And how would you define their characteristics?
Peranakan is blend of two cultures where the people are ethnic Chinese but culture and language are predominantly Malay-influenced.
A typical image of a Peranakan lady of the yonder is one elegantly attired in baju kebaya complete with kerongsang, hair tied up in a chignon bun with a cucuk sanggul and wearing beaded slippers. And she may be more adept in cursing and swearing in Malay than in Chinese dialects !!!
One school of thought is that the Peranakan is the product of the union between Middle Kingdom's Princess Hang Li Po and Sultan Mansur Shah of Malacca and also along the way, the early Chinese traders who settled along the Straits of Malacca in the 15th century.
A female Peranakan is known as 'nyonya' and a male is 'baba'.
They also have their signature dishes, passed down through generations - one of them is acar (like pickled] vegie and a delish pork stew dish called pong-teh (which I make to near perfection now).
I am Peranakan;)
#1 is right. Peranakans speak a Malay dialect at home but they pray Chinese style. They also have Chinese names
The 'real' peranakans are the descendants of the 500 men who accompanied Princess Hang Li Po to Melaka to marry the Malay Sultan. The 500 men continued to live in Melaka and married local girls.
They're fiercely traditional and very proud of their kebaya(which by the way I love), jewellery and cuisine.
Peranakan do not have to be only Malay (race) influenced though? Early Chinese settlers married various races as Malay, Batak and even some local-born Indians back then.
As Bisca explains, the 500 descendants married "local girls", which were of various races. There are even Portuguese and Dutch influences as well, as these countries were already in Melacca by that time.
Portuguese, Dutch and later British rule in the Straits Settlements of Penang, Melacca and Singapore between the 16th and early 20th centuries brought an influx of people from the surrounding islands of Java, Sumatra, Bali and Celebes to work and trade with the colonials and rich Asian families from China, India and the Middle East living here.
The word "Peranakan" in Malay describes those who were locally born of any race, but over the years, the term has come to mean the locally born Chinese and they are called "Baba" and "Nonya" to distinguish them from those born in mainland China. Over time, Straits-born Chinese are used synonymously with Babas.
Eric
No, peranakan generally means the descendents of the 500 chinese men who came to melaka somewhere in the 1400s (before the portugese/dutch conquered it).
Descendants of the Indians who married local malays are called 'chetti's (or possibly chettiars, i'm not very sure).
the descendants of the portugese+locals are called 'serani' .
I have to agree with #4 .....
Even by the definition of imminent SEA anthropologists like Prof Tan Chee Beng and Teo Kok Seng, 'Peranakan' denotes the section of 'localized' Chinese community who blended into the Malay culture. On a less talked about scale, you do find Peranakans in Indonesia and Peranakans with assimilated Malay and THAI cultures in Kelantan. But prima facie, they are refered to the descendants of the early Chinese settlers to the Straits settlements and parts of Java.
It is very rare to find reference to the Chitty community as 'Indian Peranakan'.
p.s. Chettiars is not exactly p/c. :))
my bad indeed, i'm not familiar with the terms:)
Chitty is correct
btw what does chettiar mean btw?
So all Chitty's, Babas, Nonyas, serani's are considered "Peranakan" as such. It is just a further detailed definition of what kind of Peranakan.
Eric
Re : #6.
Bisca,
Am not an anthropologist so I can't claim expert knowledge !! However, in these PC-wrecked times, 'chettiar' is almost synonymous to a dodgy money lender tag (handlebar moustache and all !!!) ! Although, that said, the chettiars were known for their financial acumen .... and deliciously rich curries ! Am not sure if a true-blue Chitty would relish being called a Chettiar (I stand corrected though). shrugs
I had always thought that Peranakan meant Chinese settlers who married Malays and their descendants. At least, that is how it is being defined in Singapore's Peranakan Museum on Armenian Street. The museum even includes as Peranakan the Chinese settlers who married Filipinos, or those that are locally known in the Philippines as Chinese mestizos. I had never seen any other grouping of Peranakan that included 'mestizos' in Malaysia or in the Philippines. But with the 'ASEAN' identity becoming more in vogue over the years then this inclusive international definition seems ideal to me.
trusted partner