ABSTRACT: Colonialism has brought tremendous changes in almost every sphere of the Mizo life. With the introduction of new institution whether colonial or religious institution, Mizo death practices, concept and attitudes on dying were somehow significantly transformed. Traditional rites and beliefs are re-shaped by the spread of Christianity and other aspects of colonialism. All these transformation makes it more and more difficult to sustain the age-old practices that have brought meaning and order to the chasm and grief of death. This paper explores the conversation between Christian missionaries and the Mizo, and seek to explore how these engagement contributed to the re-inventions of practices and beliefs surrounding death which are ‘modern’ and yet also have a deep link with tradition. This notion of death which developed in the early colonial period has become the foundation and base for Mizo Christian notion of death which survived till the present day.
Colonial ethnographies and later Mizo writings shows that the Mizo were ‘religious’ and adhered to numerous beliefs and practices surrounding death (McCall 118), connecting with supernatural beings which were believed, developed in the Chin Hills of Myanmar. Like many other tribal cultures of the world and our neighbouring tribe, the different Mizo clans believed in life after death, traditional belief system had impinged on how they perceived and conceptualized death and the afterlife as well its attributed ritual practices. Traditional Mizo society was shrouded with the mystery of supernatural beings and the natural world. These played a crucial role in the formation their belief system surrounding death and the afterlife. Traditional classification and typology of deaths were also affected by their beliefs in the supernatural entity and the human soul. A complex set of traditional death rituals served as an establishment of social identity through ‘rite of passage’ (Gennep 13) and group cooperation, solidarity of groups, families and clan members. Traditional concept of death, the philosophy of eschatology and rituals depicted signs, symbols and marked the core cultural values. The core beliefs was extensively based on taboos, (Saiaithanga 42) the attainment of pialral, eternal hope in Mizo belief system lies in the successful conduct of sacrifices through sakhua which requires enormous wealth and to hunt a prescribed game during their lifetime. Thus, the core of Mizo belief system sakhua lies in the endorsement of wealthy members in a community and successful hunters. For the Mizo there was no virtue greater than an act of bravery or generosity that serves the welfare of his community (Kipgen 124). All these belief depicted the traditional philosophy, their interaction with the natural beings and the natural world, their way of living and the everyday life which suited the society as it involves communal worship on behalf of the wealthy and the brave hunters as their success benefitted the whole community which points to the survival of the community (Lalthangliana 152-154).
Soon after the annexation of the Lushai Hills by the British, the Welsh missionaries entered the Hills which left an indelible imprint on the life and culture of the Mizo. The main purpose of the British annexation was securing peace, law and order whereas missionaries contact was to convert the Mizo from their previous belief system. The Christian missionaries imparted in the Mizo minds the western thought form through Christianity and education. It was because of this influence, traditional world views and practices had undergone a gradual change.
Christian Missionaries & the Deathly Encounter
Christian missionaries in the then Lushai Hills were the missionaries of evangelical awakening in the 19th Century. The Presbyterian and the Baptist Missionaries were the products of this Evangelical awakening and the Churches to which they longed are the outcome of the Evangelical movement in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The newborn church was nursed and developed under the parental care of the missionaries. Its creed and constitution were formulated after the creed and constitution of the western church and also adopted many practices of the parent church (Tlanghmingthanga 78-79). The faith of the young Church in Mizoram was influenced by the evangelical faith and theology right from the beginning. Their Biblical interpretations and theological thinking was the product of Western Evangelical theology. Therefore the Mizo world views and cultures are considerably affected by the preaching of western evangelist or the missionaries (79). It can be seen that the first two missionaries F.W Savidge and J.H Lorrain were sponsored by a wealthy British Philanthropist, Arthington of Leeds in England who was an eschatologically motivated person who believed in second coming of the Christ. The imprint of Arthington’s motif could be seen in the preaching of the two pioneer missionaries. They preached the gospel with an emphasis on the end of life hereafter (Rawsea 134-135).
J.M Lloyd writes:
“Mr. Arthington…believed in the second coming of our Lord and his view was that his workers would busy themselves solely with proclaiming the gospels among the tribes who had never heard it. They were then to move to a new area, and not even to waste time in writing or translating books, not even in translating the scripture” (135).
Upon arrival, the missionaries soon realized that the message had to be preached in frames so that the people recognize and understand easily, which made them articulate to the tribes in a language and expressions that were comprehensible. Thus, the first Baptist missionaries, Savidge and Lorrain, made the message more relevant once they initially presented Christ as a liberator from the clutches of malevolent spirits instead of as a saviour from sins. This message was seen to own a greater resonance amongst the people (Pachuau 303). It is in this way the use of pialral to refer to heaven among Mizo Christianity may be understood, since the victorious identity of the thangchhuah man and his hope in a future state free from fear, matched the Christian hope for certainty and transcendence after death. As the early Mizo convert Zakunga wrote in an article for Kristian Tlangau in December 1911 “Thihna chu nunna a ni” for Christians, ‘death is life’. This presents a significant shift in the attitude towards death among the Mizo (Heath, 199-200).
