The beginnings of ice-sledge racing are unclear, but it dates back to at least the Song dynasty, when court official Shen Kuo (沈括) described the sport in his book Dream Pool Essays (《梦溪笔谈》). Pulling a bingchuang (冰床, literally “ice bed”), a wooden bench on ice runners that can carry up to six people, was one such activity. Not everyone had exquisite skating prowess or archery skills, but luckily, some ancient ice sports relied more on brute power and speed.
Royalty and high-ranking officials would attend the games, as well as foreign dignitaries, with records showing attendance by ambassadors from Mongolia, Korea, and other neighboring realms. The sport was performed by members of the Manchu Banners, with the winners rewarded by the emperor himself. The performance was a fine spectacle, as hundreds of players joined in together, moving in a line like a dragon’s tail, all while weaving in and out of other teams on the ice. Once they pass through an archway, the archer on the team would turn around, and attempt to shoot the silk ball with an arrow. Teams of at least dozens of players would skate across the ice, led by a flag-bearer, while attempting to entertain the crowd with acrobatic maneuvers such as skating backward and on one leg. The competition saw three archways positioned on the ice, flanked by colorful flags, with a silk ball hung by a rope in the middle of each arch. This combination of ice skating and archery became popular during the Qing dynasty and was part of the bingxi celebrations. Here are some of the most popular-perhaps the Olympic Committee might consider adding them to the next Winter Games? It depicts a number of competitions and sports that could be seen on ice centuries ago. The “Ice Games Painting (《冰嬉图》),” a spectacularly detailed 578-centimeter long artwork by Qing court painters Yao Wenhan (姚文瀚) and Zhang Weibang (张为邦), is now held in the Palace Museum in Beijing. Originating in the Song dynasty (960 – 1279), bingxi grew in popularity during the Qing (1616 – 1911). It was even praised as a “national custom” in a poem by the emperor himself in 1745.
In the Qianlong era, bingxi (冰嬉, “ice games”), a grand festival of parades and competitions on ice, were often held to celebrate the Lunar New Year in the capital, Beijing.
#Ice skating game with a ball full#
With the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics in full swing, Chinese fans have been enthralled by athletes in events from freestyle skiing to skeleton racing.īut even hundreds of years ago, winter sports were a common fixture in northern parts of the country, particularly during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor of the Qing dynasty in the 18th century.
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