As an educator who has also done field research using phenominology, anthropology, sociology, psychology, and history of world religions background (not including my theology and psychiatric backgrounds), I have learned that the more I learn, the more I realize I need to learn. I try to instill this in my students. The best teacher is the greatest student. For me this also means having a humility toward those who I meet. I may know things, but since I am finite, this means that even what I have learned from my field informants and those with whom I live needs improvement constantly. Even Muhammad (peace be upon him) had a humility to embrace others and learn from them. To completely dismiss the knowledge even of misguided writers of the turn of the century is foolish at best.
I am saddened by your attitude and anger. You have some good points, but so do the others. If I ever thought I was the sole repository of all the knowledge of even my own ancestors, I would be cutting myself off from more learning and even God and what God could do through me. To come back with comments that are heated are indicative of some other things that are not in the realm of this forum. It appears like there is a need to be heard, but not a need to hear. When it comes to PI and Moro knowledge I need to learn an aweful lot (this is also true of American Indian and Celtic things), but at the same time. However I remain silent because of being dismissed out of hand. By the way, I am Filipino, Scots-Irish, and Cherokee American Indian. Do I know all about these influences and peoples - no. Only God does, and compared to God, I am dumber than a brick. Alan, unfortunately you have a very good point. |
Hello Miya,
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
Of course, the term Moro kris doesn't imply that all examples follow a single style and that there aren't any local/ethnic variations. The same would obviously be true when using the term Mindanaoan weapons since the (indigenous) ethnic groups on Mindanao are arguably even more diverse than those who are referred to as Moro! BTW, when you use the term Mindanaoan kris you also seem to include Tausug kris, don't you? If yes, I'm not sure I understand such a usage... Quote:
Showing pics of blades and discuss interesting details will result in a more focused discussion than generalized theories IME. Regards, Kai |
Quote:
I am beginning to think that perhaps you have a reading disability. Please re-read post #117 where i clearly state that i am certainly not an expert. :rolleyes: I have already describes part of what is required to consider a blade a kris....numerous times. But maybe you missed that somehow. Perhaps you were just unable to understand that as well, but you do seem to otherwise be a person of at least average intelligence. So instead of playing games with us why don't you tell us what your definition of a kris is? |
David and Ms Baganing, I am not going to buy into this most scholarly of debates, however, I will make just one comment.
The photo that Ms Baganing has posted of a waved blade is most certainly not a keris by any of the definitions used by people---including anthropologists--- who are expert in this field. However, it could well be referred to as a "kris" by some people in the community which Ms Baganing has surveyed. Whether or not all people in this community would name it as a keris has not been established. Whether or not such an implement has always been known in the surveyed community as a "kris" has not been established. But Ms Barganing's informants could well refer to it as a kris. My housekeeper in Solo, when shown a photo of a Bowie knife and told that it was an American style of knife for personal protection dubbed it a "keris amerika". Different people in different places and at different times, can see things differently. Let Ms Baganing's informants call this thing a kris. Let Ms Bagaing believe that it is one. I'm sure that like myself, as her research increases in volume she will come to be less and less certain that what she is currently so certain of, is really so. |
Quote:
all krises in mindanao are mindanaoan krises for geographical reason, but not all mindanaoan krises are the same. the only homogenous in the issue of mindanaoan kris is the way they define what a kris is-- their definition is beyond the physicality and materiality of the sword. Even people of Borneo were called moros too in 1900's. Saying Moro Kris is not really appropriate, and it's not a definite term. |
An interestingly good point, Alan. And this is true across the region that includes the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia. This has been one of the sticking points of many debates on this forum in the past. And then the terms even change meaning as time progresses and language evolves. Parang in Bahasa Indonesian I think means in many cases a short sword where as in Tagalog it is a field. Yet they are etimologically related (what do you use to cut through a field?).
|
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
Quote:
"Sorry, no gonjo, no asymmetric blade...that is not a kris in my book. What's more, it has a punal style guard on it. Now it is possible that that blade was cut down from what was once a kris, but i would not consider it a kris in it's present form." are you sure early krises had gonjo, asymmetric blades, and other specifications according to your liking? even the image of kris on a temple relief in java does not look like the kris you think should be. there are even people in mindanao who call any sword with snaky blades as kris. to most people, kris is kris because of its function and uses. It is not just a sword that you can classify according to its physical appearance. |
Battara, those who have known me for a long time will attest to my dislike, or perhaps hatred, of the "name game".
