The Aesthetics and Symbolic Meaning of the Emperor’s Costume in Wayang Potehi’s Dinasti Song at Gudo, Jombang

Abstract

Costume aesthetics is an important yet narrowly examined element in Wayang Potehi scholarship, which has concentrated on acculturation, preservation, and social function while leaving the visual object itself largely undescribed. This study therefore describes the visual characteristics and analyses the aesthetic value and symbolic meaning of the Emperor’s costume in the play Dinasti Song as performed at the Tri Dharma Hong San Kiong Temple, Gudo, Jombang Regency. The research was qualitative and descriptive, framed by Djelantik’s aesthetic theory and Barthes’ semiotics, and drew on non-participatory observation at the temple, semi-structured interviews with three purposively selected informants — a puppeteer and puppet craftsman, the manager of the Wayang Potehi museum and troupe, and a costume maker — and photographic documentation, analysed through data reduction, display, and conclusion drawing, with source triangulation establishing validity. The costume is characterised by a long robe with a symmetrical silhouette and wide sleeves, dominant gold combined with red, green, blue, and white, a five-clawed dragon motif accompanied by cloud and wave motifs, a royal crown, and embroidered supporting ornament in satin, brocade, and gold thread. Read aesthetically, the costume achieves unity, dominance, and balance across form, content, and presentation; read semiotically, its elements signify power, wisdom, honour, and legitimacy at the levels of denotation, connotation, and myth. The study’s principal contribution is the finding that the costume’s points of aesthetic dominance and its points of symbolic weight coincide, indicating that beauty and meaning were not separate design problems for its makers.