Traditional Sports
The Manchu people now living in Yunnan are few and scattered, and basically do not form large settlements and villages. In addition, the geographical environment ofYunnan is quite different from that ofNortheast China—the main Manchu settlements, so the Manchu in Yunnan are less likely to retain their own traditional sports. The main traditional sports are pearl ball, horse vault and camel vault.
(1) Horse Vault and Camel Vault
In ancient times, the Manchus had many military activities and often carried out military sports training to improve the physical fitness and combat skills of their soldiers. Later,many of the military training evolved into folk sports activities, such as horse and camel vault.
Horse vault involves leaping onto the back ofa horse while it is at a gallop. This activity tests the ability and timing ofhorizontal leap, and requires participants to be swift and agile.
Camel vault is slightly different from horse vault. The horse vault is a horizontal leap onto a horse, whereas the camel vault is a more difficult leap from the back of a running camel. This interesting traditional sporting activity has evolved from the ancient Manchu military technique of leaping onto enemy riders to capture them in battle. Nowadays it has evolved into a fun sport to exercise skills and courage. The person in the front bends over with his hands on his knees, while the people behind him vault in turn.
(2) Archery on Horseback and Weight-Lifting
Archery on horseback is an important means of social production and strengthening thefighting capacity of the Manchu people. Pulling the bow requires strong arm strength, so the weight-lifting which strengthens your arm is therefore paid extra attention. Therefore,the main content of the imperial examination of military in Qing Dynasty is archery on horseback and weight-lifting. Some villages have training campsof archery. Every spring and autumn, Manchu youths will be admitted to the camps to practise. At that time, it was also a popular custom to hang a small bow and arrow on the door of a family whenever a boy was born, wishing him an excellent archer in the future. As time went on, archery on horseback gradually declined. While weight-lifting has a different story. It is easy to do and not restricted by field. So it has been carried on till today and has become a hobby for the majority ofrural youths.
(3) Wrestling
In the Qing Dynasty, Manchu wrestling was once set up as a military sport for the Eight Banners army and set up particularly a “Wrestling Camp”. Wrestling is also prevalent among ordinary people, esp. among the Manchu youth. Two players are involved in the game.The wrestlers do not wear special clothing, but weara jacket made of several layers of cloth and short boots. The game will be on a carpet. The two wrestlers stand firmly with two legs open and cross their arms to hold the opponent’s shoulder to waist. At the start of the match, the wrestler will try his best to tumble, stumble and turn over the opponent and keep him on the ground. This will bejudged as a winning.
(4) Pearl Ball
Pearl ball originated from the Manchu’s fishing life long ago. Pearl ball is also called“pearl picking” and is an imitation of the work of pearl pickers. It is sporty, delicate,simply-equipped but quite amusing. The shell ofthe ball is made of leather or rubber, with an inner bladder, the surface ofwhich should be pearly white. The ball has a circumference of 54-56 cm and weighs 300-325 grams. The racket is in the shape ofa clam and is made of a resilient resin material. The mouth ofthe dip net is round with an inner diameter of25 cm.The playing field is 28 meters long and 15 meters wide and is divided into water, blockade and scoring zones. In the water zone there are four players on each side for attack and defence. The attackers try to score by passing the ball into the dip net. In the blockade zone there are two players from each team, holding the racket to stop the opposing team from throwing the ball into the dip net. In the scoring zone, each team has a player with a dip net whose task is to catch the ball thrown by the team with the net. The game is played in two halves of 15 minutes each, with a 10-minute break in between.