Even in modern sports, the Republic of China has been progressing at an amazing speed. In 1958, China won the unofficial third position in the Third Asian Games at Tokyo. The year 1959 being an off-year in major international competitions, China still managed to take part in the World Basketball Tournament an Santiago, Chile, and retained the fifth berth. Chinese participants in the Canada Cup world golf tournament made a good name too.
In general, Chinese sportsmen are winning world recognition as an up-and-coming force.
The Republic of China, however, does not dwell as much importance in the promotion of competitive sports as in general physical education. This policy is based on the belief that only through a universal uplift in the physique of the people at large can sports be made an instrument serving useful purposes. Therefore, the free Chinese have little use for professionalism but uphold amateurism for all kinds of sports. Meanwhile, sportsmanship is always treasured and the idea of victory for victory's sake is discouraged because the Chinese maintain sports are to build grown men, not undisciplined, unprincipled muscles.
A cursory survey of sports activities in the Republic of China during the current year shows that further progress has been achieved. New national records have been established although they have not all been recognized officially. New blood has come to the fore. Public interest in all fields of physical exertion has steadily increased.
IOC Issue
As an indication of the high national interest in sports, the Republic of China has been preparing for participation in both the 1960 Winter Games to be held in February at Squaw Valley in the United States and the 17th Olympic Games at Rome to unfold in August, 1960.
A Winter Olympics team has been formed and is scheduled to leave for training in Japan by early 1960. This marks the first Chinese participation in the ski and skate events in history. This effort is especially noteworthy since Taiwan does not offer an ideal environment for the development of winter sports.
All these preparations are made in the shadow of an ugly incident in which the International Olympic Committee tries to find a new name for the Chinese National Olympic Committee. The unilateral IOC action has created a crisis in international sports.
Munich, unfortunately, was the scene of this unpleasant development. In late May, 1959, the International Olympic Committee meeting there adopted a resolution to the effect that the name "Chinese National Olympic Committee" should be removed from the list of affiliated national Olympic bodies. The given reason was that the Chinese Committee did not control sports in certain parts of China.
This decision was generally considered a political one and a compromise with the international Communist effort to undermine the Republic of China's position everywhere in the world. In December 1958, international Communist sports officials met in Peiping and it was decided that all Communist countries should try to make the situation uneasy for the Republic of China. Then in the World Basketball Tournament, Soviet Russia and Communist Bulgaria refused to play the Republic of China team in the championship round. Russian members of the International Olympic Committee went on the record during the Munich meeting calling for the read-mission of Peiping and the expulsion of the Republic of China.
The arbitrary action by the IOC aroused national indignation in the Republic of China. The Chinese Committee lodged a strong protest with the international body and, in line with its policy of full participation, asked for reinstatement under the name of the Republic of China Olympic Committee. A final IOC decision is still pending.
Ancient Sports
Sports activities came to the ancient land of China long before the Spartans taught their youngsters how to throw the javelin. According to extant data, the earliest forms of physical exertion were generally ritualistic dancing with a clear element of competition and person-to-person combat for physical buildup. Historians have in their files references to a certain form of group dance which was said to be able to reduce sufferings of leg inflammation. The chronicles showed the first combat arts came by about four thousand years ago.
During the Chou Dynasty (12th century B.C.) of which Confucius was the principal spokesman, such sports as fencing, archery, equestrian arts, wrestling, swimming and weight-throwing were very popular. Confucius himself was a great exponent of archery and chariot driving. At that time, sports were for every household. They were not for a selected few.
Wrestling and the more vigorous forms of sports continued to develop during the great Chinese empires of Chin and Han. Chinese prototypes of gymnastics gave rise to unique Chinese boxing. It was in the late Han period that Chinese boxing was firmly established as part of the people's living.
