François Valentijn Between ethics and aesthetics RZ LEIRISSA It is not easy to write the history of VOC (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, East Indies Trade Union) in his time (1602-1799). VOC rulers ( de Heeren Zeventien , seventeen members of the board of directors of the VOC) banned the para employees or former employees to write anything that pertains with the trade agency's activities. The prohibition can be understood because it is confidential companies may not fall into the hands of other traders, and such prohibitions that is still more or less true for the business world today. Despite these restrictions, from time to time there are several employees or former VOC employees who ventured to write history VOC. Two of them are famous now is Georgius Everhardus Rumphius (1627-1702) and François Valentijn (1666-1727). Rumphius is a German VOC employee (his real name is Georg Everard Rumphius). With status as a VOC soldier he arrived in Ambon in the year 1653, but was transferred as a civil servant. With VOC permission around the beginning in 1669 he began to systematically study the fauna and flora of the island Ambon. The result is a manuscript called Het Amboinsche RZ LEIRISSA is a Professor and lecturer at the Department of History, Faculty of Science Cultural Knowledge, University of Indonesia. His last writings include: Strength Third in the Indonesian Independence Struggle (2006, Historical Library). Kruidboek better known as Herbarium Amboinensis . That work completed in 1690 it was done with the help of several assistants because since 1670 Rumphius has become blind ( glaucoma ) and that's why also he is known by the nickname "De blinde ziener" (the blind who can see). In addition, Rumphius also wrote about the world of animals (zoology) with the title D'Amboinsche Rariteitkamer . Another text regarding zoology now not rediscovered is Het Ambonsche Dierboek . Although more attention to plants and animals, as a scientist Rumphius is also interested in humans. From his hands an Ambon historical text appears. However, publishing is prohibited by the VOC. The manuscript was only published in 1910 with the title "De Ambonsche historie, behelsende een kort verhaal der gedenkwaardigste geschiedenissen zo in vreede als oorlog voorgevallen sedert dat de Nederlandsche Oost Indische Comp. het besit in Amboina gehadt heeft ” in Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 64. In addition, he also wrote about the geographical sociality of the island of Ambon; in 1983 it was published in Jakarta (with edits of ZJ Manusama) by the National Archives of the Republic of Indonesia and in 2002 in Utrecht it was published by Landelijk Steunpunt Educatie Molukkers. In 1666 François Valentijn was born, 39 years after Rumphius in Dordrecht Netherlands. After completing his education in the field theology and philosophy in Leiden and Utrecht, he was employed by the VOC as priest with a place of residence in Ambon. He was in Ambon between in 1685 until 1695 and between 1706 and 1714. In the first period in Ambon he was close to Rumphius, even learning languages Malay from the botanist. Then he married a widow rich, namely Cornelia Snaats, the widow of her rich friend and protector named Hendrik Snaats. That's why when he returned to Holland in in 1714 he did not need to find a permanent job and only actively wrote (Beekman 1988: 55-95). Back in Dordrecht, Netherlands, for ten years old he wrote a monumental VOC history book that was popular later known as Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indiën which was published 1724-1726. There are three striking differences between Rumphius and Valentijn. First, if Rumphius stayed in Ambon as a botanist for about 50 years and died there, then Valentijn served as a priest on the island for only about twelve years. The second main difference is that in so many texts Rumphius only wrote about Ambon island. In contrast Valentijn, besides writing about Maluku (which is found in some parts of Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indiën ) as well writes about other VOC activity areas in Asia (in section other). The third difference is that from the seventeenth century up to today Rumphius remains respected by international scientists as a man of merit for science. In 1681 he received an award from a scientific institution, namely Academia Naturae Curiosorum with the title Plinius Indicus (Sirks 1915). Instead Valentijn, whose books did sell well in his day, received a rating negative both by VOC officials and by Dutch