The belief in and worship of Pathian replaced the difficult and costly Thangchhuah as the path to pialral (heaven or paradise). The belief in life after death was a major resource for missionaries to conjoin the Mizo belief system and Christianity. The belief in the existence of two different and contrasting abodes of the dead further provided a deeper link between the two. The existent contrast between the two places was furthered in the Christian message when mithi khua was supplemented and subsequently supplanted by hremhmun (hell). Although mithi khua (abode of the dead) was not hell, it provided the means to form the idea of hell in the Christian teaching of life after death. Pialral on the other hand came to be identified with the Christian hope of life after death right from the beginning. From the early days of Christianity in Mizoram, Mizo Christians related their Christian hope of heaven with the existing belief of pialral (Lalsangkima 49-50).
Mitthi Khua (village of the dead) in the traditional belief system can be summarised as shortage of food and drink, intense labour under poor physical health and uncertainty about the environment leading to fear and insecurity. These points to three basic aspects of life’s aspirations which form a significant expression of hope in Mizo society: sufficient and abundant food and drink, minimal labour and abundant rest and material and spiritual certainty, which represent local values. But all these esteemed conditions was not guaranteed after death without the performance of necessary rituals by the living which can only be attained in Pialral (Paradise) which was almost impossible for the commoner to achieve such status. Thus, Christianity offered a new understanding of the afterlife. Mizo concept of pialral was transformed by the Christian concept of ‘heaven’. Access to Heaven or Mizo Pialral is opened not only for the skilful, the mighty and the rich, but for everyone, male or female who put their trust in Jesus (Hminga 294-295).
J.H Lorrain had observed a scene in 1896 when a Mizo woman was mourning the death of her daughter, which he had recorded in his Log Book entitled “Sorrowing without hope for the dead” to quote:
“One day in the village we had heard rending sobs and the sound of a woman calling in a voice half choked with tears the name of a girl. Asked a bystander if someone had just died. He shook his hand and pointed to mound of red clay by the side of the house and said that the poor woman had lost her daughter some months back and buried her there and that she was crying now because her heart had gone strolling (using a lushai expression lung a leng) Some which produces such bitter sobs is of no common order-It is the sorrow who has no hope; and when the heart tries to follow the dear ones who has gone from earth forever, it is overwhelmed with despair and dreadful fear. It fell them as I listened to the agonised groans of that poor solitary mother, that compared with the work of speaking comfort to such souls and pointing them to the saviour all earthly riches, praise, honour and power as naught” (Lorrain).
The subject of death, grief and bereavement was among the major point of contact made by the early missionaries, where comfort and transcendent hope was to be relished in the Christian heaven. In an interview quoted from C.L Hminga the group of first generation Christians were asked, “what was the Gospel message they first heard?’ Only one person remembered the message well. This person, who later became a pastor, said the message he first heard from the first Welsh missionary D. E. Jones in 1899 was, “Believe on ‘Pathian’ Jehova and worship him, then you don’t need to sacrifice to the demons any more. Even when you die you shall go to ‘Pialral’ (Lalsangkima 48).
This was a message assembled solely for the Mizo responding to their religious aspirations and goals. The missionaries learned to preach in such a tone through their experience of interacting with the people. By putting new stress on the belief in Pathian (God), interpreting him to be active and loving, and even calling for his worship, the other two concerns of the Mizo, namely healing of sickness and the (new) way to pialral, were addressed profoundly.
Grace R. Lewis quoted how Lorrain and Savidge recorded an early account of a Christian funeral from 1906:
“The converts saw how wonderfully the consolations of the Gospel upheld the bereaved family, and while the young men dug the grave on a hill-top, hard by, many sat around the beloved dead, speaking of the land beyond the tomb to which her spirit had gone. When the evening shadows began to lengthen she was laid to rest, and as we stood around the grave in the midst of that grove of waving banana trees, many of the converts witnessed for the first time a Christian funeral, and realised, as never before, that the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (Lewis p72-73).
This scene which involves young men digging the grave and the burial taking place on the day of the death according to Mizo customs that survives today is furnished with a new hope in Christian terms which offers consolation to the bereaved and the hope of future happiness. The missionaries explicitly suggest that their funeral arrangements served to offer a new vocabulary and basis for hope, which encourage an emotional attitude towards death (Heath 203).
