Men's contest

Oral literature Origin of Wrestling is a literary work circulated in the Sani stockaded village of Shilin Yi Autonomous County in Kunming. Sani people’s wrestling activity has a history of over a century. So far, wrestling and bullfighting are still among the major activities of Shilin Torch Festival.

Beauty of force

Long ago, a Han ethnic young man escaped to Sani people's place due to war in his hometown. He met a shepherd boy and got on well with him, becoming sworn brothers. They ate and lived together, and herded together.

Technical knockdown

One day they herded cattle on the mountain when a bull only ate grass without drinking water and stood still without moving - it had abdominal distension with almost no digestion. The two brothers were very worried, later they had an idea. They picked some herbal medicines and smashed them to feed the bull. After a while, the bull shit, swayed its tail and started to eat grass again. The brothers held each other's neck happily and rolling on the ground out of excitement. An old man saw this and thought they were fighting. After knowing the reason, he said: “bull is the lifeblood of peasants, and a bull's recovery deserves celebration. How about you try who is stronger?” The brothers decided to compete in a certain way, otherwise they might wrestle for the whole day. The old man said: “then we will take falling on the back as losing, best of three.” They the brothers started wrestling again and again happily.

After some time, the Han boy returned home when his hometown was no longer in war, and later his Sani brother visited him and they wrestled to celebrate their get-together. When the Han boy visited his Sani brother's place, the Sani boy catered him with buckwheat bun and honey, and invited all the villagers to see them wrestle.

In this way, wrestling has become a traditional sport for Sani people.

Children wrestling

The origin of wrestling is a praised story about the brotherhood between Han and Sani people. More importantly, the traditional form of ethnic sports, wrestling has been inherited so far and continues to flourish.

In 2005, oral literature Origin of Wrestling was included in the first batch of Kunming Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection List upon the approval of Kunming Municipal People's Government (K.Z.F.[2005] No. 57). (Text from Shilin County Cultural and Sports Bureau, Photo: Wang Limei)