□ Wu Jifu
Liangshan County is the most famous custom of fighting sheep in southwest Shandong. Fighting sheep is a long-standing folk custom in Liangshan area, and it is also an important entertainment item in local village fairs, ancient temple fairs, Spring Festival and festive days.
Due to the low-lying terrain and flooded wetlands, the Liangshan area of Shuibo is suitable for the growth of willow trees, and shepherds sheep with fallen leaves and branches, with low investment and high benefits.
Fighting sheep, commonly known as "Xiaoyang" in the folk, often caused fights and fights in the past due to different judgments, so it was called "Storm Incident" in the old days, and later developed into a folk activity in southwestern Shandong.
Liangshan fighting sheep has a long history. There are two theories about the origin of this custom. One is from the Western Han Dynasty, and the other is from Cao Cao.
According to historical data, when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the main father Yan entered Qi as the prime minister, and implemented the "Pushing Grace Order", dividing the Qi state into seven national towns.
Among them, the boundary between the King of Jiaoxi and the Kingdom of Chengyang was unclear, and the conflict continued.
The master's father, Yan, was very surprised, and invited the two kings to meet at the Great Wall of Qi, saying: "The two kings are in a stalemate, so it is better to ask the heavens." The two kings asked anxiously, "How to ask the heavens?" Write a character for each, and the will of God will be revealed." The King of Jiaoxi wrote the character for "Ji", and the King of Chengyang wrote the character for "Yang" (in ancient times, "Yang" and "Xiang" were common).
The master's father Yan smiled and said: The characters written by the two kings are "auspicious", which can form a "good" character without the use of force.
As a result, the two sides agreed that "the sheep will fight each other, and two of the three games will be won, and the winner will be bounded by the Great Wall of Qi."
After the King of Jiaoxi returned to the palace, he sent an order to guard the school in Zhecheng, ordering him to select strong and aggressive black goats.
The school guards immediately issued an announcement: "This is a matter of state affairs. Anyone who has a strong black male goat, tiger god, and leopard god will be sent to the school tomorrow morning to fight sheep. Those who enter the armor will be awarded five acres of land, and the champion will be given a hundred land. Mu, 100 golds, and 50 golds for the runners-up." Three days after the announcement, the whole country in Jiaoxi was shaken, and when they reached Zhecheng Road, people and sheep embraced each other and lined up for ten miles.
There is a folk song saying: "It is better to raise black sheep than to raise children. If you raise black sheep, you will have land, and you will get a hundred gold to build a big house."
On the day of the competition, there was a crowd of 100,000 people on the beach on the north bank of the Quhe River.
The honor guards of the two countries are lined up in line, and the goats are dressed in colorful silk, as strong as oxen and as fierce as tigers and wolves.
King Yangcheng's fighting sheep, "a mass of white snow king, with high horns and sharp swords", "a pair of long eyes with piercing eyes, limbs thick and feet like cow hooves"; Jiaoxi King's fighting sheep, "the whole body is black like black gold, The two horns are thick and short like a mallet.
The final result was that the black sheep of King Jiaoxi was slightly better and won the championship.
Since then, the two countries have demarcated the border with the Great Wall of Qi as the boundary.
The wind of fighting sheep rose and spread to all parts of Qilu.
Another origin legend is related to Cao Cao.
According to historical records, at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cao Cao served as the shepherd of Yanzhou, and he stationed troops in Juancheng of Caozhou (now Heze City).
According to legend, Cao Cao lost a battle against Yuan Shao and retreated to Caozhou, his morale was low.
Cao Cao climbed high and looked into the distance, thinking hard about how to defeat the enemy. Suddenly, he saw two shepherd boys at the foot of the slope driving the sheep to fight each other. Although the little sheep were weak, they were better than the big sheep because of their fighting spirit.
Inspired by Cao Cao, he summed up the experience that "soldiers are better than Zhiang, and defeated by heart fatigue, arrogant soldiers will lose, sad soldiers will win, and a thousand troops can be discouraged". , with a counterattack, defeated Yuan Shao, and laid the foundation for dominating the Central Plains.
