Ancient China's sporting legacy

The recent correspondence on the origin and etymology of "golf" affords me the opportunity to indulge in my favourite - Man at play - so brilliantly explained in John Huizinga's book Homo Ludens (1938) and Roger Callois's treatise Man, Play and Games (1958). These sports philosophers, hailing from Northern Europe, where for centuries the educational, social and philosophical aspects of sport have been accorded academic prominence, believe that sport is much older than mankind for the simple reason that animals play, consequently sport predates man. They also conclude that while evolving throughout the centuries in all cultures, the playfulness of sport has emerged as the most noble part of our basic nature.

The evolution of sport, starting from primitive societies till the present day, is indeed very fascinating, as even today new sports disciplines with ball and stick are discovered in the jungles of Papua and New Guinea. However we Europeans, justly proud of our sporting achievements and particularly dazzled by the glories and traditions of Ancient Greece with its sporting ethos, often lose sight of the fact that parallel sports were evolving in other civilisations. This Eurocentrism, not unlike the Marco Polo syndrome of the 13th century, makes us oblivious of Ancient China's contribution to sport as we know it today. Throughout the history of mankind we discover that ball games with or without sticks, including different types of "golf", have always been played. However, it was mainly the British who, at the height of their colonial dominance in the mid-19th century, codified and laid specific rules for many sports. But to credit Britain or any other country with "inventing" a particular sport is not exactly correct.

In the recent correspondence featuring in your newspaper about golf no mention was made of the still extant documents relating to "golf" in Ancient China. As the Chinese kept precise historical records with a strong chronological sense we possess a wealth of information about golf played in various provinces. For example, we have surviving pictures and rule books of a game very similar to modern golf, first mentioned in the sixth century AD and later practised for hundreds of years. A 32-chapter manual for Wan-Chin gave specific instructions for clubs, balls, conditions of the links, fouls, the number of players as well as the rules for determining a winner and exacting penalties for losers. While assuming that the game was primarily meant for gentlemen, the Wan-Chin manual warned against double putting and cheating while pointing out the psychological aspects.

Surely, these sporting traditions of Ancient China will feature prominently at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games in the summer of 2008.