introduction
As an ethnic minority regime in Chinese history, the Yuan Dynasty was not only because of its own national identity, but also because of the national characteristics it showed during its rule.
In the era of cold weapons, the Mongols were able to rule the Central Plains and even push the Mongol sphere of influence to Europe, Russia and other regions. It has a lot to do with its powerful force value.
The ability of the ruling clique of the Yuan Dynasty to "turn weak into strong and dominate the masses with oligarchy" was inseparable from the martial character of its nation.
After the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty, the upper ruling class, headed by the Mongol nation, continued the tradition of paying attention to the individual abilities of men in their own tribe, and did not fundamentally change in cultivating men's martial spirit and national customs of respecting martial arts.
The "Three Arts for Men" was the top priority of sports activities in the Yuan Dynasty, and it was also the sport with the most ethnic minority characteristics in the Yuan Dynasty.
Also known as the "Three Races of Good Man", it mainly includes horse racing, archery and Mongolian wrestling. The participants were mainly Mongolian men.
These representative sports can provide a glimpse of the style and development characteristics of sports in the Yuan Dynasty.
01 The development of sports in the Yuan Dynasty and the continuation of the Shangwu tradition
The traditions of ethnic minorities in the northwest of the mainland are characterized by advocating force. This is also reflected in the attitude of people participating in the three arts at that time.
In the "Three Arts for Men", if a player wins the first place in any of the three events of horse racing, archery or Mongolian wrestling, it is an honor for the family and tribe.
This spirit of martial arts can also be seen from the contempt of the upper classes of the Yuan Dynasty for cultural activities such as the imperial examination in the Central Plains. For quite some time, there has been a "dispute over the survival and abolition of the imperial examination".
At the same time, in order to prevent the people of the Central Plains from resisting, there are also regulations in the policy such as forbidding southerners to practice martial arts.
But all the tribes have great enthusiasm for events such as "Three Arts".
If anyone can win first place in all three competitions. Such people are the glory that almost everyone in every tribe worships, and may even be treated as gods of war by the people of the tribe.
At the same time, you can also use this achievement to gain the attention of the rulers of the dynasty, and then get a great opportunity to enter the career path.
What's more, if new tribal leaders are elected in some Mongolian tribes, sports events such as wrestling, horse racing, and archery will be regarded as necessary conditions for tribal leaders to be eligible for election, and if they can achieve good results in the "three arts", they can become the ideal leader in the hearts of the tribesmen.
It is said that when Taizu Temujin was born, "Liezu is different, because of the real name of Temu he obtained, Zhiwu Gongye." It can be seen that the concept of martial arts of the Mongol tribes is from the rulers to the people.
Tracing back to the Yuan Dynasty, ethnic minorities have such a strong martial color, which is inseparable from their unique living environment.
After the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty, the Mongols carried out horseback riding, archery, wrestling and other activities in their daily activities, and a large reason was that they had not been able to get rid of the survival habits of the nation.
In the whole Mongolian ethnic group, it is basically "young women who can ride horses, but they have not read books for a long time." "The life of nomads requires domestication of livestock most of the time, and in the vast savannah, the limits of human footprint movement are limited.
If it is mainly based on step strength, it will increase the consumption of people's physical strength. Therefore, horseback riding, as a convenient form of transportation, plays a very important role in daily life.
In fact, it is not only the grazing of livestock that requires horseback riding, but also the connection between tribes, wars, migration, etc.
As a means of transportation, horses are indispensable. "When Hu'er was five or six years old, he was taught to ride a horse..." At an early age, he began to learn to ride a horse, and at a slightly longer time he taught him to use a saddle to override, bend the arc and sound the shop, and teach the upper horse to chase the fox and chase the rabbit, and dismount to control the fist. Learning a variety of horseback riding skills is a must-have survival skill for Mongolian members. "Less and habitual, long and refined, no foreign object and moved", will not be left behind for a lifetime.
After the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty, it was understandable that both the ruling clique and the lower classes attached importance to horseback riding. Even such a Central Plains nation, which emphasizes civility over martial arts, is not ambiguous in riding a horse.
But to use horseback riding as such an important event to test the children of the tribe, the Yuan Dynasty can be described as unparalleled.
In addition to domesticating livestock, hunting is one of the main elements of nomadic life. The technique of archery directly determines the amount of prey during the hunt.
Archery as one of the hunting skills, mainly because in the era of underdeveloped weapons, the convenience of bows and arrows is conducive to the convenience of Mongolian and other northwestern peoples in migration.
"Yin Mountain Iron Riding Horn Bow Zhang, Idle Day Yuan Head Shoots White Wolf." Bows and arrows played a pivotal role in the daily hunting and warfare of the Mongol tribes.
The Mongolian people are almost "only strength is fear, only strength is love" among the tribes with outstanding courage, and the tribes are respected and admired by all ages.
That's why wrestling and other activities are popular among the Mongolian people. "The banner covers the sky and rises in the sky, and the strong man is like a rainbow." This magnificent depiction of the momentum of the soldiers expresses the mind of the leaders of the Mongol generals.
