Zambezia (2001), XXVIII (i).ETHICS AMONG THE SHONATARISAYI A. CH1MUKADepartment of Religious Studies, Classics and Philosophy, University ofZimbabweAbstractThis essay is a contribution towards an appreciation o/'Hunhu/Ubuntu asthe basis of African philosophy. It seeks to demonstrate, by means of aspecific example taken from an Ahican text, that within the African culturethere are still some values worth promoting. The argument to be proffered isthat values of Hunhu in Shona are quite rich and, if cultivated, couldcontribute to an enrichment of human civilization.INTRODUCTIONThis article serves a dual purpose. First, it is a direct reaction to the workof Michael Gelfand who, on the one hand, admits that the Shona hadcommendable moral values but, on the other, explains that these weremere survival instincts.1 It seeks to show that he contradicted himself byappraising the Shona as having moral values but, at the same time,arguing that these were mere instincts. He appears to have looked at theShona people from a prejudicial perspective. As a result, he seems tohave developed a conceptual blight, which prevented him from penetratinginto, and openly acknowledging the presence of metaphysical andepistemological principles in the Shona worldview.The article is a contribution towards efforts by post-colonial Africanphilosophers to shift emphasis from the dominant Euro-centric conceptionof human values to a pluralistic one in which the cultures of otherpeoples are to be recognised as contributing to and enriching anunderstanding of humanity as a whole. The Shona people in particularand the African people in general have been presented as having adistorted humanity precisely because some Europeans were bent onundermining their cultures in the name of civilisation. Secondly, thearticle tries to point to a philosophical foundation of Shona ethics withthe hope of contributing towards the ongoing movement of culturalrevival in Africa. The article first examines existing scholarship on African1 Michael Gelfand, The Genuine Shona: Survival Values of an Ahican Culture (Gweru, MamboPress, 1973). 101.2324 ETHICS AMONG THE SHONAcultures before analysing Gelfand's work and his understanding of Shonavalues. Finally, it attempts to reconstruct the system of Shona values.SCHOLARSHIP ON AFRICAN CULTURE IN GENERAL AND SHONACULTURE IN PARTICULARStudies on indigenous cultures in Zimbabwe, which were carried out byethnographers before independence, were driven by Euro-centrism.2 Theproblem is not that the scholars were European; rather the problem liesin the fact that they subscribed to a Euro-centric conception of historythat made them biased against Africans and their institutions. TsenaySerequeberhan defines Euro-centrism as "a pervasive bias located inmodernity's self-consciousness of itself which "is grounded at its core inthe metaphysical belief or idea (/dee) that European existence isqualitatively superior to other forms of human life".3Modernity has been construed as "the globalisation of Europe" whichmanifested itself in imperialism and colonialism.4 The philosophy ofhistory, which projects European existence as true human existence, isexplicitly expressed in the writings of Hume, Kant, Hegel and Marx and,more recently, in Fukuyama.5 It justified empire building as a way ofexporting European civilisation. This school of thought had no respectwhatsoever for Africans. For instance, Hume did not believe that Africanswere capable of accomplishing anything worth recognising.6 Similarly,Kant thought that Africans were an inferior and useless breed of mankind!who were fit only to assume the role of servitude.7According to both Hume and Kant's anthropology of races, Africans(Negroes) were irrational. Since rationality had been used to distinguishman from the rest of the animals, or to signify humanness, if the Africanwas not rational, it followed that he/she was not human and, hence, wasnot capable of moral character; the very basis of dignity and respect.8This perspective of the African people arguably coloured colonialresearchers' views about Shona culture even before they met the people.2 Phfi"ay Serecjueberhan, "The Critique of Eurocentrism and the Practice of AfricanCambric? e 19971" liT"*' Chikudi"Eze (ed) />°s'-Co/o'"a' African Philosophy (Blackwell,Cambridge, 1997), 142.3 Ibid.4 Ibid.5 Fukuyana actually thinks that Europe occupies the central stage and other cultures thethTcivUteed '" "^ periphery'for him' wi" of their own a«ord, strive to be part of6 Eze-Chikudi, Post-Colonial African