華裔印尼人的歷史長達數個世紀,現今的華裔印尼人的祖先主要在荷蘭殖民時期來到印尼群島。在殖民地初期,印尼華人通常被殖民者置於「中間人」的位置,在包稅制度制度下,不少華人大商人謀取了大量財富。19世紀下半葉,荷蘭殖民者採取分而治之的種族隔離政策,這種社會被J S Furnivall(英語:J S Furnivall)稱為多重社會(英語:Plural Society)[15]。此時,印尼的華人社會也分化為土生華人和新客華人。在20世紀初,印尼華人在民族主義浪潮中出現了親中、親荷、親印尼三大派別,荷蘭殖民當局因此採取不同的政策防止反殖民情緒和親中情緒蔓延,達到鞏固殖民統治的目的[16][17][18][19]。持不同政見的印尼華人在印尼的各個時期積極參與政治,成立了不少組織。
It may be stated as a general rule that if a given area of Indonesia was settled by Chinese in appreciable numbers prior to this [20th] century, Chinese society there is in some degree dichotomous today. In one sector of the society, adults as well as children are Indonesia-born, the orientation toward China is attenuated, and the influence of the individual culture is apparent. In the other sector of the society, the population consists of twentieth-century immigrants and their immediate descendants, who are less acculturated and more strongly oriented toward China. The significance and pervasiveness of the social line between the two sectors varies from one part of Indonesia to another.(一般地,如果印尼的某一特定地區在20世紀之前就有相當數量的華人定居,那麼今天此地的華人社會在某種程度上是二元的。該社會的某一羣體無論是老幼都是印尼本土出生的,其親中傾向弱,個體的文化也明顯本土化。在社會的另一部分,人口由二十世紀的中國移民及其直系後代組成,他們的同化程度較低,親中傾向更加強烈。這兩個羣體之間的社會界限的重要性和普遍性因印尼的不同地區而異。)
——G. William Skinner,"The Chinese Minority", Indonesia pp. 103–104
1930年荷屬東印度人口普查中的中國人被歸類為異域東方人(荷蘭語:Vreemde Oosterlingen),這導致了單獨的登記[33]。印度尼西亞獨立後,通過1946年的一項公民法案授予了公民身份,並在1949年和1958年重申了公民身份。但是,他們經常遇到有關其公民身份合法性的障礙。印尼華人在與政府官員開展業務時,要求出示印尼公民證(英語:Certificate of Citizenship (Indonesia))(印尼語:Surat Bukti Bukti Kewarganegaraan Republik Indonesia, SBKRI)[53]。沒有SBKRI,他們將無法製作護照和居民身份證(英語:Indonesian identity card)(印尼語:Kartu Tanda Penduduk,KTP);註冊出生,死亡和結婚證書;或註冊營業執照[54]。許多選擇中國國籍的印尼華僑在1950至1960年代的中華人民共和國撤僑後在中國大陸或香港生活,被認為是歸國華僑[55] 。
用於識別社羣的其他術語還有土生華人(印尼語:Peranakan)和新客華人(印尼語:Totok)。前者傳統上用來描述那些在當地出生的人,源自印尼語單詞anak(孩子),因此意味着「土地的孩子」。 後者源自爪哇語,意為新的或純淨的,用於描述外國出生的和新移民[56]。為了確定印尼華人的各個分支,Mely G. Tan(英語:Mely G. Tan)認為必須根據國籍,然後根據他們的文化取向和社會認同[57]。Aimee Dawis指出,自1990年代初以來,基於文化親和力而不是原籍國的這種定義更有說服力[58]。
社會學家Mely G. Tan(英語:Mely G. Tan)認為,研究華裔移民的學者常將這個群體稱為「整體實體」:海外華人[57]。這種處理方法在印尼也長期存在;大多數人稱他們為Orang Cina或Orang Tionghoa(兩者的意思都是中華人),或Hoakiau(華僑)[d]。他們以前在民族誌文獻中被描述為「印尼華人」,但現在的術語已經發生變化。舊的表述強調該團體的中國血統,而新的描述則強調印尼融合[59]。Aimee Dawis援引著名廖建裕的話說,這種轉變「對於打破他們是一個排外群體的刻板印象來說非常重要」,並且還能在他們中間「促進民族主義意識」[60]。
許多印度尼西亞人,包括華裔印尼人,相信存在一種馬來語方言,即「華人馬來語」 (印尼語:Melayu Tionghoa 或 Melayu Cina)。19 世紀下半葉土生華人文學的發展催生了這種馬來語變體,通過從漢語原文翻譯或直接用馬來語創作的 席拉(武術)故事而流行。學者們認為它不同於爪哇語和馬來語的混合口語,華人馬來語被認為是「僅由華人使用」[e]。
