Living dialogue between Pantun and Chinese folk poetry in China-Brunei civilisational exchange
Civilisational exchanges between nations are best embodied not merely in grand diplomatic events and material trade, but also in vivid grassroots oral traditions that carry ordinary people’s life wisdom, ethical values and unique cultural aesthetics. As timeless living intangible cultural heritage, folk verses serve as a soft, intimate yet powerful bond that closely connects China and Brunei. The traditional Malay poetic art of Pantun, jointly inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2025 by Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia and Indonesia, stands as an ideal and authentic medium to interpret the long-standing mutual learning and amicable integration between Chinese and Brunei civilisations.
Pantun is the most influential and widely practiced oral poetic tradition in maritime Southeast Asia, deeply rooted in the daily life, social etiquette and spiritual world of local Malay communities. Adopting a standard four-line structure and classic ABAB cross-rhyme scheme, traditional Pantun ingeniously integrates natural scenery, seasonal changes, family affection, community ethics and subtle moral teachings.
Embedded in Brunei’s unique cultural framework guided by the core values of Malay Islamic Monarchy, Pantun is far beyond a simple literary form. It is respectfully recited and melodiously performed at traditional weddings, religious rituals, national festivals and official state ceremonies, serving as an elegant and implicit way of emotional expression, social communication and moral enlightenment. Local professional inheritors, known as pemantun, faithfully pass down classic verses and innovative creations through oral teaching and musical performances, steadily preserving and revitalising Brunei’s precious indigenous cultural memory from generation to generation.
This time-honoured oral wisdom of Pantun resonates profoundly with the diverse traditions of Chinese folk poetry and ballad culture. For thousands of years, grassroots communities across China have nurtured abundant oral verse resources, including southern folk ballads, pastoral poems, farming rhymes and popular proverbial chants. Just like Brunei’s Pantun, these Chinese folk literary creations draw creative inspiration from mountains, rivers, farmland and ordinary people’s daily labour, conveying universal virtues of humility, kindness, gratitude, integrity and harmony between humanity and nature. Both poetic traditions favour subtle and implicit expression over direct narration, integrate moral education into popular artistic forms, and rely on living oral inheritance to maintain enduring cultural vitality, forming a touching spiritual consensus across vast oceans and different civilisations.
The poetic dialogue between China and Brunei can be traced back to the prosperous era of the ancient Maritime Silk Road. As crucial and stable nodes of maritime trade and cross-cultural communication, ancient Boni and successive Chinese imperial dynasties maintained frequent and in-depth personnel exchanges and cultural interactions for centuries. Chinese merchants, sailors and overseas settlers brought unique Chinese folk poetic aesthetics and rhyming traditions to Boni’s coastal communities, while the inclusive local Malay oral culture continuously absorbed and blended with incoming exotic artistic elements. Such long-term cultural interaction was equal, mutual and inclusive rather than one-way cultural output, laying a profound historical foundation for contemporary poetic communication and civilisational mutual learning between the two countries.
In modern times, Pantun and Chinese folk poetry have evolved into distinctive and vibrant carriers of people-to-people friendship. Cultural institutions, art groups and intangible heritage inheritors from China and Brunei have carried out rich and frequent interactive activities, including cross-cultural poetry recitals, folk art salons and youth cultural exchange camps. Chinese folk poets and ballad inheritors conduct in-depth communication and impromptu creation with Bruneian pemantun, freely exchanging creative concepts, rhetorical skills and modern inheritance experience. These face-to-face artistic dialogues effectively break through language and cultural barriers. Pantun’s sincere praise for nature, community harmony and virtuous life perfectly echoes the core pursuit of Chinese folk verses for universal harmony and good fortune, fully demonstrating the shared spiritual aspirations of the Chinese and Bruneian people.
As precious living intangible cultural heritage, traditional verses transcend the limitations of time and geographical distance. The mutual learning between Brunei’s Pantun and Chinese folk poetry serves as a vivid microcosm of long-term friendly China-Brunei exchanges. It fully interprets the core spirit of civilisational equality, mutual respect and inclusive integration. Rooted in grassroots life and continuously innovated in modern society, these time-tested poetic traditions keep bridging hearts and minds, injecting lasting warmth and vigorous vitality into the ever-growing China-Brunei comprehensive cooperative partnership.
SOURCE/AUTHOR : BORNEO BULLETIN
Venues
Audience Ceremony with Coordinating Minister for Public Affairs and Minister for Defence, Republic of Singapore
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Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Home Affairs Republic of Singapore Audience Ceremony
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Enforcement of Control of the Capture, Importation of Small-sized and Egg-Bearing Lobsters and Crabs
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Temporary Half Lane Road Closure at Jalan Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Saleha and Tungku Highway
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Flag Handover Ceremony to the National Contingent competing at the 6th Asian Beach Games
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Book Launching Ceremony, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Turkiye
Audience Ceremony with the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, FAO and Delegation
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Establishment of Tilawah Al-Qur'an Scheme for Children as Foundation for Noble Morals and Personalities
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Bilateral Meeting With His Excellency Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste
Flowmeter and Valve Replacement Works at the Agis-Agis Water Treatment Plant, Belait District
Bilateral Meeting with the President and the Vice President of the People's Republic of China
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Message of Condolences following the recent earthquake in Southern Mindanao, Republic of the Philippines
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Talk Programme “Meneladani Tokoh Wanita Islam Zaman Rasulullah Shallallahu 'Alaihi Wasallam"
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Landmark Sukuk supports financial innovation and capital market development in Brunei Darussalam
Their Majesties attend funeral for late HRH Pengiran Anak Isteri Pengiran Anak Hajah Zariah
Designation of Private and Confidential Secretary to His Majesty is a Deputy Ministerial level position
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