Ethical Balance in Bugis Manuscripts: A Translation Study of Justice in the Lontara Sidenreng Rappang

This chapter examines the value of ethical balance in the Lontara Sidenreng Rappang manuscript through a philological-translation approach (research-based translation). Sidenreng Rappang (Sidrap) is a historical region of the Bugis people in South Sulawesi, Indonesia, known since the sixteenth century as part of the Ajatappareng confederation – a political and intellectual network that shaped local traditions of governance, customary law, and literacy. These traditions are documented in the Lontara manuscripts, Bugis-script manuscripts containing history, law, ethical advice (paseng), and religious and social reflections. The study focuses on translating the Bugis Lontara text into Indonesian, followed by a contextual interpretation of the concepts of justice, balance, and social harmony embedded in the manuscript. The research integrates textual criticism, philological translation, and hermeneutic analysis of the translated text, with careful consideration of the sociocultural context of the Bugis community of Sidrap. The findings indicate that values now conceptualized as ethical balance were deeply internalized within the local intellectual tradition and systematically documented in the manuscript. These values are powerfully represented in the Nene Mallomo, a Sidrap scholar who positioned justice and balance as fundamental principles of communal life. This study affirms that the Lontara Sidenreng Rappang manuscript functions not only as a historical source but also as a medium for the intergenerational transmission of ethical and religious knowledge. Accordingly, manuscript translation emerges as a crucial strategy for revitalizing the values of ethical balance based on local wisdom.