Athletics, Modernity and the Nation in Early Republican China'
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Mastery Without Enmity: Athletics, Modernity and the Nation in Early Republican China' byAndrew Morris In an interview given on the occasion of the Forty-first World Cup Golf Tournament, held in Shenzheri in November 1995, China's Sports Minister Wu Shaozu told reporters ofhis plans actively to promote golfthroughout China. Wu explained his enthusiasm thusly: not only is golf "a sport beneficial to the body and mind," but also, "in somecoastal cities and special economic zones, golfhas become a helpful intermediary in expanding China's foreign trade." Perhaps most importantly for Wu, "The physique of the Chinese people is suited to the sport, which requires techniques [sic] and coordination of movements rather than strength." 1 These recent official comments on golf in China caught my eye not so much for their seeming crassness and cynicism as for the odd and distorted echoes they sounded of early Republican China. Eighty-some years ago, Chi nese bodies and minds simply did without the benefit now apparently provided by golf clubs, courses and carts. In China there were as yet no alcohol- and greed-soaked 19th holes in which to close multinational corporate deals. Athlet ics, exercise and Chinese physiques were already quite common topics ofdis cussion, however, as educators, intellectuals and students of a different China worked feverishly to save and strengthen their new republic. The philosophical, educational, political, cUlt1,!ral, literary and scientific ex plorations that so marked China in the 1910s were also accompanied by a fas cination with physical education and Chinese bodies. Among the many new concepts that quickly became common sense in the Republican era was the ideaidea ofofaa strongstrongnational body thatthat would be strengthenedand solidified by a fit, "sports" are very natural forms of societal organization, or thatthat therethere isis aa basicbasic competitive,competitive, disciplined citizenry thatthat could work and play together as a team. human need to participate in rituals ofcompetition and teamwork.teamwork. InInthisthisliteralitera TheThe connectionconnection between physical exertion and a strong nation, especially as ture, it is never questioned why Americans, Chinese, Brazilians, andand Iranians,Iranians, trumpetedtrumpeted byby Western and JapaneseJapanese patriots, already seemed rather obvious to for example, would all choose to compete inin similar formsforms ofphysical activity,activity, manymany concernedconcerned Chinese ofthe 191Os. Exactly how to make this crucial con like basketball or a 100-meter dash. I do not share thesethese assumptions aboutaboutthethe nection,nection, however,however, was stillstill open toto debate. Discussions of physical education universality of these games, but still must face thethe question of why soso manymany andand endeavorendeavor (tiyu)(tiyu) and thethe nation usually centered around two main types of peoples all ov~r the world have taken toto thethe Western athletic formsforms asas univeruniver exercise-Germanexercise-German and Swedish gymnastics and calisthenics (known as ticao), sal. TheAnglo-American sportsare particular formsforms ofphysical activity,activity, develdevel andand thethe Anglo-AmericanAnglo-American teamteam sports of ball games and track and field (also oped at specific times in specific places as part of specificspecific worldviews. HowHow referredreferred toto asas tiyu).tiyu). By thethe May Fourth movement of 1919, competitive team have these values managed to endure as thethe Chinese tiyu?tiyu? sportssports hadhad emergedemerged as thethe strengtheningstrengthening and unifying tiyu of choice, with ticao I hold that the prevalence ofa fairly uniform standard ofphysical activitiesactivities lingeringlingering onon asas aa more seldom-usedseldom-used disciplinary supplement. Noticeably absent and competitions around the world is very closely tiedtied toto thethe fairlyfairly uniformuniform fromfrom thesethese debatesdebates andand thisthis finalfinal outcome was the traditional Chinese martial standard ofthe modern nation-state thatthat transcendstranscends any official rulingruling ideologyideology artsarts (wushu);(wushu); thethe factfact thatthat thisthis absence isis "noticeable" to us today says much of the twentieth century. Athletics and thethe nation should not strikestrikeus asas anan oddodd aboutabout ourour ownown notions of Chinese nationalisms, national essences and their pairing; it seems almost impossible to imagineimagine modern athletics without itsits nana masculinemasculine overtones. But itit would not be an exaggeration to say that the wushu ·L tional foundation and functions (from national fitnessfitness standardsstandards