[94] "As to their military character, it is certain," says Plutarch, "they were able commanders, both by sea and land. But as the champions, who in one day gain the garland, not only in wrestling, but in the pancration, are not simply called victors, but by the custom of the games, the flowers of victory; so Cymon, having crowned Greece with two victories gained in one day, the one at land, the other at sea, deserves some preference in the list of generals."—Langhorne's Plutarch: Cimon and Lucullus compared.
[95] Mr. Rothenbuller.
[96] This was the practice of the Europeans also.
CHAPTER VII.
Ceremonies of the Court—Deference paid to superior Rank—Regalia—Processions—Pomp—Rank and Titles—Ambassadors—Ceremonies attending Births, Marriages, and Funerals—Account of the People called Kálang, and of the Inhabitants of the Téng'ger Mountains—The Bedui—Festivals—Amusements—The Drama—Wáyangs—The Dance—Tournaments—The Chase—Tiger Fights—Combat of Criminals with Tigers—Bull Fights, &c.—Games of Skill and Chance—Other Customs and Usages.
Having, in the preceding Chapter, endeavoured to pourtray the natural and moral character of the people of Java, and to convey to the reader a general idea of the nature and principles of the government to which they have been subjected, I shall now proceed to detail some of the usages and customs which prevail among them.
Of these the ceremonies of the court are the most obvious, and a stranger cannot fail to be struck with the extreme deference and respect towards their superiors, by which the Javans are characterized. Respect for rank, for experience, for parents and old age, have been already noticed among the features of their character; but the excess to which deference to rank is carried by the political institutions of the country, deserves more particular remark, whether we consider it as illustrative of the nature of the government and the quiet and orderly disposition of the people, or endeavour to trace, in the early periods of their history, the causes which may have contributed to the existing constitution of society among them.
The respect shewn to superior rank on Java is such, that no individual, whatever his condition, can stand in the presence of a superior; neither can he address him in the same language in which he is spoken to. Not even the heir apparent, or the members of the royal family, can stand in the presence of the sovereign; and the same restriction applies to the family of each subordinate chief. Were this mark of respect confined to the royal family alone, it might perhaps find a parallel in other eastern countries, where it is usual for the subject to prostrate himself before the sovereign, but in Java the nature of the government is such, that each delegated authority exacts the same marks of obeisance; so that, from the common labourer upward, no one dares to stand in the presence of a superior. Thus when a native chief moves abroad, it is usual for all the people of inferior rank among whom he passes, to lower their bodies to the ground till they actually sit on their heels, and to remain in this posture until he is gone by. The same rule is observed within doors; and instead of an assembly rising on the entrance of a great man, as in Europe, it sinks to the ground, and remains so during his presence.
This humiliating posture is called dódok, and may be rendered into English by the term squatting. The practice is submitted to with the utmost cheerfulness by the people: it is considered an ancient custom, and respected accordingly. It was, however, in a great measure discontinued in the European provinces during the administration of the British government, who endeavoured to raise the lower orders, as much as was prudent, from the state of degradation to which their chiefs, aided by the Dutch authority, had subjected them; but it continued in force in the native provinces, in Madúra, and to a certain extent in most of the districts at a distance from the seats of European government.