Manchu sports and entertainment

 

Manchu sports and entertainment

 

Life lies in sports, and sports focus on sports and entertainment. Without sports and entertainment, life will become a disharmonious note. Burmese musician Duoji talked about Manchu culture and art to his friends such as Agudengba, A Zhuo, Chu Sanxing, Dawa, and Xiang Qima. He also talked about Manchu sports and entertainment.

Dorji said to Agudengba, Azhuo, and Chu Sanxing, I am going to explain this knowledge to the Mongolian dance team.

On the meadow on the banks of the Irrawaddy River in Myanmar, the Naypyitaw Song and Dance Troupe led by Dorje has arranged lecture desks in front of two temporary yurts. Friends such as Agu Demba, A Zhuo, Chu Sanxing, Dawa, and Xiang Qima were invited to participate in this lecture.

Duoji started talking:

A life without exercise is like suffering from cancer, a hopeless state of survival. Movement includes labor and thinking, as well as sports and entertainment. But different ethnic groups have different sports and entertainment activities. Today I will talk about Manchu sports and entertainment knowledge.

Most of the traditional Manchu sports are related to hunting, including weightlifting, wrestling, horse vaulting, camel jumping and skating.

"Horse vaulting" requires jumping across the horse's body while the horse is galloping; camel jumping involves jumping onto the camel's back from behind. Horse vaulting and camel vaulting are both grappling techniques used to facilitate flying onto the enemy's horse when in close combat, and have become one of the sports that are regularly practiced.

Before the mid-19th century, running on skates was a military skill that Eight Banners soldiers had to practice. During the Qianlong period, every year in October of the lunar calendar, the skating of the Eight Banners disciples would be reviewed on the North Sea ice in Beijing as one of the systems for training troops. The number of people participating in this review reached 1,600, with 200 people per flag at that time. Such a grand skating conference was unique in the world at that time. In addition to speed performances, there are also figure skating, ice football games, ice acrobatics, skating archery, etc. The wooden skates used by the bannermen in the old days can still be found among the people in Beijing.

Dorje said:

Mounted archery is also an important sport and military activity. The Manchus are good at riding and shooting. Huang Taiji once said, "The most important thing in our country's martial arts is riding and shooting." Before entering the customs, even children over ten years old could "race with bows and arrows."

During the reign of Huang Taiji, cavalry and archery were elevated to an important position in national policy and family law. It was listed as the "Fundamentals of Manchuria" together with the Manchu language, and was given top priority by emperors of all dynasties. Even after the Qing Dynasty entered the customs, there was still no slack, and the flag soldiers had to be formally trained six times a month.

Every spring and autumn, soldiers of the Eight Banners hold school shooting as usual. Not only ordinary children, but Eight Banners officials also have shooting ranges in their homes for practice; the requirements of princes and nobles are even more stringent. They need to practice riding and shooting from an early age. Those with poor skills may even affect the inheritance of their titles. In the early Qing Dynasty, the bannermen had a very high level of horse shooting. The bow uses eight forces, the arrow is three feet long, and the arrow head is five inches long. It is called "penetrating armor cone", and the hit will definitely penetrate, and there is still enough power to connect the two people.

Since the mid-Qing Dynasty, archery has gradually evolved from martial arts to entertainment, and has evolved into a game with various gameplay methods, including shooting swans, shooting cloth targets, and shooting silk. The most difficult one is to hang incense at dusk and shoot arrows in the air, which all depends on skill.

The laws of the Qing Dynasty prohibited gambling, but there were no restrictions on banner people's betting on archery. Some banner people wrote the four characters "Bu Ba Hou Jiao" on their doorsteps, which was a stage for gambling on arrows.

After the Qianlong Dynasty, the riding and shooting skills of the Eight Banners disciples gradually declined, but the rulers still actively promoted them.

The emperors of the Qing Dynasty to Emperor Xianfeng were all skilled in equestrian skills, and even Emperor Tongzhi once hunted in Nanyuan. Hunting was a means by which the Qing emperors tried to maintain the old custom of riding and shooting. The most representative one was the "Mulan Autumn Hunting". It was not only an activity for the Qing emperor to make alliances with the Mongolian tribes, but also a test of the Eight Banners generals' riding and shooting skills. A test and experience.

To this day, archery as a tradition still enjoys a certain degree of popularity among the Manchu people, and there are also many traditional Manchu archery enthusiasts from other countries.

Dorje said: Now let me talk about Buku.

What is Buku? Agudengba, Azhuo, and Chu Sanxing were all curious.

Dorje explained:

Buku, or Manchu wrestling, is the most important fighting skill of the Manchu people. During the Qing Dynasty, the court established a "Shanpu Camp" to select 200 outstanding warriors, who were divided into first, second and third class according to their grades. There has been a saying in history that Emperor Kangxi used Buku soldiers to capture Oboi. The original meaning of Buku in Manchu is "wrestler" or "strong man". According to the records of the Qing Dynasty, there are also other names such as "Buku's drama", "Buku's drama", "Yan Buku", "flirting feet", "jiaoda", "sumo wrestling" and "xiangbao". Although Buku fights with bare hands, the key to the technique lies in foot strength, so the strength of the feet plays a decisive role in the outcome of the game.

The history of Manchu wrestling can be traced back to the Jurchens' "Bali Suxi", which was inherited from the Khitan culture. This sport is not much different from Mongolian wrestling. During the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, the Jurchens living in the Northeast were widely influenced by Mongolian culture, and Boke was one of them. In the Later Jin Dynasty, the rulers vigorously promoted Yanbuku for the purpose of military training. The emperors of the Qing Dynasty held competitions with various Mongolian tribes every year in front of the Chengde Summer Resort or the Old Summer Palace in Beijing. After the Republic of China, Buku's moves were integrated into Chinese wrestling and became its most important component. Among them, the "Beijing School" completely followed the Buku technique of Shanpuying in the Qing Dynasty.

