Wrestling
01 · Historical Records
Since the 1990s, the Shilin County People's Government has held a county-wide wrestling competition every year.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
As a traditional sport, wrestling is fairly common among all the ethnic groups of China, and in Yunnan Province it is especially prevalent among the Yi people. Among them, Yi wrestling activities in Shilin County and Yuanmou County have the broadest popular base and are the most welcomed by the masses. Yi wrestling in Xiaoliangshan Township, Yuanmou County, called "ge" in the Yi language and signifying strength and skill, is an ancient sport long loved by young men; it can strengthen the body, inspire the fighting spirit, promote ethnic unity and social harmony, and bring joy to everyone. Wrestling expresses the bravery, fortitude and indomitable spirit of the Yi people, and is closely bound up with the Yi people's traditional martial values and customs. The Yi (Sani) people of the Shilin Yi Autonomous County are avid fans of wrestling: during the Torch Festival and other festive holidays, the villages often hold wrestling contests. The purposes of the wrestling contest are, first, to pray for favorable weather and abundant harvests; second, to strengthen unity and add to the festive atmosphere; and third, to build physical fitness and cultivate courage.
The Torch Festival ring
The Sani Yi of Shilin county hold wrestling contests in every village at the Torch Festival and other festive occasions.
Ge, the wrestling of Xiaoliangshan
In Xiaoliangshan township of Yuanmou county the Yi call wrestling ge, meaning strength and skill.
Wrestling for rain and harvest
Contests are held to pray for good weather and harvest, to strengthen unity and to foster courage.
The Shilin youth sports school network
A youth sports school and training centres have supplied talent for Yunnan, and since the 1990s the county has held annual tournaments.
Li Yougui and the village team
The inheritor Li Yougui, famous in the region since he was sixteen, formed his village team and teaches women and children as well.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Yi (Sani) wrestling in the Shilin Yi Autonomous County centers on the Torch Festival: villages in the Changhu, Guishan and Xijiekou areas set up wrestling grounds during the Torch Festival and other festive holidays, with a village elder presiding over the proceedings and announcing the rules before the contest; participants include not only young men but also women and children. Yi wrestling in the neighboring Xiaoliangshan Township of Yuanmou County (called "ge" in the Yi language), together with Yi wrestling in Mile, Luxi and other places, jointly form the distribution belt of Yi wrestling in central and eastern Yunnan.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Tianqiao Wrestling · Wrestling · Wrestling · Wrestling.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
To train wrestling talent, training points and training networks such as the Shilin Spare-time Youth Sports School were established in succession, cultivating a group of talented wrestlers and making an important contribution to the sustained development of wrestling in Yunnan Province. Li Yougui (as recorded in the official dossier of an associated inheritor): male, of Yi ethnicity, born in March 1960, a native of the Shilin Yi Autonomous County, Yunnan Province. Performer of Yi wrestling technique. Representative inheritor of wrestling (Yi wrestling) in the fifth batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage projects. At the age of sixteen he already stood out in the wrestling grounds large and small of the Yi mountain villages, winning countless awards and becoming a widely known wrestling strongman. He actively takes on apprentices and passes on his art, and has organized his village's wrestling team; the students he has taught, besides his two sons and the village's young people, include women and children, as well as wrestling enthusiasts from other mountain villages, giving good impetus to the development of local wrestling.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Li Yong 05-2543
- Li Yougui 05-2544
- Miman Aimila 05-2545
- Guan Guilin
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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