A village near the frontier

文：孫敏

The cool subtropical breeze brings relief in the sultry evening. The sun seems to be sinking into the mountain range in Myanmar. And as the stars begin to twinkle faintly in the darkening sky, bells toll from the church in the upper reaches of the village, in tune with the melodious hymns.

I have heard various hymns sung by different ethnic groups when I trekked along the border of Southwest China. In these remote areas, I could understand their profound meaning and feeling by watching the singers?eyes instead of listening to the words. I preserved a cassette tape for 10 years, which recorded the sound of fierce surging waves in the monsoon. The thunder drowned out everything in the valley of the Dulongjiang River at the foot of Dandanlika Mountain. Nobody can understand the tapes sound but I can distinguish a four-part music note among the rolling waves.

To visit the small church, I wobbled forward on a suspension bridge rocking wildly over the thundering river. The hymn singers were local people of the Derung ethnic group who were dressed simply, but neatly. It took them a whole day of walking to get to church every weekend.

Here is a village of Lahu ethnic group in Lancang Region of Southwest Chinas Yunnan Province where the people were preparing for the 2003 Christmas Day.

God and Satan came to Yunnan nearly at the same time

Zati is one of the young farmers living in the border village. Since 1980, the village has become an import conduit in the pipeline through which drugs are smuggled from other countries to China. Inevitably, Zadi and his village had to live under the shadow of the opium poppy as the largest source of opium in the world is located among the mountains only dozens of kilometers away to the west of the village.

Opium was introduced to the Middle Kingdom from abroad in 1848 Since then, an ancient nation with a 5,000-year civilization was dragged into modern history with humiliation.

At that time, Lin Zexu (1785-1850), governor-general of Central Chinas Hunan and Hubei provinces, presented a memorandum to Emperor Daoguang, the 6th emperor of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). The document said that the overflow of opium “would leave few soldiers for the dynasty to resist foreign aggression and little silver for soldiers”pay and provision in the coming decades.?Britain smuggled large quantities of opium into China, causing a great outflow of Chinese silver, grave economic disruption and a weak military army in the Qing Dynasty. On June 3, 1839, the Qing government sent Commissioner Lin Zexu to Guangdong and burned opium stocks in Humen beach to put into effect the prohibition on opium trafficking. However, such feats could not hinder British gunboats, which shelled Chinas gates to protect the huge profit in opium trafficking.

The missionary workers who entered the southern part of Yunnan Province followed the steps of British military forces occupying Myanmar then. It was the forces that helped British businessmen to bring the opium peril to the province. However, Christianity built a solid foundation in Yunnan by helping local people stay off opium addiction.

At the end of 19th century, the China Inland Mission introduced the Christian doctrine to Yunnan, where the missionaries?major work was to help believers or followers abstain from drinking and smoking. It became both the fundamental commandments of Christian religion in the province and one of China Inland Missions traditions. Until now, the direct mileage local residents get out of professing Christianity is improved living standards because of abstinence.

The history of Christianity in the Lancang region dates back to the beginning of last century. In 1920, an American churchman, John William, built the first church in Luofu. Little is known about his life but the Jesus he brought into the area is involved in a new drive to prohibit drugs or narcotics in China dozens of year later.

At the end of 20th century, drug mounted a large-scale offensive on southwestern border of China from Golden Triangle, an area among Myanmar, Thailand and Laos, notorious for its drug production and trafficking. Ethnic groups along the border suffered greatly from the devil trade. Since then, the country with largest population faced a serious situation. Drug-addicts pay everything for drug traffickers, destroying their own family and willpower.

Luo Za誩r, head of Lancang Countys Religions Administration, told me that the county withstands tremendous pressure because it borders on the largest drug source in the world. Local government has to choke the trafficking drug channel and help those drug victims to shake off bad habit. It made great efforts to do these things. Even the township government drew on part of its accumulation fund to pay the spending for some villagers giving up drug in special hospital. However, as to helping the people from other places, the township had to rely upon social power to a great extent.

In fact, Lahu ethnic group in this area used to forbid villagers to addict opium in history. Also, the ethnic group banned tobacco business. But the ancient rules and regulations of the clan gradually changed for its geographical position located on the trafficking drug passageway. An official surnamed Zhang understood the grave situation when he went to an old Lahu village three times to promote the shaking-off-drug drive. He advocated the cooperation with parochial power in the work.

Why Zhang think of Jesus instead of Mopa when the community suffering crisis? It is an interesting problem in sociology.

