Brief Introduction to Chinese Traditional Sports and Activities

Chinese traditional sports and activities are very popular, and as are also a precious cultural heritage for the country, which has existed since ancient times. Many of the traditional sports activities are not only good for health but also have high artistic value, and rich recreational and educational functions. These sports include martial arts, taijiquan or shadow boxing, qigong (a system of deep breathing exercises), Chinese chess and weiqi and encirclement chess.

How did Chinese traditional sports and activities come into existence?

It is inevitable that with such a long history, China should have developed several unique and traditional sports and pastimes. Almost all the traditional sports were derived from productive activity, the Mongolians, Tibetans and Kazaks inhabit vast natural grasslands, and the gift for riding and shooting is vital to their existence. Consequently this has given rise to their forms of sport —horsemanship.

The people who live in agricultural communities or who rely on hunting for their livelihood are good at climbing, wrestling, jumping and shooting.

Tai Ji Quan, which is also known as Chinese shadow boxing, is a major division of Chinese martial art. Tai Ji Quan means "supreme ultimate fist", and is a kind of Chinese boxing, combining control of breath, mind and body. It emphasizes body movement, following mind movements, tempering toughness with gentleness and graceful carriage.  The traditional legend goes that the wise man, Zhang Sanfeng of the Song Dynasty (960-1279), created Tai Ji Quan after he witnessed a fight between a sparrow and a snake.

This is a system of deep breathing exercises, and is a unique Chinese way of keeping fit. It aims at enhancing health, prolonging life, curing illnesses and improving physiological functions by concentrating the mind and regulating the breath.

As China is so large, various minorities are separated by huge distances, and it is therefore not surprising that they have their own special ways in which to express their vigor and enthusiasm.There are various entertaining and competitive sports activities in the minority-inhabited areas;

These include; Mongolian wrestling, horsemanship and archery; kicking the shuttlecock and tug-of-war of the Hui; Tibetan yak racing; the Miao people’s swinging and dragon-boat racing; the Zhuang people’s throwing balls made of colored silk; Korean swinging and see-sawing; Manchu skating; walking on stilts of the Dong people; whipping tops of the Yao people; kite-flying of the Gaoshan; girl chasing of the Kirgiz. These minority sports and activities are an integral part of Chinese customs and culture , enriching the Chinese traditional sports and activities.

Dragon boat racing, flying kites, yangge dancing, weiqi, qigong and taijiquan are traditional sports and are popular among both Han people and people of national minorities.