Humans, Sea and Civilization

Although some say "all history is maritime history", it does not mean that land does not form civilization. Both the ocean and land, both form the journey and civilization of humans. In this article I try to discuss the relationship between the ocean and civilization. We still remember the struggle for power over the South China Sea. There are 6 countries actively involved: China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei and Malaysia. The struggle for claims is accompanied by a show of maritime force in the region.

Vietnam, for example, refers to the National Institute for South China Sea Studies, a research institute based in Hainan, China, "has increased its 'fishing militia' in the last 10 years. They have conducted joint operations in the Paracel Islands and in southern Vietnam. In addition to the Paracels, the Spratly Islands are also claimed by Vietnam. China even claims that 90% of the 3.5 million square km of sea is its property. There is potential for fisheries and fossil fuel reserves. Compared to other countries, China is the strongest militarily in this claim, including how they arm trained fishermen in paramilitary work with support from the coast guard.

Why is the sea important?

This question is important to answer. One thing is certain, humans have long realized that the sea is a shaper of civilization. England was successful because it had power at sea, as did America with so many warships at various bases on this planet. Therefore, control of the sea, in the context of being rationalized as control over civilization. Moreover, from an economic perspective, control of the sea is very meaningful for the country's income. Having power in trade but not having ships and bases is also lame. 

In line with the sea power, a nation's maritime power will be strong if it combines three things: trade, bases, and ships. Chinese products enter everywhere, but if they do not have a base - economic, military, socio-cultural - they will also be weak. That is why the claim to the SCS is important as a nation's civilizational strength.

Maritime anthropology

There are many maritime anthropology works that discuss humans and the sea. Estellie M. Smith wrote "Those who live from the sea: a study in maritime anthropology (1977). Neil L. Whitehead also edited a collection of ethnographies from the Caribbean, entitled "Wolves from the sea: Readings in the anthropology of the Native Carribean (1995). In the book, Whitehead and colleagues found a plurality of ethnic identities in welcoming Columbus' arrival as well as a rejection of the colonial ethnology scheme.

Another work, Tanya J. King and Gary Robinson (2019) entitled "At Home on the Waves: Human habitation of the sea from the mesolithic to today" (2019). In it, they explore various ways--since long ago--how humans can be at home with the sea and continue to live closely with the sea. Several works related to the sea are interesting to enrich various studies of maritime anthropology in Indonesia that have been carried out by various researchers. Studies related to the Bajo Tribe have been carried out quite a lot. In South Sulawesi, studies on maritime anthropology are idolized. During my undergraduate studies, I was involved in small research in Pare-pare and Takalar.

How the cultural construction of Bugis-Makassar sailors started from the ritual of building ships, lowering ships into the sea, to various cultural strategy wisdoms carried out when facing, for example, tornadoes. Longing for a lover on land is also studied, for example in the Indonesian version: ".... rain at night, I thought your tears // breeze I thought your message had arrived." More or less as I recall it.

Asians are maritime-rich

We as Asians are a nation rich in maritime experience. That experience, especially in the 'Indian Ocean trade network', historian Lincoln Paine wrote in "The Sea and Civilization" (2015) has existed since 4000 years ago. The nations of South Asia (India, Sri Lanka, Maldives, etc.), Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, etc.), and the Far East (China, Japan, Taiwan, etc.), had already built a 'spice route', long before the Portuguese sailor Vasco da Gama landed (until he died on his third visit, 1524) in Kochi [Portuguese name: Cochin], now the capital of the state of Kerala, India.

This maritime route--in all its names, from the 'silk road' to the 'spice route'--was an important channel for the formation of human civilization because there was not only the journey of goods, plants, livestock, and humans--free or slave--but also the 'projection of values', the transmission of values ​​spread along the route. The vast ocean that in the past was considered 'common property' made people free to move and earn a living. Professor David Abulafia of the University of Cambridge, in The Boundless Sea (Oxford University Press, 2019), wrote that the maritime network of the past gradually formed a continuum of interaction and interconnection between nations.

We can also say that along the route there was human interaction in the form of knowledge transfer and universal human values ​​that until now these values ​​still seem to exist. Phinisi ships made in Bulukumba were even specially ordered for use abroad. In Madagascar, for example, their ancestors were Indonesian. When they returned home, they also said the same word as Indonesia: "mudik." This means that the projection of Indonesian values ​​is actually already present in the Indian Ocean, and it is even possible that it has also been present in the two main protagonists of the oceans on this planet: the Pacific and the Atlantic. Therefore, the richness of our history and culture should be 'capitalized' into new meanings to elevate a glorious Indonesia based on our very long maritime history and culture.

YANUARDI SYUKUR is an Indonesian writer who is also a lecturer, editor, researcher and speaker at various conferences and expert resource person on several Indonesian television stations and ministries. He has participated in various international programs in Malaysia, Thailand, Australia, the United States, as well as Ukraine. He is an anthropologist at Khairun University who is interested in various global issues. He is currently also active as Vice Chairman of the Islamic and Middle East Research Center (IMERC) of the University of Indonesia and is active in the Commission on Foreign Relations and International Cooperation of the Indonesian Ulama Council. E-mail: yanuardisyukur@gmail.com.