As the sorcerer of Lahu ethnic group, Mopa was an important defence line for villagers hold back disaster in traditional lifestyle. I met with such a Mopa, who was a sorcerer handed down for three generations. His duty was to cast a horoscope and call back the spirit for person out of sorts and help those people who lost their soul at where they mow grass, cut firewood and capture birds, or help those were scared by the falling leaves, to find their wits. He has no idea where the drug-addicts?soul for these people destroyed both themselves and their family and handed over their soul and life to the devil whom even Mopas have never seen before. Far beyond the Mopas understand, their troubles have nothing to do with fright. The place he used to find the soul is called “simie” It is a dangerous journey for him to go there as the place belongs to the dead bodies?domain. However, such abstruse calling-spirit skill could not help him to deal with the serious problems in the past 10 years.

Facing the global drug disaster, Mopas really feel somewhat beyond their power.

When they knock at the gate, it opens

Since 1980, the village where Zadi lived has become an important section of the channel, through which vipers smuggled drug from other countries to Chinese hinterland. Just like the devil Santa opens the gate of Abaddon, those of flabby fell into a mire of crime from which they could not extricate themselves.

Zadi, about 30 years old, became one of the stray lambs as drug made him feel lonely and heading step by step for doom.

Woman of Lahu ethnic group has a very kind heart. Zadis wife has not given him the cold shoulder or left him even though the divorce is a simple thing to do for Lahu - so long as elder people in the village agree. During the days when she sank into despair, Zadis wife heard the singing from the villages church.

Zadi said that he would never forget the Sunday when he first entered the church, where local religious leader, attendant and all villagers shook hands with all members of Zadis family one by one. Zadi was in Luofu. Little is known about his life but the Jesus he brought into the area is involved in a new drive to prohibit drugs or narcotics in China dozens of year later.

At the end of 20th century, drug mounted a large-scale offensive on southwestern border of China from Golden Triangle, an area among Myanmar, Thailand and Laos, notorious for its drug production and trafficking. Ethnic groups along the border suffered greatly from the devil trade. Since then, the country with largest population faced a serious situation. Drug-addicts pay everything for drug traffickers, destroying their own family and willpower.

'Luo Zaer, head of Lancang Countys Religions Administration, told me that the county withstands tremendous pressure because it borders on the largest drug source in the world. Local government has to choke the trafficking drug channel and help those drug victims to shake off bad habit. It made great efforts to do these things. Even the township government drew on part of its accumulation fund to pay the spending for some villagers giving up drug in special hospital. However, as to helping the people from other places, the township had to rely upon social power to a great extent.

In fact, Lahu ethnic group in this area used to forbid villagers to addict opium in history. Also, the ethnic group banned tobacco business. But the ancient rules and regulations of the clan gradually changed for its geographical position located on the trafficking drug passageway. An official surnamed Zhang understood the grave situation when he went to an old Lahu village three times to promote the shaking-off-drug drive. He advocated the cooperation with parochial power in the work..

Why Zhang think of Jesus instead of Mopa when the community suffering crisis? It is an interesting problem in sociology.

As the sorcerer of Lahu ethnic group, Mopa was an important defence line for villagers hold back disaster in traditional lifestyle. I met with such a Mopa, who was a sorcerer handed down for three generations. His duty was to cast a horoscope and call back the spirit for person out of sorts and help those people who lost their soul at where they mow grass, cut firewood and capture birds, or help those were scared by the falling leaves, to find their wits. He has no idea where the drug-addictsssoul for these people accepted as one of them. I can imagine with what feeling Zadi held out his hands. In Lahus tradition, shaking hands means a very close touch. In order to be discreet, they use left hand lift right forearm and then stretch out right hands so as to make the shaking cordial and strong. At last, Zadi burst into tears.

It was a very important issue in the village to help the lamb mend his ways.

Zadi began his battling against the abyss of misery. With the Bible in his hands, he read and rethought without any food and drinking for several days and nights, tiding over difficulties. His wife went to work in the fields at daylight and accompanied Zadi to pray at night. On the morning of the fourth day, the sun rose again. Just like the meaning of Zadi in Lahus language - a son coming into the world at daybreak, Zadi received a new lease of life.

When Zadi told me the story about himself, his son and daughter were squatting on each side of him, their innocent and pure eyes staring at me full of hope like their fathers, especially his daughters.

Zadi planned to plant sugarcane, breeding fish and pig following other villagers to make a better life. Last year, his sugarcane was damaged by frost. This he would try again as soon as he get new seedling. In the village, he is the only one with professional skill to weave fishing cage. He can weave one such cage each two days and a fishing cage can sell 20 yuan (US$2.4). He said he was confident to make a better life. Finally, counting something with his fingers, he told me there are other six persons addicting drug in the village and he will help them.

