Single-bamboo drifting or duzhu drifting ( zh, 独竹漂) is a sport traditionally practiced by various people inhabiting the

Chishui River Chishui River (; historically, Huainanzi"Lecture on Terrains"quote: "何謂六水？曰河水、赤水、遼水、黑水、江水、淮水。") is a major tributary of the upper Yangtze. Its name literally means "red water river"/"red river" beca ...

basin in Guizhou Province. Practitioners either perform dance movements or race one another using the bamboo log as balance. The practice originated as a way for loggers to transport their lumber elsewhere, but gradually became the modern day practice.

Description

The practice involves standing upright on a bamboo pole as it drifts in a river. Practitioners then perform dance movements as they maintain their balance. The practice was described as "water ballet". As a competitive sport, participants use the pole as a means to race opponents.

History

Single-bamboo drifting originated as a way to travel in the Chishui River basin in the Chinese province of Guizhou. The practice is popular among the

Miao people The Miao are a group of linguistically-related peoples living in Southern China and Southeast Asia, who are recognized by the government of China as one of the 56 List of ethnic groups in China, official ethnic groups. The Miao live primarily in ...

in the province, which had inhabited the Chishui river basin region, but has spread beyond the Miao cultural sphere, and is practiced by various ethnic groups in the region. Researchers led by Liang and Cheng state that the practice originated a thousand years ago as a way to transport bamboo logs by loggers inhabiting the mountainous and difficult to travel region, as bamboo was an ideal building material at the time. In order to stay caught up to the bamboo, the loggers would jump on the floating log, and the practice eventually became single-bamboo drifting. The rivers, which made the region difficult to travel through, were used by the loggers to travel throughout the otherwise difficult to travel region through the practice of single-bamboo drifting. Loggers would additionally carry a

pike Pike, Pikes or The Pike may refer to: Fish * Blue pike or blue walleye, an extinct color morph of the yellow walleye ''Sander vitreus'' * Ctenoluciidae, the "pike characins", some species of which are commonly known as pikes * ''Esox'', genus of ...

for the purposes of balancing. According to Owen Fishwick at '' China Daily'', the practice began in the Qin dynasty as a way to transport the valuable Nanmu wood logs produced in the Bozhou region via the

. Loggers would ride the logs to be loaded onto boats down the river to be sent to the ancient capital of Xianyang, as local boats could not fit the logs for transport elsewhere. The practice later changed from a necessity into a more casual activity in the Han dynasty. During the Qing dynasty, practitioners started using bamboo rather than wood logs, as bamboo was a cheaper and more accessible resource.

Modern practice

In modern times the practice has evolved into a performance art and a competitive sport, rather than a necessary means of travel. The practice of single-bamboo drifting has entered use within the National Traditional Games of Ethnic Minorities competition. The sport was introduced in the competition during the 9th national event, held in 2011. Practitioner Yang Liu gained a social media following in Mainland China through her combination of the practice with dance techniques and traditional dress.

References

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External links

Video of athletes practicing single bamboo drifting
Sport in Guizhou Human-powered watercraft Sports originating in China Miao people

Description

History

Modern practice

See also

References

External links