[E]xcept for a few loan words from Chinese, nothing about 'Chinese Malay' is uniquely Chinese. The language was simply low, bazaar Malay, the common tongue of Java's streets and markets, especially of its cities, spoken by all ethnic groups in the urban and multi-ethnic environment. Because Chinese were a dominant element in the cities and markets, the language was associated with them, but government officials, Eurasians, migrant traders, or people from different language areas, all resorted to this form of Malay to communicate.(除了一些來自漢語的外來詞外,「華人馬來語」沒有什麼是華人獨有的。語言是低變體,即巴剎馬來語,是爪哇街市的通用語言,尤其是城市的通用語言,城市和多民族環境中的所有民族都使用這種語言。 由於華人在城市和市場中佔主導地位,語言與他們聯繫在一起,但政府官員、歐亞裔、移民商人或來自不同語言區的人們都採用這種形式的馬來語進行交流。)
——Mary Somers Heidhues,海外華人百科(The Encyclopedia of the Chinese Overseas)[86]
Ellen Rafferty稱,在爪哇,土生華人早在1800年以前就開始說巴剎馬來語和一些爪哇語,和外地人交流則多用巴剎馬來語。土生華人在1800年以來的一些書面溝通也用了一些爪哇語。這種口語的爪哇語被稱爲ngoko變體。在1800年之後,書面的爪哇語被巴剎馬來語所取代。在1945年後,土生華人在家使用一種印尼語化的爪哇語,並在一些本土交流中夾雜一些ngoko爪哇語,在跨地區交流和書面交流使用印尼語[87]。
印尼90%人口為穆斯林,但華人穆斯林只佔少數,根據2010年的人口普查顯示,3.6%的印度尼西亞華人是穆斯林。[93]印尼中華伊斯蘭教聯合會(Persatuan Islam Tionghoa Indonesia,PITI)等組織協會於已經在19世紀末期已經存在。印度尼西亞華人穆斯林協會(PITI)在1963年重新成立為一個現代化的組織,但有一段時間的沒運作。[95]
印尼孔教總會( Majelis Tinggi Agama Khonghucu Indonesia , MATAKIN)估計95%的孔教信徒是少數印度尼西亞華人,剩下5%孔教信徒為爪哇族。[96]雖然孔教在印尼又重新恢復法定宗教的地位,但印尼許多地方政府拒絕華人將孔教列為宗教信仰,[97]。
華人文化的影響可以在當地的華人馬來語文學中看到,其歷史可以追溯到19世紀末。關於這一主題最早、最全面的著作之一,蘇爾夢(英語:Claudine Salmon)在1981 年出版的《印度尼西亞華人的馬來語文學:臨時註釋書目》(Literature in Malay by the Chinese of Indonesia: A Provisional Annotated Bibliography)列出了 3,000 多部作品。這些文獻的樣本還出版在六卷本的文集中,題為「Kesastraan Melayu Tionghoa dan Kebangsaan Indonesia」(華裔馬來語文學與印度尼西亞民族)[115]。
Suryadinata, Arifin & Ananta (2003,第77頁) used the 31 published volumes of data on the 2000 census and reported 1,738,936 ethnic Chinese citizens, but this figure did not include their population in 19 provinces. Space restrictions in the census publication limited the ethnic groups listed for each province to the eight largest. Ananta, Arifin & Bakhtiar (2008,第23頁) improved upon this figure by calculating directly from the raw census data.
The latter two terms are derived from the Hokkien Chinese. Sociologist Mely G. Tan argued that these terms "only apply to those who are alien, not of mixed ancestry, and who initially do not plan to stay in Indonesia permanently" (Kahin 1991,第119頁). She also noted that the terms Cina (Tjina in older orthography) and Cino (Tjino) carry a derogatory meaning to earlier generations of immigrants, especially those living on the island of Java. Dawis (2009,第75頁) noted this connotation appears to have faded in later generations.
Indonesian scholar Dede Oetomo believed "the term 'Chinese Malay' is really a misnomer. There may be a continuity between 'Chinese Malay' and modern Indonesian, especially because the former was also used in the written discourse of members of ethnic groups besides the Chinese in the colonial period and well into the postindependence era" (Kahin 1991,第54頁).
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