Chapter 20 Section 2 Southern National Martial Arts

There are many ethnic minorities living in the south of our country.As early as ancient times, there was a tradition of martial arts here.There are shield dances of primitive tribes in the cliff paintings of Cangyuan, Yunnan.Different from the martial arts style of the northern prairie ethnic minorities who mainly focus on riding and archery, because the ethnic minorities in the south of our country live in mountainous areas with deep valleys, dense forests and grass, and fast-flowing water, this living environment prominently requires short soldiers to be the main force. personal technology.Therefore, the southern minorities have fairly developed short-weapon fighting techniques, such as the Jingpo long sword, the Miao and Zhuang sharp swords, the Yi short-body knife and wavelength sword, the Lisu curved sword, the Benglong sleeve hammer, and the iron swords of the Dai and Achang ethnic groups. Teeth, etc., and various martial arts dances developed from it, such as the shield dance of the Miao nationality, the knife dance of the Yi nationality, and the knife dance of the Jingpo nationality.

Wushu is also a very important religious sacrifice and recreational activity in the lives of these ethnic minorities.The Naxi people in Lijiang, Yunnan have a very ancient culture, and spread a national religion influenced by the Tibetan religion (black religion) - Dongba religion. There is a very developed set of sacrificial dance "Dongba dance" (also called "Dongba dance") Dongba Jump").The Dongba Dance uses the dance score "Caomo" recorded in Naxi pictographs. During the sacrificial activities, the priest "Dongba" in the religion dances according to the score with the accompaniment of gongs, drums, bells and other musical instruments.The dances used in Dongba dance include knives, bows, arrows, subduing magic pestles and staffs, etc., and have very rich martial arts movements.The dancers wear "five Buddha crowns" or pointed caps, large-faced robes (open on all sides), white silk trousers, rosary beads around the neck, ribbons around the waist, and square-toed black leather boots. Mysterious, coherent and smooth, much like routine martial arts.The movements include sword erection, sword rubbing flat bell, tiger claw, wrist turning sword flower, sword rushing, sword throwing, sword splitting, kneeling and kicking, squatting, roc spreading its wings, kneeling and carrying sword, etc.

The Tujia people in western Hunan have a dance called "Sheriba" in Tujia language, which is related to ancestor worship activities.In this dance, there is a long-established "war dance", which shows the battle scenes of Tujia people."Soldiers" holding weapons or battle flags lined up, changing their formation repeatedly, sometimes advancing side by side, and sometimes facing each other.During the march, they hold their weapons obliquely, or march, or confront each other, all in a neat rhythm with the basic pace of three swings and one leap.The shouts were deafening as the weapons clashed.This formation change and basic dance method is called flower arrangement pendulum.In the battle dance, there are also movements such as "fighting tiger with bare hands" and "bending bow and shooting", which are mighty and majestic.

The Dai people living in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, call martial arts "Fanzheng".As early as the Eastern Han Dynasty, there was an illusion combining martial arts and qigong ("Book of the Later Han Dynasty Southwest Yi Biography").In the Tang Dynasty, there was a Dai army called "White Clothes Desperate Army". Every year after the autumn harvest, they gathered to practice martial arts.The "Small Records of Dian" in the Ming Dynasty records that the Dai people "have no permanent residence, but when they gather together they form an army and when they disperse they form a common people". They ride elephants to fight and are extremely heroic.They can take people with darts from dozens of steps away, and they can hit every shot.Since the Ming Dynasty, on the basis of learning from the Han martial arts, the Dai people have developed a very rich Dai martial arts, including Leihuang (stick technique), Leimu (boxing technique), Leila (sword technique), and Leilaliu (single sword) , Leilaguo (double swords), Leitiexi (hidden weapon).Dai people not only love martial arts, but also are good at peacock dance, so many martial arts movements are also incorporated into the beautiful peacock dance.Every "Water-Splashing Festival" and other festivals, young Dai people dance lightly to the accompaniment of mangongs and elephant-foot drums, blending culture and martial arts to complement each other.The martial arts of the Dai people have less legwork, and the techniques are mainly palm, boxing, and hollow boxing. The footwork is mostly bow, horse, and kneeling.

