Universitas Indonesia Conferences, International Conference on Chinese Indonesian Studies

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HU 符(FÚ) IN THE TRADITION OF CHINESE DIASPORA SOCIETY IN INDONESIA
Jodi Jodi, Hermina Sutami

Last modified: 2017-07-31

Abstract


Hu is a Chinese traditional symbol that comes from ancient China. It is used for men life’s protection such as health, happiness, lucky, and other purposes. It correlates with Han characters, because sequences of Han characters represents healthy, happiness, lucky meaning. People believe that Han characters have power to govern spiritual beings. Those characters are written on a piece of square yellow paper, known as talisman. Actually, hu that are used in the spiritual world of Chinese beliefs adopted the concepts and functions of hu that are used in the military world of Han Dynasty. During Han dynasty, hu was used as a means of military communication and as a marker that a general was mandated by the emperor in command of the army. A piece of hu can be linked to a human body, it is believed that hu can throw away sickness, unfortune, accident. It consists of head, feet, and guts. Each has their own functions and purposes. In addition, the form of hu from time to time is continuing to change. Formerly, hu are made with various strict rules and rituals. Nowadays the manufacture of hu has been simplified. They can be produced in modern way in large quantities due to the demand. In Indonesia, people can have hu from someone who is in trance, or from Buddhist, Taoism and Confucianism temples, or special shops that sell Confucianist worship apparatus.

keywords : Chinese tradition culture, Hu, Deity, Chinese, Spiritual