Category: Traditional Chinese Festivals

Praying Mantis Boxing(螳螂拳tángláng quán) is one of the Chinese imitative boxing styles. It is said to have been created by Wang Lang, a Shandong native of Liang Dynasty under the Emperor Wu’s rule. Inspired by the praying mantis’ aggressiveness(an aggressive person or animal has a quality of anger and determination that makes them ready to attack other people) in its stalking of a cicada(a cicada is a large insect that lives in hot countries and makes a loud high-pitched noise), Wang Lang created the boxing based on Shaolin Long Boxing and taking a cue from the insect’s quick and agile attacking movements with its front long legs.

The Bökh, meaning  Mongolian wrestling(蒙古式摔跤Ménggǔ shì shuāijiāo), is a traditional sport for Mongolian ethnic group in the China. Local people living in grassland(grassland is land covered with wild grass) regions call wrestling “Bökh”. Wrestling is the most important sport of Mongolian people’s "Three Manly Skills" (along with horsemanship and archery). “Bökh” is an indispensable(if you say that someone or something is indispensable, you mean that they are absolutely essential and other people or things cannot function without them) activity for important occasions like sacrificial rituals and the Nadam Festival.

The archaeological(related to or dealing with or devoted to archaeology) discoveries proved that archery in China dates back about 20,000 years. Practical archery takes three conditions: a bow strong enough to propel arrows, arrows that are sharp enough to kill, and a technique to ensure the stability of arrows in fight. The bow and arrow in ancient China fully met the three conditions. Archaeologists have unearthed finely made arrowheads in a site of the Paleolithic Age in Shanxi Province, and could be mounted on a shaft. No bow was found at the site, since bows were usually made of wood, bamboo and perhaps tendon of animals and could not remain intact for so many years. But the arrowheads(an arrowhead is the sharp, pointed part of an arrow) were enough to prove the existence of bows.

Pod is an instrument made of bronze and used to cook in ancient China. Usually it has three or four feet and two ears on each side for people to hold it. A pod is very heavy, which usually has a weight of a few hundred  jin  and sometimes more than one thousand jin. Because of its feet and ears convenient for people to lift it up and its weight,  Tripod Lifting  became one of the sports to practice muscle and show strength in ancient times.