Traditional Sports
The traditional sports of the Derung people are closely related to their living environment, mode of production and lifestyle. On the one hand, the Derung people are known as “the master of high mountains and gorges”, since they live in the mountainous areas. The harsh natural environment results in extremely poor transportation which forces the locals to create such sports as ziptreck and climbing up a rope ladder. On the other hand, their gathering and hunting farming activities give birth to many traditional sports of this group. In the primitive ages, the forefather of the Derung had collectively engaged in picking wild fruits, which was the simplest and most necessary means to maintain their survival while hunting and self-defence were high on the Derung people’s list ofpriorities because Yunnan was terribly underpopulated and infested with beasts at that time. In the long-term, they gradually learned how to use some weapons in the struggle with the tough environment, leading to the development of sports such as crossbow-shooting.Moreover, their traditional sports are also related to the primitive belief. When toiling collectively, the Derung also carry out a series of sacrificial ceremonies in order to have a good harvest or protect the farmers and their poeple. The ancestors of the Derung people convey their wishes to the gods through actions in the sacrificial ceremonies. They create a host of activities in the long process of conquering and demanding from nature, and then these activities reflect their fear and awe of some phenomena and laws of nature. Thus,worshiping nature became the Derung’s unitimate belief.
(1) Slaughtering-Bull Dance for Sacrifices
As the most representative cultural heritage of the Derung people, slaughtering-bull dance derives from the traditional festival of this group, “slaughtering-bull dance for sacrifices to the heaven”, which reflects their rich hunting culture. This dance consists of more than 50 moves and is held on the special site. The content of the dance is very rich,including “washing-clothes dance” reflecting the daily life of the Derung, “exhilarating dance” expressing their joy , and “crow dance” showing the hunting scenes through imitating animals. All ofthe dances vividly show the old life ofthe ancestors ofthe Derung to the audiences. The basic rhythm ofthis dance is based on the movement oflegs and feet,since the dance moves about the lower limbs are full of endless variations. There are three formations of the slaughtering-bull dance: the first one is that dancers present at the field join hands and dance round in a counterclockwise direction; the second is that the dancers stand in two rows and dance back and forth simultaneously; the third is that the dancers dance freely toward a same direction. A bull will be slaughtered for sacrifices to the god of the Derung at the end ofthe dance.
(2) Ziptrek
Fastened to the trunks ofthe trees on the both sides, a ropeway extends across a river. A ropeway was woven from strips ofbamboo before and now is from steel wires. It is onerous to paddle a canoe across the river, since there are high gorges, precipitous cliffs and raging torrents in Nujiang area. Therefore, the locals have to resort to the ropeways for crossing the river.
When climbing a ropeway suspended horizontally above the river, a person must use hands to grasp the ropeway with feet crossed on it. And then, the one should slowly move his or her hands and feet at the same time, reaching the other end of the way. The whole process is named as ziptrek, which has become a consummate skill ofthe Derung people, a sports game and later a step for training militias. The game of ziptrek includes three types:pose, speed and weight-bearing game.
(3) Climbing Up a High Single-Wood Ladder & a Rope Ladder
High single-wood ladders and rope ladders were used as climbing gear of the Derung people in the old days and now are used for exercise. A high single-wood ladder is actually a long log, which is leaned against the side of the mountain. And a number of dents, on which climbers can tread, are cut on the trunk ofthe log. A rope ladder is a rope with an end fastened to a tree on the side of the mountain, hanging above the ground. The function of the later ladder is akin to the former one.
(4) Grass Sliding
The Derung children of invented a carrier of pine branches when they grazed their livestock ever. And one or several people could lie on this kind of carrier and then slide down a steep and smooth grassy slope by the way of inertial force. It was regarded as a recreational activity and now has been held as a race called grass sliding in which the one who first slides through the finishing line wins.
【注释】
[1]The Sino-Tibetan language family is a linguistic term introduced in 1924. In China, the Sino-Tibetan language family is generally divided into four language groups, namely the Chinese, Zhuang-Dong, Miao-Yao andTibetan-Burmese groups.Among them, the Tibetan-Burmese language group is mainly foundinthe southwestofChina, such as Tibet andYunnan.
