Introduction to the Miao Bullfighting Festival

"Bullfighting" is commonly known as cattle fighting. Kaiyang Pingzhai Miao "bullfighting" were held on the fifth, fifteenth and twenty-fifth day of the first month of the year. Bullfighting day, Kaiyang, Guiding, Longli, Fuquan four counties, children of all ethnic groups wearing gold and silver, dressed to watch the battle. Hundreds of bull owners holding as many tough bulls as they can stay around. The two sides of the bull owner to hold the bull around the field a week after the "stamping field", bullfighting that is announced by the host to start. The crowd was in full swing, the oboe clamored, and the drums and music were all ringing. In the fierce battle, difficult to distinguish between those who have it, knocked over to the ground, and those who fled in a hurry. The end of the bullfighting, the human family have to give the winner red and color, and to toast to their masters to congratulate.

Many Miao cottages have a grand bullfighting festival, which is the biggest celebration of the Miao people.

The bullfighting venue is usually located in a flat meadow surrounded by dense forests, where people from all the Miao villages flock to the festival dressed in their holiday attire, singing mountain hymns and holding strips of fighting bulls.

Bullfighting began, people to participate in the match of bullfighting bulls into the bullfighting Yang, at once, dozens of bullfighting fury to challenge each other, looking for rivals, each other, top fight, fight the loser to pull their legs and run, the winner of the chase until the loser fled from the battlefield, fled into the crowd, the winner only returned to the arena to look for rivals again. The first round of the losers have fled, the winner asked once again to start the battle, the loser and escape, the third round of the winners of the fight, until the last remaining pair, this is the most exciting duel in the bullfighting, the two bulls are equal in strength, a round than a round of the more ferocious, fierce battle once more than once more intense, and some have been fighting for several hours without distinguishing between winners and losers, this is not only than the strength of the duel, but also than the fighting skills of the duel, they look for each other's weaknesses, but also to find the other side. This is not only a duel of strength, but also a duel of fighting skills, they are looking for each other's weaknesses and fatalities, the courage to kill, the two pairs of horns clashing with each other, deafening, and sometimes they are head to head, held for dozens of minutes, the muscles collapsed almost burst; sometimes fighting until sunset, until one of the bulls fled in defeat before resting. The winner, with his head held high in the middle of the arena, is given a large red flower by the host and led around the arena by his owner, while the audience feeds him red-dyed eggs and festive meals, and withdraws countless flowers from him.

At night, people set up bonfires on the bullfighting ground, young men played the reed-sheng, girls danced, the elderly told ancient legends and stories, and people celebrated all night long.

The Miao people are the descendants of Chi You, legend has it that the Chi You emperor for the copper head and iron forehead, cow head and body, the Miao people is a respect for cattle, love cattle, worship cattle of the nation, they regarded as cattle as a symbol of health, strength, hard work, wrestling, heroes. Miao people love bullfighting, is a long-standing cultural tradition, bullfighting in the past are in the farmhouse after the harvest, used to celebrate the harvest, to relax the hearts of farmers. The passage of time, the development of the years, is gradually evolving into an important festival of the Miao people.