The names of similar things can change from village to village, even within villages from community to community. Over time similar items will have different names, and even be put to different uses. The same thing used in a different way, or with a different nature, or an owner of different rank or position can have a different name. People of different knowledge levels within the same community can refer to the same same thing by a different name. People of one level within a community can refer to the same item, used or worn or owned by people of differing levels, by differing names. What do you use to cut through a field? What village are you in, when, what is the rank of the person cutting through the filed, and who is going to describe the action of cutting through the field? |
Goodness gracious me!
Against my will I have been drawn into this. Ms Baganing, I am most ignorant of the area of your speciality, but I am quite familiar with monumental works in Jawa, most especially those showing depictions of the keris. To the best of my knowledge, every keris shown in Jawanese monumental works does indeed look like a keris. Will you please advise me of the name of the temple in Jawa that has a depiction of a keris that does not look like a keris? Further, just to demonstrate my purely objective approach to this matter of what is and is not a keris, may I remind all that there are some Javanese keris which do indeed not run true to the usually accepted classic definition of a keris.However, in all cases the naming is substantiated by inclusion in a royally authorised reference. |
Hello Miya,
Quote:
Shit happens - so what? Quote:
All kris from Moro ethnic groups are Moro kris for ethnical reason, but not all Moro kris are the same. Agreed? To me and my limited knowledge, a definition based on ethnic groups with a common cultural background (including religion) does make more sense than a geographical definition when the geographical region is known to be culturally more diverse than the Moro ethnic groups. I'm open to discuss this and change my mind though. Quote:
Quote:
Regards, Kai |
Quote:
you can use the one found in prambanan temple. I can't even see any katik. definitely the blade is straight. I am not sure about the handle-- the stone is broken. |
Quote:
in the philippines, borneo was not part of the moro province in 1900, yet the people there were called moros. |
Quote:
But we are not really discussing these very early Jawa keris. We discussing kris that developed centuries later in the Philippines. I am sure that the earliest of these sword length kris did in fact have both a gonjo (almost always separate up until the early 20th century) and were in fact always asymmetrical. This is not according to my "liking". It is just the way it is. I believe you when you say that there are people in Mindanao today who will call any snaky blade a kris. There are also people in the USA who will call any cream filled sponge cake a twinky. You say a kris is a kris because of it's function. What is that function? How does it differ from the function of a barong or kamplian? |
Quote:
|
Quote:
you have to take into account the geography, resources, community development, etc of each muslim group. Samals for instance who are known as sea people incorporate cultural geography in their weaponry-- they use shells and pearls as ornaments on handles and sheaths. The krises of the kalagans are primitive compared to the ones found in lanao, sulu, and maguindanao. Why is it the case? kalagans were originally lumads before they became muslims. krises are recent in their culture, hence, the simplicity of their krises compared to the well-established and developed ones. |
Quote:
every dialect has a word for it-- in english, it means barrier. |
A kris is a kris. It is unique to the world of edged weapons because of the way it is designed. There are many other blades in the world, some curvy, some not. Someone, somewhere might recognize some of these blades (especially the wavy ones) as kris in our modern times. I do not.
