Why Bungai Terung Is Our First Piece
为什么Bungai Terung是我们的第一个设计
The Journey Before the Ink
In Iban tradition, becoming a man was never something that happened on its own. It had to be earned. The Bejalai — a journey of knowledge and wisdom — called for a young man to leave the safety of his longhouse and go out into the world alone. No guarantee of comfort. No guarantee of return. Just the challenge of finding out who you were once nothing familiar was left to lean on.
在伊班族(Iban)的传统里,成为一个男人从来不是自然发生的事,而是必须靠自己去争取的。Bejalai——一段追寻知识与智慧的旅程——要求一个年轻人离开长屋的安全范围,独自走入外面的世界。没有舒适的保证,也没有一定能平安归来的保证。剩下的,只有当所有熟悉的事物都不在身边时,去找出自己到底是谁的挑战。
Why Bungai Terung
Before a single step of that journey was taken, a young man would receive his first tattoo — the Bungai Terung, the eggplant flower. It wasn't decoration. It was placed on the front of each shoulder, exactly where the straps of a travel bag would sit — a mark made in the precise place he'd carry the weight of his own life going forward.
At the center of the design is a small spiral, the Tali Nyawa — the rope of life. It's shaped like the underside of a tadpole, and that's deliberate. A tadpole doesn't stay a tadpole. It transforms, sheds what it was, and becomes something built for a different world entirely. That's what the mark was for — not to celebrate where a young man had been, but to mark the beginning of who he was becoming.
Every tattoo added after that, collected along the journey, worked like a diary written on skin — proof of distance covered, and of a self that kept changing shape.
在踏出旅程的第一步之前,一个年轻人会先纹上他的第一个纹身——Bungai Terung,茄子花。这不是装饰。它被纹在双肩前侧,正好是背包背带会经过的位置——这个印记刻在他日后要扛起自己人生重量的地方。
图案中央有一个小小的螺旋,称为Tali Nyawa——生命之绳。它的形状来自蝌蚪的腹部,而这是刻意的设计。蝌蚪不会永远是蝌蚪,它会蜕变,褪去原本的样子,长成能适应另一个世界的模样。这个印记的意义,不是为了纪念一个年轻人曾经去过哪里,而是标记他即将成为谁的开始。
之后在旅途中每添加的一个纹身,都像是刻在皮肤上的日记——记录着走过的距离,也记录着一个不断在改变形态的自己。
Why It's Our First Piece
I didn't choose the Bungai Terung as C.CANTH's first design because it looked good. I chose it because I understood it.
There was a version of me that stayed quiet — stayed where it was safe, didn't take the harder road, didn't leave what was familiar even when it wasn't working anymore. Building this brand was my own Bejalai. No guarantee of comfort. No guarantee it works out. Just the decision to leave the old version of myself behind and go find out who I could actually become.
I believe many of us will go through growth like this — or get forced out of our comfort zone entirely, whether we ask for it or not. But the truth is, that's usually in our best interest. We just haven't realized it yet. Comfort is what keeps most men stuck exactly where they are. It feels safe, but it's often just a slower way of standing still.
The Bungai Terung isn't nostalgia for me. It's a reminder that growth isn't supposed to feel safe. Like the tadpole in the center of the design, you don't get to keep the shape you started with — you shed it, on purpose, to become something durable enough for what's ahead. Berjalai isn't just an old tradition. It's a journey every man has to take, in his own way, to actually fulfill what he's here for.
That's the whole philosophy behind Build. Endure. You don't build the version of yourself that already exists. You build the one that hasn't shown up yet — and you endure whatever it takes to get there.
为什么这是我们的第一个设计
我选择Bungai Terung作为C.CANTH的第一个设计,不是因为它好看,而是因为我真正理解它。
曾经有一个版本的我,选择沉默——待在安全的地方,不走比较难走的路,即使明知道行不通了,也不愿意离开熟悉的一切。创立这个品牌,是属于我自己的Bejalai。没有舒适的保证,也不保证一定会成功。只有一个决定——把旧的自己留在身后,去找出自己真正能成为什么样的人。
我相信我们很多人都会经历这样的成长——或者说,不管愿不愿意,都会被迫走出舒适圈。但事实是,这往往是对我们最有利的事,只是我们当下还不知道而已。舒适,才是让大多数男人卡在原地的原因。它让人感觉安全,但很多时候,那只是一种比较缓慢的停滞不前。
Bungai Terung对我来说不是怀旧。它提醒我,成长本来就不该感觉舒服。就像图案中央那只蝌蚪一样,你不可能一直保持原来的样子——你要主动褪去旧的自己,才能变成足够坚韧、能承受未来挑战的样子。Berjalai不只是一个古老的传统,而是每个男人都必须以自己的方式走一遍的旅程,才能真正实现自己存在的意义。
这正是Build. Endure.的核心理念。你要建立的,不是已经存在的那个自己,而是那个还没出现的自己——而你必须坚持到底,才能到达那里。
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