Philosophy, 7.7 Ibid., 116.8 Ibid., 120-1.T. A. CHIMUKA 25Most traders, missionaries and colonial administrators, though conductingtheir research for different reasons, had this foundational philosophythat Africans were incapable of contributing anything to human civilisation,for they lacked true rational and moral character.9If it is correct that some scholars of European descent were driven bya Euro-centric philosophy of history, how can they be expected to havegenuinely sought to establish the truth about African cultures? It is thecontention of this article that these studies were done in bad faith and,hence, there is need to re-examine their assumptions and contributions.In his book Discourse and Method, Descartes, a French philosopher, arguedthat if one wanted to rebuild a city on the place where an old one existed,one had first to destroy the old city and not build the new one on top ofthe old. Similarly, in order to establish colonial empires in Africa, Europehad to destroy existing African social and political structures to makeway for the new civilisation. Using the same approach, it would appearthat if Africans wish to restore or to reconstruct their institutions, theyfirst of all have to destroy Euro-centric views of African social andphilosophical institutions.Positive scholarship on African culture, in general, and the Shonaculture in particular, has recently emerged. For instance, Chimhundu(1980), Samkange (1980), Hamutyineyi et al (1987), Mutsvairo et al (1997)and Ramose (1999) have initiated what, hopefully, will be a growing trendof promoting serious research on Shona culture. What is distinctiveabout their approach is that it is an honest and insightful insiders'perspective which reveals the richness and diversity of Shona culture,unlike the Euro-centric studies by outsiders who tended to misrepresentand distort it.In his book The Genuine Shona, Gelfand correctly observes that theShona had a high moral system when he says:The Shona have clear concepts of the virtues and vices and they havemuch to say about the aberrations of personality. So they have adefinite idea of what constitutes behaviour in their society and itsimportance. Good relations between one man and another are boundto suffer if one should commit an anti-social act.10He admits in the passage above that Europeans, who first came intocontact with the Shona, found a complex moral order. He admits also, asa number of anthropologists and moral philosophers do, that moralvalues are subjective and therefore, relative to particular contexts and9 Ibid., 116.10 Gelfand, The Genuine Shona, 52.26 ETHICS AMONG THE SHONAsituations.11 For Gelfand, Shona virtues were socially determined and inline with their conception of virtue.Furthermore, Gelfand identified a wide range of values, whichregulated conduct and moulded 'hunhu' [commendable character] all ofwhich are intricately linked to religious beliefs.12 According to him, thishelps to explain why the Shona were highly ordered. In his words,It needs very little imagination on the part of anyone living in Rhodesiaof the late twentieth century to picture the country as it was withoutmedical services, without roads or quick transport, without mills orbakeries, without a police force vigilant to suppress factional fighting.In the Rhodesia of a century ago and still in the Rhodesia of tencenturies ago, man stood at bay. Survival was possible only with thehelp of other men. But even then, if men united to defend themselvesagainst a hostile environment, safety would be an illusion if thecommunity were a divided one.13In this passage, Gelfand acknowledged that there was social cohesionamong the Shona and that this cohesion was based on their system ofvalues.Gelfand correctly identified a number of virtues upheld by the Shona,such as truthfulness, humility, love, compassion, self-control, forgiveness,mercifulness, sufficiency, trustworthiness, strength, courage andindustriousness, among others.14 He also identified some vices such asdetraction, lying, pride, covetousness, revenge, hatred, ingratitude,negligence, aggressiveness and selfishness.15Gelfand thought, however, that the Shona system, which appearedwell organised and elaborate, was, in reality, not based on moral valuesbut on the need for survival. He stated:When we speak of the teleology of the lymphatic system, of a humanbody, we are speaking about an end; the defence of a human systemagainst bacterial invasion and the observable fact that the lymphaticsystem of the human body is a means towards