Chinese Merchants Role of Java Trade in 19th Century

Abstract

Chinese arrival in Java was encouraged with significant factors both internal and external. Chinese in Java eventually brought shifting in economical, social, and political aspect of Java under Dutch realm. In 19th century, Chinese in Java were differed into two clusters, known as peranakan and totok. These two terms possed different languange, culture, economical conditions. This study aimed to determine the role of Chinese merchants of Java during 19th century. The study engaged literature study which includes planning, selection, extraction, and excution. Literature review tries to review several books, scholarly articles, and other relevant sources which focused on particular area. Under Dutch realm, Chinese in Java portrayed many different roles, such as moneylenders, middlemen, kapitan, opium traders, and etec. Chinese were considered active in and around Java as the settled in Netherland Indies trade withi coastal shipping. Chinese possess priviledge spot under Dutch colonial policy, due to their advance skill in business and their independency of local rulers. In term of trade, the Chinese were ubiquitous and essential, since everyone commited trade in Java had to do business with Chinese. Java’s Chinese men and unknown number of peranakan and native Javanese women whom they married or related were almost all participated in the money economy.

Exploring Urban Ethnobotany: A Case Study of Medicinal Plants Traded in Gede Hardjonagoro Market, Surakarta, Indonesia

“…14 The ethnic Indians, Arabs, and Chinese settled in Javanese cities, intermarried with locals, and eventually formed a particular class known as peranakan. 15 These people have been mostly assimilated into Surakarta society, despite the ethnic and cultural differences with Javanese people. 16 Historically, interactions between locals and peranakan were restricted due to the Dutch colonial policy of wijkenstelsel, which required each ethnic group to live in separate and often walled neighborhoods segregated from the local Javanese population.…”

“…However, traditional markets served as a common ground for different ethnic groups to interact and build substantial social bonds. 4,15,[17][18][19] Each peranakan society disseminates cultural knowledge through the traditional markets, further enriching the local Javanese culture. In the corpus of cultural knowledge disseminated through the traditional markets is the knowledge and consumption of various plants and products.…”