Tug-of-war has been practiced in China for thousands of years as a popular folk sport. According to records, China held a tug-of-war tournament for 1,000 people during the Tang Dynasty, and in more recent times, tug-of-war has been an official Olympic track and field event.
Back in 2015, the Korea Antiquities Authority, along with Vietnam, the Philippines and Cambodia, jointly completed the ? Tug of War? s bid for heritage. By now, South Korea has eighteen non-heritage titles. As we all know, Chinese traditional culture has a long history, only the current historical data, tug-of-war in the folk has a history of more than 2,400 years.
From the perspective of time, China's tug-of-war tradition is obviously longer than that of Korea, this cultural heritage should belong to our country.
First, let's take a look at China's ? tug-of-war? history.
The popularity of tug-of-war is so high that it was once an official Olympic sport. When tug-of-war was successfully bid by South Korea, many netizens published their views on ? tug-of-war? ,? shuttlecock? and other traditional sports, and some even suggested that they would be better off with a new program for? Some people even proposed to make a bid for square dancing. The words are full of worries.
In fact, history is the best proof, the Warring States period, Chu is located in the north and south of the Yangtze River, because of its own special geographic location, it is very important to focus on the cultivation of the country's naval team. And this Chu's naval team, not only well-equipped, combat technology is also very advanced, they even invented a called ? Hook refused? weapon.
Legend has it that this weapon can hook the enemy ship that tries to retreat, making it difficult to escape. Later on, the "Hook Reject" weapon was invented. The weapon was then transferred from the military to the civilian population, and gradually evolved into a weapon of war. was transferred from the military to the civilian world, and gradually evolved into the tug-of-war competition of today.
During the Tang Dynasty, the tug-of-war was a common practice. became a recreational activity in which both civilians and soldiers enjoyed participating.
According to the New Book of the Tang Dynasty, at that time, the officials and nobles, as well as the common people, all enjoyed tug-of-war very much, so the scale of tug-of-war competitions was very large. During the game, people would set up a flag in the middle of the rope and draw two vertical lines along the flag, named ? The river boundary. The game is also mainly marked by the vertical lines, and the two teams pull each other, and the rope passes through the river boundary. River Boundary that is the end of the game.
The Tang Yulin contains that the sport of tug-of-war, after flowing from the folk to the court, also attracted the royal family, and even the emperor, Emperor Tang Xuanzong, was obsessed with watching the event. He once ordered the palace to hold a thousand people tug-of-war competition, the participants were all strong men, the scene of drums and gongs, lively and extraordinary, to many visitors from China and abroad to leave a deep impression.
Secondly, let's take a look at Korea's ? tug-of-war? history.
The history of tug-of-war in Korea is about four hundred years old, but the Korean government's publicity and promotion of tug-of-war culture is no less than that of China. To this day, South Korea continues to host a grand annual tug-of-war competition in the city of Kijiji, a festival that has since expanded to an international scale and is a spectacular spectacle. According to the official Korean Tug of War Association, the Korean tug of war was inspired by weaving.
Ancient Korean women used to bleach and wring cloth while weaving, and people choreographed the recreational sport of tug-of-war by connecting these actions. There are some differences between Korean tug-of-war and conventional tug-of-war. Generally speaking, the ropes used in Korean tug-of-war are made of straw. The ropes are divided into a main rope and a supporting rope, but their specifications are not fixed.
Organizers determine the length and thickness of the ropes based on the number of participants. If the number of participants reaches several hundred, the main rope with a diameter of about 60 centimeters will be chosen, and a branch rope will be divided into one meter intervals on average, resulting in more than a hundred branch ropes***. According to traditional Korean custom, folk will hold a small-scale children's tug-of-war event on the tenth day of the first month, followed by a large-scale tug-of-war competition involving adult men on the second day.
The winner, in addition to winning a set prize, is allowed to carry away all the tug-of-war ropes used by the loser so that he or she can return to the village to hold a celebration.
Of course, there is one more thing to say: ? Tug of war? was once prized as an Olympic event.
As a team sport, tug-of-war was also selected as an Olympic sport in 1912. At that time, the tug-of-war was very simple, the participants were divided into two teams of eight people each, belonging to the team athletic competition. In the five Olympic Games held after 1912, Denmark, the United States, Britain and other Western countries, successively won the tug of war.
But after the 1920 Antwerp Olympics in Belgium, the Olympic Committee canceled the tug-of-war as an Olympic sport because of controversies over the use of shoes and the weight standards for participants, as well as limitations on the conditions of the competition. After many years, tug-of-war took a turn for the better, and in 2002, the International Tug-of-War Federation (ITWF) was added to the list of members of the National Olympic Committee (NOC).
It is reported that the Union has been committed to promoting ? Tug of war? into the Olympic Games again, and to this day, their efforts have clearly paid off. Granted, Japan and South Korea are in the process of bidding for ? The behavior of the two countries is disgraceful, but the two countries are not the same as each other. Behavior is disgraceful, but the two countries efforts will be? Tug of war? Pull back to the international stage behavior, is worth recognizing. Especially in the matter of fighting for the return of tug of war to the Olympic Games, the two countries can be said to be unprecedented unity.
They mentioned in their application many reasons why tug-of-war should be included in the Olympic Games, such as the high level of participation, the simplicity of the rules and the ease of media broadcasting. These persuasive arguments will undoubtedly help to bring tug-of-war back to the Olympic stage.
Finally, to say that: neighboring countries are still trying to heritage? taijiquan? ,? Go?
tug-of-war? was successfully bid by South Korea and other countries, in fact, also reflects our helplessness in promoting traditional sports and culture. Because, not only? tug of war? This mass-based sport was neighboring countries? The neighboring countries have snatched this sport from us. , even some other niche traditional sports, also fell into a desperate situation on the verge of disappearing.Chen Xiaorong, director of the non-heritage research center at Shenzhen University, said in a media interview: ? Although, China's traditional sports and culture categories are diverse and large in number, but the related ? non-heritage? protection work is a late start. Once upon a time, sports authorities only focused on the development of competitive sports, the protection of traditional sports culture is not enough, and many related areas are still blank.?
Gong Liqun, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), said in a media interview: ? Traditional Chinese? Taijiquan? may also be maligned by other countries? robbing the newspaper? , including Japan and South Korea, including neighboring countries, have begun the taijiquan heritage work.? And, in sharp contrast, the much-talked-about domestic ? Weiqi? s heritage work, but has been slow to put into action.
In 2011, Liu Siming, president of the National Chess Academy, said that he had not dared to start the world-class promotion and protection of traditional sports such as Xiangqi and Weiqi. Because, to complete this work requires access to a large amount of information, start complicated and unusual procedures, the amount of work is very huge, so the relevant departments do not have the intention to start the program for the time being.
In fact, as early as 2007, Han Sang-yeol, the general director of affairs of the Korean Academy of Chess, said that the Korean side would not compete for the ? Weiqi? inscription. He said in a media interview: ? China is the world's recognized birthplace of Go, we will not compete with China. It can be said that many of China's traditional sports are not only good for people's physical and mental health, but also an important part of China's traditional culture, which should be highly valued by all people.