Dong Family Bullfighting Dance

"Niu Dance" is one of the traditional dance forms of the Dong people in Tianzhu, Guizhou. Popular in Lantian, Dong Bang, Fengcheng Town, Shexue Township and Duma Township of Tianzhu County. It is called "Di Fang Guniu" or "Chedi Guniu" locally. It takes the simulation of bullfighting as the dance content and takes the form of song and dance. The main props of bullfighting dance are curtains, pillows, laundry baskets and money, and are equipped with instruments such as gongs, drums, horns and conchs. The activity time is generally midnight from the first day to the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, and midnight from the eleventh to the fifteenth day of July. At that time, men, women and children, armed with torches from Song and Ming Dynasties, will gather in a hall or an empty flat grain drying flat, beating gongs and drums, blowing snails on the horn and singing together (bullfighting song): Roar-winter fire is shallow, choose a good cow to plow the field. Plant if you win, and cook if you lose. Cover the eyes of two boys with handkerchiefs, let them kneel on the ground, lean forward, lie prone on their upper body, touch the ground with their palms, and play the role of "dead cow" for fierce fighting. If there is a hard obstacle in front of the ground cow, cover it with a pillow. If you are unbeaten and qualified, block it with a laundry list. It is also stipulated that both sides are not allowed to punch and kick with their hands, and only eight basic actions are allowed, such as touching, lifting, pulling, pushing, pressing, pushing, prying and rolling. There are often thunderous applause and cheers when the performance reaches the wonderful place, which adds a festive atmosphere to Dong Caotang.

The Dong people's bullfighting dance is different from Venezuela's "bull throwing" activity and Spain's "bullfighting" game. The "bullfighting" in Venezuela and Spain is a struggle between people and cows, and the object of their struggle is an extremely fierce bull, which is essentially different from the bullfighting dance of Dong people. The former belongs to funny entertainment games, while the latter belongs to serious and simple dance art. As for the origin of Dong people's bullfighting dance, we can only seek the answer in the long-standing "bull culture" or broader farming culture background.

Dong people's folk activities, such as Bull Run Festival, Spring Bull Dance, Spring Cattle Farewell, King Cattle Festival, and worship of cows and bodhisattvas, are inevitably related to farming culture, especially the custom of "Bullfighting" is more closely related to farmland farming. As long as we trace its historical origin and development track, it is not difficult for us to find the origin of "bullfighting dance", because this dance form is completely the reappearance of the custom of "bullfighting".

The custom of "bullfighting" in Dong nationality area has a long history and has been passed down from generation to generation. February or August every year is the "Bull Running Festival", and some areas are Chongyang (that is, the ninth day of September). It is said that this is the day when a cow beats a rhinoceros. "Guizhou Tongzhi" contains: "Dong Jiashang is still popular in bullfighting. First, they buy big cows with heavy goods, and the rice is fattened. Next winter, they choose a day to fight each other. Thousands of people will jump and vote in groups, winning and losing. " It can be seen that the scale of its activities is unprecedented. To this day, the custom of "bullfighting" still exists in caves, water caves, Huangqiao and Ling Du.