This is part 5 of my series on the history of exercise. To read last week’s installment on exercise and medicine and Ancient Rome, click here. The focus of this article is the history of sports and exercise in Ancient China.
Training for Warriors
Like most ancient civilizations, sports and exercise were used to train Chinese warriors. The first recorded weightlifting competitions date back as early as 720 BC, according to the website of the Chinese Olympic Committee.
Two weightlifting events are described, one of which involved lifting a heavy bar with one hand. In the other, competitors lifted a heavy pot with two hands. There’s even a story of a muscle man who lifted a vessel weighing 500 kilograms (1,200 pounds). While that story may be farfetched, it shows that there was at least some appreciation for weightlifting and competition in Ancient China.
Wrestling, gymnastics and boxing were used as training for warriors. There’s also some evidence that dancing was used as a form of exercise. Evidence of various dance workouts can be traced back to 4,000 or 5,000 BC.
Perhaps the most famous form of training for warriors was Wushu, which means “martial arts.” While it was made as a way to prepare for combat and hunting, it evolved into a graceful performance art. Wushu uses physical strikes as well as weapons.
Yin and Yang
Exercise wasn’t only used for combat and athletics. Like most ancient civilizations, it found its way into mainstream medical practice as a tool for health. It was made to restore equilibrium, which has been a constant theme in this series.
Every advanced civilization covered thus far had a way of describing equilibrium as a balance between systems in the body. The Ancient Chinese had a way of describing balance between opposing forces that you might be familiar with: yin and yang. This concept, along with Qi, are foundational components in Traditional Chinese Medicine.
Just like the Ancient Indian system of medicine, Ayurveda, there are five elements in Chinese Medicine: wood, fire, earth, metal and water. A combination of these elements creates everything in the body.
Yin and yang describes the balance between opposing elements, or systems, of the body. There’s a balance between hot and cold, for example, or wet and dry. If there’s too much of a yin or yang, the body is imbalanced. This imbalance is thought of as the root cause of illness.
This makes sense, because yin and yang could also refer to things like sleep, exercise and nutrition. Too little sleep or too much could be unhealthy. Too much exercise or too little could be unhealthy, etc.
This is strikingly similar to the writings of Hippocrates, Susruta and even Galen, who were discussed in previous articles. The object of medicine, in their view, was to restore balance in the body.
Life Energy
In Chinese Medicine there are herbal remedies to correct these imbalances, as well as massage and acupuncture. Exercise was another form of medicine. The first organized form of exercise for health is known as Qigong. Tai Chi is a form of exercise that sprang from Qigong.
Qi can be roughly translated to “life-energy.” It’s a way of describing the flow of energy through the body. Qigong is a holistic practice that encompasses meditation, exercise and healing sounds (similar to saying “om”).
While Qigong can be traced back to 3,000 BC, it didn’t become a formal system of exercise until the invention of Dao Yin in 2,146 BC. Whereas Qigong is a broad system for health of the mind and body, Dao Yin is specifically designed for exercise and meditation. It’s most comparable to modern-day yoga practices in that it emphasizes slow movements, stability, flexibility and focus.
In Ancient China, Dao Yin would’ve been used to heal injuries (similar to physical therapy), improve balance, increase longevity and improve overall health. It focuses on slow, controlled movements, coupling them with breathing exercises.
The Famous Chinese Physician
Hua Tuo, perhaps the most famous surgeon in Ancient China, developed a system for Dao Yin called Wu Qin Xi (the five animal frolics). He created postures that mimicked five animals (tiger, deer, bear, monkey and bird) and were meant as a guided exercise routine to improve health.
This puts Hua Tuo in a class of ancient physicians like Hippocrates, Susruta and Galen who used exercise to treat medical conditions. From Greece to China, exercise was used as a form of treatment in the ancient world for injuries, disease and inactivity.
Exercise in China would continue to evolve with new sporting events, additional Dao Yin exercises and the evolution of Tai Chi. Wushu would also continue to evolve and become more mainstream. Many Traditional Chinese Medicine practices are used in today’s society, such as Tai Chi and acupuncture, with results supported by research.
Next week’s article will discuss the dark ages of fitness and skip forward to the Cold War.