Keris lurus for comment and discussion

[A. G. Maisey]

Novan, I do not consider that hilt to be "new". To me it has the look of something with good age, my estimate would be pre-WWII, post 1850.

In respect of tangguh.

Amongst the very serious keris people whom I have known, there is no consistency of agreement as to exactly what tangguh really represents. The man who taught me how to use tangguh and how to identify the characteristics held the very firm belief that if a keris was classifiable as tangguh Majapahit, it had been undoubtedly made in the Kingdom of Majapahit, during the period of Majapahit rule. This man had been the penangguh for the Boworoso Tosanaji, an old and highly respected keris appreciation group that was formed up under the guidance of Panembahan Harjonagoro. My teacher was Empu Suparman Supowijoyo (Alm.) of the Karaton Surakarta Hadiningrat.

So, from the elevated perspective of these people when something is classifiable as one tangguh or another, it was beyond doubt made at that time, in that place.

In such elevated company I would never for one moment disagree.

On the other hand, another highly respected keris authority, who was also an empu, and whom I counted as a good friend from the mid-1970's, until the time he left us, did not hold quite the same opinion as Empu Suparman and some other people. This second man was Empu Pauzan Pusposukadgo (Alm.), also of the Karaton Surakarta Hadiningrat. On the subject of tangguh, Pak Pauzan would say :-_ "tangguh nggak sungguh" : broadly, "tangguh is not real".

I would never disagree with him either.

If one wishes to gain understanding from Javanese sources one listens and agrees, one does not try to elevate oneself by demonstrating how clever one is. Always look up, never look down.

Tangguh is a part of a belief system, accept it and believe, or do not believe as you wish. It is like a lot of things Javanese:- belief makes it real:- if sufficient people believe something then that makes the belief reality.

However, if I move away from Javanese environments and patterns of thought and behaviour and address the subject of tangguh in a dry and rational fashion, I find that I am forced to explore the reasons for its very existence and what its root purpose was.

Here is not the place to address this, I have written briefly on the subject, and one day I will perhaps write at length on it. In the meantime, I suggest that you may extract an answer to your question from this:-

http://www.kerisattosanaji.com/keristangguh.html

When possible I avoid the use of the word "tangguh". The word itself, the purpose of the system, the meaning of the classification, the way in which the system should be used, are all so badly misunderstood and corrupt at the present time that whenever possible I substitute the word "classification" for "tangguh". Identification of a tangguh effectively classifies the keris as something, so I prefer to skirt around the mire that tangguh has become and call it what it is:- a classification.

Novan, you use the word "kerajaan" to refer to Tuban.
Tuban was a trading port, not a kerajaan. It was a part of the North Coast trading network, a place where people brought their goods for sale, and where others came to buy those goods, take them somewhere else and sell them.

In elite Javanese eyes, keris and other tosanaji that is classifiable as Tuban had no honour attached to it, because it was trade goods. An integral part of the value system that is a part of the tangguh system is connected with honour.