In ancient China, there was a unique form of exercise, and that was skill. China ancient acrobatics originated from prehistoric human activities and productive labor practices. With the development of society and the progress of human culture, this form of sports has become the main content of the art of "dancing and dancing" and one of the spiritual and cultural forms of the unified autocratic empire. The main items of this skill form are somersaults, handstands, jujitsu, playing with cars, crossing bars, rope skills and so on, many of which require high physical skills. After the Han Dynasty, these rich sports forms, which mainly showed superb physical skills, basically established their position in the "Hundred Dramas" art prevailing in ancient China.

During the Wei, Jin, Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties, the style sports related to skills basically followed the relatively complete form of the Han Dynasty, but developed in difficulty and methods. During the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, the forms of artistic activities were widely popular, from court to banquet, from town to country. Especially in the performing arts places in towns and villages, there are various forms of physical skills. In addition, in addition to the development of motor skills, the project has also changed. In the Ming Xianzong Lantern Festival painted in the Ming Dynasty, some pictures show the contents of skills, such as boarding a wheel, drilling a circle, turning upside down, jujitsu, folding and so on. As a way to exercise physical potential, acrobatics has added new content to the ancient sports in China.

Competition category

The competitiveness of ancient sports in China was relatively weak, especially after the Tang Dynasty. Shooting is one of the six arts. "Six Arts", namely "Ritual, Music, Shooting, Imperial, Calligraphy and Numbering", are the main contents of China's pre-Qin education. Among them, "shooting" means archery, and "defending" means driving.

Bows and arrows have become sharp weapons for hunting and war. Archery practice is an important sports activity of the ancients. The Zhou Dynasty formulated the "shooting ceremony", which refers to the ceremonial archery competition, which is an inevitable activity in many ancient occasions, such as sacrificial ceremonies, vassal sacrifices, diplomatic alliances and so on. According to the classification, there are four kinds of archery: big shooting, guest shooting, swallowing shooting and national shooting, which makes archery a cultural etiquette.

There were many warriors who were good at shooting in ancient times, such as Yang and Ji Changhe in the pre-Qin period, Li Guang, a flying general in the Han dynasty, and Cao Cao in the Three Kingdoms period.

Because archery played an important role in ancient military activities, in the second year of Chang 'an in Tang Dynasty (AD 702), Wu Zetian initiated the martial arts system of selecting military talents, and paid special attention to archery. Until the late Qing Dynasty, archery was always the main event of military martial arts. After the Song and Yuan Dynasties, due to the invention and use of modern firearms, the military and meaning of etiquette of archery activities gradually weakened, but its competitiveness and entertainment gradually strengthened, but it still belonged to the important content of martial arts until the late Qing Dynasty.

martial arts

Wushu is a unique sport of the Chinese nation, which develops gradually with the progress of human social life.

Instruments are the foundation of traditional martial arts, which was originally developed with the appearance of hunting and war. Later, many martial arts instruments actually originated from some ancient production tools and weapons. Various bronze weapons that appeared in Shang and Zhou Dynasties, such as Ge, Ji, spear, knife and sword, can be said to be earlier martial arts instruments. After Qin and Han Dynasties, with the development of iron smelting industry, iron martial arts instruments became increasingly diversified.

Boxing is an important part of China Wushu, and its main feature is the use of unarmed fists and limbs. During the Wei, Jin, Sui and Tang Dynasties, with the prosperity of religion, boxing in martial arts became more popular in monasteries and folk. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, with the increasing enrichment of martial arts in China, the techniques of boxing routines gradually matured, mainly in the formation of various schools with different styles and technical characteristics.

In addition to the use of unarmed fists and limbs, the use of equipment for skill drills is also an important part of Wushu. After Qin and Han dynasties, influenced by the need of close combat in the war, equipment drills came into being.

Significant changes have taken place. During the Song, Yuan and Ming and Qing Dynasties, due to the rulers' advocacy of Wushu, the prosperity of folk Wushu training activities and the new development of routine techniques, the diversified development of Wushu equipment drills was objectively promoted.

equestrian

Horse riding was an important sport in ancient China, including horse racing and circus. The invention of horseback riding was originally for hunting, and was later introduced into the military. Because of the important role of horse riding in hunting and military affairs, horse riding has always been valued by people and has gradually developed into a sports activity.

Riding appeared earlier in China, and nomadic people living in the north should be the first to invent riding. Hexi Corridor in Gansu and Dunhuang area in Jiuquan have been inhabited by nomadic peoples such as Di, Qiang, Turkic, Xiongnu, Xianbei and Uighur since ancient times. In the ancient Central Plains, training horses and controlling wagons also appeared in the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, and horse-drawn chariots were also used in this period. The emergence of cavalry is an armed revolution, and it also puts forward higher requirements for riding. With the popularity of cavalry in various countries, riding has become an important part of assessing soldiers' skills.

