Which Sport is Winning the Race for the Soul of China?

In 1915, the first edition of ‘Youth Magazine’ hit newsstands in Shanghai. The paper was founded by Chen Duxiu — an author, professor and revolutionary socialist — who would go on to form the Communist Party of China several years later. Youth Magazine focused on the struggle of the Chinese people and railed against the long-entrenched feudalistic system. In 1917, the magazine changed its name to ‘New Youth’ and shifted its headquarters to Beijing, following Duxiu’s appointment as a lecturer of Chinese literature at Peking University.

The magazine found itself a passionate new editorial staff in Beijing, and its pages became a voice to challenge the thinking of classical China. One of those challenges came in the form of an essay published in 1917, titled ‘A Study in Physical Culture’. The essay spoke about how China needed to transform its national physique, to counteract the ‘sick man of Asia’ perception that it has earned throughout the 19th and early 20th Century. To do so, a culture of physical strength would have to be cultivated, and would likely require a concentrated effort by the state to do so. The essay concluded that only when the population was made strong psychically could the country hope to exert its strength and influence both in the region and around the world.

That essay, authored by a young Mao Zedong, would become the framework for China’s emphasis on sport, competition, and psychical fitness over the next century. However, it would also usher in a complex and often strained relationship between sport and the state, as Mao would ban popular sports like baseball and golf, which he believed promoted Western and elitist values. That tension would come to a head during the Cultural Revolution, as Mao viewed China’s Sports Ministry as one of the greatest threats to his rule, leading him to purge the Ministry of its entire leadership.

After Mao’s passing, sports became a way for China to encourage the psychical health of its people, a huge boon to the country’s economy, as well as a way to demonstrate China’s strength to the world.