Canaan Hymns

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Canaan Hymns
Chinese name
Hanyu Pinyin
Jiānán Shīxuǎn
ReleasedContinuous since 1990No. of Hymns1,810 as of July 2017

Canaan Hymns or Songs of Canaan (

pneumatology and eschatology
against the backdrop of Chinese political realities.

Canaan hymns are one of the most successful underground Christian publication in China. They are used by many Protestant churches in the country. Both

Chinese government has targeted censorship efforts on the distributors of the hymnal. Overseas Chinese communities and Taiwanese
churches use the hymnal, too.

Even people with little education can learn the hymns, which are short and musically simple, usually rhymed, and resemble

Confucian
undertones make them more acceptable than foreign hymnals to Chinese worshipers. There is a strong emphasis on the communal aspects of the Christian church. Some hymns are patriotic.

History

The hymns are composed by Lü Xiaomin, a daughter of peasants of the Hui minority born in 1970,[3] who converted to Christianity.[4] She started composing the hymns in 1990.[4][5] As of July 2017, there are 1,810 Canaan hymns.[6]

Use

The songs are extremely popular all over China.

Protestant Chinese churches, both in the People's Republic of China and in Taiwan and have been published in both countries. Overseas Chinese communities use them as well.[9]

Canaan hymns are one of the most successful underground Christian publication in China.[2] They are predominantly used in the Chinese house churches, where they are considered its "official hymnal". They also see use in the government-sanctioned Three-Self Patriotic Movement churches.[10] Through its official channels, the Three-Self Patriotic Movement has criticized the hymns. A 1999 issue of its Tian Feng magazine scrutinized the hymn 195, "Lord, Have Mercy on China, Hold Back Your Anger", in particular for questioning the Movement's view of Christianity in service of Chinese socialism.[11] The government has targeted publishers and distributors of the hymnal.[2]

Neither Lü nor anyone in her family has any formal musical training.

Chinese American backers in particular.[7]

The 2012 Chinese film Back to 1942 featured the Canaan hymn "The River of Life" as its theme song. The hymn "I Love My Home" has also appeared on China Central Television,[16][17] sung by a Christian family,[16] despite the channel's reputation as propaganda of the officially atheist state.[18]

Many Chinese regard the Canaan hymns a gift from God.[14] Chinese Christians have attributed miraculous healings to those singing the hymns.[11]

Musical and theological features

My Lord leads me into His gates
Our loving words flow endlessly
Our love is as strong as death
Many waters cannot quench it
My Lord is radiant
Outstanding among all others
I am His and He is mine
We will never part
He takes me to the fields
He takes me to the vineyards
He feeds His flock among the lilies
I am with Him forever

"The Lord and I" (Canaan hymn 85)[19]

The Canaan hymns are short,

Bible verses that come to her mind while praying, as a plea to a local need or as thanks.[21] Conceiving a new hymn can take as little as five to ten minutes.[14] The songs are simple, "a few lines of doxology or lament";[21] the figures of speech used are everyday and rural.[22] The songs are easier to learn than those featured in the Chinese New Hymnal, the official hymnal of the state-controlled China Christian Council. Even uneducated and illiterate people can grasp the Canaan hymns, which has contributed to their popularity.[9] They can be sung without instrumentation,[23] and are sung in church, at home gatherings, and when alone.[9]

The songs are

Book of Psalms.[22] The lyrics of the hymns are theologically mindful of a tension between China's political realities and aspirations of Chinese Christians. These thoughts are reflected on the Second Coming of Jesus and there is a strong eschatological current.[24] Early hymns in particular focused on the theme of overcoming hardships.[21] The hymnody reflects a kind of "enduring acceptance of state persecution."[7]

Their Chinese elements and

Confucian undertones make them more acceptable than foreign hymnals to Chinese audiences.[20] There is a strong emphasis on the communal aspects of the Christian church. Some hymns, such as "Chinese Heart" (134) and "The Chinese shall Rise" (180), are markedly patriotic.[25] Canaan hymns also exhibit the "Three self principles" that are central to Chinese Protestantism, "self-governance, self-reliance, and self-propagation", often supplemented with a fourth one: "ingeniousness".[26] These aspects make Canaan hymns compatible with government-sanctioned Christianity.[22] Some have the air of work songs,[27] and even contain mimicry of Cultural Revolution era propaganda songs.[24]

See also

References

Notes

  1. ^ Starr 2016, p. 28.
  2. ^ a b c Zhou 2011, p. 156.
  3. ^ Aikman 2012, p. 143.
  4. ^ a b c d Starr 2016, p. 356.
  5. ^ The Canaan Hymns 2003, 14:00.
  6. ^ Wang 2017.
  7. ^ a b c d Starr 2016, p. 355.
  8. ^ Aikman 2012, p. 112.
  9. ^ a b c d Strandenæs 2008, p. 156.
  10. ^ Neeley 2016, p. 591.
  11. ^ a b Aikman 2012, p. 110.
  12. ^ Aikman 2012, p. 109.
  13. ^ Wang 2015.
  14. ^ a b c Hawn 2015, p. 2665.
  15. ^ Aikman 2012, p. 111.
  16. ^ a b The Canaan Hymns 2003, 44:00.
  17. ^ Golf 2013, p. 164.
  18. ^ Golf 2013, pp. 28, 163.
  19. ^ The Canaan Hymns 2003, 39:00.
  20. ^ a b Neeley 2016, pp. 591–592.
  21. ^ a b c d Starr 2016, p. 357.
  22. ^ a b c Starr 2016, p. 358.
  23. ^ The Canaan Hymns 2003, 4:00.
  24. ^ a b Starr 2016, p. 359.
  25. ^ Strandenæs 2008, pp. 157–158.
  26. ^ Strandenæs 2008, p. 158.
  27. ^ Starr 2016, pp. 357–358.

Works cited

Further reading

External links
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