andand internainterna simplysimply waswas not noticed at all by many of these modern-minded Republican tional competitions to national sports heroes and sports jargon).jargon). China isis nono patriots,patriots, whosewhose aversionaversion toto Chinese feudal and unscientific forms led them to exception to this model. The Chinese tiyu was being built along with, andandin,in, thethe constructconstruct aa tiyutiyu based on Western definitions of bodies and nations. new Chinese nation, and was influenced from outside inin similarsimilar ways. TheThe ByBy thethe earlyearly 1920s, thethe formsforms ofphysical exercise and recreation in China reasons for the development ofthe populartiyu,tiyu, forfor holding national andand interinter markedmarked byby thethe termterm "tiyu" bore great resemblance to forms that would be national athletic meets, and for tens ofthousandsthousands ofspectatorsspectators toto pay toto watchwatch recognizedrecognized both thenthen and now by Westerners as "sports" or "athletics." (As these competitions, derive from, and reflect back intointo thethe storystory ofthethe nation.nation. InIn neitherneither ofof thesethese words provide an exact fit for Chinese physical culture, how Republican China, it was in the nation's name thatthat tiyutiyu could develop inin thethe ever,ever, II feelfeel most comfortablecomfortable using thethe termterm "tiyu.") 2 Remarkably, since these ways it did. Likewise, the competitions and struggles on thethe athletic groundsgrounds ofof earlyearly debates,debates, thisthis definition of tiyutiyu has never been seriously challenged, and China would influence how many Chinese people. saw theirtheir futurefuture asas aa nation.nation. remainsremains almostalmost completelycompletely intactintact toto thisthis day. 3 These same games originally The two English-language book-length histories oftwentiethtwentiethcenturycenturyChiChi pushedpushed byby imperialists,imperialists, missionaries and "puppets of anti-democratic govern nese tiyu concentrate on explicit ties between sport and political ideology,ideology, oror mentment cliques"cliques" have sincesince formedformed thethe basis not only of competitions between privilege foreign contributions as the most significant impulsesimpulses ininthetheshapingshapingofof revolutionaryrevolutionary work teamsteams and military units in the People's Republic, and be Chinese athletics. 5 Both works are importantimportant contributions inin understanding tweentween ChinaChina andand itsits Third World allies inin thethe 1960s Games of the New Emerg Chinese tiyu, but their authors leave out thethe story of how thisthis tiyutiyu becomesbecomes inging Forces,Forces, butbut areare alsoalso thethe events inin which PRC athletes now excel in interna Chinese in the first place. In this paper, I hope toto work towardstowards explainingexplaininghowhow tionaltional competitions.competitions. IfIfwe recognizerecognize thethe importanceimportance that has been placed ontiyu the world systems of athletics and of thethe nation-state worked inin parallel andand andand physicalphysical fitnessfitness inin twentiethtwentieth century China, then this poses two very impor complementary ways, posited the athletic arena as a representationrepresentation ofofthethe nana tanttant questions:questions: What was thethe power and attraction of this new Western tiyu, tion; and presented Chinese with the foreign details thatthat (by(by May Fourth) werewere andand howhow diddid itit become soso wrapped up inin thethe Chinese nation? ,.... then translated into pieces of the Chinese nation. Much has been written by sociologists ofsport onthe important factors of Much has been written by sociologists of sport onthe important factors of * * * * violence,violence, classclass stratification,stratification, and political ideologyideology in sport allover the world. 4 * * * * However,However, thesethese works all seemseem toto share assumptions that the Anglo-American In studying why this kind of"athletics" came toto formform thethe Chinese tiyu,tiyu, wewe must realize that many in Republican China sought totoimagineimaginethesethesenewnewactivi-activi Military strongmen caught this military ticaoticao feverfever as well. Warlord FengFeng ties in terms of older documented forms of Chinese physical culture, mainly ties in terms of older documented forms of Chinese physical culture, mainly Yuxiang enforced rigorous physical training among his men, requiringrequiringclassesclassesinin aristocraticaristocratic gamesgames andand military training,training, thatthat came to be called the "ancient boxing and gymnastics, in order to cultivate officers who could "jump"jump offoff aa tiyu." This moment of comparison, the consciousness of what had come be tiyu." This moment of comparison, the consciousness of