[2]The seignorial economy is an economic situation in which feudal lords exploited and enslaved the peasants’unpaidlaborbyvirtue oftheirpossession oflandin feudal society.
[3]The Raosanling Festival is a grand traditional festival ofthe Bai people in Dali. The so-called ‘Sanling’are the important‘Bnezhu’ofthe Bai religious system andthe Buddhathathave been introduced to the Dali area.
[4]The Torch Festival is the grand festival ofthe Bai people throughout the year and plays an important place inthe cultural life ofthe Baipeople.
[5]The swing is calledMoqiu intheminorityregion ofsouthwest China
[6]Kuzhazha Festival is held in the middle ofJune every year in the lunar calendar. It is a grand traditional festival ofthe Hanipeople in Honghe.
[7]Theravada is a branch ofBuddhism that uses a collection ofthe oldest recorded Buddhist texts as its doctrinal core, but also includes a rich diversity oftraditions and practices that have developed over its long history ofinteractions with various cultures and communities. It is the dominant form ofreligion in Cambodia, Laos, Sri Lanka,Thailand, Burma as well as the southern area ofYunnanProvince in China.
[8]The Door-Opening Festival is a religious festival for the Dai, the Blang, the Derung and the Wa peoples whobelieve inTheravada. It is held on September 15 ofthe Dai calendar (themiddle ofJuly ofthe lunarcalendar) annually and lasts forthree months. It is stipulatedthatno one is permittedto go anywhere during the three months andonlyrepentance is allowed.
[9]The Door-Closing Festival, known as “Hawasa” in the Dai language, is the other religious festival corresponding to the Door-Opening Festival. It is popular in Yunnan and originated from the habit ofancient Buddhists, namely, staying athome duringthe rainy season. Itisheld onDecember 15 oftheDai calendar(the middle ofSeptember ofthe lunar calendar), symbolizingthe endofthe rainy season inthepastthree months.From then on, people are allowedto go outoftheirhome.
[10]The Water-Splashing Festival is the NewYear’s celebrations thattake place in SoutheastAsian countries such as Burma, Laos, and Thailand as well asYunnan, China. It is calledthe “WaterFestival”byWesterners because people splash orpourwaterat one anotheras apartofthe cleansingritual to ward offevil spirits and welcome the newyear. And itwas listedinthe first list ofnational intangible culturalheritages in China.
[11]”Kuoshi” is a transliteration ofLisu language, meaning “the beginning ofthe new year”. The festival is the grandesttraditional festival ofLisu, whichis similarto the Han Spring Festival.
[12]Baba is akind ofpancake inYunnanProvince.
[13]The Ancient Qiang were an important group ofpeople who lived in the area west ofthe Long Shan Mountains in China in ancient times. Ancient Qiang is not an ethnic group, but a general term formany different groups inthe westofChina. So theAncient Qiangpeople are not equalto the Qiangpeople.
[14]The Lahubelieve thatthey are the descendants ofthe gourd and see the gourd as an embodiment oftheir ancestors and a mascot for the whole nation. This is why the Gourd Festival is the grandest festival ofthe Lahu people in Lancang County, held every year on the 15th day ofthe 10th lunar month. Since 2006, the festival has beenheldon 8th, 9th and 10thApril eachyear.
[15]In 1985, the Kucong were classified as the Lahu ethnic group, living mainly inJinping, Luchun, Xinping andMojiang counties inYunnan. The language ofthe Kucong is mostly similarto that ofthe Lahu.
[16]Muyiji, from the Wa language, is the most powerful god believed by the Wa people. This group regards Muyiji as agodcreating animals, plants andhumanbeings andgrantingthem lives.
[17]The date is fromPage 46 ofResearch on theDevelopmentand Utilization ofthe TraditionalSports Tourism ofYunnanEthnicMinorities urittenbyDeuyKaiming.
