PERIFÉRICOS DE ENTRADA
LECTOR DE CÓDIGO DE BARRAS
The previous part of this section noted how Lianrûma poses a question in his song that signifies his use of music as a means by which to engage in the pursuit of certainty about his hope. There are several other examples in the sample selected for this thesis. Kamlova poses a question in the final verse of his song, K9:
Aw, eng tik nge ka thlen ve ang, Ka chung khua nuamah khian? Luikawr thim ka dai kai hunah, ܑDKQDUDPNDQJDLOR¶QJ
Oh, when will I reach, My wonderful city above? After I have crossed the dark river, I will not miss the land of weeping.
At the end of K3, Thanherha (1894-1978)224 asks a similar question:
Eng tikah nge kan hmuh ang ܒhen lohna ram chu, He khawvêl lungngaih buaina kalsanin;
I hmangaihna zâra ka thlen hun chuan Ka hmu ang khawvêla ka ܒhian ܒhen te.
When will we see the land where there will be no more separation, Leaving behind this world of sorrows and troubles;
Because of your love, when I reach there I will see my friends of this earth who have gone.
The questions posed here do not only articulate the pursuit of certainty but they also express the impatience of the composers to depart from the present life on earth. It is such language which has led to many claims made by Mizos scholars that the composers of khawhar zai ZHUHµRWKHU-worldly¶ either in their millennial optimism or in their determination to reach heaven.
Though not a prominent theme in K11, the chorus given below expresses a comparable tone of desperation to depart from the present troubles and meet with Jesus. Indeed, it is important to note that Lianrûma specifically states that he is more eager to meet Jesus than to actually reach heaven, thus
implying that the immanent encounter with Jesus promised by millennialism was a hope that he did, in fact, share with millennialist believers.
Ka va ngai êm! Ka va ngai êm! A hmun ropui, a mawina zawng aiin, Hmangaihtu, Lal Krista hmêl duhawm chu, Hmuh ka nuam ka lungkham bânna tûrin.
How I long for it! How I long for it!
More than the glorious place and all its beauty, ,ORQJWRVHHWKHORYLQJ/RUG-HVXV&KULVW¶VORYHO\IDFH And there my anxieties would cease.
$VVHHQLQWKHVXEWH[WRI/LDQUPD¶VH[DPSOHPLOOHQQLDOLVPVKLIWHG the terms of hope from a longing to be in heaven, to a longing for intimacy with Jesus. Literal millennialism was the belief that the world was entering a thousand years of peace, which would be founded on a universal acknowledgement of Jesus Christ as Lord. Premillennialists believed that the millennium would come once Jesus had come to earth (the Second Coming or Parousia). Rather than expressing a hope in a better afterlife, it was the SLQQDFOHRIUHYLYDOLVWKRSHLQWKHSUHVHQWOLIH,Q0DFTXDUULH¶VWHUms, it would be a social revolution in the present world (1978: 86), characterised E\WKHµH[XEHUDQWH[SHFWDWLRQ¶LGHQWLILHGE\+HQUL'HVURFKH in his study of millenarian movements (1979: 19).
It had been popular among some early Methodists during the first Great Awakening, and gained new VXSSRUWDPRQJ%ULWLVKUHYLYDOLVWVIURPWKH¶VRQZDUGV %HEELQJWRQHWDO -81; Bebbington 1993: 82). Millennialist hymns continued to express a determined expectation in imminent satisfaction that reflected the sentiment of beiseina. For example, in Fanny &URVE\¶Vµ:KHQP\OLIHZRUNLVHQGHG¶ the singer longs to see the countenance of Jesus, his smile and his eyes, ZKHQOLIH¶VZRUNLVRYHULike /LDQUPD¶VVRQJ, the first and fourth stanzas below prioritise the personal encounter with Jesus over other attractions of heaven.
When my life work is ended, and I cross the swelling tide, When the bright and glorious morning I shall see; I shall know my Redeemer when I reach the other side, And His smile will be the first to welcome me. Through the gates to the city in a robe of spotless white, He will lead me where no tears will ever fall;
In the glad song of ages I shall mingle with delight; But I long to meet my Savior first of all.
