The Thousand Mask Warrior

Master

There was a Chinese man named Equa at Betawi. Although she dates back to the Ming Empire in China, her clothing has shown a high degree of Western influence. No wonder, because he has been officially inaugurated by the Walanda government and got the name of the Christian, Isaac.

His hair was cut short, similar to the style of the Walanda people. He wore buttoned clothes with stiff material, also similar to the Walanda people, although loose trousers and leg packs were characteristic of Chinese fashion during the Ming Empire.

Isaac Equa was appointed as a physician in 1635, about two years ago, by the Gouverneur-Generaal company, which was the highest office in the Walanda royal government in the archipelago, Anthony van Diemen.

As a healer and medicine expert who combined the way of Western and Chinese medicine and was appointed officially by Walanda, then he also earned the title of Meester. Meester Isaac is the call.

It was given land by the Walanda Betawi government, on the eastern edge of an artificial water canal called the Buitenkaaimansgracht, outside the city walls around the Kali Ciliwung flow. The Chinese live in Betawi.

Meester Isaac's job was to treat Walanda officials, or officers living within the city walls. However, as Equa, he remained in a Chinese neighborhood that also lived close to the natives as well as immigrants from other regions, cities and kingdoms who came to and from Betawi.

So, not infrequently Equa also gave his services to the people around his residence.

The people living outside the city walls were people with various problems that Walanda officials and officers deliberately avoided inside the walls.

The house built for Equa was just a bamboo-walled building and close to a brothel and a brothel. Every day there are problems caused, so Equa often treat the injuries of people who fight or robbery victims.

In addition, the residence of Equa was surrounded by many poor people, small market traders, as well as the manual laborers of the Walandas.

Although he was educated, influenced and employed by the Western Caucasians of Walanda, he was still a Chinese, who, along with many other Chinese, remained, coming to Betawi in Nusantara with great difficulty and sacrifice. He was surrounded by poor people, not only natives, but also his own people.

Thus, treating the poor is also part of its duty. He felt the need to provide help based on his abilities and skills. In fact, he had already dreamed of having some kind of self-medication home reserved for the poor. With the help of a slightly more capable Chinese and the permission of the Walanda Betawi government, he hopes this home of medicine will be able to be implemented. Later he will give the name of the medical house he founded with Yangji Yuan.

In his work, he was accompanied by two servants; one Chinese named Yu and one indigenous Javanese called Ngalimin.

Yu could be said to be his first student, although most of his job was to remind him of any medicinal raw items that needed to be bought or searched for, however, Yu was very helpful with his sharp memory. The man was 19 years old.

Ngalimin, a 25-year-old Javanese man with a family of two boys, had worked with him for less than a year, unlike Yu who left for Betawi from China with Meester Isaac or Equa since he was in his early teens.

Ngalimin caught Equa's attention when he explained about the various types of diseases on the island of Java and how the Javanese treated it. Equa felt he had learned a lot from his employees. On the contrary, for the smart but poor Ngalimin, working with Equa can improve his family's finances. It turns out that as an ordinary person who understands the treatment of kraton, he can still be useful and get a fortune.

Not many ordinary citizens can read, especially Javanese writing, if he has never studied or is not part of the royal family. Ngalimin had learned to read from a royal courtier Mataram. With his intelligence, he was soon able to learn in a short time.

So he told Equa, according to Fiber Primbon Jampi Jawi mentioned various types of plants that are nutritious for health by making herbs. Among them are ginger rhizomes, turmeric, key, lemjuyang, sunthi, temulawak, bengle, and dringo.

There is also a part of the plant tuber that is commonly used as a concoction of herbal medicine such as onions and garlic.

In addition to tubers, bark or bark of nutritious plants derived from cinnamon, secang, mesoyi, wind beam, and shotgun.

