by Yun Ji Hyun / Cha Min Kyung 

Sossaum
[ENG] Bullfighting

▲ This photo shows two cows bumping their heads together to get ready to fight. 

 

Sossaum is a traditional Korean game where two cows compete against each other. Sossaum is a term combined with the words, 'cow' (소·[so]) and 'fight' (싸움·[ssaum]), therefore directly translates to cow fighting or bullfighting. In Korea, bullfighting initially started after the agricultural culture settled within society and provided a form of entertainment for the villagers.

Cows were considered valuable assets since they were an important means of production within the agricultural society. Annual Sossaum took place around Chuseok (Harvest Festival), in the middle of the eighth lunar month. At this time of the year, most labor-intensive farm work were already finished and it was usually the farmers who led the cow fight.

The cow selected for the fight represented the farmlands, members of the community and ultimately the entire village so this competition wasn't merely between cows but rather a battle between the village's productive potential and pride.

Cow fighting can be commonly seen in many parts of Korea's rural areas, however, the annual Sossaum takes place mainly in the Gyeongsang Province, located in the southeast of Korea.

While the world-famous Spanish bullfight is a fight between a person and a cow, the Korean bullfight only involves two cows competing with each other.

▲ Modern-day Sossaum

Traditional cow fights or Sossaum where normally held between nearby villages, however gradually grew in the 1970s and developed into an official form of competition.

During the competition, a professionally trained bull fights with another cow in the middle of a stadium surrounded by a large crowd.

In the past, people brought cows that were used to farm, however nowadays professional fighting bulls are fostered and trained for such events.

 

 

▲ This picture shows a scene during a Sossaum, where two cows fight with each other. 
Although there aren't any competitions planned, bulls who are selected to fight undergo rigorous physical training and learn various fighting skills. In some cases, bulls are fed health supplements in order to help them maintain their strengths.

In order for a cow to enter a Sossaum, there are certain rules to follow. Before the match begins, the referees divide each bull to the appropriate weight division and later determines the winning cow within each weight division. If one cow turns its head, tries to run away, or fall, it is considered to be defeated.
In the end, the owner of the winning cow receives a large amount of prize money and sometimes the value of the cow increases drastically as well.

▲ Cheongdo Bullfighting Festival

Every year the Cheongdo Bullfighting festival is held in Cheongdo-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do from March to May.

The festival started in 1990, formally known as the "Yeongnam Folk Bullfighting Contest" and became the "Cheongdo Bullfighting Festival since 1999. Since then, the scale of the fight has grown every year, ultimately becoming Korea's largest bullfighting festival. 

 

▲ A referee watches two cows fighting during the Cheongdo Bullfighting festival. 
In addition to Cheongdo, Sossaum also happen in Jinju, Changwon, Gimhae, Daegu Dalseong, Wanju County, Jeollabuk-do, and Jeongeup, but most of them are held as minor local festivals unlike the large-scale bullfighting festivals in Cheongdo.

Hundreds of thousands visitors gather in Cheongdo every spring when the bullfighting festival takes place. In addition to the main event, the festival also offers a variety of other attractions such as friendly matches with cows from foreign countries, rodeo matches, and special performances.

Cheongdo is the only place in Korea where an indoor dome stadium is provided for bullfighting. Apart from the bullfights, other sports games or different events are also held at the stadium every weekend. Visitors can also bet on a bullfight just like people do in racetracks.

The Cheongdo Bullfighting Competition, which was put on hold last year due to the widespread of the coronavirus, will resume on March 20th and run every weekend until the end of the year.

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