Culture and artforms

A young Sundanese woman.

Sundanese culture has borrowed much from Javanese culture, however it differs by being more overtly Islamic, and has a much less rigid system of social hierarchy.^[1] The Sundanese, in their mentality and behavior, their greater egalitarianism and antipathy to yawning class distinctions, their community-based material culture, of feudal hierarchy, apparent among the people of the Javanese Principality.^{[clarification needed]} Central Javanese court culture nurtured in atmosphere conducive to elite, stylized, impeccably-polished forms of art and literature.^{[clarification needed]} In a pure sense, Sundanese culture bore few traces of these traditions.^[6]
The art and culture of Sundanese people reflect historical influences by various cultures that include pre-historic native animism and shamanism traditions, ancient Hindu-Buddhist heritage, and Islamic culture.^{[citation needed]} The Sundanese have very vivid, orally-transmitted memories of grand era of the Sunda Kingdom.^[7] The oral tradition of Sundanese people is called Pantun Sunda, the chant of poetic verses employed for story-telling. It is the counterpart of Javanese tembang, similar but quite different with Malay pantun. Traditional artforms include pencak silat martial arts, angklung bamboo music, kecapi suling music, gamelan degung, jaipongan and other dances, and wayang golek puppetry.^{[citation needed]} Many forms of kejawen dance, literature, gamelan music and shadow puppetry (wayang kulit) derive from the Javanese.^[1] Sundanese shadow puppetry is more influenced by Islamic folklore than the influence of Indian epics present in Javanese versions.^[1]

Wayang Golek, traditional Sundanese puppetry.

Sundanese literature was basically oral; their arts (architecture, music, dance, textiles, ceremonies, etc.) substantially preserved traditions from an earlier phase of civilization, stretching back even to the Neolithic, and never overwhelmed (as eastward, in Java) by aristocratic Hindu-Buddhist ideas. ^[8]
Sundanese culture and tradition are usually centred around the agricultural cycle. Festivities such as "Seren Taun" harvest ceremony is held in such high importance, especially in the traditional Sundanese community in Cipta Gelar village, Cisolok, Sukabumi, and the traditional Sundanese community in Kuningan and Kampung Naga.^{[citation needed]}
Since early times, Sundanese have predominantly been farmers.^[9] They tend to be reluctant to be government officer and legislators.^[10]