Also mentioned are the ingredients of the foliage are grape poop, dried tamarind, gondhangkasih, rue preman, thumbs up, pupus kara, karandang, lamps, watering, Chinese onions, gotagan, seruni, saraband, dried saga, saga, walu, waru, and trawas.

Further described for the types of flowers, fruits, and seeds that are nutritious include clove flowers and waru; sour fruit, steamed, white pumpkin, nutmeg, sapodilla contents; and fennel seeds, cumin, kedhawung, and, ketumber, and mungsi.

Equa looked at Ngalimin fixedly while nodding interested in Ngalimin's explanation. He saw several types of plants with different terms whose properties are also similar to Chinese medicine.

Furthermore, Ngalimin explained that from the ways of treatment for sick people, there are several. Some are drunk drunk after being taken sariya, chewed, affixed to the forehead or called pilis, applied to the stomach or called a tapel, applied to the body called parem, to soak the body or rendhem, affixed or dripped on the affected part, and sprayed to the treated part of the body.

"Who made the rules regarding this treatment, Ngalimin? Is there some kind of proof that these drugs and how to cure people are acceptable to the Javanese?" ask Equa one day.

"You must believe, Mr. Meester," replied Ngalimin. "This type of treatment has been trusted since the time of the Majapahit kingdom. In the Majapahit law book called Kutaramanawa or Agama, from 275 chapters, there are chapters that contain punishments for those who stutter to treat especially until the treated died. This is not only for treated humans, but also animals."

Equa gasp. "Tell me further, Ngalimin."

"If a healer fails to treat the animal so that the animal dies, then he will be fined four times three ataks, approximately one atak equivalent to 200 picis of Chinese copper money. Then, if treated by humans and instead die instead of returning to health, then the healer will be fined as much as one laksa equivalent to 10,000 picis. You can imagine if the treated had a high position, right, sir? If treated is a brahmin and died, then he was sentenced to death by the king," said Ngalimin.

"Then it is clear, Javanese medicine since ancient times has been considered earnest," continued Ngalimin.

In fact, Ngalimin himself is also interested in the way the treatment is done by the Chinese people.

For example, the way of cupping treatment that arrived in the archipelago since the arrival of the Chinese and Arabs who anchored in the archipelago archipelago because of the spice route.

"Then, what about the science of Mr. Meester who uses a tool from the buffalo bull's horn? Dirty blood, don't you think, sir?"

Equa laughed lightly.

"I see you, sir, wrapping up the sick man, strangling his neck, tipping him down, shaking his body so that blood flows to the head. Then ...,"

"Piercing his forehead, placing a piece of cotton cloth and tying it around the head?" cut Equa.

"Really, sir. Until the Walanda bule people were frightened to see it. They said it."

Equa again laughed crisply, "What I do is ancient Chinese medicine by removing blood from the body of the sick person, called cupping. I threw away the dirty blood that was causing someone pain. If the situation is so alarming, then I use the buffalo horn of the bule, after being heated first, blowing into the horn cavity and immediately attach it to the body. When the skin has been lifted, then pierced with a small scalpel so that dirty blood containing the disease can come out faster and more," the master told Ngalimin.

Yu, who, despite being a few years younger than Ngalimin, still has unusual intelligence and experience. There's a reason why he was hired by Equa. This time he participated in a vote, "Actually the brother of Ngalimin, this Chinese style of healing to the archipelago has been since the arrival of admiral Cheng Ho in the early 15th century AD. There were about 180 healers who took part in this journey. The healers were servants who worked in a kind of prominent Chinese healer college called Taoyi Yuan. So of course, a lot of influence left by the healers in terms of medicine, health care to the equipment used," said Yu.

This kind of conversation and chat is what often happens between the three people who are involved in the world of medicine.

They are currently talking about various ways, tools and skills in Chinese, Javanese and Western medicine in treating internal medicine.

They were on their way to buy and pick up the medicinal ingredients in the area around the bamboo hill forest when they heard the sound of the eruption that occurred several times.