Wrestling
01 · Historical Records
Uyghur wrestling is known throughout Xinjiang as "qielixi", and its origins can be traced back to the hunting and warfare of the ancient Uyghurs. Since the thirteenth century, wrestling customs from the Mongolian plateau and the Western Regions spread into the Kashgar and Hotan area with the movement of peoples, and by the Qing dynasty a stable competition system had taken shape in the bazaars (markets) and festivals of oasis towns such as Yuepuhu, Shache and Markit. From the Republican era onward, contests in the Kashgar and Hotan area were often organized as "qielixi festivals", whose rules — grabbing the belt, making the grip once, and deciding victory by a fall — differed markedly from those of wrestling grounds in the interior.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
In modern Uyghur, "qielixi" means "to grapple and contend"; it is a survival of the folk traditions of the Uyghur ancestors, who prized martial prowess, built physical strength and honored heroes. The Uyghurs are engaged mainly in crop cultivation and livestock breeding, and their life is plain; with the coming of spring, the slack farming seasons and major festivals, they spontaneously organize rich and varied cultural and sports activities in the fields, in farmers' homes and on sandy beaches. Uyghur qielixi is mostly held on sandy ground; it can be said to be a mass wrestling activity on the desert. Qielixi of the Uyghurs in Yuepuhu County is a wrestling method unlike that of other ethnic groups: there is no fixed wrestling costume, all contestants wrestle barefoot, and a loose belt must be worn, with both sides first taking hold of the other's belt before the contest begins. In competition there is no division by age or weight class; contestants choose their opponents voluntarily. In wrestling, the opponent may be brought down by carrying, hooking and tripping actions; a fall counts as a win when the shoulder blade, the side of the body or the buttocks touches the ground.
The single belt-grab grip rule
Its most distinctive rule: barefoot and without a wrestling jacket, each man grips the other's wide belt, and once the grip is made the bout may begin, with no loosening and re-gripping.
Shoulder throw, hook and trip
Three basic ways of bringing the opponent down — with the shoulder, a hooking leg or a tripping foot — with defeat judged by the shoulder blades, the flank or the buttocks touching the ground.
Wrestling on sand
Qilixi is usually wrestled on sand, using riverbanks, lakeshores and woodland clearings as natural wrestling grounds.
Qilixi at the Great and Minor Feasts
At the Qurban and Ramadan feasts the county holds formal qilixi bouts drawing thousands of spectators, the largest gathering of the year.
No weight or age classes
There are no age or weight classes and opponents are chosen voluntarily, so bouts are decided by skill and presence of mind rather than by size.
The transmission of Miman Aimila
The inheritor Miman Aimila began competing at seventeen and has formally taught the art since 1997, training over thirty disciples while also passing it to his son.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Uyghur qielixi is a traditional sport distributed mainly in the Uyghur-inhabited areas of Xinjiang, including Hotan, Aksu and Turpan, and Yuepuhu, Yingjisha, Markit and Bachu counties in the Kashgar area. On the occasions of major traditional festivals such as Corban (Eid al-Adha) and Roza (Eid al-Fitr), the county holds qielixi activities, and local people are very fond of watching wrestling contests; audiences often number from several thousand to more than ten thousand people.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Tianqiao Wrestling · Wrestling · Wrestling · Wrestling.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Uyghur qielixi is of important value for the study of the history of Uyghur development and of the Uyghurs' traditional culture and sport; at present those taking part in qielixi are generally of advanced age, and the problem of a shortage of successors has emerged. Miman Emila (as recorded in the official dossier of an associated inheritor): male, of Uyghur ethnicity, born in November 1957, a native of Yuepuhu County, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Performer of qielixi technique. Steeped in the art from childhood through family influence, he is a devoted lover of qielixi. While passing the ancestral art on to his son, he has also taught it to his apprentices who love this sport. Representative inheritor of wrestling (Uyghur qielixi) in the fifth batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage projects. He began formally competing in this event at the age of seventeen and has won good results on many occasions. Since 1997 he has widely recruited qielixi enthusiasts and begun formally transmitting qielixi; he has now trained more than thirty apprentices, and takes on two or three new apprentices each year. He often leads his apprentices into wrestling contests, and they have achieved excellent results.
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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