Note: the preview photo is a statue in the capital of Bali, Denpasar, commemorating the 1906 ritual suicide, called puputan in Balinese, of the royal family in the struggle against Dutch invaders.
I am sure you know about the 5th century Chinese Emperor Goujian. King Goujian’s army is known for scaring its enemies before battle with a front line formed by criminals sentenced to death. The criminals committed suicide by decapitating themselves. This scared the bejesus out of the enemy, who fled in fear. The death row inmates had their crimes exonerated and their families honored for the convicts loyal service to the state.**
Once again Bali beats them all. Catch this in action — Balinese puputan or ritual royal suicide: In 1906, the Dutch overlords used some flimsy pretense to invade the last independent kingdoms of Indonesia: the southern provinces of Bali. The Dutch army, on horseback and on foot, invaded on of these kingdoms, Bandung, and marched south to the capital Denpasar. There, the invaders amassed in front of the royal palace compound with their impressive Dutch troops, fire power, and oddly enough, a Dutch photographer; all to confront the Balinese army in battle.
Meanwhile from the gates of the fortified compound streams out a large royal entourage: the king, his consorts, family members, advisors, military staff, security forces, household members, etc. This royal phalanx, dressed in all white came straight from Temple rituals and were all coked up on who-knows-what. They royalty in white marched right up to the awaiting Dutch troops. Upon the cry from King, Gusti Ngurah Made Agung, the Balinese elites unsheathed their fierce kris swords and proceeded to disembowel themselves in front of the Dutch forces. The Dutch army never fired a shot.
SUICIDE OR SERVITUDE? HERE’S WHEN THEY CHOSE SUICIDE IN BALI
“When a Chinese trading ship under Dutch protection ran aground on a coral reef off the southern coast of Bali, the islanders took a traditional view of the accident. By the custom of tawan karang, or “reef right,” any cargo they recovered bobbing in the turquoise waters of the Java Sea was considered a gift from the maritime deity Baruna.
The Dutch didn’t see it that way. Or, as some historians would have it, they chose not to see it that way, and used the locals’ exercise of reef rights as a pretext for completing their conquest of Bali. The resulting invasion set off one of the largest mass suicide protests in modern times — if anyone is keeping count.
SUICIDE IS VERY NEGATIVE IN BALI. PUPUTAN ISN’T SUICIDAL, IT’S A FIGHT TO THE DEATH. MAGARET WEINER, AUTHOR, VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE REALMS: POWER, MAGIC AND COLONIA\
By the time the puputan ended, as many as 1,000 Balinese lay dead, according to Dutch estimates. It wasn’t the first time the colonists had encountered the ritual: In 1894 the rulers of the island of Lombok, just to the east, had initiated a mass suicide in response to a Dutch invasion. In 1908 — following a second and final ritual suicide by the raja and his followers in the Bali kingdom of Klungkung — the Dutch completed their conquest of the island.
Not all puputans were suicidal, and not all ended in defeat. But the Badung populace must have known what was coming when they faced the colonial troops. “For them perhaps, the puputan was indeed more symbolic than strategic, the last act of a tragic dance-drama, natural for a people whose genius for theater is unsurpassed,” writes Robert Pringle in A Short History of Bali.
It’s better to see the puputan as a last act of resistance rather than one of despair, says Magaret Weiner, author of Visible and Invisible Realms: Power, Magic and Colonial Conquests. “Suicide is very negative in Bali. This isn’t suicidal, it’s a fight to the death. It’s determination.”
Since the Dutch conquest and the events of the early 20th century, Weiner says, the concept of puputan has morphed into drastic resistance to foreign influence. With Indonesian independence, the deadly defiance is remembered with pride. Every year the island commemorates puputans in re-enactments that call on European expats to play the role of the colonial Dutch.
Calls have even been made by activists for modern pupuptans against that new form of colonialism — tourism.”
A Short History of China – Goujian the Fiercest of Competitors
The Chinese have an idiom which literally translates to “lying on hay, tasting bile”. The figurative meaning that everyone understands is that this idiom means to grow stronger than your enemy. This turn of phrase originated with Emperor Goujian during the time of the warring states, the Spring and Autumn Period (771-476 B.C.E.) in the middle of the Zhou dynasty.
It all started when the Old King of Wu died in a battle against their historic enemy, the Yue kingdom. At his deathbed, thecaged king ordered his son – Fuchai – not to avenge their defeat. Years later, Fuchai sought revenge on the battlefield against Yue. Goujian, the emperor of Yue was captured by Fuchai. , Goujian life was spared but he became a humiliated servant to Fuchai as punishment. Goujian lived in a stone hut next to the stables where he would take care of the horses, or lead the horses whenever Fu Chai called for his carriage. After three years, Goujian was allowed to return to Yue. After his return as king of Yue, Goujian decided to strengthen himself and his kingdom to avenge his defeat. Goujian ordered his mattress to be changed to rough hay. Goujian hung a gall bladder over his table. He would taste the bitter bile juice every day to remember his humiliation in the Kingdom of Wu. He worked tirelessly every day and night to strengthen Yue both politically and militarily. He enlisted many scholars to increase the education of the population and indoctrinate the masses to prepare for revenge on the Wu kingdom. After a decade of reforms, the Kingdom of Yue became strong enough to defeat Wu in battle. Goujian did not repeat Fuchai mistake by letting the Wu king to live, Goujian forced Fuchai to commit suicide. Goujian also killed all the Yue scholars and many allies who supported his emergence to ensure no rivals emerged. Yue annexed the Kingdom of Wu. Goujian become known as the last (and most fierce) of the Five Hegemons of this interregnum period.