an end. The reaction toan attack on the human system, when an epidermis is broken, is notconscious, but it does take place. In much the same way, the teleologyof Shona culture is not something of which the Shona individual isconscious; it is rather something of which the observer of Shona culturebecomes aware the more he observes the people. The end of Shonaculture is survival. The means towards the end hinge on the complexusof beliefs, practices, taboos, social conventions and so on that have, in11 J. L. Mackie, Ethics: Inventing Right and Wrong (Harmondsworth, Penguin, 1977), Chapter12 Gelfand, The Genuine Shona, 102.13 Ibid, 65-81.14 Ibid., 82-100.15 Ibid., 101.T. A. CHIMUKA 27fact, succeeded in assisting the Shona people to survive as a people fora longer period of time, than the English people, as such have survived.16It is interesting to note how Gelfand relegates the Shona system ofvalues to instinctive behaviour. If the Shona were highly ordered, asevidenced by the fact that the behaviour of the people was well regulated,and if the Shona had a conception of what was good, as evidenced by theefforts to promote 'hunhu' [humanity], why should they be regarded asirrational? In addition, if the Shona were aware of virtues such as 'ururami'(rectitude)17 and vices such as 'hundyire' (covetousness),18 how can theybe considered to have had no moral character?Gelfand's view of the irrationality of the Shona value system revealsthe basic suppositions underlying European intellectualism, namely, thatAfricans, in general, and the Shona, in particular, were, qualitatively, notdifferent from other non-rational animals. Consequently, they could nothave had the capacity to develop religious and moral systems comparableto those of the West.19 What the Africans were projecting was pseudo-rationality, hence the need to explain this away.20 Thus Gelfand conductedclinical studies and interviewed his Shona patients on what they knewabout themselves,21 in order, scientifically, to discover the emotionalmake-up of the living Shona.22 It is contended here that Gelfand's medicalresearch methodology was ill-equipped to bring out the underlyingontological as well as gnomic scheme of the Shona people.The point has to be made, however, that, while there were broadsimilarities in Western scholars' views about Africa, there were somedifferences among them, which have to be acknowledged. For example,while Hegel, Hume and Kant denied that Africans had contributed anythingto world history, scholars such as Levy-Bruhl, P. Temples, and Gelfandaccepted the fact that there were non-western cultures that were importantin their own respect. Nevertheless, they all shared the assumption thatEuropean civilisation was the dominant force in world history. The neteffect was the marginalisation of non-European cultures.To return to Gelfand, one may be struck by what appears to be anattempt to denounce the rationality of the Shona and present it asreflexivity. For instance, he wrote:The teleology of Shona culture is not the same as the sum of what anynumber of Shona individuals seem to consider the most desirable16 Ibid., 74.17 Ibid., 92.18 Ibid.W Placide Tempels, Bantu Philosophy (Presence Africaine, Paris, 1959), 50-56.10 Ibid.21 Gelfand, The Genuine Shona, 104.22 Ibid.28 ETHICS AMONG THE SHONAthings in life. Just as it is hardly possible for any human deliberately toarrest the flow of lymph, because the lymphatic system has its ownteleology, so there is in Shona culture something stronger than anyindividual or any number of individuals to which individual likes anddislikes have to be subordinated. The existence of this higher imperativeis recognized in a simple proverb, 'Murao ndishe', that is to say, 'Notany man but traditional custom is the ruler of the people . . .' Theimperatives of Shona culture might perhaps be reduced to the threebasic guidelines 'live together', 'keep the peace', and 'multiply'.23This raises the question of how Gelfand can talk of "a higherimperative", if Shona values were instinctive. Why should the Shonapeople's conduct be regulated by the "three basic guidelines" if it was notinformed by a well-conceived system of morals? It was not logical for himto both affirm and undermine Shona institutions at the same time.Moreover, he deliberately ignored oral traditions,24 which would havegiven him access to Shona culture and allowed him to appreciate themetaphysical views which explained what he saw in normative practicesof the Shona people.25THE SOURCE OF MORALS AMONG THE SHONAContrary