Manchu Wrestling Performance
Playing Diabolo
Bamboo Dragonflies
The Shuanglu Game |
The Manchu Wrestling Performance (or "Er'gui Wrestling", literally means wrestling between "two people") is a Manchu performance performed in temple fairs as well as a sport. It's performed by only one performer who wears artfully made props so as to play the roles of two naughty children with braided hair tussling and wrestling together. The skillful two-in-one wrestling can be perfectly real, funny and interesting. As one of the traditional feats in China, wrestling is called "Jiaodi" in dramas, "Chiyou Game" during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, "Xiangpu" in Tang and Song Dynasties and "Shuaijiao" in Qing Dynasty. The Er'gui Wrestling was evolved from the traditional sport named "Qiao Xiangpu", which had been a traditional folk prop dance popular in Longhua County. It came into being in late years of Daoguang (1820) during Qing Dynasty, with a history traced back to over 180 years ago. The performer, fully armed with the props, is able to act two Manchu roles wrestling with each other to the percussion music, presenting us a unique integration of props, sport and art full of artistic charm. Since Er'gui Wrestling is a solo performance, the performer who carries a human-shaped wooden frame resembling two men dressed up differently wrestling on his back, shall grovel on the ground, with his arms and legs performing the wrestling motions of four legs by using martial art and dancing elements such as hooking, throwing, sweeping, rolling, shouldering and crawling. The performance is usually finished within four minutes to the percussion music, which is a real eye-popper favored by folks. Therefore, it has become a "Must" show in folk temple fairs. |









