Tibetan Custom – Stone Throwing

In Tibet, the sport of stone throwing is a kind of Tibetan traditional entertainment program which has long history, just as horse race and shooting.

Tibetan Custom – Rule of Stone Throwing

The rule of stone throwing is based on two aspects. One is distance, and the other is accuracy.

The simplest rule of stone throwing is to compare the distance of stone. In the competition, the participants, no matter young or old, will stand in a line. Person who throws the stone farthest is the winner. The little complicate rule is to set a target. The participant who throws the farthest and does not knock down the target is the winner.

In Tsang (Shigatse), the sport of stone throwing is very popular. The participants will be divided into two groups with same members and with separate target. The target is named "Ali" by local people. Each participant can pick three smooth and flat stones. In the competition, the largest stone will be thrown out at last. It is named "end stone". The other two stones are named "first stone" and "middle stone" based on the order of throwing out. The two groups will try their best to throw the stone to the place near to the other group's target. At the same time, they will use the heavy "end stone" to hit the stone near their own targets. After the last member in the group throwing out the stone, the contest can be decided by the distance of the stone. In general, the contest will not be decided just by one game.

Sometimes, the sport of throwing stone also regards accuracy as the standard. Simply speaking, it is ok to hit the target. But there are different details about the rule in different districts, such as different shapes of target. In Shannan Prefecture, there is a kind of Stone Throwing which is based on the accuracy of throwing stone. First of all, the target is not stone, but horn of yak, and there is cow dung or mud with wooden chip on the top of horn. Secondly, the participants not only can hit the horn, but also can hit the wooden chip on the top of horn. And participants will get different scores when hit different parts.

Tibetan Custom – Target of Stone Throwing

In general, the target of throwing stone is also stone, single stone and mound of stones. There is no special requirement about the shape of target. It is very funny that people in different prefectures would like to wear a "hat" for the target. That is to put a small target on the large target. The small target can be small stone or other things. The stone used to throw almost can be hold in hand, and directly throw out by hand. But the competition in some prefectures also uses some other things to throw the stone. The most special is to use "Wuerduo" to throw the stone. The "Wuerduo" is a kind of strap which is about 2 meters long and 4cm wide at the middle part. There is a wooden bowl at the middle part of the strap which is used to contain the stone.

In conclusion, the sport of stone throwing is very popular in Tibet. People not only regard stone throwing as a kind of entertainment, but also regard it as one of activity which can bring them good luck.