Zomi, Zomia, Nomadia - Landscape, Handicraft and Statecraft
- Part 2 -

Niraj Kumar & Chingngaihbiak *

Dai Minority in China - source: accesschinatravel.com

I have seen among the Zomis the continuity of weaving patterns for generations . Every girl child is required to learn the art of weaving textiles that maintains the transfer of the community narrative embedded in the weaving pattern. The weaving is not merely an oral narrative. The Zomia lacks history .But, apart from the oral tradition, it is the handicraft that gives permanence to the collective memory. The handicraft is in wider sense of the word,,"handi-craft".

It may be the art of farming, the art of bamboo-making, art of bamboo-roofing the hose, art of leg-movement in dances, art of playng music on traditional instruments. Thus, it is seen that people in Zomia are jovial. They love to sing and dance. They love to play musical instrument. They love to engage in "handicrafts" that gives them the sense of perpetual motion.Famous Moon and Peacock dancer,Yang Liping comes from the Bai minority in China.

But, most permanent among all handicraft is the textile, as it can be preserved safely from generation to generation. The textile –pattern is the cultural text. Just like genes, that inherit biological properties, it is the weaving-patterns that carry the communitarian identity. More than language, more than cosmological beliefs, more than clan and kinship, it is the difference in the striation over the traditional costumes that define identity in Zomia.

What surprises me is the absence of biological figures in the weaving designs as well as circular motifs. There is total absence of circles in the design of Zomia handicraft. While one can see the rich imagery in the weaving designs of Central Asians or other communities being part of the Empires or the State, the absence of human figures or the divine figures or the fauna of the surrounding region in the weaving design is surprising. This reiterates the Nomadia characteristics of the Zomia as handicraft is impersonal, and still does not signify transcendental things.

But, why do the non-state societies which are resisting the attempt of "striation' by external actors transfer their collective memory through "striated pattern"? Is this a paradox? Or is this incomprehensible from the Static thinking? Can a nomadic thinking capture the collective imagination of the Zomia?

Back to D&G- Geophilosophy of terracing

The paradox can again be explained by taking into account D&G 's concept of Geophilosophy. We have seen how the terraced farming is a characteristics of Zomia…. from India to Vietnam and China. Terracing technology enters the cosmological world-view through analogous transfer.

The terracing of hills to produce food grains has its equivalence in terracing pattern on handicraft that produces identity. For Zomia, these two aspects are the most essential-food and identity. There is less concern with eschatological belief as among many other societies across the world.

Another peculiar characteristics can be found I the reverence for the Hornbill in Zomia. Hornbills are found across zomia and used as emblem by various communities. Hornbills are part of Zomia culture. Their feathers, beaks, behviour, sound etc. are used as cultural marker. Hornbill Festival is a great time for coming together of different communities.

Now, one can see the decorative pattern on the hornbill's body. It is again a reflection of terracing. Hornbill from tip to toe has band of colours neatly reflecting the striation. Similarly, even the body parts like beak and tail separately possess same characteristics.

Hornbill

Another important features about hornbill is the terracing of their habitat itself. Hornbills require large trees for nesting, and sufficient supply of food. This determines the size of habitat area to support a hornbill population. Hornbill species have particular set of requirements.

This makes several species to simultaneously occupy the same habitat. They do it by occupying different heights in the canopy of the tree. In the forests of Thailand, ornithologists have found nine hornbill species living together in same habitat. They partition their habitat by feeding at different heights in the canopy.

Inhabitants indulge in mental act to bring coherence to their existence in the ecological niche.The same pattern of simultaneous existence of different communities is found in the Zomia. The different communities occupy different heights in the mountains to settle in .This reduces the chances of conflict.

It is why when the cities have cropped up after building of various infrastructure projects by the Modern State-System, these have become polyglot and poly-ethnic as the communities at different heights maintaining separate language and culture descend down to settle .

Churachandapur in Manipur and Dequen in Yunnan in China, Ruili in Myanmar are facing the complex dynamics of myriad identities fusing and colliding.

Longi Terrace, China - image blog.chinatraveldepot.com

I find it interesting that though, Zomia resists striation, Zomia is characterized by the striation in habitat, culture and agriculture. Is this the landscape that has determined this unique thought-pattern in Zomia? Is this the art of terracing that led to the proliferation of terracing/striation in Zomia thought-pattern or is this other way round?

Is this the engagement with the dominating figure of Hornbill in Zomia sky that led to the terracing of own habitat, culture and agriculture? One thing is sure. It is the complex interaction of nature, landscape and the culture which gives unique characteristics to Zomia. Though, politically resistant to striation/hierarchy and gridding, people in Zomia have mastered the art of striation as well as their most inspiring biological figure, Hornbill!

Circle vs. Strata

Zomia is a non-state political space discovering coherence of the world-view in the stratification. The inhabitants of Zomia resist hierarchy in social status, domination by external actors and the attempt by the State to "striate' their space. The society is egalitarian and staunchly freedom-loving.

Zomia has peculiar characteristics of avoiding circles. The circle is a recurrence with fixed properties. In zomia,the movement is always perpetual and non-recursive. We have on the other hand non-Zomia, Eastern and western societies, where circles and spheres held the par of perfect knowledge.

For Parmenides or Plato, the world had a perfect shape in spheres and a perfect motion in circles. Similarly, for Hindus and Buddhist and Jains, circle is the essence of existence. The cycle of karma operates at every layer. It was not a mere coincidence that the concept of this circularity as getting back to non-movement was embodied in the symbol of 'zero' ,another circle. Similarly, the Arab society had significant engagement with cipher.

In Chinese culture, the operation of yin-yang is depicted by circle. It's interesting to find the parallels between these circle-cultures. All of these developed empires, great religions and now powerful modern State system.

Is there a dichotomy between mental landscape and socio-political landscape? Does societies which are adept in the art of striation, prone to resistance against the State system? Does the societies with circular thought-patterns easy prey to the appropriation by the State System? Will Zomia escape the encirclement by State-system through innovative method of striation?

Concluded....