After the Han Dynasty, that is, beginning with the third or fourth century, sports in China developed along two main routes. There were the court sports or genteel sports which were manifested in the forms of ball games and throwing of arrows into containers. Golfing was a great pastime with the Chinese gentry although the rules were not the same as they are known today. An emperor was noted for his enthusiasm in bowling which closely resembles today's nine-pin game. The graceful ball dance, people standing on big balls, soon gave way to football which was a very popular competitive sport during the Tang and Sung Dynasties.
Another main line of sports was the popularity of boxing, cudgel art, weight-lifting, boat race, skating and races. Some of these were the main attractions at festival gatherings throughout the country. Polo on horseback, a great court sport, also found a good following among the common people.
For the soldiers, they had access to physical exercises and the art of combat technique often taught by men of great renown in sports achievements.
While sports were being vigorously developed either in the court or among the people, one salient feature was seen. The Chinese were agreed that sports were for the purpose of creating better men, and sportsman ship was put high on the altar. One branch of Chinese boxing emphasized the inner values and moral fortitude as the first steps toward becoming a perfect boxing expert.
These years from Han to the last empire were not years of sports decline. The general impression that sports were not promoted arose mainly from the negligence of the chroniclers who failed to recognize the significance of sports but tended to regard them as frivolous court pastimes or rustic endeavors.
Modern Influence
By the end of the 19th Century, however, Chinese sports entered a new era as Western or modern sports were introduced to the ancient domain of Cathay. The Chinese, finding it at first hard to make readjustments, soon caught the spirit and became enthusiastic converts.
Christian missionaries and the schools they founded provided the impetus to modern sports in China. In the last years of the Manchu Dynasty, physical education began to appear in school curricula and ball games were played by students in Tientsin, Peiping, Shanghai, Canton and Hankow.
Modern sports spread then from the campuses to every corner of the nation and from the cities to the countryside as the years went by. The Chinese first learned and adopted the physical exercises known as military drills and dumb-bell exercises. Later on, they welcomed with open arms the ball games with the emphasis on association football which is also known as soccer.
Sports clubs were formed. Tracks and gymnasiums were built. The Chinese began to abandon their own forms of sports and imported the Western types. But in the countryside, ancient forms of Chinese sports are still found, demonstrated by the annual dragon boat race or privately arranged boxing matches.
The Republic came and sports gained further ground. With a sympathetic Government bent on promoting sports in schools and in society, physical education was made an integral part of education. The general public too was encouraged to hold sports meets and to set up agencies for their development.
National Body
The supreme sports organ in China is the China National Amateur Athletic Federation which, when dealing with international sports affairs, is known as the Republic of China Olympic Committee. Under the Federation, there are national associations in charge of specific sports such as association football, basketball, track and field, swimming, boxing, Chinese combat sports, canoeing, weight-lifting, cycling, wrestling, tennis, golf, table tennis, hockey, winter sports and many others. Affiliated too with the federation are provincial athletic associations and sports agencies for specific bodies or groups. It has two affiliated committees in overseas areas.
The Federation too is affiliated with many international sports federations, notably the Federation Internationale de Football Association, International Amateur Athletic Federation and Federation Internationale de Basket ball.
In the past, seven National Games have been held, the last being at Shanghai in 1947. However, the National Games had to be suspended when the Government moved its seat to Taiwan. In Taiwan, the provincial games have been held fourteen times with the fifteenth scheduled in October, 1960.
China first became interested in world sports in 1932 when observers were sent to the Los Angeles Olympiads. Then a full fledged team went to the 1936 Berlin Games and again to the 1948 London Games. China did not take part in the 1952 Helsinki Games but came back to the 1956 Melbourne Games. A Chinese team is being formed for the 1960 Rome Games.
China, instrumental in inaugurating both the Far Eastern Games earlier this century and its successor, the Asian Games, took part throughout the nine Far Eastern Games and was a leading figure in the Second and Third Asian Games in 1954 and 1958. In these regional contests, the Chinese performance has been consistently good.
The Government is keenly interested in sports development. Its policy may be succinctly described as one encouraging the universal development of sports, emphasizing physical education but frowning on professionalism and the star system. The Ministry of Education is in charge of physical education in the schools through special appropriations and the formulation of clearcut programs. The schools too have special funds for the procurement of equipment, construction of arenas and the training of students.