to what most Western scholars thought, the Shona people haddeveloped effective social institutions and had evolved an elaboratereligion.26 They had a functional legal system, which found its expressionin the Dare concept (Dare was a place for the administration of justice).27They also had an ethic.28 Samkange and Ramose claim that theseinstitutions were based on Hunhuism/Ubuntuism29 or Ubuntu philosophy.30The Shona had thus evolved a complex culture of their own which wasnot, indeed should not have expected to be, akin to those found inEurope in order for them to be recognised.23 Ibid., 102.24 Orature is an elusive concept. Scholars use it to refer to oral literature, but still this iscontroversial.25 Gelfand, The Genuine Shona, 103.26 Ibid., 110-137.27 There is considerable literature in the works for example, Gombe J. M. The Shona Idiom(Mercury Press, Harare, 1995); Holleman J. F. Shona Customary Law (Oxford UniversityPress, 1952); Goldin B. and Gelfand M. African Law and Custom in Rhodesia (Juta and Co.Ltd., Cape Town, 1975); May Joan, Zimbabwean Women in Customary and Colonial Law(Mambo Press/Holmes McDougall, 1983); May Joan, Changing People, Changing Laws(Mambo Press, 1987) pointing to the fact that Africans had an elaborate legal system.28 Look also at Shona folklore tales.29 Stanlake Samkange and Tommie-Marrie Samkange, Hunhuism or Ubuntuism: A ZimbabweIndigenous Political Philosophy (Salisbury, Graham Publishing. 1980), 9.30 Magobe B. Ramose, African Philosophy Through Ubuntu (Harare, Mond Books, 1999), 49.T. A. CHiMUKA 29Like other societies, the Shona were interested in cosmologkal issuesand, also like other societies, their attempts to explain how the worldcame about led them into religious speculation. They concluded that theworld came from "Musiki" or "Mwari" (the most powerful Spiritual beingwho created the heavens and the earth and sustains all things) or"Nyadenga" (He who dwells in the Heavens). Referring to the Shonaconception of God, Gelfand wrote:According to Shona philosophy, God has no shape. He is not in theform of a human being. The Shona say that the creator is, as far as theyknow, a whiff 'of wind or air' who inhabits the Heavens above but whomay be found also in places as the depth of the earth, in the mountainsor forests. The Shona are vague about the form of the Creator.31Gelfand's understanding of the Shona concept of God was clearlyflawed, for he misunderstood the fact that, for the Shona, God was not"air" but "spirit", for, while the Shona word "rnweya" may mean "air",when used in the context of Mwari mweya, it translates into 'God is aSpiritual Being'.God's other appelation among the Shona is "Musikavan.hu" (He whocreated man).32 Metaphysically speaking, one can deduce that there existin the universe three modes of being which are; the spiritual, and physicalbeings as well as a combination of the first two modes. The spiritualmode of being can be instantiated by Mwari Himself, 'Vadzimu' (ancestralspirits) and 'Mashave' (other spirits which are not necessarily ancestral),while the physical mode can be instantiated by 'gomo' (mountain), 'muti',(tree) and 'gwavava' (a member of the lizard family). The spiritual andphysical modes of being, interfuse into animate objects such as 'munhu'(human being), 'mbongoro' (donkey) and other sentient beings. The modesof being found in the universe relate to one another but, ultimately,spiritual beings are more powerful than the other modes of being, at leastin the sense that Mwari, who is spirit, created all else. These modes ofbeing are known because they present themselves to the sensory receptorsand also because they reveal themselves (in the case of spiritual beings)in certain ways. Magobe Ramose (1999) has given an elaborate expositionof Ubuntu (Hunhu) philosophy; the basis of ontology and epistemologyfor the Bantu-speaking people of which the Shona is part. According tohim, the existential condition, namely being, is one and is pivoted onubuntu (/?un/iu).33 Hunhu is the ontological, epistemological and moralfountain of African philosophy, hence he says:31 Gelfand, The Genuine Shona, 111.32 Ibid.33 Ramose, African Philosophy Through Ubuntu, 49.30 ETHICS AMONG THE SHONAthe African tree of knowledge stems from ubuntu with which it isconnected indivisibly. Ubuntu then is the wellspring flowing with Africanontology and epistemology.34Ramose observes that Ubuntu/Hunhu is a conjunction of two wordsubu- and -ntu. Ubu signifies "being" in general before concrete manifestationinto particular objects