Fighting Roosters and Chinese Culture

Author: (USA) Gao Deyao, Zhang Zhenjun
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-03-01
Features: This book uses historical, literary, and other materials to study the cockfighting activity in traditional Chinese culture. Some may find the topic a bit strange, but I believe that if we want to learn more about a society's past, sometimes we must study phenomena that have not received much attention before. Knowledge of such daily life and leisure activities can give us a deeper impression of traditional Chinese culture. More importantly, as a literary theme and social phenomenon, cockfighting can reveal certain literary, historical characteristics, and trends. Poetry about cockfighting not only has literary value but also, along with other materials about cockfighting competitions, helps us better understand cultural trends and the norms of the times. In books like the Zhuangzi and the Liezi, cockfighting also serves a philosophical debating purpose. In other words, cockfighting is a topic worth exploring. In a sense, this book is exploratory. That is to say, readers should partly view it as an effort to study the relationship between humans and nature. Some have already conducted excellent studies on animals and plants in Chinese culture, but there are still many issues awaiting research. Although I am not an expert in anthropology and sociology, I hope scholars of Chinese literature, history, anthropology, and sociology will find it interesting and useful.