In addition to this policy of making sports accessible to the largest possible number of people, there is another discernible feature. The overall promotional program not only calls for the promotion of athletics everywhere, including the armed forces, but also works favorably in the popularization of competitive sports as well as native types of sports. For the rural districts, there is a specific program to make use of the leisure hours to better physique. The traditional dragon boat races are maintained and the combat sports of olden days are given a new meaning through formulation of new rules.
In this respect, the Government is working closely with the China National Amateur Athletic Federation which has a standing program for all walks of life. The Federation, under the assistance of the Government, sends athletes to foreign countries for advanced training and invites foreign experts to the Republic of China for clinics and demonstrations.
Under such promotional effort, popular enthusiasm never flags. Through Taiwan there are seen ball parks, indoor stadiums, tracks, golf courses.
Amateurism Stressed
Another outstanding characteristic of the sports policy is the heavy stress put on amateurism. Professionalism is almost nonexistent excepting, to a very limited degree, in tennis and golf. The Federation has a special committee looking into amateur status and all international rules on amateurism have been meticulously observed.
Sports too have served prominently in bringing the people at home and the Chinese overseas closer through the many sports events scheduled in Taiwan. Overseas Chinese athletes have enthusiastically come under the flag of the fatherland in taking part in international competitions. The many regional or multi-nation sports activities in the Republic of China also have brought Chinese sportsmen into close and intimate contact with sportsmen from other countries.
The Government and the Federation are not the only agencies devoted to sports promotion. A prominent role has been played by the China Youth Corps which for years organizes summer camp activities for the long vacation for students as well as young men in society. The summer camp program has sports as its central theme. Young men and women are welcomed to join cycling, mountaineering, swimming, deep-sea diving, helicopter flying, parachuting, exploration and other teams aimed at physical exercise. When the bicycles with young souls on them are cycling the island, groups of alpinists conquer year after year the Mount Yu, the tallest peak in the West Pacific. Many an epic story of bravery and hard struggle has been written by the campers.
Though not competitive in nature, the camp service is one of the ideal methods, in the Chinese criteria, of attaining the purposes of healthy sports.
Throughout Chinese history, great names in sports abound. In modern times, however, the legendary figures are fewer. Still, there have come to the fore three great Chinese sportsmen whose names are the household words in China. In addition, two persons of Chinese descent have won world championships in the last ten years.
Leading Sportsmen
The first Chinese who ever achieved international fame is Mr. Lee Wai-tong, currently secretary general of the Asian Football Confederation. Mr. Lee, a South China man who established his lasting fame in Shanghai, was so superb in football that until today he is known as Mr. Football throughout the Chinese world. The aggressive center forward, for almost twenty years, dominated that sport in China, throughout Asia, and in Oceania. He is now a prominent sports official.
Another great sportsman dear to every Chinese heart is Mr. Koh Sing Kee, the only Chinese who ever entered the finals at Wimbledon which represents the epitome of tennis. Mr. Koh whose sportsmanship is beyond reproach had in his lifetime met few players of his caliber. Unfortunately, he died at an early age.
But both Mr. Lee and Mr. Koh are finding their fame outdistanced by a rising star on the track. In 27-year-old Yang Chuan-kuang, a sixfoot young man from the mountain tribes of Taiwan, is today resting China's hope of winning a medal at the Rome Olympics. At present, Mr. Yang is a student at the University of California at Los Angeles.
Mr. Yang is an all round sportsman. He started at first as a baseball pitcher and for two years helped his Taitung team to great achievements. Then he switched to high jump and won provincial championship. His talents were discovered immediately and he was asked to train in decathlon.
After a few months of training, he went to Manila in 1954 and won Asian Games decathlon first place. He retained his crown four years later. His record has been pushed from a healthy 5,454 points to the record 7,625. But he is still improving.