The Zhuang people living in Guangxi also have martial arts with rich content, such as Yin-Yang Boxing, Monkey Boxing, Single Boxing, Playing Boxing, Wai Dao, Shi Dao, Rolling Double Swords, Double Button Sticks, Playing Wooden Sticks, Double-headed Sticks, Two-section Sticks, Four door sticks, shooting stars of the Zhuang nationality, rope marks of the Zhuang nationality, etc.Among the heroes of the anti-Japanese struggle in the Ming Dynasty, there is also a heroine of the Zhuang nationality, Mrs. Washi (1498-1555 A.D.).Mrs. Wa was the wife of Cen Meng, a local official in Tianzhou (now Tianyang, Guangxi) in the Ming Dynasty. Due to the local folk custom of emphasizing martial arts, Mrs. Wa not only practiced double-sword stunts, but also was familiar with the art of war and strategy.In the sixth year of Jiajing (1527 A.D.), her husband and son died one after another, and Mrs. Wa managed the state affairs in person.In the 33rd year of Jiajing (AD 1554), under the order of the court, more than 6,000 Zhuang soldiers were sent to the front lines of Jiangsu and Zhejiang to fight against the Japanese under the command of Yu Dayou, and the army was extremely strict.In the famous Wangjiangjing victory, together with Yu Dayou's troops, they went straight to the enemy's lair and wiped out more than 3,000 enemies.Every time she was in battle, she would personally wield a knife to fight, invincible, and made outstanding achievements repeatedly. People in the south of the Yangtze River praised her as "the Huawa family can kill Japanese".

The Gaoshan people living on the island of Taiwan have fought fiercely against the invading Japanese Japanese pirates and Dutch colonists since the 16th century, and they have a strong martial spirit.Before they go to war, they have the custom of dancing war dances and singing war songs.War dance includes waving hands, dancing feet, swinging knives, stamping feet and other aggressive movements.One is to be familiar with combat techniques, and the other is to enhance collective cohesion and cooperate closely in combat. Martial arts are also part of the life of ethnic minorities living in the Southwest.As early as the Qin and Han Dynasties, the nomadic Qiang people living on the Qinghai Plateau already had their own martial arts, called "Qiang Shu".In 112 BC, the Xiongnu joined forces with the Qiang people to attack the Han Dynasty. During the war with the Han army, the Qiang technique was further developed.During the heyday of the Tang Dynasty, Songtsen Gampo (617?-650 AD), the British lord of Tubo, unified the various ministries on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, established a powerful Tubo Dynasty, and married the Tang Dynasty.When Princess Wencheng entered Tibet, she brought many warriors with her, which also promoted the development of Tibetan martial arts.On the basis of absorbing the elements of Qiang and Central Plains martial arts, Tibetans have developed unique Tibetan martial arts "Quanba" (also called "Zelou") and Qigong according to their own national characteristics.

There are martial arts performances during festivals such as the Tibetan New Year and the Wangguo Festival, which celebrates a good harvest.At this time, the warriors held up the "Dada" (wooden pole tied with hada), circled the field for a circle, and then had wrestling, sword fighting, archery and other competitions. The winner would get a hada and three pieces of silk and satin.During drought and other sacrificial activities such as praying for rain, herdsmen from tens of miles on the grassland gather in one place to hold sacrificial activities under the call of the sound of the conch horn.Then, engage in horse racing, archery, martial arts and wrestling.In ancient Tibet, there were many "Gou Songba" (bodyguards) with excellent martial arts skills, who were proficient in Tibetan knives, bows and arrows, catapults, and bodyguards.

In the Potala Palace, there is a group of huge murals about ancient sports in Tibet.According to the Tibetan inscription on the mural, more than 100 athletes from Tibetan, Mongolian and Han races participated in this sports competition.The content of the competition includes horse racing, archery, bouldering, wrestling, running and so on.In the murals, the wrestlers are all barebacked, smeared with ghee, wearing shorts, cloth belts around their waists, and Tibetan boots on their feet. They fight each other, or raise their arms and hold their wrists, or stumbling around their waists, just like the Tibetan history. That way: "Wrestling wrestling, fighting unremittingly, the strong is like the lion king among the beasts, mighty and formidable."

In the Tang Dynasty, Tibetans had good archers. For example, Lishi Nengjiecen could shoot off the waist of a hawk with an arrow, and Lishi Gu Dongjian could shoot arrows three times as far as his eyes could see.There are two types of archery competitions: vertical shooting (upper and left parts) and riding shooting (middle and left parts).Vertical shooting is divided into two types: range shooting and target shooting.The shooting range is divided into long, medium and short distances, and thin arrows are mostly used for long distances. Tibetans also have a special Tibetan-style ringing arrow.In the Han Dynasty, the Xiongnu had already used the sounding arrows in military affairs. It was called Mingdi in history, and it was commonly known as arrows.The Tibetans call the ringing arrow "Bixiu". It is said that King Gesar won the battle with the demon for a long time, and then he invented the ringing arrow to win.The ringing arrow competition has a history of nearly 400 years in Tibet.At first, only a few upper-class people regarded it as an entertainment activity, and later it became a widely carried out festival entertainment.During festivals, wedding celebrations, temple ceremonies or Wangguo Festival to celebrate the opening of the autumn harvest, relatives and friends meet together and come to Linka (garden) to set up tents or wrap curtains, spread card mats, and serve highland barley wine and All kinds of food, and then match the sound of arrows.After the arrow made of green stick wood is hollowed out, it will make a pleasant sound when flying in the air.Archery targets are generally set at about 30 meters, with red, black and yellow target rings in sequence from the center to the outside.