Horse racing is very popular in the Spring and Autumn Period. Although it was only the gambling activities of princes and nobles at that time, it showed that people at that time had high skills in riding horses.

Polo is a sport closely related to horse riding, and it is called "bowing". Polo developed greatly from the Han Dynasty to the Sui and Tang Dynasties, especially in the Tang Dynasty. Polo requires a lot of riding skills, and competitors must have very skilled riding skills. The Tang Dynasty paid more attention to horses, and its military equestrian training was very strict. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, horse riding performance was not only folk, but also an important part of military training.

Traditional skating

Skiing was mastered by some ethnic minorities in the north as early as the Sui and Tang Dynasties. Among the Jurchen people living in the northeast at that time, there was a kind of "bamboo horse" for galloping. This kind of "bamboo horse" glides on the ice with high speed and great strength.

In the Song Dynasty, the ice and snow movement became more prosperous. At that time, there was a popular ice activity pulled by manpower, that is, some soft and warm objects such as mattresses were laid on wooden boards, and two or three people sat on them and let one person slide on the ice. This is the earliest ice bed and a unique form of skating. Until the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there were still some rich children playing this game on the ice of Jishuitan in Beijing.

Ice and snow activities in the Ming Dynasty were further developed among the northern minorities. In the first month of the 5th year of Xi in Ming Taizu (1625), Nuerhachi, the leader of Nuzhen nationality in Jianzhou, Northeast China, once held a grand ice sports meeting on the Prince River. In this sports meeting, there will be an ice hockey performance first, and then a speed skating competition. The champion got 20 taels of silver and the runner-up got 10 taels. This is the first ice sports meeting in ancient China.

After the Manchu people entered the Central Plains, they brought their traditional national sports-skating to the mainland. Its content was rich and colorful, showing a prosperous scene for a generation. At that time, every winter, the royal family would select thousands of experts who were good at walking on ice to go to the palace for training, and perform in Taiyechi (now Beijing Beihai and Zhongnanhai) from winter to March 9.

Skiing is another popular ice and snow sport since Sui and Tang Dynasties, and it is also welcomed by northern minorities.

Strength training and weightlifting

The forms of strength training and weightlifting in ancient China experienced three stages: one was to lift household appliances, and the other was to lift wood and iron.

The third is a weightlifter made of lifting stones. Because of the different weightlifting equipment, their names are also different, such as "Qiaoguan", "Shouding" and "Lifting Stone Lock", all of which are the names of ancient weightlifting activities.

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, there were records of "going through the customs" and "carrying the tripod" in China's history books.

During the Warring States period, Qin was the country that produced the most talents, and Qin attracted many giants by closing palaces. In the Han Dynasty, tripod lifting was still the way to lift weights, and the ways to practice strength were expanded. Although the form of strength training in the Han Dynasty still used life tools, the ways of social entertainment performances increased. During the Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties, weightlifting was not only an examination of martial arts in military training, but also an important part of sports activities.

After the Song Dynasty, stone weightlifting equipment began to be further popularized, which was beneficial to the extensive development of weightlifting. From the weightlifter made of wood and iron to the weightlifter made of stone, it can be regarded as the symbol of extensive weightlifting in ancient China. The Ming and Qing Dynasties inherited the martial arts system of the Tang Dynasty, and changed the weightlifting method in the original examination content to "throwing stones". At that time, activities such as lifting stone locks and carrying stones were popular among the people.

Turning, Sumo and Wrestling

Corner touch is a form of competitive activities in ancient China, which belongs to the category of unarmed combat and is the development and perfection of primitive means of human self-defense. According to ancient documents, Jiao Di first started in ancient Jizhou's "Chiyou Opera", which was popular in ancient northern China to commemorate the Chiyou family who competed with the Yellow Emperor in the Central Plains.

After Qin Shihuang unified China, private possession of weapons by the people was forbidden, which flourished as a corner of unarmed combat. In the Han Dynasty, a competitive activity developed from "Chiyou Opera" and performed by two people in public appeared among the people, which later had the characteristics of wrestling. At the beginning of Jin Dynasty, another name-sumo wrestling appeared. In the Tang Dynasty, sumo and Jiaodi were two names tied together, which were characterized by competitive competitions and were mostly carried out in the military.

Sumo was popular among the people after the Song Dynasty. Sumo at that time can be roughly divided into two categories: one is the official competition; The other is the performance sumo held in Washe and other places, which is not as competitive as the former. Among the hundred performances at that time, sumo performance was undoubtedly the most interesting content for the audience. The costumes of sumo wrestlers are very similar to those of Japanese sumo wrestlers now.

After the Ming Dynasty, sumo wrestling became popular. Especially after Manchu entered the Central Plains, wrestling was naturally brought into the Central Plains.