M. Ikhsan Tanggok, Te Tatung in Cap Ngo Meh (Lantern Festival) Ritual in Hakka Society 655 Te Tatung in Cap Ngo Meh (Lantern Festival) Ritual in Hakka Society in Singkawang, West Kalimantan-Indonesia1 M. Ikhsan Tanggok Chin Kung Corner, Ciputat
[email protected] Abstract: Cap Ngo Meh and Tatung are two things that cannot be sepa- rated from the life of Hakka people in Singkawang. In each Cap Ngo Meh festival, the performance of Tatung is a must. Cap Ngo Meh festival would not be completed if there was no performance of Tatung. Tatung can help humans and otherwise humans also have to give gifts to him. Terefore, Tatung is a special performance in Cap Ngo Meh festival in Singkawang. Te main purpose of this paper is to show the relationship between Tatung performance and Cap Ngo Meh festival in Singkawang. Te function of Tatung performance in Cap Ngo Meh festival in Singkawang is not only to repel evil spirits that may afect humans, but also to promote economics, improving of popularity himself and tourism in Singkawang. Keywords: Tatung, Cap Ngo Meh festival, Exchange, Soul, Gods, Belief. Abstrak: Cap Ngo Meh dan Tatung merupakan dua hal tak dapat dipisahkan dari kehidupan masayarakat Hakka di Singkawang. Dalam setiap perayaan Cap Ngo Meh, penampilan Tatung merupakan keha- rusan. Tanpa Tatung tidak ada Cap gho Meh, maka Tatung menjadi penampilan istimewa di Singkawang di setiap perayaan Cap Gho Meh. Fungsi penampilan Tatung ini ternyata bukan saja untuk mengusir ruh jahat yang akan memengaruhi manusia, tetapi juga memromosikan ke- pentingan ekomi, pluralitas, dan wisata di Singkawang.