Since then, under the advocacy of Cao Cao, the custom of fighting sheep arose among the people in southwestern Shandong.
Tang Li Yanshou's "Northern History" records: "In the first month of the first month, the villagers bought male sheep, and each went to the field to decide the winner. The group fight could not be stopped, and there were thousands of onlookers." Hebei, Shandong, Henan and Anhui regions.
The sheep fighting competitions in Liangshan County are usually held in markets or temple fairs.
Before the sheep fight, people invite each other.
When the appointed date arrives, people choose Douyang's famous and "overwhelming" people as "principals" to handle the matter.
Before the start of the game, the "masters" will classify the fighting sheep according to their teeth (two teeth, four teeth, six teeth), weight, and fame, and take turns to enter the arena. The winner of the prize is called "Famous Sheep".
There are generally two ways to fight sheep: one is free style, that is, the owner of the sheep fight lets go of the two sheep to fight on his own; Turn back sharply, fight for a round, then pull away, fight again, until the winner is decided.
In the market, the two sides of the fighting sheep often discuss and shout, find a spacious place temporarily, and use the whip to draw a line on the ground to fight.
Immediately surrounded by people, the scene was thrilling and cheered.
The winner of the battle of sheep, its price immediately rose.
The Liangshan fighting sheep breed was originally Luxi sheep.
In August 1981, after the editors of "Chinese Sheep Breeds and Atlas" and experts, professors and scholars from 14 scientific research units across the country inspected and studied, the "Luxi Sheep" was changed to "Little Tail Han Sheep", and Liangshan was used as the breeding center. Small-tailed Han sheep breeding base, fighting sheep breeds become small-tailed Han sheep.
It is famous for its large size, virility, and bravery. It has the characteristics of high reproduction rate and rapid growth and development. When mature, it can reach 150 kilograms and a height of more than 1 meter. It is known as the world's super giant sheep and is the best gene pool for mutton sheep production.
The ram of the small-tailed Han sheep is large, sturdy, and good at fighting, with well-developed spiral-shaped bone horns, thick and hard.
When the two sheep touch each other, they can generate a force of 800 kilograms, which sounds like chopping wood.
Due to the prevalence of sheep fighting custom, Liangshan County held the Chinese sheep fighting conference in 1986, and established the sheep fighting association in 1988, which widely attracted sheep fighting enthusiasts, enthusiasts and organizers.
According to statistics, Liangshan County now holds more than 100 large-scale sheep fighting competitions every year.
For example, Haoshantou Village in Liangshan County is a characteristic village of folk tourism in Shandong Province. Every March 20th, the ancient temple fair will hold a sheep fighting competition here.
The village's ancient meeting began in the Qing Dynasty and started on the 22nd day of the second lunar month every year. It lasted for a month. Later, it evolved into a literary and art exchange conference. There was a sheep fighting competition. Dragon dance, lion dance, cockfighting, Yangko and other folk art activities are well-known in southwest Shandong.
Every year at this time, the people of the eight townships in ten miles come to attend meetings, watch sheep fights, and listen to big plays.
Why are people in Liangshan so keen to fight sheep?
This is related to the local social environment.
Liangshan has been rich in goats since ancient times.
In the eyes of Liangshan people, the real significance of the sheep fighting competition lies in the improvement of the breed quality of sheep and the will of the sheep fighting people.
A local folk saying goes: "A good ew is a good litter; a good ram is good for a slope." Farmers select excellent rams through sheep fighting, and then use the rams to breed fine offspring.
This is a happy thing for the local people. It can not only adjust life for entertainment, but also improve the quality of sheep, which can greatly improve the economic benefits of farmers.
In addition, most people in Liangshan practice martial arts, and many people who fight sheep learn martial arts. Fighting sheep is not only the strength of sheep, but also the strength and resourcefulness of people.
Screening out good sheep by fighting sheep is conducive to the development of the local sheep farming industry, which in turn promotes the prevalence of sheep fighting.
Today, with the improvement of people's living standards, sheep fighting has developed from ancient gatherings and market competitions to today's street community fighting competitions, and has become an entertainment activity throughout urban and rural areas.