Although she locates her hope after death rather than at the Second Coming, it is her dwelling on the meeting with Jesus which articulates the millennialist aspect of the song. :HVOH\DQG&HQQLFN¶VµLo! He comes with clouds descending¶ the first stanza of which is given below, was also one of the most popular hymns in North America even prior to the late nineteenth-century revivals. It vividly depicts the Second Coming, DQGPDNHVOLEHUDOXVHRIµAlleluia¶ WKHSURFODPDWLRQPHDQLQJµSUDLVHWKH/RUG¶ that pervades spontaneous expressions amongst many revivalists, including those in Mizoram.
Lo! He comes, with clouds descending, Once for our salvation slain;
Thousand, thousand saints attending Swell the triumph of his train: Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Christ the Lord returns to reign.
TrDQVODWLRQVRIVLPLODUK\PQVSRSXODULQ0L]RUDPLQFOXGHGµ+RP\FRPUDGHVVHHWKHVLJQDO¶ by Philip Bliss and µ%HUHDG\ZKHQKHFRPHV¶ by Daniel O. Teasely. Their theology was characterised by what -RKQ.HQWFDOOVµUHVLGXDO&DOYLQLVP¶ZKLFKHPHUJHGLQ µsiege mentality¶ images of holding the fort, defensiveness and the possibility of not making it to heaven also discussed above with reference to Lianrûma (1978: 218-219).
Indeed, on closer examination, millennialist hymns may not be as different from the attitude to uncertainty discussed above. There seems to have been a common anxiety, whether about readiness, assurance of salvation or access to heaven that permeates much of the poetry. In a comparable study, Ruth Bloch in Visionary Republic (1988: 134) specifically addresses the Methodist hymns of the first Great $ZDNHQLQJWKDWUHIHUUHGWRWKH6HFRQG&RPLQJDQGµmillennial bliss¶ She argues that despite their vivid descriptions, the hymns left many of the contentious theological arguments open-ended, lacking FORVXUHLQDZD\WKDWZDVLQGHHGILWWLQJZLWK)LGGHV¶FDWHJRULHVIRUSRHWLFPHWDSKRU 6KH FODLPVWKDW IDU IURP IRUPLQJDQ LVRODWHGERG\RI PLOOHQQLDO K\PQV µWKH GLVWLQFWLRQEHWZHHQD millennial and a non-millennial eschatology was not always clear¶ reflecting the ongoing uncertainty of the times rather than the certainty of the few. This is further support of the notion presented here that although evangelicalism could be manifested in a variety of highly divergent ways, the hymns mediated between these differences with the ability to reconcile opposing articulations of evangelical hope. This is not to negate the significance of millennialism as a doctrine that did influence the early stages of Christianity in Mizoram. One of the key features of millennialism was that it did not emphasise
worship or life after death, but rather the imminent experience of heaven on earth, so perhaps this was closer to what the Mizo aspiration had been before Christianity, and the doctrine became a particularly prominent theme in the second Mizo revival (1913-1915).225 The Kristian Tlangau had also promoted it from 1912 with SXEOLVKHGDUWLFOHVDQGSRHPVHQWLWOHGIRUH[DPSOHµHarh Rawh! A lo kal dâwn!!¶ (µRevive! He is coming!!¶) (August 1912). Tlânghmingthanga is of the view that Mizo millennialism FRQVWLWXWHGDKRSHIRUKHDYHQZLWKµOLWWOHDWWHQWLRQWRWKHLPSRUWDQFHRIWKLVZRUOG¶ 7KLVLV a common accusation levelled at millennialists. However, the manifestation of the doctrine in song indicates a similar nuanced hope to what has been suggested above. +OHLD¶V VRQJµKa va ngai êm, Lal ram ropui¶ is commonly regarded as epitomising millennialist hope in Mizoram:
Ka va ngai êm, Lal ram ropui, Din thar leia lo thleng tûr chu; Kum sang rorel tûr ni ropui, Tunah hian lo eng tawh rawh.
