Mongol Bokh & Shuai Jiao

Today Shuai Jiao is referred to as 中国式摔跤 Zhōng Guó shì shuāi jiāo, or ‘Chinese wrestling’. Yet, Mongols generally dominate this sport. Isn’t it Chinese? Why are the Mongols dominating a Chinese sport? Well, it turns out this wrestling fight-sport isn’t all that Chinese.

Thanks to a century of Han Ethno-nationalist rhetoric, some people still believe that 中国式摔跤 Zhōng Guó shì shuāi jiāo, the jacketed Chinese wrestling we know of today, has a 5000 year old unbroken Han Chinese lineage. They believe that today’s Shuai Jiao may have had Mongol and Manchu influences during the Qing era but that it is inherently a Han Chinese martial sport and descends directly from the belt-wrestling and Sumo-like styles of the Tang and Song dynasties, and has its origins even earlier. During the Republican era of China, this was the popular narrative. Anti-Qing sentiments were rampant and Han ethnonationalism ran high, and martial artists sought to distance themselves from traces of Manchu-Mongol or Qing Bannerman influences. Yet this appears to have been a false narrative. The true story of this particular wrestling art begins on the Mongol steppe.

In the Medieval era, Turko-Mongol peoples of the steppe and Tungusic peoples of the northeastern forests managed to conquer parts (and eventually all) of China.

In the medieval era the great unifier of the Mongols, Chinggis Khan, mandated that an annual naadam be held, having the men compete in horseracing, archery, and wrestling. These skills tested the capabilities of the men and sharpened attributes useful for war. This tradition has been maintained to this day.

As the medieval Mongols conquered north China, then under the rule of the Jurchen Jin, they would absorb the previously conquered Khitan people. The Khitan were related to the Mongols and resented being conquered by the Jurchen who had rebelled against their rule. There was a time when Khitans ruled the steppe, north China, and today’s Manchuria and they had a heavy influence on the Mongols and Jurchen. When wrestling in the style known as 跋里速 (Bálǐsù in modern mandarin pronunciation), they wore short sleeve tops and some kind of cloth covering their chest. It is suspected by historians that jacketed wrestling in mainland East Asia might have originated with the Khitan. 

Martial Sports have a special place at the intersection of war and politics.

The Mongol Yuan dynasty would fall to the Chinese Ming dynasty, but as all dynasties do, the Ming also began to decay and become decadent. In the 1600s, Nurhaci would unite the Jurchen tribes under Manchu “Banners” to conquer China. His dynasty brought about the 大清帝國 Da Qing Empire which ruled over a vast swath of land and its peoples including most Mongolian and Han peoples. Although the Manchu were farmer-hunter folk and the Mongols generally pastoral nomads, their service in the Qing Banner military system and other factors led to mutual influence on one another. One of the Mongols’ great influences on the Manchu was wrestling. 

During the 大清帝國 Da Qing Empire the Manchu would learn Mongol Bökh. They called it ᠪᡠᡴᡠ  Buku (布庫), other names were ᠵᠠᡶᡠᠨᡠᠮᠪᡳ jafunumbi and 貫跤 Guàn jiāo.  A special Imperial wrestling team was formed: the 善撲營 Shàn Pū Yíng. For a couple centuries, only Manchu and Mongol Bannermen were allowed to be part of this team, based in Beijing. It also functioned as part of the Imperial guard. Hunting expeditions and wrestling matches were held to maintain rapport and earn the respect of the Mongols that the Qing Emperor ruled. Wrestling became closely associated with Bannermen and the Qing dynasty. But as the empire declined, things changed…

善撲營 Shàn Pū Yíng Wrestlers

Notice the similarities in the jodag (jackets) of different styles of Bokh and Shuai Jiao

In 1912 the Qing dynasty collapsed, and the Republic of China became established. The Mongol and Manchu Banner-folk were now out of work and often persecuted. While many felt teaching ‘commoners’ was beneath them, some former Shàn Pū Yíng would train Chinese civilians. Thus, the Hui and Han Chinese began to learn the ways, and spread the art to Tianjin and Baoding city. The Manchu offshoot of Bökh now became known as 摔角 or 摔跤 Shuāi jiāo in Chinese. Hui Chinese martial capability blossomed in this era. From the 1920s to the 1990s, Hui martial artists, strongmen, and wrestlers did extremely well in their respective fields. In this time, an influential Hui wrestler, 馬良 Mǎ Liáng, would promote this wrestling style to the Chinese, and the art was given a Nationalist Chinese narrative. This wrestling, re-branded as Chinese wrestling, would be taught to the military in this young Republic and for a time Shuai Jiao became popular in parts of China amongst Hui and Han Chinese. Cháng Dōng Shēng (常東昇, ﭼْﺎ دْﻮ ﺷْﻊ) a powerful champion wrestler and martial artist of the time would be the one to bring the art to Taiwan. A contemporary, Pan Wendou, also brought the military-police Shuai Jiao system (based on 馬良 Mǎ Liáng’s work) to Taiwan - though it is much less famous.

During this tumultuous time, many Mongols retreated to their homelands. Although considered powerful wrestlers, Mongols didn’t seem to be specializing to the Shuai Jiao format in the Republican era, and it’s possible their top talent was not always able to make it to the National Games.

Top wrestlers, almost always Mongols now

It seems the first Chinese wrestling school in Inner Mongolia was established in the 1950s in Hohhot - yet at the time most Mongolians were still living as rural herders. In fact for a long time Mongolians in what is now China were living in a semi-isolated state from the rest of the world. Thus they had returned mostly to their own wrestling style, Bokh. But things would change in a few decades… Yes, Mongol athletes began rapidly dominating Shuai Jiao. In the 1980s, Mongols in Uzemchin started to standardize Bokh and systematically train in 摔跤 Shuāi Jiāo. Formal teams began popping up all over Inner Mongolia and the region’s skill got even better. Due to the deep wrestling culture of Mongolian people, their training methods, and the similarity of the two arts - Shuai Jiao essentially being an offshoot of Bokh - the Mongols continue to do very well in Chinese wrestling. Mongolian wrestlers would often be spread out and put on Chinese provincial teams. While there are several notable Han Chinese champions, and many do well in the lighter weights under 70 kg, and as noted before, the Hui did extremely well for about 70 years, the reappearance of the Mongols and their subsequent domination of the sport is undeniable.

So, the Manchu practiced an offshoot of the Mongolian wrestling. This was taught to Han and Hui Chinese in the late 1800s and especially in the early 1900s. It must be said that Chang Dongsheng’s legacy in bringing the art to Taiwan and beyond, as well as the contributions and skill of Hui and Han Chinese wrestlers who helped Shuai Jiao flourish during the Republican era, are all indisputable. Yet we must also recognize the role the Mongols had in Shuai Jiao’s origins and the role they now play in today being at the forefront of its development and mastery.

Thus I contend, the five main styles of Mongol Bökh that exist today, alongside Manchu-Chinese Shuai Jiao, are part of a formidable family of wrestling.