According to legend, tug of war traces its origin to an aquatic weapon in the Spring and Autumn Period (ca the 8th- 5th century BC) –a weapon that used traction to keep the enemy ship it was hooked onto from drifting downstream in retreat.

Tug of War (Photo/China Daily Shanxi Office)

Tug of war in celebration of the Cold Food and Qingming Festivals has long been the order of the day in Jiexiu (in Shangxi province), since the city's Mian Mountain (where the virtuous official Jie Zitui lived in seclusion) tourist site was open to the public. In 1985, a large-scale tug-of-war match was held in Jiexiu, creative in both form and content.