Duoji talked about the Bingxi movement again:

Bingxi is one of the traditional sports and entertainment activities of the Manchu people. It has been very popular in the period outside the customs, so Emperor Qianlong called it a "national custom". Every winter, ice play is one of the important activities of the royal family. The Qing government specially set up the "Eight Banners Skate Camp" in Jianrui Camp to conduct ice performances. Its history can be traced back to the post-Jin Dynasty, and its original purpose was to cultivate "special forces" who have always been good at fighting on ice. Its establishment was 1,600 people. During the Jiaqing period, this unit was reorganized into the Jingjie Battalion and its establishment was reduced to 500 people.

During the Republic of China, there was an old man named Wu Tongxuan who was a good skater in Beijing at that time. He was born in the Wu Ya family in Manchuria and was once a member of the "Skate Department" employed by the Empress Dowager Cixi. By the mid-to-late 1940s, Wu Tongxuan, who was in his seventies, was still frequently seen at ice rinks in Beijing. There are also Manchus among the outstanding skaters in the contemporary sports world, such as world figure skating champions Zhao Hongbo and Tong Jian.

Falconry, this is another Manchu sport explained by Duoji:

The Manchus, who come from a fishing and hunting ethnic group, are known for their hawking skills. Among the eagle species used, Haidongqing is the most valuable. The hunting ability of Haidongqing is very strong, which is not comparable to that of ordinary eagles and harriers. In the Qing Dynasty, a piece of Haidongqing presented to the court could be instantly converted into 30 taels of silver, plus a reward of 10 taels of silver and 20 pieces of woolen green cloth. At that time, the Ningguta area was famous for its falcons, and there were hawking households in the area who specialized in falcon hunting and training. It became one of the bases for donating eagles and harriers to the court in the Qing Dynasty.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs in Beijing also has an eagle and harrier breeding office, which is responsible for collecting and training eagles. Every autumn, the emperor and all the princes and ministers would march around Nanyuan, Beiyuan or Xiyuan. The commander of the harrier breeding area would take the eagle hand and fly the eagle.

The Manchus in Beijing also play with eagles. They usually have "hunting" and "competition" games, which are more entertaining than the Manchus in Northeast China. The children of nobles are even more particular about not playing with eagles that are not of good breed, and they are not willing to buy adult good eagles from the bird market. They usually find it interesting by catching young eagles in the suburbs and taming them from scratch. To this day, the Manchu falconry tradition is still well preserved in some areas.

Dorje smiled and said:

In addition to falcons, the Manchus also enjoy raising other birds, especially the Manchus in Beijing Banner.

In the Qing Dynasty, the Manchu people in Beijing Banner were very particular about raising birds. If they were looking for literary talent, they would raise red and green parrots, budgerigar parrots, hibiscus, upside-down parrots, jasper, pearls, etc.; if they were listening to their calls, they would choose thrush, lark, zizihong, zizihong, etc. Zizihei, Little Yellow Bird, etc.; there are also some dedicated to appreciating various skills, such as Wutong, Jiaozui, etc.; in addition, there are pigeon breeders, etc.

Cricket fighting is also one of the popular entertainment activities among the Manchus in Beijing Banner. During the Qing Dynasty, every summer and autumn, everyone from princes and nobles to ordinary children enjoyed it.

The Manchu people also have an anti-trafficking game, which is called "Gashiha" in Manchu. The Northeastern Manchus customarily call it "Galaha", which means "patella" in Manchu. The Gashiha played by the Manchus in Beijing Banner is mainly based on horse bones, while in the Northeast, pig bones are mainly used. Before the Qing Dynasty entered the customs, some people used it for gambling, so it was also called "Boxi".

Emperor Taizong of the Qing Dynasty once ordered the disciples of the Eight Banners to learn archery with horn bows and arrows while the young ones practiced archery with wooden bows and willow arrows. Those who "want to play games and roam around in the market" should be arrested and punished.

After that, Gashiha gradually developed into a game among women and children. To this day, in some areas of Northeast China, it is still loved by local people of all ethnic groups.

The Manchus also have some traditional ball games. For example, the Manchus in the camps in the suburbs of Beijing play stone ball. The Manchus in the Northeast play a kind of leather ball sewn with bearskin or pigskin and filled with soft materials, which is called Known as "kick kicking", this sport is usually played on land. It is also called "ice Cuju" among those competing on ice.

In addition, the Manchus also have some entertainment games for children, such as horse racing city.

Duoji's simple skills on Manchu sports and entertainment opened the eyes of Agudengba, Azhuo and Chu Sanxing.

Duoji sang a song "Guandong Style":

 

In the great northeast of black water and white mountains,

There is something cool called Guandong style.

Weightlifting, wrestling, vaulting, camel jumping,

When engaging the enemy in close combat,

The brave man has a horned bow, feathered arrow, and is good at riding and shooting;

All men can master flying riding skills.

 

In the passionate black land,

Learning to be cool is the northeast wind,

Playing Cuju on the ice and kicking stone balls,

Falconry and hunting love seaweed the most.

In my free time, I raise birds, pigeons and crickets.

Beat the kidnapping game Patella Gashha.

 

What is called cool cool cool?

If you don’t go to Northeast China, you won’t know.

Dare to push open the young shoots of frozen soil,

Fearless of the wind and cold in late winter and early spring,

The tenacity and persistence of Northeastern people,

He is called cool all over the world.