Women sumo wrestling was popular pastime in ancient China until rise of Confucian ethics

In ancient China, women’s sumo wrestling was a popular form of entertainment and the country is believed to hold the earliest records of female sumo wrestlers.

Photo: SCMP composite/Baidu In ancient China, women’s sumo was a popular form of entertainment in which participants wore minimal clothing that exposed their arms, backs, navels and lower abdomens, drawing significant attention.

Sumo is widely known as Japan’s national sport, but forms of wrestling also existed in ancient China.

Not only did men compete, but women also took part, making it a popular form of public entertainment.

Even emperors would watch the “performances”.

The above image depicts two women getting to grips with each other in ancient China, Photo: zhihu It is also believed that China has some of the earliest records of female sumo wrestlers.

The sport is thought to have originated as a form of military training before gradually evolving into a performance art.

During the Three Kingdoms period (220–265), Sun Hao of Wu ordered palace women to take off their clothes and wrestle, a fact found in early court records.

By the Sui (581-617) and Tang (618-907) dynasties, wrestling had developed into a professional form of entertainment, reaching its peak during the Song dynasty (960-1279).

The above painting shows two women making a sporting gesture to each other before a bout in ancient China: Photo: zhihu During the Song dynasty, the development of commerce and handicrafts led to a booming urban economy.

Large cities like Bianliang and Lin’an saw their populations grow to hundreds of thousands, and wazi, a form of entertainment venue, began to appear in these cities, offering a variety of leisure activities for urban residents.

Of the various performances in wazi, sumo wrestling was the most popular.

Although highly competitive, it was primarily designed for watching: entertainment came first, competition second.

Two modern-day women fighting during a competition at The World Games in Poland in 2017.

Photo: Getty Images Famous female sumo wrestlers of the time included Sai Guansuo, Xiao Sanniang and Hei Sijie.

In the wazi, some female performers would often begin with light acts such as acrobatics or magic tricks to attract crowds.

Once the audience had gathered, the official sumo performances would begin.

These women typically performed before the men’s bouts, helping to warm up the crowd, build excitement and attract spectators.

The most eye-catching aspect was not the

原文链接: 南华早报