historians. During his life he was disliked by VOC officials, especially Governor-General Joan Maetsuycker who held that position for around 50 years and know Valentijn. Dutch historians from section The first twentieth century accused Valentijn of being a non-existent honest and who uses the priestly profession to look for wealth solely because of marrying a rich widow. Historian F. de Haan (1910- 1912) in his article entitled Priangan: de Preanger-Regentschappen onder het Nederlandsch Bestuur tot 1811 made accusations that Valentijn is a plagiarist. That criticism still reverberates in parts the second twentieth century as seen in the writings of EM Beekman of The University of Massachusetts. Even Beekman (1988: 67) accused Valentijn as an opportunist and a thief of someone else's manuscript that he claimed to be the script, which is the translation of the gospel in the Low Malay language. According to Beekman, the translation of the Gospel was actually carried out by Simon de Larges who died in 1677. Later the manuscript was translated it fell into the hands of another priest who happened to live together Valentijn who arrived in Ambon in 1685. When the priest died in 1687 the translated text fell into Valentijn's hands. When returned to the Indies, in 1706 Valentijn handed the manuscript to VOC officials. However, the manuscript was rejected due to "[...] language quality Uneven Malay and alleged forgery that can never be done denied by Valentijn ”(Beekman 1988: 67). 1 Script translation of the Gospel from Valentijn has never been found until now. Valentijn's biography can also be read in works written by the RRF Habiboe (2004). 2 It seems that Habiboe has a separate version regarding works and personal Valentijn. There is a positive tone in the title of the book ( Tot verheffing van mijne natie [...] ) which I think is taken from Valentijn's statement himself in his book where among others he mentioned the purpose of writing the book: "[...] to apply everything I have to progress My nation [...] ”(Beekman 1988: 71). 3 Valentijn's work The monumental work of Valentijn, as mentioned above, is well known with the short title as Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indiën . The full title is Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indiën, vervattende een naaukeurige en uitvoerige verhandelinge van Nederlands mogentheyd in die gewesten, benevens een wydlustige beschryvinge der Moluccos, Amboina, Banda, Timor en Solor, Java en alle de eylanden onder dezelve landbestieringen behoorende: het Nederlands comptoir op Suratte, en de levens der groote Mogols; als ook een keurlyke verhandeling van 't wezentlykste, dat men behort te weten van Choromandel, Pegu, Arracan, Bengale, Mocha, Persien, Malacca, Sumatra, Ceylon, Malabar, Celebes of Macassar, China, Japan, Tayouan of Formosa, Tonkin, Cambodia, Siam, Borneo, Bali, Kaap der Goede Hoop en van Mauritius (Dordrecht: Joannes van Braam; Amsterdam: Gerard onder de Linden, 1724-1726). The book, published in eight volumes, consists of five sections with a book thickness of 5,144 pages, supplemented by 79 map fruit and 182 other illustrations. The five sections are as follows: (I) contains a description of North Maluku, East Sulawesi and islands around it, (II) contains the Ambon region and surrounding islands such as Seram, Buru, Nusalaut, Haruku, along with their geographical description, (III) contains church history from the above areas, information about its flora and fauna, and is joined by a description of Banda, Timor, Sulawesi, Kalimantan, Bali, Tonking, China. Cambodia, and Siam, (IV) contains information about Java, the life history of the VOC Governors from 1610. Then followed the history of the formation of the city of Batavia, then followed by a description of the life history of the Moghul dynasty in India, then China, Formosa (or Tayouan), and end with the story of alternating voyages four times the Dutch-Indies, (V) contains a description of Coromandel and other parts of India, Persia, Malacca, Sri Lanka, Malabar, Japan, Cape of Good Hope, and the island of Mauritius. From the list of content sharing it can be understood that Valentijn did not following a clear concept to compile his book, both geographically or historical. The irregularity is even clearer in each section, for example Sumatra is slipped between Malacca and Sri Lanka. Sulawesi besides contained in part I also found in part III. Tongking (Vietnam North) tucked between Java and Bali, while India is discussed in three part. The descriptions of Java and Sumatra are