The Mongols had many experiences of serving as soldiers in their young and middle-aged years, and between marches, those with the greatest strength had a great advantage in marching and fighting.
This kind of soldiering to fight, in the years of the war, almost until a person dies of old age. The martial arts tradition of the Mongol tribe is the root of the concept that after the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty, the Mongols still advocate sports such as the three arts.
This is also an important feature of the "three arts" sports of the Yuan Dynasty.
02 The sports of the Yuan Dynasty showed a strong national character
The ethnic minorities of the Yuan Dynasty included the Mongols, Khitans, Jurchens, Uighurs, Fears, Dangxiang and many other ethnic groups. It has a strong grassland cultural character.
The characteristics of grassland culture, such as masculinity, harmony and nature, and pioneering and enterprising, reflect the aesthetic concept of nomads advocating courage and martial arts.
After the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty, it moved from tribal politics to a feudal state. In the short term, it is impossible to get rid of the social characteristics of ethnic minorities themselves. In terms of ideology, it still retains the color of tribal peoples.
For example, the project of wrestling comes from the early Bork wrestling, "Boke, the most popular game in Mongolia, is popular in northern Mongolia, and if it falls on the Orbo festival, this skill must be held."
The early Bock race, where life and death were at stake, was full of brutal violence. By the Yuan Dynasty, it evolved into a popular competitive sport throughout the country.
So it has a great national color in the field of sports. Members of the Mongolian tribes concerned, in peacetime, the children of the tribe learn horse racing, archery and wrestling, adhering to the customs of Mongolian tradition.
Mainly, these activities were popular among tribes before the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty, in line with the customary traditions of the Mongol tribes of the Yuan Dynasty;
Second, after the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty, the regime had an exclusive color, and retained its national characteristics to a considerable extent in thoughts, concepts, writing, living habits and other aspects.
Sports activities such as the "Three Arts" have gradually taken shape in the process of their national life.
In the geographical environment, climate, tribal wars, foreign wars and other factors, archery, horseback riding, wrestling, etc. have played an increasingly important role in war.
"Nation on horseback" is a portrayal of the life of Mongolia, which competed for the world by force and believed in the role of force after the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty. Khonwu is almost a symbol of a qualified member of a Mongol tribe.
03 Specific content of sports such as "Three Arts for Men"
At Naadam Festival, archery, wrestling, horseback riding and other activities are all necessary items at the conference. In the palace, every festive banquet has a wrestling performance to help the fun.
Wrestling: The number of participants can be unlimited, ranging from two or four to thousands. The even number prevails. Women also participate in wrestling competitions at the annual Naadam Congress.
During the match, players are not allowed to stand and do not hold each other's legs or wrestle with each other in a kneeling position. There is no time limit to the competition, and there will be no special match between players of equal strength and size, and the opponents will be random. The two sides grab each other's arms after they come on the field and allow the game to continue after falling to the ground until one side admits defeat.
Generally speaking, the contestants wear copper-spiked cowhide shoulders, called "zhaodag", wear red, yellow and blue turbans on their heads, floral leather boots on their feet, a flower belt tied around their waist, and over-pants on their lower bodies, and multicolored streamers around their necks.
During the game, you can sing and cheer, and the audience seats around the competition venue sit. After the referee releases the match signal. Competitions between the contestants begin immediately.
Archery: Mainly competitive archery, the material of bows and arrows is made of horns, leather bands, and wood. The range is probably only ten to twenty meters away.
Divided into riding and static shooting, the arrow target is composed of five different colors, called "felt target".
Among them, riding and shooting requires players to ride horses and shoot arrows at the same time, to shoot targets placed on the ground in advance from about tens of meters away, and the format is simple to shoot at the target object as the victory.
Static shooting, according to the referee's password, archers shoot four arrows each, and each person finishes three rounds, and the winner with the most hit targets wins. Because it is more difficult to ride and shoot, it is also more popular with the Mongolian people.
Horse racing: Races are mainly divided into walking horses, horse running, and horse bumping, the most common of which are the most common. The general course is about 25 to 30 kilometers, and the first to cross the finish line wins.
Generally speaking, participants register voluntarily, regardless of age, gender, etc., ranging from dozens to hundreds or thousands.
epilogue
From the perspective of the situation of the Mongols in the Yuan Dynasty, sports matters such as "three arts for men" are an expression of the Mongolian tribe's inheritance of their own cultural traditions, and have the national characteristics of the Mongolian people.
With the stability of society, the military role of these sports matters of "three arts for men" gradually decreased, and it was transformed into a symbolic movement of the Mongolian concept of martial arts. After the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty, these sports played more of a function of fitness and entertainment.
The ruling clique also has a sense of being prepared for danger in times of peace, and deliberately allows the children of the ethnic group within the country to learn, and it can be said that the concept of shangwu has always been embodied in it.
In the new environment, the so-called "three arts for men" actually played an educational function, passing on the life experience of the Mongolian nation to the children of the tribe, and enhancing the sense of identity and cohesion between the tribes at that time.
bibliography
"Metahistory"
"Three Arts of Mongolian Boys"