What is most remarkable about him is his complete mastery in track and field. He holds today six national track and field records in addition to a decathlon record for Asia. He has won two Asian gold medals, one silver medal and one bronze. The achievements are hard for any fellow Chinese to equal in years to come.
Summary of Major Sports
Track and Field—Mr. Yang Chuan-kuang proves to be a sterling example of the improvements on the track and in the field by Chinese athletes in recent years. The following table shows that all national records, except two (pole vault and 10,000 meters), have been broken in the last ten years. Mr. Yang has broken the pole vault mark set by Mr. Fu Pao-lu some 18 years ago but this has not been officially recognized.
Of special significance is the progress made by Chinese women. In the last four years, they have broken all the national records and a few new marks are awaiting official approval to be entered into the books.
These records, of course, are not yet good enough to be compared with the world records or the Japanese records. However, the speed of progress will make it possible for the Chinese to come up some day at par with the world's greatest athletes. The following table gives the 29 national records recognized by the China National Amateur Athletic Federation up to the end of November, 1959:
FOR MEN
Event Holder Record
100 meters Chang Chi-cheng 10.6 seconds
200 meters Chang Chi-cheng; Chen Hui-kun 21.9 seconds
400 meters Yang Chuan-kuang 48.4 seconds
800 meters Cheng Lo-cheng 1:53.2 minutes
1,500 meters Chen Lo-Cheng 4:02.2 minutes
5,000 meters Pi Li-ming 15:19.5 minutes
10,000 meters Lou Wen-ao 31:53 minutes
110-meter hurdles Yang Chuan-kuang 14.4 second
400-meter hurdles Tsai Cheng-fu 52.4 second
3,000-meter steeple-chase Liu Hsuen-chang 9:15 minutes
400-meter relay Chen Hui-kun;
Wu Chun-tsai;
Tsai Cheng-fu;
Huang Shih-chun 42.5 second
1,600-meter relay Chen Yin-lan;
Tsai Cheng-fu;
Chen Hui-kun;
Cheng Lo-cheng 3:18 minutes
High Jump Yang Chuan-kuang 1.96 meters
Pole Vault Fu Pao-lu 4.01 meters
Broad Jump Yang Chuan-kuang 7.47 meter
Hop-step-jump Wu Chun-tsai 14.97 meters
Shotput Hsieh Tien-hsin 13.66 meters
Hammer throw Shen Hui-hsiung 50.06 meters
Discus Chi Pei-lin 42.99 meters
Javelin Yang Chuan-kuang 68.08 meters
Decathlon Yang Chuan-kuang 7,625 points
FOR WOMEN
100 meters Lin Yu-yun 12.5 seconds
200 meters Wen Hui-mei 27.01 seconds
80-meter hurdles Lin Chao-tai 12.3 seconds
400-meter relay Tsai Min-ling;
Huang Hsin;
Lin Chao-tai;
Lin Chao-tse 52.3 seconds
High Jump Huang Wen-yung 1.54 meters
Shotput Wu Chin-yun 12.12 meters
Discus Chen Shueh-ying 37.92 meters
Javelin Lin Chao-tse 39.24 meters
Swimming—Swimming in the Republic of China is more popular than spectacular. The Chinese like swimming as a sport, a pastime but out of the large multitudes of swimmers few have tried hard to break any kind of record. Even so, with overseas Chinese swimmers cooperating, the Chinese won two silver medals and three bronze ones in the Asian Games of 1958. They have also come to rewrite the national records altogether in the last eight years.
If more incentive is directed toward individual achievements, the Chinese swimmers may yet come up with very spectacular results.