such as howa, chinyanegore, dhumukwa.35 Thus hesays:Ubu- evokes the idea of be-ing in general. It is the enfolded be-ingbefore it manifests itself in the concrete form or mode of ex-istence of aparticular entity. Ubu- as enfolded being is always oriented towardsunfoldment, that is, incessant continual concrete manifestation throughparticular forms or modes of being. In this sense ubu- is alwavs orientedtowards -ntu.36Furthermore, it must be noted that though linguistically separate,ubu- and -ntu are not metaphysically distinct Š they are just two aspectsof the same reality:On the contrary, they are mutually founding in the sense that they aretwo aspects of be-ing as a one-ness and an indivisible whole-ness.Accordingly ubuntu is the fundamental ontological and epistemologicalcategory in African thought of the Bantu-speaking people. It is theindivisible one-ness and whole-ness of ontology and epistemology. Ubu-as the generalized understanding of be-ing, may be said to be distinctlyontological, whereas, -ntu, as the nodal point at which be-ing assumesconcrete form or a mode of being in the process of continual unfoldment,may be said to be distinctly epistemological.37In the case of munhu/umuntu, the prefix mu/umu is like hu-/ubu- in thesense that hu-/ubu- designates general being, while mu-/umu- is a specificinstantiation of being. Munhu/umuntu depicts human beings, the originatorof social institutions.38 He argues:Umuntu, then, is the specific concrete manifestation of umu-: it is themovement away from generalised to concrete objects. Umuntu is thespecific entity, which continues to conduct an enquiry into be-ing,experience, knowledge and truth.39Since Hunhu/Ubuntu is the fountain of African thought, it may thereforebe invoked to explain language and conduct. 'Munhu', as part of hunhu(being) is a metaphysical entity, namely, the individual human being.343536373839Ibid.,Ibid.,Ibid.Ibid.Ibid.,Ibid.49.50.51.T. A. CHIMUKA 31However, since life is a shared enterprise, munhu vunhu, namely, one'shumanity is affirmed as one affirms the humanity of others and viceversa. According to Ramose, therefore,Umuntu ngumuntu ngavantu (Motho ke motho ku batho). AlthoughEnglish language does not exhaust the meaning ol this maxim oraphorism, it may nonetheless be construed to mean that to be a humanbe-ing is to affirm one's humanity by recognizing the humanity ofothers and, on that basis, establish humane relations with them. Ubuntu,understood as be-ing human (human-ness), a humane, respectful andpolite attitude towards others constitutes the core meaning of thisaphorism.40The Shona realised that life was lived in the community. Ultimately,the individual's conduct was sanctioned by the same society. It wasconsidered to be good if it satisfied the requirements of hunhu and wascondemned if it did not. However, as Samkange41 rightly observed, theconception of hunhu was bound to vary "to the extent that individualgroups have undergone changes not experienced by others".42 In generalhowever, conduct had to be in line with the community's conception ofhunhu hwemunhu (the moral character befitting a cultured human being).In the chapter where they discussed "hunhu", Stanlake and Tommie-Marrie Samkange provided the following telling example of this conceptwhich I paraphrase thus; While driving in the Mhondoro village one day,[Samkange's] Chevrolet got stuck in a ditch. Two youngsters from anearby village inspanned four oxen and towed the car out. He thankedthen profusely and was at the point of doing what every Westerner (whiteman) would have done in the circumstances Š paying them. An old mancame onto the scene, recognizing Samkange, he greeted him as "tezvara"(father-in-law) and stopped the boys from taking the payment on thegrounds of "hunhu" Š "Nokuti hahungave hunhu ihwo hwo. Hazviite kutinditambire chinhu kwaari iye mwana wake ndiinaye mumba".43 [Becausethat would not be consistent with hunhu philosophy. I cannot acceptpayment when I am living with his daughter in my house.]Samkange argues that munhu in Shona and umuntu in Ndebele "meansa person, a human being or humanness".44 Samkange emphasized thatthe Shona and the Ndebele made a distinction between white and black,hence the statement "Hona munhu uyo ari kufamba nemurungu" or iniSindebele, "Nanguyana umuntu uhamba lo mlungu" (There is a 'munhu'walking with the white man).45 He also says:40 Ibid., 52.41 Samkange, Hunhuism, 39.42 Ibid., 35-6.43 Ibid. 38.44 Ibid45 Ibid., 39.32 ETHICS AMONG THE SHONAIt is presumed that Bantu people Š by and