Guanniu (), also known as Chinese bullfighting or Chinese-style bullfighting, is a form of

bull A bull is an intact (i.e., not Castration, castrated) adult male of the species ''Bos taurus'' (cattle). More muscular and aggressive than the females of the same species (i.e. cows proper), bulls have long been an important symbol cattle in r ...

-wrestling contest held in

Jiaxing Jiaxing (), alternately romanized as Kashing, is a prefecture-level city in northern Zhejiang province, China. Lying on the Grand Canal of China, Jiaxing borders Hangzhou to the southwest, Huzhou to the west, Shanghai to the northeast, and the p ...

Zhejiang Province ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = ( Hangzhounese) ( Ningbonese) (Wenzhounese) , image_skyline = 玉甑峰全貌 - panoramio.jpg , image_caption = View of the Yandang Mountains , image_map = Zhejiang i ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. It is also known as Hui bullfighting (). because it originated among the

Hui people The Hui people are an East Asian ethnoreligious group predominantly composed of Islam in China, Chinese-speaking adherents of Islam. They are distributed throughout China, mainly in the Northwest China, northwestern provinces and in the Zhongy ...

. The word ''guan'' means throwing, dropping, or tossing, and ''niu'' refers to cattle, so ''guanniu'' translates literally as 'wrestling with a bull'. Guanniu began in the

Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty ( ; zh, c=元朝, p=Yuáncháo), officially the Great Yuan (; Mongolian language, Mongolian: , , literally 'Great Yuan State'), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after Div ...

and originated in Jiaxing, Zhejiang, among the Hui people. Local men would test their

strength Strength may refer to: Personal trait *Physical strength, as in people or animals *Character strengths like those listed in the Values in Action Inventory *The exercise of willpower Physics * Mechanical strength, the ability to withstand ...

against bulls weighing as much as . Contestants must force a bull on the ground with their bare hands within three minutes. Unlike

Spanish-style bullfighting Spanish-style bullfighting is a type of bullfighting that is practiced in several Hispanophone, Spanish-speaking countries: Spain, Mexico, Ecuador, Venezuela, Peru, as well as in parts of southern France and Portugal. In Colombia it has been out ...

, which ends with the killing of the bull, guanniu traditionally ends when the bull is thrown down. On May 23, 2011, Jiaxing Guanniui () was listed on China's National Intangible Cultural Heritage List.

History

According to Hui tradition, long ago in a Hui settlement of nearly a thousand families, they slaughtered hundreds of

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...

every year during the

Eid al-Adha Eid al-Adha () is the second of the two main festivals in Islam alongside Eid al-Fitr. It falls on the 10th of Dhu al-Hijja, the twelfth and final month of the Islamic calendar. Celebrations and observances are generally carried forward to the ...

. Every time the cattle were slaughtered, they were herded together and four or five young and strong boys worked together with ropes and sticks to tie the cattle down. One time, when tying a large bull, a young man was injured by the bull and died soon after, causing much sorrow in the village. The next year, when Eid al-Adha was celebrated, a young man knocked down the bull without the help of others. The villagers were full of praise for this and spread his story widely. Under his influence, every year at the Eid al-Adha, many young men came to fling the bull one by one. Starting the annual guanniu event performed by the Hui people at the Eid al-Adha. According to Jiaxing historical records, guanniu originated during the

Song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

and Yuan dynasties. It was originally a traditional activity of the Hui people in China.

Performances and competitions

In the 1920s and 1930s,

martial artist Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defence; military and law enforcement applications; competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; and the pres ...

s competed in guanniu events to feed their families, usually performing the contests in entertainment venues. In 1982, Chinese athlete Han Haihua () brought guanniu to audiences at home and abroad for the first time at the Second National Traditional Games of Ethnic Minorities of the People's Republic of China. In June 2012, the First "China Guanniu" National Invitational Tournament () was held in

Nanhu District Nanhu District () is a district in Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province of China. Its former name was Xiucheng District (), and it changed to current name on 17 May 2005. Total area is , and total population is 450,000 in 2001. At the end of 2013, the numbe ...

Jiaxing City Jiaxing (), alternately romanized as Kashing, is a prefecture-level city in northern Zhejiang province, China. Lying on the Grand Canal of China, Jiaxing borders Hangzhou to the southwest, Huzhou to the west, Shanghai to the northeast, and the p ...

References

{{Bullfighting Hui people Bullfighting Traditional games

History

Performances and competitions

See also

References