The following is the swimming records of China as of November, 1959:
FOR MEN
Event Holder Record
100-meter freestyle Chong King-man 58.5 seconds
200-meter freestyle Kao Chia-hung 2:23.8 minutes
400-meter freestyle Chong King-Man 4:56.4 minutes
800-meter freestyle Sun Ke-chun 11:15.5 minutes
1,500-meter freestyle Sun Ke-chun 21:11 minutes
100-meter breaststroke Chen Lun-ming 1:21.2 minutes
200-meter breaststroke Hsu Hsin-tai 2:47.3 minutes
100-meter butterfly Aye Kuo-yen 1:17.2 minutes
200-meter butterfly Chang Yu-chi 2:56.6 minutes
100-meter backstroke Chong King-man 1:11.1 minutes
200-meter backstroke Tseng Chun-chieh 2:51.4 minutes
400-meter freestyle relay Taiwan Combined Team 4:17 minutes
800-meter freestyle relay Chinese National Team 9:35.7 minutes
400-meter mixed relay Fortuna Club Team 4:53 minutes
FOR WOMEN
100-meter freestyle Liao Hsi-tai 1:18.6 minutes
200-meter freestyle Chen Chia-li 3:20.6 minutes
400-meter freestyle Liao Hsi-tai 6:16.2 minutes
100-meter breaststroke Chang Chung-tsu 1:31.8 minutes
200-meter breaststroke Chang Chung-tsu 3:12.8 minutes
100-meter butterfly Chang Chung-tsu 1:37.4 minutes
100-meter backstroke Chen Chin-yi 1:29.7 minutes
400-meter freestyle relay Chinese National Team 5:42.2 minutes
400-meter mixed relay Taipei City Team 6:57.8 minutes
Baseball—It is most likely the most popular sport in the Republic of China with the largest number of fans. The standards of play are high. The Chinese fielding is superior to batting. Every year a Japanese team is invited to Taiwan for exhibition games.
The Republic of China retained its third position in Asian baseball matches in 1959.
Basketball—It is only next to baseball in popularity. Tournaments, like in baseball, are held the year round with thousands of teams taking part. Ranked second in Asia and fifth in two world tournaments, the Chinese basketball players have been praised for their good ball handling, accurate shooting but a general lack of height and aggressiveness.
Foreign teams have been invited to Taipei regularly for exhibition games. In addition, Chinese teams from all over the world converge in the provisional capital for regular tournaments.
Sandlot basketball teams are to be found everywhere. It is the No. 1 sport in the military forces.
Football (soccer)—Although association football does not ably vie with baseball or basketball in popularity in Taiwan, it still is the game for all overseas Chinese communities in Asia, notably Hongkong and Malaya. For nine straight times, the Chinese national football team won the Far Eastern championships and for the last two times it won the Asian Games championships.
Weightlifting—Middleweight Ko Bu Beng, a student with pleasing personality, is the reigning Asian record holder. Weight-lifting has gained so much popularity that it has risen from a temporary obscurity to regain its old heights. Younger and better weight lifters are continuously coming up to the front.
Boxing—Boxing is also very popular. The Chinese so far have not yet produced any heavyweight boxer of note but in lighter divisions there is good timber. Middleweight Chang Lu-pu is the current champion of Asia.
Table tennis—This is a sport in which the Chinese are as good as the world's best. The famous Japanese world champions have received setbacks from Chinese hands. The classroom enthusiasm for table tennis has spread to all places and there is no dearth of good and promising players. Mr. Li Kuo-ting, a young clerk, is today the gold medal holder of Asia.
Volleyball—For many years, the Chinese were the best volleyball players of Asia which follows the nine-man rule. In recent years, a slump came but it is leaving. New teams have come up for recognition although they need a great deal of experience and readjustments in playing patterns before they can regain the vaulted position usually ceded to China.
Golf—Here is one sport where there are professionals, and very good ones. Chinese pro Chen Ching-po has been playing so steadily and better that he is appearing in Canada Cup competition with much better chances to forge ahead for the title. As this sport is gaining ground, many good amateurs have been discovered, prominently among them being Mr. Chang Tung-chang, a bank clerk.
Tennis—The Chinese play both lawn, hard court tennis and soft tennis. Popularity is average.
Other sports gaining wider acceptances are rugby, gymnastics, shooting and badminton. Development of yet other sports is still pending.