The Bullfighting Purpose of the Miao People's Bull Running Festival

Of course, the Miao people don't play with cows for fun, but choose the form of bullfighting to worship the gods to show the strength and courage that the Miao people respect. Competition is based on winning or losing. Generally speaking, the bulls who win the battle will be called the King of Cows, the God of Cows and the Holy Cows, bringing honor to the whole village and being loved and worshipped by people. The defeated cattle have a miserable fate, and some of them have been carefully reared again in order to fight again next year, otherwise they will be humiliated and satirized by villagers in other villages. A good bullfight is often regarded as the wealth of the whole village, because the bonuses of several games a year are also considerable.

Throughout the ages, the Miao bullfighting, especially the Miao bullfighting in southeastern Guizhou, is famous for its thrilling difference between cattle and people in Spain. Compared with other places at home and abroad, it also has the advantages of rich diversity, irreplaceability, primitive mystery, public participation and double complementarity. It is not only a valuable national and folk cultural heritage of Qiandongnan Prefecture, but also a cultural heritage of China and the world.

A folklore expert said after a field trip to Guizhou that "the most wonderful bullfighting in the world is in China, the bullfighting in China is in the west, and the most magical thing in the west is the Miao bullfighting culture in southeastern Guizhou"! Another Japanese friend asked curiously, "There are buffaloes all over the world, and there are buffaloes all over China, but why are there no buffaloes raised in southeastern Guizhou who are aggressive, good at fighting and can fight?" ? He also specifically asked: "Why can cows in Kaili City and its neighboring counties fight?" Taking Miao Ling Xindu Kaili as the center, it covers the Miao bullfighting in Taijiang, Leishan, Danzhai, Majiang, Ping Huang and Shibing counties, which is confirmed by historical inspection.

But to answer this question, it is not clear in a few words. This is probably related to the tempering habits of Leigong Mountain, Luxiang Mountain, Qingshui River, Bala River and Wuyang River, the long-term edification of pleasant natural climate and environment, the courage to cultivate 18 kinds of martial arts in special environment, the long history and cultural customs of Miao nationality, breeding stunts, seed selection customs, excellent cattle breeding and other factors. Over the years, in order to explore the customs and culture of Miao bullfighting, we have traveled to Changsha, Guangzhou, Beijing, Guiyang and other places with the Miao bullfighting group for many times, and often went deep into Miao villages for investigation and research. As far as we know, this paper discusses three elements of Miao bullfighting culture: careful selection of bullfighting, careful cultivation of bullfighting and thrilling bullfighting. I want to use this as a way to arouse people's cultural awareness, inherit excellent cultural heritage, and further rescue, protect and inherit the folk bullfighting culture.