Dongnan Chen’s documentary Singing in the Wilderness grapples with the questions that arise from state-supported minority and religious representation. This is not surprising as china has censored “Singing in the Wilderness”. Despite its official atheism, China has several religions such as Buddhism, Islam and Christianity among others that operate within its borders. However, all this comes with a cost of religious confrontation against government: recent news from newspapers and television stations from the region have been negative about them. Nevertheless these communities have managed to survive for many years or even centuries creating their own vibrant worlds outside the main dominant narrative.
It was only in 2021 that Singing in the Wilderness began to circulate around globally as a form of cultural conservation. This documentary dispels what western media believe and do not believe about China through real images that depict pictures and video clips on Chinese citizens involved in it. It tends to evoke thoughts or feelings about what could be going on when mainstream cinema is concerned with Chinese films. Either made by those who are known as nineties directors of golden generation or documentaries, Chinese filmmakers have generally reflected quite well over whichever contemporary historical moments in society.
The premise of Singing in the Wilderness is intriguing. In mountainous areas deep inside rural China lives an ethnic minority group known as Miao whose adherence to their cultural heritage has never waned off. The country’s culturally homogeneous background is dominated by Han which is internal cultural clash that suits contemporary politics of China better than any other element. It has been reported multiple times that Uyghurs another Muslim minority within China struggle against totalitarian control over religion being constantly being sent to labor camps and forced conversion centers. Although Christian Miao people remained undetected up till now because they lived high up on hills away from civilization – until today. And she will meet this community anew through a propaganda officer representing the Chinese government who plans to use them for global publicity.
They are special because of having a classical Christian choir; this is why the government wants to utilize it for the sake of improving China’s image worldwide. As their community gains more popularity in China and abroad, these affects their lives significantly alongside music. It has been a gradual process for them to erase what once was faith-based music. Some songs and music that had religious aspects would start disappearing and in place be replaced by state-friendly ones. There will be built a social media account for them where all elements connected with religion will disappear from their everyday life, while tourists begin to descend on the hitherto peaceful village in droves. They become not only choristers but also a spectacle worth celebrating by everyone globally throughout at least an entire year. Meanwhile, they confiscate their land so that others can occupy it as residences. Besides spiritual attacks, they are now under physical assaults.
It takes months and years, rather than centuries, to bring about this type of colonization. Among these forces were several things that took away many aspects of Miao culture including bits of their language. They are now in the situation that their forbearers found themselves often enough. Part of the village’s identity is their singing, thus making this problem worse in future perspectives. Not only do they sing for God but from a cultural stand point singing has always been used as a protective mechanism against revengeful spirits and it is believed that Miao people were given special gift of good voices. What happens when a culture is forced to adapt and assimilate into wider society? It gradually begins to disappear.
The main protagonist in Singing in the Wilderness who rejects everything is the head of the choir himself. In addition, he notes how their culture and community have turned commercialized while their songs have lost meaning. “Singing in the Wilderness” focuses on Ping and Sheng who are among those featured closely in this documentary film. These two also signify a departure from norm or tradition since there were so many odd things going on within them including name change due to marriage so as one can fit properly with another person’s status quo like what happened between Sheng’s mother and his new wife; Ping got married outside her own community where religion was not much regarded by her husband as compared to politics which meant socialism all along. However Sheng wants out of his arranged marriage desperately because divorce is prohibited by Christianity, especially with increasing popularity among members involved into performance; that makes him lose faithfulness towards religion.
Besides, Singing in the Wilderness does an excellent job at balancing modernity with traditional cultures. This can be put differently; quite often it seems like development occurs when small towns become blessed with internet or any other foreign materials written for them specifically because they don’t speak such languages. And just as some American Indian tribes sought independence from reservation poverty, so did the Miao youth and others feel that their way of life might be improved by emulating some of the practices they had seen during their visits to e.g. city in the film. The fact that these people are being used as foreign policy tools by the Chinese government is explicit. Is it moral to manipulate them? May be only viewer can answer this question. However, this makes for a more difficult film conversation especially with no money and time; therefore avenues need to be discovered and laid open for exploration. Involving a government in any scenario is complicated when it comes to anything about certain manner of living being eliminated outrightly.
The filmmaker, in one of his conscious decisions opted for what to reveal on the screen. Singing in the Wilderness, a documentary film, is not only a replacement for that which may disappear within three decades but also an act of defiance. By digging deeper into this community and allowing their authentic struggles and experiences to show up on the screen, it legitimizes their existence that so many want to disappear. The exploitation of minorities is not a new concept or idea throughout human history, and cultural genocide remains a problem even today. Although Singing in the Wilderness could have devoted some more space to explaining Miao history and its complexities, the documentary always manages to stay grounded in the moment at hand while encouraging audiences to go beneath its surface. The most ironic aspect of these forms of colonization is that Miao were initially non-Christian; religion and missionaries appeared in their midst due to fear about their way of life.
Traditional elements related to this ethnic group such as details of buildings or houses can be seen here along with reasons why singing is considered sacred within these communities. It also involves looking at what has been happening between Miao homes and development activities taking place around them creating the loss especially through tearing down literal homes of culture by replacing them with something entirely new from outside standards. This ties back into how some aspects of traditional beliefs often fail certain villagers. This is why people want out from these communities’ perspective. A person can find numerous things which might disengage him or her from organized religion however few highlights are: it no longer benefits them or adds value in anyone’s life, they become alienated from communal spaces or it generally becomes different.
By playing both sides, it offers a more comprehensive picture instead of having just “Us versus Them”! Often times heroes do have flaws and villains do have good sides too although perhaps one main message we get from all this is that any conformity either religious or government authorized often results into push back and causes some people to be left behind in order to achieve a revival or modernization. When everything is commoditized, the world becomes small and global with the objects in it belonging to everyone, even faith and art. The traditional Miao culture holds that there are ghosts that can harm living. What ghosts are being usurped and brought to the surface with what is happening in the village? Is it true that elders’ fears of apparitions coming back are genuine?
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