A religion-anthropologist who visited Zadis hometown said: “It is only one part of task for them to give up drug, the more hard thing for them is how to reconnect the relation with former groups nearby when they returning to main community.”Zadis experience showed that the simple and warm tiny church on the border, no doubt, is a bridge for them returning to the community.

While listening to them chatting about Jesus, you feel they refer to a member of Lahu instead of a foreigner

We should wash our hands and faces every day; we should clean our house and give up bad habits...

At this place the Christian religion is so trivial. While listening to local people chatting about Jesus, you feel they refer to a member of Lahu instead of a foreigner. He is not a person with condescending air to take pity on the unfortunate. Like an elder brother, he gently and kindly tells them how to take all things optimistically.

I remember when I first visited Zadis village I came across a Christian service. The rector talked on and on while his audiences were listening attentively, and they burst with laughing from time to time. I could distinguish only the word of “high-quality seed”from his Lahu accent. The village head told me the rector was telling people about the preparation for spring ploughing. The church helped local government to do a lot of thing for villagers and provide the poverty-stricken villagers with financial aid from the income of public welfare fields, especially those drug-addict families.

When the bell sound from the church keeps ringing in my ears, I feel the very strong power to gain popular support.

During Christmas Day, a group of children decorate the church everywhere with pink wild cherry flowers they cut from the Black Mountain.

A 70-year-old rector went to Menglian 20 kilometer away by tractor to give baptism to local villagers. The dirt road on border is covered with loose surface dust. The wheels of motor vehicles spun in the mud during the dusty dry season. But in rainy season, such road nearly becomes a brook full of glutinous slurry.

I have not ever been there, but my colleague Wu Xiaohui went the border area during the Christmas day. In the past two years, Wu became fascinated to have a trip in Lancang and Menglian. She said she could not help to use her camera to record local villagers singing hymns in Lahu language with devout reverence at the tiny church when the bells sounded. She took pictures and recorded something in digital video for villagers who treated her as one of familys members. On Christmas morning, she played the movie shot for the last time in video-recorder and showed all the photos of villagers on the wall in Naluos house so that they could easily take away their own pictures. The little two-storied bamboo stilt house was crowded with lookers-on. The photo owners shared their own joy with others on pictures they leaving there for show. So, Wu was very happy to see many villagers enjoy the photos and video about themselves in daily life as if holding a special personal exhibition. In fact, she was very much pleased with what she did at the small village, far beyond those luxury exhibitions in the cities.

These things happened at a village called Dongnai. On the other side is Myanmar. The place is very tranquil and peaceful though it is not rich. Buffalos wander in the bamboo forest, while children playing in the stream. No crime and no wrangle have been found in the village. With his finger pointing at the remote village on the other side of the mountain, an elderly man said: “We have no opium and we will never play a mean trick.”O(jiān)n Christmas Day, men were busy in butchering pigs while women making glutinous rice cakes. A group of children decorated the whole church with wild pink cherry flowers cut in the Black Mountain behind the village. At night, the church became the most bustle and warm place in the village.

Wu Xiaohui told me that she considered herself as a outsider at Christmas Eve. To her surprise, she was the first one to be asked to get the gift for Christmas Day from the platform. When she received a exquisite stool woven with wicker and bamboo, she really felt what the meaning of “l(fā)ove”is. This is such a pure and cordial feeling at the simple village instead of the word damaged by some popular songs and movies with endlessly chat and nonsense. That night, she received some other little gifts, including tea, nuts and sweet potato, with a note on them saying “To the lady who took pictures for us.”It was written in Lahu language and without a name. The simple gift needs no repay but greatly moved Wus heart.

Wu said that she would go to the village on Christmas Day next year. She planned to disguise herself as a Santa Claus to give each family a blessing from the big bag on her back. It was the Lahu people help her to understand that a person should be grateful to life. She will never forget the choir singing from house to house under the starlit night like something in fairy tales. She will never forget an elderly woman singing hymns in return at the balcony of her house under the crescent moon. Her aged but melodious sound passed through the night sky, reaching at the deep heart of everybody as if the singing from God in the heaven.

Therefore I understand now that you will not be surprised at the scene: at the small village near the remote border, at the simple and tiny church, those stray lambs like Zadi have finally found the way to home. They knock at the gate, which opens to them, to everyone who wants to be home...