Interpreting Spirituality Through Symbols: A Linguistic-Religious Study of the Chinese Community at the Tjong A Fie Mansion as a Space of Multicultural Faith

This study will analyze the representation of spirituality and cultural resilience in the Chinese Indonesian people through the linguistic and architectural symbols found in the Tjong A Fie Mansion in Medan. This research employs a descriptive qualitative approach and Geertz’s theory of religion as a system of symbol. It aims to study artifacts, spatial arrangement, and visual language as signs of faith and as coping mechanism among marginalized people. The data were obtained through a literature study, and visual documentation of the museum’s symbolic features, the ancestral worship altar, the testament letters, the reception rooms with multi-ethnic symbols, and the use of feng shui ideas. The results show that a dynamic system of meanings and symbols is continually activated in the community’s social context as well as the spirituality of that community. Inclusive spiritual stories can be made by assembling linguistic symbols and diagesis of the Tjong A Fie Mansion which demonstrates belief as a social force able to overcome religious and cultural variety. These findings expand the conversation on intercultural theology by establishing the museum as a venue for expressing resilient minority faith. This piece of work contributes to the interdisciplinary dialogue of visual linguistics, symbolic anthropology and religious studies. It opens up more avenues to investigate the spirituality of Chinese Indonesian in the public as well as private sphere in Indonesia.