[18]Dongba religion is believed to have originated from the primitive beief, bearing the characteristics of both the primal and the contemporary religions. It is named Dongba religion since the lecturer imparting Dongba script is called Dongba. Currently, the religion is deeply ingrained in Nakhi culture and commonly believedbyNakhi people living in the Southwest China. It is areligion ofpolytheism, including worshiping ancestors, gods, ghosts andnature. The religious events cover offering sacrifices to Heaven, holding funerals,warding offthe evils, avoiding disasters as well as divination.
[19]The Sanduo Festival, a traditional festival ofthe Nakhi people, is held by the Nakhi for celebration in which the group offers sacrifices to their greatest god, namely, Sanduo who defends the local people. Ithappens on every February 8 ofthe lunar calender. It has originated from a temple fairheld in the village called Baishayulong (means ajade dragon inthe sand).
[20]The data is from page 46 of“Research on the Development and utilization ofthe Traditional Sports Tourism ofYunnanEthnic minorities ”,writtenbyDeng kaiming.
[21]“En Xian Xian” refers to Flower-Picking Festival, which is usually held a few days after the Spring Festival.
[22]The South Asian language family is mainly found in the Indochinese Peninsula. The Mon-Khmer language group is the one that includes the largest number of languages (about 100), the largest number of speakers (about 35 million) and the most geographically widespread ofthe four language groups in the SouthAsian language family. It is also one ofthe minority languages ofChina. In Yunnan, it is spoken by about400,000 people.
[23]The Diqiang tribe, an ancient Chinese ethnic group, were mainly found in the border areas of Shaanxi,Gansu and Sichuan. Some scholars believe that the Qiang and the Di were divided during the Han Dynasty and that the Di gradually developed into a separate ethnic group. However, scholarly opinion still differs as to the relationship betweenthe Qiang andthe Di.
[24]Husa sword is also calledAchang sword. It is produced in Husa Township, Longchuan County, where theAchangpeople live.
[25]Taoism is areligion and aphilosophy from ancient China, createdby ancient Chinese. Tao, as the highest belief, is considered as the core ofthe universe by Taoism. Taoism holds the view that humans and other creatures should live in balance with the Tao or nature. Laozi, or Lao Tzu, was the founder ofphilosophical Taoism. And he also was known as Taishang Laojun or Daode Tianzun, who is a high Taoist deity. Taoists believe in the Three Pure Ones, take Tao Te Ching as the most important classic and advocate esotericism of Taoism.
[26]Tibetan Buddhismis thebranch ofBuddhismthatwas introducedto Tibetin China. It is classifiedwithin MahayanaBuddhism, but its maincharacteristic is the SecretMantra.
[27]The Flower Festival, also known as the Fairy Festival, is the most solemn traditional festival ofthe Nu people andtakesplace onthe 15th day ofthe 3rdlunarmonth everyyear.
[28]The Festival oftheVeneration forthe Grain God is a traditional festival ofthe Nu ethnic group andtakes place onthe 29th day ofthe 12th lunarmonth. Women and children are not allowedto participate inthis festival.
[29]Forest Festival is usually held in June and July when the trees are in full foliage. The festival is attended bythe wholeNupeople andmembers ofotherethnic groups are excluded.
[30]The ancient Pu people, who lived in southern Chongqing, southern Sichuan, Guizhou and Yunnan. The present-dayBulang, De’ang andWa ethnic groups are consideredto be relatedto the ancientPupeople.
[31]The Festival ofburning white firewood is held on the 14th day ofthe 12th lunar month every year. The De’ang fearthatthe Buddhawill suffer from cold, theyneedto burnwhite firewoodto warmthe Buddha.
[32]IntheAlms Giving Day, the De’angpeople inYunnanmake offering to Buddha. The date ofthis festival is determined by the availability ofproperty in the village. The dates are variable and are held once every few years for 3-5 days. The purpose ofthe ceremony is to pray for a safe life for the village and its people,andto eliminate disasters.
[33]The Red Boxing is a school ofChinese boxing originated from West China. The name has been used since Qing Dynasty, which means beauty, luck and excellence. It is characterizedby gracefulness in posture,clearand quickrhythm, softoutsidebuthardinside and ingenious movements.