large, share a commonconception of Hunhuism which varies only to the extent that individualgroups have undergone changes not experienced by others. Thus, forinstance, the code of behaviour, the attitude to other people and to lifeof a ruler or an induna, in a highly centralized Nguni kingdom, will bedifferent from that of an 'Ishe' in a less centralized and less martialShona state.46What the Samkanges say suggests that person-hood or humannesswas limited to the Bantu peoples.47 This is an intriguing observation inthat it seems to exclude some human beings from vanhu and may easilypass for an essentialist conception of identity. What is interesting howeveris that, without even considering foreigners, there were members of therespective communities who would deviate from the expected conductwho would attract the question: "munhu here?" (Is this expressive ofhunhu)?Furthermore, in as much as foreigners were not cultured in hunhu,they would never be vanhu in the social and moral sense of the termsince they would not be socialised in hunhu. However, there was nothingprecluding someone who might appear different from the rest of theShona, such as masope (albinos), from being socialised as munhu. Thus,it is clear that with respect to identity the Shona were not committed toessentialism. In addition, emphasis on hunhu/ubuntu was sociallyexpedient. It was an attempt at 'identity' and 'differentiation'. Those whodid not display hunhu were considered deviants and so risked beingostracized for they posed a threat to the stability and peace within the'nyika' (territory). In addition, children were socialized along the lines ofhunhu so that the values would be carried forward.In the Shona worldview, people were looked at as different from andmore dignified than other animals, hence the proverbs 'Munhu-munhuhaaenzani nembwa (A person is a person s/he cannot be compared to adog) or Murombo munhu' (Even the poor is a person too).48 The goal ofmorality was to improve 'munhu' informed by 'hunhu'. It was believedthat this would contribute towards the grand goal of self-realization.Practically, 'munhu ane hunhu'(& well-cultured person) was conceived asendowed with a disposition to act virtuously. He/she would exhibit "tsikadzakanaka" (virtuous behaviour). Shona virtues considered fundamentalfor community life can be put into numerous broad categories:46 Ibid., 36.47 Ibid.48 Hamutyineyi, M. etai, Tsumo-Shumo: Shona Proverbial Lore and Wisdom (Gwelo, MamboPress, 1974), 33.T. A. CHIMUKA 33'kunzwanana' (mutual understanding), 'kugarisana' (peaceful co-existence), 'kuwadzana' (fellowship), 'hushamwari' (friendship),'kudyidzana' (this word captures the idea of mutual hospitality but is notreducible to it), and 'mushandirapamwe' (co-operation). These conceptsexpress major values, which can be broken down into minor values; thefunction of which was to facilitate conduct in the community.It is interesting to note that the social and economic environment ofthe Shona people largely determined their conceptions of conduct andother aspects of life. This is a point noted by Bourdillon (1982) when hesays: "To understand the Shona, we have to look at their past, the historyfrom which they arose".49 By analysing how the Shona people wereorganised politically, socially and economically, it could become clearhow they developed their moral and other values. It must, however, beborne in mind that, although the material culture of a people determines,to a greater extent, the consciousness of a people,50 metaphysicalconsciousness remains the ideal by which cultures progress. The Shonawere a people sustained by a subsistence economy.51 Their communitarianview of relationships, co-operation, mutual respect, and understandingwas informed by this condition, insecurity from possible foreign attackswas a driving force to their solidarity.Gelfand thought that all was hinged on the teleology of survival,which controlled every aspect of Shona existence and behaviour.52'Survival' means 'preservation' according to the Oxford Advanced Learner'sDictionary.53 While it is true that preservation of the group or sub-groupswas paramount, it would be grossly incorrect to view that as instinctive,for that would undermine their rationality. There are certain conceptssuch as 'kununa' (in the proverb 'kakara kasingapambari hakanuni' (Alazy creature will not grow fat) or "Kupfuma kunowanikwa nedikita'(Industry is the gateway to riches) which suggests that, for the Shona,the aim of human life was to promote one's happiness or well being andthe flourishing of society as a whole.'Kununa' symbolizes abundance. Physical and mental health isnormally promoted by the availability of adequate life-sustaining and life-enhancing resources such as food and tools as well as by stable andpeaceful environments. 