanity. Like that other vital natural element, fire, the tree was something that was necessary for human survival, but it needed to be kept under control. Thus the tree became, and remains, a curious totem or fetish of some unknown and mysterious force of nature. The belief in the semangat, or vital force', of nature and of trees, in particular, ensured that the Malays' attitude towards trees and wood was a carefully regulated and circumscribed one. The tree was so highly esteemed because it provided the Malays with one of the most indispensable elements used to build the Malay world: wood. Malay kingdoms, as we have seen, were dependent on wood in every respect. Thus, the possession and utilization of wood, and good wood, in particular, became part of the Malays' expression of largesse, power and civilization.
In the use of trees for wood and woodcarving, however, the Malays were particularly careful not to upset the natural equilibrium that maintained the balance and harmony between the world of men and nature. Malay woodcarving thus evolved a complex and advanced code and hermeneutics of its own, and eventually reached the status of a fine art that ranked as high as any philosophical system that had been developed by the Malay mind.
Cengal (Neobalanocarpus heimii), a tree of the deep forest, was domesticated in the 19th century and planted in the compounds of wealthy families to provide a ready source of timber. A hard, durable wood, resistant to insect attack, it is used for almost all structural elements in a building, but is also suitable for decorative panelling.
HILT, KERIS TAJONG (KW109)
Kelantan, late 20th c., kenaung wood, 16.5 x 15.25 x 5 cm
The sharply uptilted nose, the eye ornamentation and the strong lines of the jaw and crown combine to convey an aggressive quality in this highly ornamented hilt. The cup supporting the base of the hilt, called a pendokok, is made of silver, ornamented with pucuk rebung (bamboo shoot) and telurikan (fish egg) motifs. Carved by Nik Rashiddin Nik Hussein.
The Spirit of Wood in 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?
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