Has there ever been some sort of competition going on in (ancient) china, kind of like the Olympic games?

Question

I am really interested in the history of Chinese sporting events. Has there ever been some kind of big competetive sporting event?

Answer 1

Ancient China developed a game called tsu chu "to kick the ball with feet" going back as far as 2500 B.C. According to the records this game was typically played in celebration of the emperors birthday. By the time of the HAN dynasty (206 B.C. - 220 AD) the game was widely played. This game is consider by FIFA as a precursor of the game of soccer.

Also in ancient China they played Ti Jian Zi, or shuttle-kicking, a game played with the feet. As far back as 5th century BC. Nobody knows how or what influence this had in developing the game of badminton.Latter on the Chinese played a game called battledore (meaning rackets) and shuttlecock about 5 centuries latter.

Archery in China had a contest during the Zhou (Chou) Dynasty (1027-256 BC) nobles at court attended sport archery tournaments accompanied by music.

Gymnastics- I'm not sure about competitions but the Chinese practiced a form of this discipline as a way of training their soldiers.Acrobatics go back to the Western Han Dynasty (over 2500 years ago) as a part of village harvest festivals. During the Tang Dynasty acrobatics were performed in the court of the emperor.

Wrestling also enjoyed popularity in Ancient China (as it was across much of the ancient world). Lastly Wushu (or kungfu) appeared in ancient China as early as 2,500 years ago.(During the Olympics 2008 there will be a wushu tournament 120 athletes from 25 national federations will take part in 2 events taolu and sanshou for both men and women).

I found at one more fact during the Lantern Festival there were Tug-of-War (Bahe) competitions between neighboring villages goes back a long time originally using bamboo, but during the Tang Dynasty (618-907) people begin using twine. Tug-of-war today is a reconized IOC sport.

There was no single olympic games such as in ancient Greece, but as you read there where still sporting contests during festivals and other events such as an emperors birthday. I also probally left out some other sports that where contested in Ancient China, but I hope this was a good deal of info on the topic.

Answer 2

Yes there has been competitions over there. Why don't you look it up on the Internet and see for yourself.

Answer 3

like of course they have been all around the world especially japan, catch up with the lastest updates dudette/dude. just go on....
www.bbc.com/sports
and find out

Answer 4

yes they had butt humping competitions in ancient China, really raunchy stuff

Answer 5

The Asian Games, also called the Asiad, is a multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The games are regulated by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) under the supervision of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Medals are awarded in each event, with gold for first place, silver for second and bronze for third, a tradition which started in 1951. The Asian Games are dominated by the People's Republic of China.
Competitors are entered by a National Olympic Committee (NOC) to represent their country of citizenship. National anthems and flags accompany the medal ceremonies, and tables showing the number of medals won by each country are widely used. In general only recognised nations are represented, but a few non-sovereign countries are allowed to take part. The special case of Taiwan was handled by having it compete as Chinese Taipei, due to the political status of Taiwan.
The 15th Asian Games were held in Doha, Qatar from December 1 to December 15, 2006. The 16th Asian Games will be held in Guangzhou, China from November 12, 2010 to November 27, 2010.
Far Eastern Championship Games
The Asian Games owes its origins to small Asian multi-sport competitions. The Far Eastern Championship Games were created to show unity and cooperation among three nations: Empire of Japan, the Philippine Islands and the Republic of China. The first games were held in Manila in 1913. Other Asian nations participated after it was organized. It was discontinued in 1938 when Japan invaded China and consequently annexed the Philippines which led to the expansion of World War II in the Pacific.

Formation of the Asian Games
After World War II, a number of Asian countries became independent. Many of the new independent Asian countries wanted to use a new type of competition where Asian dominance should not be shown by violence and should be strengthened by mutual understanding. In August 1948, during the 14th Olympic Games in London, Indian IOC representative Guru Dutt Sondhi proposed to sports leaders of the Asian teams the idea of having discussions about holding the Asian Games. They agreed to form the Asian Athletic Federation. A preparatory committee was set up to draft the charter for the Asian amateur athletic federation. In February, 1949, the Asian athletic federation was formally formed and used the name Asian Games Federation. It was decided to hold the first Asian Games in 1951 in New Delhi, the capital of India. They added that the Asian Games would be regularly held once every four years.
Reorganization of the Federation
In 1962, the Federation had a disagreement over the inclusion of Republic of China and Israel. Asian Games host Indonesia opposed the participation of Republic of China (due to the existence of People's Republic of China) and Israel. In 1970, South Korea dropped its plan to host the games due to security threats from North Korea, forcing previous host Thailand to administer the games in Bangkok using the funds of South Korea. In 1973, the Federation had another disagreement after U.S. and other countries formally recognized the People's Republic of China and Arab nations' opposition to Israel. In 1977, Pakistan dropped its plan to host the games due to conflicts with Bangladesh and India. Thailand offered to help and the games were held in Bangkok.

Due to events happened, the Asian NOCs decided to revise the constitution of the Asian Games Federation. A new association, named Olympic Council of Asia, was created. India was already scheduled to host the 1982 Games and OCA decided not to drop the old AGF timetable. OCA formally supervised the games starting from the 1986 Asian Games in South Korea.
In the succeeding games, Taiwan (Republic of China) was readmitted but OCA decided to follow the standards of the IOC for Taiwan to use the name Chinese Taipei. The OCA also agreed to permanently exclude Israel as its member and requested the country to join into European competitions.
Central Asian Expansion
In the 1994 Asian Games, despite opposition from other nations, OCA admitted the former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_ Games

China has one of the oldest sporting cultures in the world, spanning the course of several millennia. There is, in fact, evidence that a form of football was first played in China around 1000 AD, leading many historians to believe that the popular sport originated from China.[89] Besides soccer,[90] some of the most popular sports in the country include martial arts, table tennis, badminton, swimming, basketball, and more recently, golf and rugby. Board games such as Go (Weiqi), and Xiangqi (Chinese chess) and recently Chess are also commonly played and have organised competitions.
Physical fitness is widely emphasized in Chinese culture. Morning exercises are a common activity and often one can find the elderly practicing qigong and Tai Chi Chuan in parks or students doing stretches on school campuses. Young people are especially keen on basketball, especially in urban centres with limited space and grass areas. The NBA has a huge following among Chinese youths, with Yao Ming being the idol of many. The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, will be held in Beijing, China, and as a result the country has put even more emphasis on sports.
Many traditional sports are also played. The popular Chinese dragon boat racing (龙舟) occurs during the Duan Wu festival. In Inner Mongolia, sports such as Mongolian-style wrestling and horse racing are popular. In Tibet, archery and equestrian sports are a part of traditional festivals.[91]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_China#Sports_and_recreation

Answer 6

none that I've heard of.

Answer 7

no