The ancestor of shuttlecock kicking is actually football?

Window of Intangible Cultural Heritage

Shuttlecock kicking is a popular sport in my country and is known as the "butterfly of life."

Shuttlecock, also called "qiangzi" and "jianzi" in ancient books, is a kind of "miscellaneous play", "boxi" and "baixi", which evolved from the ancient Cuju.

my country has a long history of shuttlecock kicking. Archaeological discoveries show that there are already images of shuttlecock kickers on the brick reliefs of the Han Dynasty, which shows that shuttlecock kicking originated in the Han Dynasty at the latest. By the Northern and Southern Dynasties, people had become skilled and skillful in kicking shuttlecock. According to the "Biographies of Eminent Monks" by Daoxuan of the Tang Dynasty, the eminent monk Batuo went to Luoyang and met the 12-year-old Hui Guang who was kicking shuttlecock on the well curb of Tianjie for 500 consecutive times, which amazed the audience. Batuo lived in the Northern Wei Dynasty of the Northern and Southern Dynasties and was the founder of Shaolin Temple in Songshan, Henan. He liked Hui Guang very much and accepted him as his disciple. A 12-year-old child kicking shuttlecock 500 times in one breath shows his proficiency, which also shows that this game was very popular at that time.

Chicken feather shuttlecocks began to appear in the Song Dynasty. According to Gao Cheng's "Shiwu Jiyuan", "Nowadays, children use lead and tin as money, and put chicken feathers on them, which are called shuttlecocks. They walk and kick in groups of three or four. There are inner and outer lian, dragging guns, raising knees, protruding belly, Buddha's crown beads, scissors, and crutch. It is also a relic of Cuju." It not only points out the form of shuttlecocks at that time, but also explains the origin of shuttlecock kicking and Cuju. At this time, there were also workshops specializing in making shuttlecocks. Zhou Mi's "Wulin Jiushi" recorded workshops such as "shuttlecocks, chess, and slingshots". "Each of them has dozens of people, and each specializes in making food and clothing." This shows that many people bought shuttlecocks at that time, and it also reflects the prevalence of shuttlecock kicking.

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In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, shuttlecock kicking was further developed and became a popular folk recreational activity. Liu Dong's "A Brief Account of the Scenery of the Imperial Capital" in the Ming Dynasty recorded: "When the willows are green, the bells are set off; when the willows are dead, shuttlecock kicking is played." In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there were formal shuttlecock kicking competitions. Qu Dajun said in "New Language of Guangdong" that on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month every year, Guangzhou held a shuttlecock kicking competition, and men, women, old and young gathered at Wuxian Temple to compete. Beijing folk shuttlecock kicking artists have also developed into four schools, each with unique skills and different styles. They often set up a ring to compete in skills. According to Pan Rongbi's "The Victory of the Imperial Capital at the Time of the Year", at that time, Jianghu artists kicked shuttlecocks with dancing and gesticulation, and the shuttlecocks flew around their heads, faces, backs, chests and feet, which was wonderful, showing their superb skills. Kicking the shuttlecock also became a game for girls. Li Shengzhen described it in his "Bai Xi Zhu Zhi Ci": "A few girls tie a pheasant hair to the eye and kick it. It is called 'Cuan Hua' and is a game for young girls. When kicking, they take off their skirts for convenience."

Shuttlecock is divided into two parts: the shuttlecock head and the shuttlecock feather. The shuttlecock head is mostly made of round lead, tin, iron or copper coins, and the shuttlecock feather is mostly made of feathers. Shuttlecock is easy to make, with a small copper coin wrapped in cloth or leather as the base, and a bunch of colorful chicken feathers inserted on it. There are four basic ways to kick it: pan, knock, turn, and jump. Pan mainly refers to kicking alternately with the inside of the two feet; knocking mainly refers to using the knee to bounce the shuttlecock; turning mainly refers to kicking back with the outside of the foot; jumping mainly refers to kicking with the toes. People with high level of shuttlecock kicking can not only use the toes, instep, heels and soles to kick in various styles, but also use the head, chest, shoulders, back, buttocks and legs to kick in hundreds of styles, which dazzles and amazes the audience. The kicking method called "Buddha's Crown Bead" in ancient times is to catch the shuttlecock with the top of the head after kicking it up.

There is no limit to the size of the venue for shuttlecock kicking. It can be played indoors or outdoors, with a large or small number of people. There are various forms of competition, such as the number of kicks, the time of continuous kicks, and the number of tricks. When kicking shuttlecock, the legs, feet, waist, hips, knees, ankles and other parts can be fully exercised, which can accelerate the blood circulation of the whole body, promote metabolism, increase lung capacity, improve the function of internal organs, and exercise the flexibility and flexibility of the joints, so that the bones and body can be well exercised. In addition to exercising flexibility and body coordination, it can also lose weight.

In 1963, shuttlecock kicking, along with rope skipping, was listed as a nationally advocated sports activity and was incorporated into elementary school physical education textbooks for promotion. Since then, shuttlecock kicking has been widely practiced throughout the country. In 1984, the former State Sports Commission officially listed shuttlecock kicking as a national competition event; in 2011, shuttlecock kicking was included in the third batch of national intangible cultural heritage lists.

The shuttlecock made of colorful chicken feathers is like a colorful butterfly flying up and down, which is wonderful, entertaining and artistic, beneficial to health and interesting. More importantly, it is rooted in the folks and has been popular for thousands of years. It is still a favorite sport for men, women, young and old.

(The author Gao Taozhi is a member of the Jingzhou Writers Association of Hubei Province)