In a monthly article Kristian Tlangau entitled “Tanga Thu” the author Siahnuna highlighted the Christian death bed scene in the year 1912. In September 1912 a brethren Thanga had fallen seriously ill which led him to a near-death experience causing him to collapse, in this situation Thanga had spoken out that “my redeemer leaded me”. His pain was becoming severe that his family and close friends even convinced him to perform traditional sacrifices, but he stood fast and sung two Christian hymns and was about to leave. Amid his imminent, impending death, Thanga had spoken out that “I’m leaving, I wish all my families a formal goodbye” he had held their hands and finally died (Saihnuna 170-172). This instance from Kristian Tlangau suggests that as the last moment of life was approaching a dying person was lying in his bed, surrounded by his close one, the moment leading up to his death was unfolding quite vigorously, where the dying person soon realised that his death is near and he accepted it. Apart from the death bed scene, there were numerous religious teachings like sermons and Christian articles, etc written in the Kristian Tlangau magazine depicting the early Mizo Christian concept of portraying death as conquering and equalizing the power of death. The theme of these sermons and articles were intended to teach and remind people no matter how rich or poor they were, or no matter how powerful they were death was inevitable and everyone had the same destination.
The notion of Christian good death in the early colonial period was heavily influenced by British evangelical theology which required piety and life-long preparation, as well as fortitude in the face of physical suffering. It should take place in a good Christian home, surrounded by a loving family, with the dying person making explicit farewells to family members, comforted by the assurance of a future family reunion in heaven. There should be time, and physical and mental capacity, for the completion of temporal and spiritual business. The dying person should be conscious and lucid until the end, resigned to God’s will, able to beg forgiveness for past sins and to prove worthy of salvation (Jalland 52).
Social Condition of the Mizo in the Early Colonial Period
The prevailing social condition and lives of the early Mizo Christians have also been instrumental in shaping their world views and orientation towards death and the afterlife. In the early stages of colonisation resistance to Christianity from several Mizo Cheifs led to the persecution of the converts, they had faced physical torture and were even ousted from their village. For the converted Mizo Christian life was harsh. Christians were still not in the majority. Some chiefs developed an intense dislike of the Christians, accusing them of disobeying his order when they would not work on Sunday and refused to participate in the annual Kawngpui Siam sacrifice (Kipgen 223). In the Mizo experience, his ‘religion’ was chiefly a means of avoiding sickness and of postponing death. Its function was to maintain him and his family in life and death (Lloyd 210).
Between 1911and 1912 a great famine popularly known as Mautam broke out in the Mizo Hills. (Rokuma 4) The Mizo had experienced many such famines and was used to the hardship, starvation, and death that accompany the phenomenon (Nag 249). The famine of 1911- 12 was the first famine experienced by Mizos under British rule. The missionaries had written that some Mizo were still nursing the feelings of resentment against those who have occupied their country. The Christian missionaries called this disastrous calamity the means to extend their evangelisation as J.H Lorrain and F.W. Savidge had reported in 1912, “The gaunt spectre of famine has been spreading distress and sorrow all over this fair land, but we have been spared the still more terrible experience of pestilence which at one time seemed to seep the country, and the trying times through which we have been passing have strengthened our faith and have been the means of extending the saviour’s kingdom” (Rofeli 6). In many parts of the Mizo Hills, this famine caused much suffering and ill-health among the people. Outbreaks of Cholera in several Districts accompanied it and carried off considerable number of victims. Many sad cases of destitute orphan children and other poor people hand to be dealt with (Thanzauva 52).
The subsequent result of the famine was thus rekindling of Harhna (the spiritual revival) with a theological theme of the Second Coming of Christ. The emphasis on the imminent second coming of Christ led to more and more excitement as the revival continued. As that was the essence of their preaching, many impressionable young people were making themselves ready for the end. This led many to adopt a negative attitude towards the present life and things of the world. (Kipgen p259-260) The economic life of the people was at stake and physical hunger made the Mizo attuned to the Gospel. (Hminga 75-80).
