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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 September 1975
In July 1922 a small private school called Nationale Onderwijs Instituut Taman Siswa was born quietly at a traditional town Yogyakarta in Central Java. Taman Siswa means literally “Garden for Pupils”. Nobody expected then that this pupils' garden would become a tough ground of resistance to the Dutch colonial Government later in the 1930's. The political climate in Indonesia around 1922 was showing a remarkable uprising of nationalism centering around the labor union movement guided by the Partai Komunis Indonesia (PKI, Indonesian Communist Party) and Sarekat Islam (Islam Union).
1 Pluvier, J. M.Overzicht van de Ontwikkeling der Nationalistische Beweging in Indonesie in de Jaren 1930 tot 1942, 's-Gravenhage, Bandung, 1953. pp. 52–57Google Scholar.
2 Tauchid, Mochammad, “Renungan Taman Siswa”, Buku Taman Siswa 30 Tahun, 1922–1952, Yogyakarta, 1952, pp. 306–309Google Scholar. For the biography of M. Tauchid, see Anderson, Benedict R. O'G., Java in a Time of Revolution: Occupation and Resistance 1944–1946, Cornell University Press, Ithaca and London, 1972, p. 453Google Scholar.
3 Nagazumi, Akira. The Dawn of Indonesian Nationalism: The Early Years of the Budi Utomo, 1908–1918, Institute of Developing Economies, Tokyo, 1972Google Scholar.
4 Ki Hadjar Dewantara, “P. A. Notodirdjo en Zijn Aandeel in de Opleving van het Javaansche Volk (P. A. Notodirdjo dan Sumbangannya dalam Kebangkitan Kembali Bangsa Jawa), 1917.” Karya K. H. Dewantara, Kebudayaan, 1967, pp. 335–353.
5 Nagazumi, op. cit., p. 91, 198.
6 Ibid., p. 91.
7 The full discussion of the Darmo Woro appears in Nagazumi's Budi Utomo, pp. 91–92.
8 Suratman, “Masalah Kelahiran Taman Siswa” Pusara, Vol. 25 No. 1–2, 1964, pp. 37–38.
9 Ibid., p. 38, and Tauchid, M., Ki Hadjar Dewantara, Pahlawan dan Pelopor Pendidikan Nasional, Yogyakarta, 1968, p. 18Google Scholar.
10 Nagazumi, op. cit., p. 98, 206; Suratman, op. cit., p. 37; and M. Tauchid, op. cit., p. 18.
11 Ki Surjomataram later on participated in adult moral training by organizing a Gerakan Gelmu Bedijo or Moral Movement for Happiness, and after Indonesia proclaimed its independence, he was known for his Paguyuban Kawulo Jiwa or Organization for the Development of the Spirit. However, this does not mean that he had no relationship at all with the Taman Siswa. When the Taman Siswa held its national congress in 1933, he was invited to the gathering in Kaliurang and gave a lecture on the topic of “Education for World Peace.” This would seem to suggest that there was a kind of a division of roles between Surjomataram who devoted to adult education and the others who had been in the Selasa Kliwon. Sajoga, “Riwayat Perjuangan Taman Siswa, 1922–1952,” Taman Siswa 30 Tahun p. 205, 229.
12 Pranata Ssp., Ki Hadjar Dewantara, Perintis Perjuangan Kemerdekaan Indonesia, karta, 1958, pp. 32–36. The brillant analysis of Javanese concepts of wajang appears in Anderson, B., Mythology and the Tolerance of the Javanese, Ithaca, 1966Google Scholar.
13 The complete discussion of the Indische partij and Dewantara's activities of this time appears in Abdulrachman Surjomihardjo, “An Analysis of Suwardi Surjaningrat's Ideals and National-Revolutionary Actions (1913–1922)” Majalah Ilmu-Ilmu Sastra Indonesia, Oct., 1964, pp. 371–406.
14 Sajoga, op. cit., pp. 203–204.
15 On the non-Islamic character of Taman Siswa, see the discussion of Ruth McVey, “Taman Siswa and the Indonesian National Awakening,” Indonesia, vol. 4, 1967, pp. 128–149.
16 The data of the outlines of activities of the Taman Siswa till 1930 is based on Sajoga, op. cit., pp. 203–222.
17 Kahin, George M., Nationalism and Revolution in Indonesia, Cornell University Press, 1952, p.: 88Google Scholar.
18 Wasita vol. 2. No. 1–2, 1930, p. 39–40.
19 Sajoga, op. cit., pp. 221–222.
20 Dewantara, K. H., “Systeem Pondok dan Asrama itulah Systeem Nasional” Wasita, vol. 1, No. 2, 1928, pp. 39–41Google Scholar.
21 Dewantara, K. H., “Faidahnya Systeem Pondok” Wasita, vol. 1, No. 2, 1928, pp. 41–43Google Scholar.
22 Anderson, G. B., “The Ideal of Power in Javanese Culture” (ed. Holt, Claire, Culture and Politics in Indonesia, Cornell University Press, 1972.) pp. 52–55Google Scholar.
23 “Verslag, Conferentie Taman-Siswa Jawa-Timur” Wasita, vol. 2. No. 1–2, 1930, p. 20.
24 The meaning of the term “Javanese power” is similar to that analysed in B. Anderson's, “The Idea of Power in Javanese Culture”, op. cit., pp. 1–69.
25 R. McVey, op. cit., p. 146.
26 B. Anderson, op, cit., pp. 13–19.
27 Ibid., pp. 38–43.
28 These slogans were advocated as indicators of the way in which the activities of the Taman Siswa schools could succeed. These were approximately meant to create a spirit of confidence in one's own willpower and the resoluteness needed to face great difficulties with indomitable courage. Wasita, vol. 2, No. 1–2. 1930, p. 37.
29 For instance, each term in the slogan “Lawan Sastra Ngesti Mulya” advocated in 1922 and the slogan “Suci Tata Ngesti Tunggal” advocated in 1923 relates to a particular number; thus these slogans proclaim the motto of the Taman Siswa on the one hand and at the same time indicate the year of 1922 and the year of 1923 on the other.