'Dikita' (sweat) signifies industry. The Shonawere quite aware that people had to work hard in order to improve49 Bourdilon M. F.C, The Shona Peoples (Gweru, Mambo Press, 1987), 3.50 Ibid.51 Ibid.52 Gelfand, The Genuine Shona, 103.53 Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1995), 204.34 ETHICS AMONG THE SHONAthemseleves. They had to transform their environment through engagingthemselves in the productive process. As they produced more, theychanged themselves and so could afford to be happy. This clearly showsthat the Shona system of values was a great deal more than just survivalvalues. The Shona knew that people had to chart the course of theirdestiny, hence the sayings; 'Hupenyu mutoro' (Life is a formidablechallenge) and 'Hupenyu makwikwi' (Life is a race)."Life", the Shona believed, "is like a heavy load that one cannot easilycarry all by oneself". This realisation necessitates the group approach tothe challenges of life. Since life is like a race, individuals or groups ofindividuals have to face the challenge. In a bid to meet the challenges oflife, the Shona discovered values worth promoting in the community.Experience was.the chief educator. Elders in the village had gone thoughvaried experiences, such as wars, famine, joy, disease and death. Theyalso observed nature and other animals around them, hence they couldcapture the truths of their experiences in symbolic and figurative languagein order to teach the young and the inexperienced what to expect in life.Shona proverbs, to which Gombe ascribes pedagogic and judiciaryfunctions, were developed and utilised to express some of these views oflife.54The Shona developed meta-concepts such as 'kuenzanisa/kuenzaisa'(justice conceived as fairness); 'kukodzera/kuringana' Qustice as desert);'kudzorera pamavambo' (retributive justice); a concept captured in thestory of "Mutongi gaua maenzanise", and 'kugouera' (distributive justice);'hunaku' (goodness), 'kuzvibata' (self-discipline) and 'rudo' (love), amongothers. All these concepts were designed to address the various needs ofsociety and helped to promote 'kunzivanana', 'kugarisana'', which wereconsidered pre-conditions for peace, stability and flourishing of the wholesociety.The emphasis on 'kugara kunzwana (mutual understanding andrespect), according to Chimhundu (1980), shows that Shona conduct wasguided by the need to avoid excesses. He says:A long list of opposing pairs of proverbs, which may superficiallyappear to be contradictory, can be compiled. Such pairs are intendedto draw us to a golden mean: The more proverbs are grouped intoclasses which form contradictory pairs, the more their users appear aspeople who put a premium on moderation. Even those proverbs thatexpress specific sentiments but cannot be similarly paired also tendtowards the golden mean. As a guide to good behaviour, the Shonaproverbs point out the need for moderation.5554 J. M. Gombe, The Shona Idiom (Harare. Mercury Press, 1995), 15-22.55 Herbert Chimhundu, "Shumo, Tsumo and Socialisation", in Zambezia, VUI (1980), 42-43.T. A. CHIMUKA 35The Shona had a clear conception of goodness as a social value.One's conduct was considered good if it promoted the well-being of thecommunity. The community could only be buttressed through valuessuch as 'kunzwanana'. This appears in the proverbial saying 'kugarakunzwana\ literally translated as "Living together is impossible withoutmutual respect and understanding". This was true in marriage and inother personal or civic relationships. Other concepts such as 'hukama','husahwira', 'mushandirapamwe', 'kubatana', 'kuuimbika', 'kunyarana','kukudzana'and 'kudyidzana', among many others, also feature regularlyin traditional literature. For the Shona, life in the 'nyika' was inconceivablewithout kunzwanana. Good relations were characterised by mutualunderstanding and respect. 