only briefly compared with a description of North Maluku and Ambon which includes two volumes full (volume I and volume II) From the title of the book it can be concluded that Valentijn shares its history in two main periods. The first period is the pre-VOC period which he called Oud Oost-Indië and the VOC period as Nieuw Oost- Indie . The two periods are strictly separated in the description and do not occur overlap. There is absolutely no attempt to explain how or to what extent the VOC influenced the development of local communities who interact with it. Such theories of interaction are indeed not prevalent in the VOC period because it awaits the development of deep history nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Ethics As a priest and with a background in philosophy and education theology, we can be sure that Valentijn has basic knowledge regarding history. However, does he have any knowledge regarding how to write history? What about Westerners during Valentijn's time write history? The breakthrough spearheaded by Leopold von Ranke (1795- 1886) in his book published in Leipzig in 1824 sharp criticism of the way history was written at the time (Gilbert 1990: 12-14). Ranke recommends history writers not only re-quote books that have been previously written but are direct use authentic documents in a critical way. By therefore, it is certain that the use of authentic documents is not yet became a necessity in those days. That method is generally used by Valentijn. Criticism expressed by historians of the book Valentijn it is that he does not honestly express from whom or from the book who he obtained information for his book. Therefore, he was branded as an unethical person and is called a plagiarist. How does Valentijn actually work? Apparently in his book here and there he mentions that he uses writing or information from certain people. Specifically he mentioned the name Rumphius whom he knew in Ambon and whose works, both concerning history and about flora, fauna, and animal world in Maluku, he adapted at length. In some places he wrote that he also obtained various documents from certain VOC employees. Most likely the document was received when he was back in the Netherlands (Gilberts 1990: 59-63). However, regarding Maluku, Batavia, and parts of Java, it seems that Valentijn also used the results of his own observations when he was are in those places. Even about the history of pre-VOC in Maluku (Oud Oost-Indië) he uses the results of the interview. When he was about to write the history of the kingdoms in North Maluku (in volume I) he had come several Ternate aristocrats who were imprisoned in Ambon. To he showed them an old manuscript about the history of Ternate written in Ternate using Arabic script. The manuscript he got from someone in Luhu, the Ternate trade center in Seram. He asked the captives to translate the text for him. There is an indication that Valentijn knew various other old manuscripts from Maluku North which now no longer exists. In addition, in Maluku Valentijn also studied Malay from Rumphius, even if only for about three months. However, his wife, Cornelia Snaats, seemed to be very proficient in Malay, and became decisive help for Valentijn in compiling his sermon in Malay. Valentijn also seems to use a language dictionary Malay compiled by Rumphius whose script has not yet been rediscovered. You can get information about the situation in Indonesia from his own experience as well as former VOC employees or in a way quoting Rumphius, how Valentijn obtained information about other Asian regions which are areas of VOC activity covered in that book? How, for example, Valentijn gets historical sources to describe history in the Persian territories, India, Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia, China and Japan? According to Beekman information about Persia and Coromandel was obtained Valentijn from the writings and books of a man named Herbert de Jager who probably was born in 1636 and died in Batavia in the year 1694 (Beekman 1988: 67-70). De Jager is a linguist Timur graduated from Leiden University. After graduating he became a VOC employee and knew, even sent letters to Rumphius in Ambon. He ever was served as a translator in Persia and Coromandel, the first time for fifteen years between 1665 and 1680, and second time between 1682 and 1687. Not long after he died at In 1694 Batavia had its files auctioned. Incidentally in the year 1694 Valentijn was also in Batavia on his way back to the Netherlands. However, in his book Valentijn wrote that he