SUPERSTITION AMONG CHINESE INDONESIAN
FAMILIES IN SEMARANG
A Thesis
By:
Tan Nia Putri Evanthe
Student Number: 11.80.0042
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT STUDY PROGRAMME
FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS
SOEGIJAPRANATA CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY
SEMARANG
SUPERSTITION AMONG CHINESE INDONESIAN
FAMILIES IN SEMARANG
A Thesis Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to
Obtain the Sarjana Sastra Degree in the English Department Study
Programme
By:
Tan Nia Putri Evanthe
Student Number: 11.80.0042
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT STUDY PROGRAMME
FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS
SOEGIJAPRANATA CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY
SEMARANG
A THESIS ON
SUPERSTITION AMONG CHINESE INDONESIAN
FAMILIES IN SEMARANG
By:
Tan Nia Putri Evanthe
Student Number: 11.80.0042
Approved by,
B. Retang Wohangara, SS., M.Hum
July 27
th, 2015
Major Sponsor
i
A thesis defended in front of the Board of Examiners
On July 27
th, 2015 and declared acceptable
BOARD OF EXAMINERS
Chairperson: B. Retang Wohangara, SS., M.Hum
…………
Secretary : Angelika Riyandari, S.S., M.A.,PhD
…………
Member
: Dra. Ekawati M.Dukut, M.Hum
…………
Semarang, July 27
th, 2015
Faculty of Language and Arts
Soegijapranata Catholic University
Dean,
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
First and the most important, I would like to give thanks to Jesus Christ for his
unaccountable blesses and strengths given to me to finish my study in this lovely faculty.
Second, I would like to present this work to my family especially my parents, and
my siblings Citra, Dea, Kevin, and Sasa for their unconditional supports and love so I can
finish my study well. I hope they will be proud of me.
Next, I would like to thank my major sponsor Mr. B. Retang Wohangara, who had
inspired and guided me in finishing this thesis. My sincere gratitude also goes to Mrs.
Angelika Riyandari, my co-sponsor who was always ready to help me and become my
favorite place to share everything. Also to all my lecturers, Mrs Emilia Ninik, Mr. Anton
Suratno, Mrs. Ekawati M. Dukut, Mrs. Cecilia, Mrs. Wuryani, Mrs Heny, Mr. Adhy, Ms.
Linggayani who teach and give great experience in this faculty. Then, I would like to
express my gratitude to FLA’s staff Bu Retno, Pak Udik, Mas Haryo who were willing to
help me during my study. Thank you to all SCU’s staffs in Mikael’s building; the staffs of
BAK, IO, SSCC, BAA, and especially my Promotion and Recruitment team: Pak Agus,
Mbak Mega, Pak Roby, Mbak Alam and Bu Leny who taught and made me more confident
to face many people. Without them, I will not be able to promote Soegijapranata Catholic
University well. My Student Get Student’s friends, Vina, Aryo, Daniel, Jojo and many
others who always cheered me up and supported me every time. I thank my friend, Darayu
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I would like to thank all of my friends in the Faculty of Language and Arts
especially Caroline, Wendy, Marcelina, also my friends in Faculty Organizations, and my
lovely basketball teams which I could not mention one by one. Thank you for your
friendship and support which colored my days in the university.
I would like to express my gratitude to Karel who was not always by my side
physically, but always be there for me. Thank you for all the love, support, trust, and
courage given to me during good and bad times.
Last but not least, I would like to thank all the participants in this thesis, Om Tjeng
Tjun, Evan, Belinda, and others for the tradition, and story you share. Thank to whoever
reads this thesis for I hope this thesis will inspire and motivate the readers to know that
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TABLES OF CONTENTS ... iv
LIST OF FIGURES ... vi
LIST OF TABLES ... vii
ABSTRACT ... viii
ABSTRAK ... ix
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ... 1
1.1 Background of the Study ... 1
1.2 Field of the Study ... 3
1.3 Scope of the Study ... 3
1.4 Problem Formulation ... 3
1.5 Objective of the Study ... 3
1.6 Significance of the Study ... 4
1.7 Definition of Terms ... 4
CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW ... 6
2.1 Chinese Ethnic Group in Indonesia and Semarang ... 6
2.2 Folklore ... 8
2.3 Folk-Belief or Superstition ... 9
v
CHAPTER IV DATA ANALYSIS ... 18
4.1 The Superstitions of Chinese Indonesian Know and Believe in Semarang ... 18
4.1.1 Superstition of Chinese New Year (Imlek) or Xin Cia ... 19
4.1.2 Superstition of Ceng Beng ... 30
4.1.3 Superstition related to Funeral ... 31
4.1.4 Superstition related to Marriage Process ... 35
4.1.5 Superstitions related to Building House ... 39
4.1.6 Superstitions of Human Body and Daily Life ... 47
4.2 Superstitions Category Based on Wayland D Hand’s ‘Cycle of Life’ ... 50
4.3 Tradition and Reason for (not) Believing Superstitions ... 55
4.3.1 Superstition Tradition ... 55
4.3.2 Reason for (not) believing ... 57
CHAPTER V CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION ... 59
5.1 Conclusion ... 59
5.2 Suggestions ... 60
BIBLIOGRAPHY ... 61
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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 4.1 Kue Keranjang (Taken by Putri, 2015) ... 21
Figure 4.2 Evan's Sembahyang Table for his ancestor (Taken by Putri, 2015) ... 22
Figure 4.3 Throwing coins to communicate with Ancestor's spirit (taken by Putri, 2015) . 23 Figure 4.4 Pai-pai Gesture ... 26
Figure 4.5 Red Angpao and White Angpao (taken by Putri, 2015) ... 28
Figure 4.6 Unmarried (left) and Married (right) angpao (Taken by Putri, 2015) ... 29
Figure 4.7 Human dolls and houses made of paper (taken by Putri, 2014) ... 32
Figure 4.8 Food Offering in Karin’s Father Funeral (taken by Karin, 2015) ... 34
Figure 4.9 Granted the Request and Give to Older Brother – Wijaya & Michele’s wedding (taken by Junaidi 2013) ... 37
Figure 4.10 Five Animals from "Logika Feng Shui" (Dian, 1998) ... 40
Figure 4.11 Tjeng Tjun's (Int.2) House and sketch (Taken and made by Putri, 2015) ... 40
Figure 4.12 Auri's (Int.3) House and sketch (Taken and Made by Auri, 2015) ... 41
Figure 4.13 Front Door is Bigger than Back Door (Taken by Putri, 2015) ... 42
Figure 4.14 Sketch of Front Door Straight to Back Door (Putri, 2015) ... 42
Figure 4.15 Front Door not Face to Mirror ... 43
Figure 4.16 Evan's, Joana’s, and Belinda’s bedroom (taken by Putri & Evan, 2015) ... 44
vii
LIST OF TABLES
Table 4.1 Participants Name and Code Name ... 19
Table 4.2 'Cycle of Life' Categories of Wayland D. Hand ... 50
Table 4.3 Chinese Indonesian family Superstition Categories ... 51
viii
ABSTRACT
This research focuses on Folklore study about superstition. The purpose of this study is to find out the existence of superstition in Chinese Indonesian family in Semarang. The
ix
ABSTRAK