'Kudyidzana' (dining together) practicallyreflected 'kunzwanana'. In a number of folklore tales insights on Shonavalues can be obtained. In some cases, the animals were presented asblood relatives of others.56In the story, 'Tsuro na Gudo', these animals are 'sekuru nemuzukuru'(The hare and the baboon are presented as uncle and nephew). In othercases, the relationship was one based on civic friendship. All the non-blood relationships were entered into in trust until one of the partiesbehaved badly. In all these stories, hushamwari/husahwira (genuinefriendship was strengthened by 'kudyidzana' Š mutual hospitality).Extending a hand of friendship was always symbolised by sharing food,hence the proverb 'Hukama igasva hunotozadzistva nekudya' (Norelationship is complete unless the parties end up dinning together).Food is a source of life, or of the rejuvenation of strength. One way ofpromoting another's well-being was to provide a source of life, or arenewal of power. This is more than just goodwill. It is how the communitywas regenerated, strengthened and realized.Many studies of Shona culture conceived of 'kunzwanananekudyidzana' simply as "civic friendship and hospitality". For example,the Rhodesian Ministry of Information, Immigration and Tourism produceda pamphlet in 1969 entitled The Man and His Ways in which the indigenouspeoples were depicted as hospitable. Another scholar who made explicitreference to hospitality was Posselt (1978) who wrote:Hospitality has always been a shining virtue of the natives; it is readilyextended to all members of a family or clan. The stranger, provided hedoes not belong to a hostile community, will receive shelter and food.57Indeed, the Shona welcomed visitors ( relatives, friends and sometimescomplete strangers), whom they fed and provided with shelter throughout56 G. Fortune, Ngano, Vol. I, II, ///(Harare, Mercury Press, 1980).57 Posselt F. W. T, Fact and Fiction (Bulawayo, Books of Rhodesia, 1978), 111.36 ETHICS AMONG THE SHONAtheir stay. It was their profound belief that 'kunzwanana1 (civic friendship)would follow as a natural consequence. This does not mean, as oftensuggested, that they were too accommodative or over-tolerant to theextent of making themselves easily taken advantage of. 'Kudyidzana'(mutual hospitality) did not mean that the Shona were laying themselvesopen to exploitation, for they strongly believed in the adage: one goodturn deserves another QKandiro kanoenda kunobva kamwe'~). In modernethical theory, this is akin to the maxim 'Do unto others what you wouldhave them do unto you'. 'Kunzwanana', the broader concept under which'kudyidzana' falls, implies a mutual desire to promote each other's well-being, happiness and self-realisation. Necessarily built into it are valuesof mutual respect, co-operation, love, and recognition.To be a member of a 'nyika' meant that all others recognised the factthat no one, not even the chief, was permitted to trample on one's basicinterests. 'Hundyire' (covetousness) was a term which was used to referto the process of using 'natural might and greed' rather than theapplication of the principles of 'justice' to distribute social goods andservices to the self and to others. Hundyire was highly discouraged,hence the proverb "Garwe haridyi chebamba, chaw chinoza neronga' (Acrocodile does not raid for food, its food comes to it through the water).The 'sadunhu' (territorial head) and even 'Ishe' (later given the name'paramount chief by colonial administrators) were enjoined to respectthe people they led, hence the saying 'Ishe vanhu' or 'Nyika vanhu' (It isthe subjects that are the source of the ruler's authority). There werechecks and balances on all social life in accordance with the principle ofmoderation. Any excesses were considered detrimental to the politicalcommunity.CONCLUSIONThis article has attempted to show that ethics as understood by theShona people was hinged on 'hunhu' (commendable character). Moralvirtues were built into conduct in order to promote the success and well-being of the community and, consequently, the happiness of the citizens.Moderation was a very important value regulating conduct and wascentral to the understanding of ~kugarisana' and "kunzwanana'. It is wrongto look at the Shona worldview as hinged on mere survival. The Shonahad a copious understanding of life and munhu was understood as anindustrious agent responsible for carving his destiny.Finally, this article has shown that the Shona had a rich worldview,which was more complex than Western scholars either understood orappreciated. While modernity has eroded aspects of the Shona culture,much still remains intact, particularly the concept of hunhu still holdsT. A. CHIMUKA 37and needs to be cultivated in order to enhance the Shona people's senseof identity and to contribute to the rich diversity of the world's pluralityof cultures.ReferencesBOURDILLON M. F. C. 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