Chinese Traditional Sports

China is an ancient civilization with over 5000 years of history. In the long course of historical development, Chinese traditional sports often reflected different aspects of contemporary politics, economy, culture, religion and customs of various ethnic groups (中国少数民族). The traditional sports made positive contributions to the prosperity of the Chinese nation, promoted the physical and mental health of the people, strengthened national unity, and supported active cultural life. In fact, there are 56 nationalities in China and their colorful traditional sports are a valuable cultural heritage of the Chinese nation.  

The book has 20 chapters, including:

Chapter 1: Overview of Traditional Chinese Sports (第一章：中国传统体育概述)

Chapter 2: Chinese Kung Fu (第二章：中国功夫)

Chapter 3: Bruce Lee (第三章：李小龙)

Chapter 4: Tai Chi (第四章：太极拳)

Chapter 5: Lion Dance (第五章：舞狮)

Chapter 6: Tug of War (第六章：拔河)

Chapter 7: Ancient Football (第七章：蹴鞠)

Chapter 8: Spinning Top (第八章：抽陀螺)

Chapter 9: Stilts (第九章：高跷)

Chapter 10: Throwing Hydrangea (第十章：抛绣球 )

Chapter 11: Fireworks (第十一章：抢花炮)

Chapter 12: Shooting/Crossbow (第十二章：射弩)

Chapter 13: Mongolian Wrestling (Buke) (第十三章：蒙古摔跤/搏克)

Although China has long been associated with the Martial Arts (武术), in traditional Chinese sports, there are widely-spread sports such as Horse Riding (骑马), Archery (射箭), Tai Chi (太极拳), Dragon Boat Races (赛龙舟), Lion Dance (舞狮), and so on. These sports narrate distinctive Chinese culture with regional characteristics. Some show the customs of the water country in the south (江南), some exude the aroma of the northern grassland (草原), and some have the magic of the plateau (高原). Many of the official events in the modern Olympic Games, such as football, running, weightlifting, wrestling, archery and other sports can be found in the Chinese traditional sports, and some of them have a longer history in China than in the West. For example, Cuju (蹴鞠) is a unique title of ancient Chinese football. It is a traditional Chinese sport and entertainment method with a history of more than 2,000 years. The origin of Dragon Boat Racing (赛龙舟) dates back to about 2500 years ago and remains a traditional event held around China every year. Bows and arrows are one of the earliest long-range weapons invented by the mankind. It is said that Chinese bows and arrows originated from the time of the Yellow Emperor (黄帝).

The current book volume, Chinese Traditional Sports, is a Chinese reading practice book. It would introduce you to a variety of important Chinese sports, such as Kung Fu (功夫), Tai Chi Chuan (太极拳), Ancient Football (蹴鞠, Cuju), Mongolian Wrestling (蒙古摔跤), Horse Racing (赛马), etc. As such, all these traditional sports are very essential part of learning Chinese language and culture. The new volume in the "Introduction to Chinese Culture Series", includes both the Chinese text (simplified characters) and pinyin. With about 1000 unique Chinese characters, the volume would be suitable for the beginners, lower intermediate and advanced level Chinese language learners (HSK 1-6). Overall, the reading series offers you a variety of elementary level books (Level 1/2/3) to learn Chinese culture as well as practice Chinese reading fast.