How I long for it, the glorious Kingdom, Which you are coming to establish;
The glorious day that will bring the reign of a thousand years, Let it shine even today.
The song makes direct references to millennial doctrine, including the thousand-year reign and the establishment of a new Kingdom on earth. +RZHYHUWKHRSHQLQJOLQHLVYHU\UHPLQLVFHQWRI/LDQUPD¶V chorus. µ.Dva ngai rP¶ µKRZ,ORQJIRULW¶ LV a common expression of heartfelt longing and ngaihna used in a variety of circumstances. Darchhawna, a notable writer with a deep interest in millennialism, H[SODLQVWKDWWKHVRQJFRPSODLQVWKDW-HVXVKDVEHHQDEVHQWIURPHDUWKIRUVRORQJEXWµZKHQKHFRPHV DJDLQWKHQKH¶OOEULQJDNLQJGRPIRUXVVRWKH\DUHZDLWLQJIRUKis coming¶226 7KHVLQJHUµLVQRWKDSS\ QRZEHFDXVHPRXUQLQJEHFDXVHSLQLQJIRU-HVXV&KULVWFRPLQJ¶+HUH'DUFKKDZQD¶VXVHLQ(QJOLVK of terms about mourning and pining about a future hope support the assertion that Mizo hope may employ terms that look back with sentiments of sadness and loss, such as ngaihna. K. Thanzauva argues that reference to the place of Kanaan in songs had particular meaning for Mizos who felt that they had finally settled after their history of migration (2012: 5). It paid less attention to the Canaan of the Old
225 For a contemporDU\ DFFRXQW RI WKH UHYLYDO VHH 9DQFKKXQJD¶V VHULHV RI DUWLFOHV µ+DUKQD Chanchin¶ in Kristian Tlangau which begins in January 1914.
Testament or to the Canaan of millennial poetry, but was a personal and localised metaphor. Daikawrzana further commented on the use of Jordan as a similar metaphor:227
:KHQZHWDONRI-RUGDQZHGRQ¶WWDONDERXWWKH-RUGDQRQ HDUWKZHGRQ¶WFDUHRUWDONDERXW Palestinian Jordan river, we are talking about heaven.
The hope expressed in the songs is therefore not an explicitly millennialist one, nor a naively Zionist one, but a localised hope metaphorically alluded to through biblical terms (Tlânghmingthanga 1995: 98). It is often argued that composers sought to escape their pain through song, and to imagine themselves in a better place. To some extent, this is certainly the case, but such an assertion obscures the fact that the poetic expressions of hope involved an engagement with the present and even the past through harnessing traditional sentiments and mechanisms of nostalgia. Vanlalchhuanawma further articulates this with reference to the previous song, µ.Dva ngai êm, Lal ram ropui¶: 228
Even if it is strong in certain pockets of people, the understanding may be not what the millennialists in the West understand. It does not sound to be a millennial rule on the earth itself. Even this millennial theory as the Mizos understand it seems to be the ending of the present age and the ushering in of the new age that will be for eternity. A complete changeover from the earthly existence to the heavenly existence. It does not seem to be a defeating of the enemy on the earth and the establishing of the Kingdom of Christ with Christ as the Head. That does not seem to be what the Mizos understand by this millennium.
It would seem then, that in contrast to popular assertions of non-Christian sentiment in early khawhar zai and excessive other-worldliness in the more Christian texts, the understanding of both contributes to an appreciation of the whole. When it is remembered that the main theme of the complaints, as found in Saihnûna¶VVRQJV, resonated with the basic values of society not being met: rest, food and security, it is understandable that millennial themes introduced through some western hymns became appropriated in a way that hoped for something different from the western composers. Songs adopted millennialist discourse and metaphors of western hymns not in order to espouse the same millennialism, but in order to express a hope for the fulfilment of needs on earth as well as in heaven.