had not met with De Jager because, he wrote, the linguist died in Isfahan (Persia). However, both De Haan and Beekman were convinced that Valentijn was lying to cover up the fact that he did use ingredients from De Jager to tell the situation in Persia and Coromandel. Homework for historiographers is to answer questions how Valentijn obtained historical sources to write about India, Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia, China and Japan. Apart from that, the whole book Valentijn still needs to be reviewed to determine the validity of his statements. Aesthetics After all, Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indiën is indeed useful for science history. The historical sources that he uses have not yet been thoroughly explored complete, but clearly there are information that can only be obtained from just that book. However, it must also be said that as a book historiography Valentijn is not at all ethical. However, even though in historical terms Valentijn's work is said to be unethical, in terms of literature there is aesthetic value. According to Beekman, no less than an Edward du Perron, a critic of modern literature, who considers that Valentijn can be categorized as "[...] a remarkably fine storyteller in prose [...] "(Beekman 1988: 79). Valentijn's book is also a source of inspiration for Maria Dermoût (1888-1962). The Dutch novelist uses a lot of information from books Valentijn was to write his novels that contain stories which took place in Ambon and its surroundings, such as De tienduizend dingen , or short stories collected in the anthology entitled Verzamelde werken like "Koning Baboe en de veertig jongelingen", "De boom des levens ", and" De goede slang "(Beekman 1988: 80, 93). About his experience reading Valentijn's book, the Dutch novelist wrote: "I often read the book, especially the parts about 'Descriptions of Maluku' and 'Maluku Problems' but later get rid of it because I'm bothered by so much arrogance, hypocrisy, pirated from Rumphius, but then I returned read it again because he paid attention so well and because he is good at telling stories "(Beekman 1988: 80). Closing Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indiën is the short title of a monumental work François Valentijn. Book published in eight volumes (1724-1726) contains descriptions of VOC activity areas in Asia and also in particular in the archipelago. Ways of presenting material content do not order well geographically or historical. However, the contents of this book are clearly divided into two periods, viz the period before the VOC (Oud Oost-Indië) and the VOC period (Nieuw Oost-Indië). Although much criticized for being considered unethical, in practice the contents of this book are still widely used both by researchers history and literature. The source and original work of the pirated information is on the fact is that it can't be found anymore right now. It's not it is surprising that the controversial book is considered to have value aesthetics, as well as thanks to interesting storytelling. Such a statement a literary critic, Edward du Perron, that François Valentijn is an accomplished narrator. Beekman, E.M. 1988. “François Valentijn”, di dalam: Beekman (red.), Fugitive dreams: an anthology of Dutch colonial literature, hlm. 55-95. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press. De Haan, F. 1910-1912. Priangan: de Preanger-Regentschappen onder het Nederlandsch Bestuur tot 1811. ’s-Gravenhage: Nijhoff.Gilbert, Felix. 1990. History: politics or culture? Reflections on Ranke and Burckhardt. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Habiboe, R.R.F. 2004. Tot verheffing van mijne natie; Het leven en werk van François Valentijn (1666-1727). Franeker: Van Wijnen. Sirks, M.J. 1915. Indisch natuuronderzoek: een beknopte geschiedenis van de beoefening der natuurwetenschappen in de Nederlandse koloniën. Amsterdam: Koloniaal Instituut. Rumphius, G. E. 1983. Ambonsche landbeschrijving. Suntingan Z. J. Manusama. Jakarta: Arsip Nasional Republik Indonesia. (Penerbitan Sumber-sumber Sejarah/ANRI No. 14). Rumphius, G.E. 2002. De Ambonse eilanden onder de VOC: zoals opgetekend in de Ambonsche landbeschrijving. Utrecht: Landelijk Steunpunt Educatie Molukkers. Valentijn, François. 1724-26. Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indiën, [...]. Dordrecht: Joannes van Braam; Amsterdam; Gerard onder de Linden. 1 Excerpt from RZ Leirissa's translation. 2 Too bad Habiboe's writings I haven't had time to study carefully. 3 Excerpt from RZ Leirissa's translation.