City Sports Of Bianjing Of The Northern Song Dynasty: From The Perspective Of Along The River During The Qingming Festival And Dream Of Life In Dongjing

In the feudal Song Dynasty of China, there is this masterpiece painting Along theRiver During the Qingming Festival and the historical book Dream of Life inDongjing. They open a window through which we today could still see the hustle andbustle of life in Bianjing, the capital city of the Northern Song Dynasty. People havebeen attracted by and obsessed with them, studying them from a spectrum of aspectsincluding economy, folk culture, architecture, aesthetics, etc., but none of them fromthe perspective of sports. It is believed in this paper, however, the painting plus thebook are powerful resource for research into the sports culture and its development inthe capital city.The Northern Song Dynasty has long been labeled “the weak Song” andcriticized for its conservative strategy in warfare. The Chinese are more willing tomention the flourishing age of the Han and Tang Dynasty to people from othercountries, and fail to realize the splendors of the Northern Song Dynasty, not knowingthat it represents the peak of ancient Chinese society in all aspects. Note the top fivehistoric events happened at that time listed by Cheng Yichuan, the prominent scholarof the era. One, no internal strife for as long as100years. Two, all the four emperorsare leaders of wisdom. Three, no killing and brutality towards the people during thechanges of dynasties. Four, no high officials killed. Five, peaceful coexistence withneighboring countries. Against the background of peace, openness and stability, sportsare developing unprecedentedly hand-in-hand with science and technology, literature,arts and religion, etc., led by Bianjing, the place for burgeoning city sports. Sports hasbecome the most dynamic, accepted and popular way for the mass to expressthemselves. Along the River During the Qingming Festival and Dream of Life inDongjing inform us of a great deal of what sports are like in Bianjing while it focusesso much on describing the people and their life there. Through detailed interpretationof the two, the author trys to look deep into the sport parts to study the functionalvalue of city sports, to understand the significance of sports in the city life of Bianjing,and to how the Northern Song Dynasty could serve the city sports of today.