Only a few years later towards the end of 1918, the influenza epidemic swept through Europe, and many other countries following the First World War reached Mizoram. A large number of people died, especially in the village. According to Liangkhaia, there were 40 to 50 deaths in each village located on the high ridges, and 100 to 200 in many of the low-lying villages. In addition to Influenza, there was an outbreak of smallpox, with an estimated death toll as high as 380 (164). An epidemic of such extensive spread and with so many deaths had not been known in the living memory. While the living were still mourning for the dead and a feeling of depression was widespread and extraordinarily powerful a revival broke out on 26th July 1919. (Kipgen 237)
The British colonisation and the missionaries’ activities from the nineteenth century did lead to a crisis that shattered the stability and hope for future security that had hitherto been the bedrock of community cohesion. Famines caused by the flowering of the bamboo and other pestilences, as well as numerous epidemics added to struggle to survive in the early decades of the twentieth century. Young men had previously fought in skirmishes against the British, Mizo later served alongside the British in Europe in World War I between 1915 and 1918 leaving them unable to provide security and labour force to those at home. The forbidden killing of some animals, imposed not just by missionaries but also by the British administration, closed the accepted routes to Pialral (paradise). Notwithstanding the British paternalist characteristics during this period, the Mizo way of life had been compromised by British activities. The encounter with the British whether colonial or missionary, led to an “identity crisis” (Heath 22-23). As the study reveals that, such situation demands careful emotional navigation. This offered a possible stimulus for the emergence of Khawhar zai in the 1920s following the third wave of revival. Given the theme of the third wave of revival, most of the new Mizo Christian songs that erupted during this period were about the suffering of Christ. A large number were also devoted to the present suffering of the people. This reflected the hard life the Mizo lived in a hard land and a longing for Pialral (Heaven). Soon these new songs were popular and were sung with great fervour both in regular church worship and in fellowship in gathering homes called Lengkhawm or Zaikhawm. A large portion of theme were associated with death predominantly used at homes in which someone has recently died in the khawhar in (house of the bereavement). The singing of such a song in this context is called khawhar zai (bereavement singing) (Lalzama 37). The new form of singing and style of composition brought a paradigm shift from traditional style, stressing the Mizo Christian concept of ‘Vanram’ (paradise) which was not known before. Generally, the new style of composition which sprang out as a result of the 1919 revival have emphasized the people’s longing for the Christian heaven, stressed the Christian philosophy of eschatology.
The subject of death played a central part in the conversation between the missionaries and their converts. Missionary insistence on speaking about death provoked fascination amongst their potential converts and helped to convey a sense of the authority of the Christian God. For the Mizo, Christian depictions of the resurrection of the dead and the second coming of Christ held a particular attraction, as these offered an innovative theological perspective on the death process. Believers no longer had to fear death, nor the wrath of malevolent spirits, and could instead await with anticipation the rising up of their dead. Thus, conversation about the dead involves tricky linguistic and cultural translation. As a result of the discursive encounter, a new narrative on the notion of death and the afterlife was incorporated into an autochthonous eschatological framework. To quote Joy Pachuau “It was this active collective engagement with the Western form, rather than its blanket adoption, that eventually led to people’s identification with Christianity. What was Western was indigenized and transformed even as it was translated into vernacular form” (298). This led to a formulation of a distinctive Mizo Christian notion of death, which Joy Pachuau termed as a creation of alternative culture, not necessarily an imposition but rather the outcome of an active engagement in which the foreign agents that often acceded to local interventions (298). Since the major portion of the Christian element was incorporated into traditional beliefs, there has been a strong line of continuity as the traditional notion of death was utilized to link the new Christian element. As found in the form of Lengkhawm/Khawhar zai tradition and death rituals that holds several forms of traditional elements in the early colonial period which is still is practiced today.
Conclusion
The Christian Missionaries imparted in the Mizo minds the western thought-form through Christianity and education. It was because of this influence and teachings imparted by the missionaries, traditional world views and practices had undergone a gradual change. Missionaries were quite successful in conjoining the Christian eschatology with the traditional notion of death and the afterlife. This resulted in a new understanding of death and the afterlife. In this process, many traditional elements were incorporated within the framework of Christian concepts. Mizo Christianity from the beginning was seen as eschatological oriented; as evangelical awakening in the 1850s Great Britain had greatly influenced on the missionaries’ approach in imparting the gospel in their early contact with the tribe. Also, the prevailing social condition of the Mizo in the early period of Colonisation has been instrumental in shaping their notion towards death and the afterlife. Thus, an active engagement with foreign ideas had led to a new understanding of death and the afterlife; still, there has been some trace of continuity from traditional notions surrounding death and the afterlife. Thus, the practices and notions surrounding death that developed during the early colonial period became the foundation of Mizo Christian notion of death, which survived till the present day.
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Cite the original source:
Lalchhanhima and Robin, Prof K. “Conceptualizing Mizo Notion of Death in the
Early Colonial Period.” Mizo Studies, X, no. 3, Sept. 2021, pp. 584–597.
Cite the original source:
Lalchhanhima and Robin, Prof K. “Conceptualizing Mizo Notion of Death in the
Early Colonial Period.” Mizo Studies, X, no. 3, Sept. 2021, pp. 584–597.