227 Interview, 27 January 2014. 228 Interview, 19 March 2014.
FIGURE 3.5 The haze of romei viewed from the road between Aizawl and Lunglei$XWKRU¶VSKRto.
It appears that the heavy emphasis on gazing towards heaven with a hope for certainty found in khawhar zai does not represent a deviation from the evangelical hymn tradition, as is often claimed, but perhaps an intensification of it. This prospective gaze was in fact given greater depth of meaning by the very retrospective aspect discussed previously, since the repertoire was able to harness the local sentiment of lunglênna and the activity of thlîr towards the past to reinforce the hope for the future. This was finely expressed by C. Thangvunga who remembers the imagination of heaven as a heavenly mist and longed for that instead of Mitthi Khua:229
The kind of songs we compose are about the God who will receive us, about the people who have gone, about the heaven that we will be in one day. We think of heaven as somewhere between romei, just signifying the loneliness that we feel [lunglên].
Here he articulates the association of longing, loneliness and memories of the past when describing the Christian hope of the Mizo people, and he describes the action of imagination in terms associated with thlîr, the gazing towards an unclear foggy horizon, which he calls romei (Figure 3.5).
229 Interview, 4 May 2014.
.DPORYD¶V K9 introduced above is a sorrowful song that is desperate for the place where sufferings will be finished. In its first edition, LWZDVVXEWLWOHGµ:HDU\RI(DUWK¶ The very first line articulates this by employing both the terms lunglênna and thlîr. The first verse and chorus are given below:
Lung min lên ka thlîr ning dâwn lo, Lei lungngaih piah ram saw; Dam lai lungngaih chhûmpui zîng hi, Ka pêl ang ܒahna ram.
,DPORQJLQJIRULW,ZRQ¶WWLUHRIJD]LQJ That land beyond the land of sorrow; 7KHVHVSUHDGLQJGDUNFORXGVRIOLIH¶VVRUURZV I will pass from this land of weeping.
Lei lungngaih mittui a hul ang, Ka ܒahlai ni a râl ang;
Aw Lalpa hmêl hmuh ka nghâkhlel, Aw, râl mai rawh lei ninawm.
The tears of the land of sorrows will dry up, My days of weeping will pass away; 2K,DPLPSDWLHQWWRVHHWKH/RUG¶VIDFH Oh, pass away, this troublesome land.
This perfectly captures the Janus-like hope of the composer who longs for the past while he gazes to the future. He is rather more explicit in his contempt for not just earthly life but earth itself, with the chorus bidding it to disappear µ2KSDVVDZD\WKLVWURXEOHVRPHODQG¶ so that he may see the face of -HVXV7KLVUHIOHFWV9DQODOFKKXDQDZPD¶V XQGHUVWDQGLQJRI0L]R PLOOHQQLDOLVP GLVFRXUVH DERXWWKH passing away of the present earth is often assumed to be conventionally millennialist, yet in the Mizo context it is a mode of expression, bidding the present life to disappear rather than calling upon God to bring judgement upon it.
This chapter has shown that although khawhar zai represented the way in which the four aspects of evangelicalism were manifested musically among Mizo Christians, the songs also offered in their poetry a pursuit and exploration of themes of certainty and hope. Perhaps this was achieved because of, rather than in spite of, their relationship to the core evangelical values. Though some espoused the exuberant anticipation of millennialism, they expressed themselves in terms that resonated with the needs and VXIIHULQJRIWKH FRPSRVHUV¶RZQFRQWH[W This should moderate the common judgement ascribed to khawhar zai by Mizo scholars that they are exclusively focused on heaven, or skewed towards an attitude that ignores the present life. In fact, they present a dialogue not always possible in other worship contexts that emphasise the closure of doctrinal metaphor rather than the openness of poetic metaphor.
Having established the evangelical context in which khawhar zai HYRNHDµJD]HWRZDUGVKHDYHQ¶ that contains within itself a retrospective gaze to Calvary, the following chapter will involve a musical analysis that will connect the repertoire to the western hymns and solfa zai to which the early composers were responding.