Your post is pretty much a repetition of things you have already stated. You did not answer my questions, but that seems to be a part of you own unique style. ;) |
Hello Miya,
Quote:
That doesn't preclude that during later days the term may have been applied more selectively and finally also embraced by the very ethnic groups to which the name got first applied by ignorant foreigners. That's like Christians embracing and using a name for themselves and their religion which originally got coined by enemies and used in a pejorative manner at best... Quote:
Regards, Kai |
Quote:
I saw this diagram on Federico's site. You might remember that i directed you to it. But the line from the word "katik" actually stops on the blade itself, not the "barrier", so i was confused as to exactly what part he meant to attatch it to. |
Quote:
|
Quote:
I used katik because i am talkign about mindanaon kris. some muslims in davao call it sangga or panangga-- meaning, barrier. |
Quote:
Also funny that when i asked what katik meant you didn't just say it was the Tausug word for gonjo...unless you actually didn't understand what i meant all this time using the word gonjo. But that is just too weird to consider really, isn't it. :) Anyway, thanks for adding sangga and panangga to the vocabulary list as well. |
Quote:
I have even been trying to find the etymology of gonjo for years now. do you know something about it? it's not my style to use something i don't understand. |
Quote:
Gonjo is a Javanese word. You need to look there. Mr. Maisey could probably tell you more about it that i. :) |
Quote:
|
Dear Baganing,
What's the title of the book that you'll be publishing? :) Interesting ideas you have... (I've read all 5 pages). Good luck in you quest. Regarding the DNA testing, how many people had been tested? From which ethnic group? Would you like to share more details, please? |
Quote:
I don't even know if gonjo and katik are the same. if gonjo is a continuous part of the blade then it's not the same as katik. |
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
Quote:
For the DNA, I am lucky that i don't have to do it. A university back home is doing their human genome project on all ethnic groups. I'll just wait for their data. Turkey has already profiled the genetic make up of the turkish people. I am primarily interested of the Tausugs because they were the first to be Islamized by the Arab missionaries in late 1300's. |
Ah---Prambanan.
Yes, on the inside of the balcony wall of Candi Shiva there are a number of representations of keris-like weapons. In Panel #4 there is depictation of Rama and Laksmana killing giants. The representation of a a keris-like weapon in this panel is in many respects similar to what we now know as a "Keris Buda", the carving of this dagger shows an asymetric base, a definite gonjo, and other features that we expect to find in a keris. It is a fore-runner of the modern keris. Now, there are representations of other keris-like weapons at the Prambanan complex also. Some are very keris-like, others are less so, only the one I have mentioned is a clear representation of a form that can be positively identified as a fore-runner of the keris.If this one dagger were to be presented stripped of handle, it would be identified in modern times as a "Keris Buda". If we consider the salient features found in a Keris Buda blade, all of those features can be found in the modern keris. Ms Baganing, I have actually spent a very great amount of time at the Prambanan complex, mostly in study of these particular carvings. You appear to be speaking of some representation of a keris-like dagger that is other than the Rama & Laksmana one. Please Ms Baganing, can you provide a reference to an image so that I may know exactly which representation you are using as your point of reference? |
double post
|
Quote:
I don't know if my memory serves me right. One relief is a row of monkeys-- one is holding a kris-like sword and the other, a tulwar. the second image is a kris-like sword held by a bird-man maybe garuda |
Quote:
Nowadays, the krises made anywhere in Mindanao follow the tausug design with sarimaok handle head and the knives mostly use the metal works of the maranaos. |
Quote:
just wanna mention that i haven't seen a sarimanok style puhan come out of jolo in a very long time. |
Sorry Ms Baganing, you'll have to do better than reference to your memory. I need the image to which you refer. I cannot identify the relevant relief from your vague recollection.
|
Quote:
I will also go out on a limb here and state that most of these new kris are merely a shadow to the quality of old Moro swordsmithing. |
Moderator's Comment
Let's keep this thread civil, please. Baganing, in particular, some of your posts have been obnoxious. If you want to continue posting here, I suggest you lighten up a bit.
I'll be keeping an eye on this thread. |
All times are GMT +1. The time now is 07:05 PM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Posts are regarded as being copyrighted by their authors and the act of posting material is deemed to be a granting of an irrevocable nonexclusive license for display here.