Games and Pastimes in China, 1860s
"Kite-flying is a national recreation. Young and old take part in it and it is not unusual to see a gray-haired man enjoying it in company with a ten-year-old youngster..."
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From When I Was a Boy in China by Yan Phou Lee, 1887.
The active sports of Chinese boys are few.
There are hardly any sports, so-called, that develop the muscles and render a lad graceful and agile. The Chinese boy at sixteen is as grave and staid as an American grandfather; and if he happens to be married soon after, he throws aside most games as being childish. At the best, he has nothing corresponding to base-ball, foot-ball, cricket, bicycle-riding, skating, sliding, or tennis. Nor is he fond of exerting himself. He would rather sit for hours talking and joking than waste time in running or jumping. He thinks it work if his play entails much perspiration. His elders, too, frown upon boisterous games. They approve quiet, meditative lads who are given to study.
But you must not suppose that the Chinese boy never plays at all. In spite of many obstacles, he proves that he is a boy still, and I will describe the outdoor amusements in which he does indulge.
Kite-flying is a national recreation. Young and old take part in it and it is not unusual to see a gray-haired man enjoying it in company with a ten-year-old youngster. Kites are of all sizes. I have seen kites that were six or seven feet from wing to wing. The frame is made of bamboo slips which can be easily bent. Over this is pasted very stout rice-paper, upon which strong figures are painted — sometimes the face of a man, sometimes a bird. On the larger kites a bow is fastened at the top, with a reed instead of a string, and when the wind blows upon this reed, a melodious sound will be heard through the air, that greatly delights everybody; it seems to the spectators a mysterious voice from a different sphere.
Kite-flying in America can be much improved. Kites should be constructed of the Chinese shape.
The rib that runs through both wings should bulge out so that the paper on both sides may cave in. This is for the purpose of catching and retaining the wind as well as of steadying the kite. To a kite of this shape a tail is needless.
To fly such a kite, the cord must be very strong, and often it requires two or three men to hold it. When it gets among the clouds, and the flyer’s enthusiasm is at its boiling-point, a paper butterfly, beautifully colored, is fastened on the cord and the wind sends it up with a whizzing sound to the kite itself. But when it touches the kite, the butterfly’s wings come together, and down it returns, by its own weight, bringing a message from the skies, and its graceful approach is watched breathlessly.
The ninth day of the ninth month, which comes in October, is “Kites’ Day.” On that day it is the fashion to go up high hills and hold communion with heavenly zephyrs. Such a scene is inspiring. Men and boys, of all ranks, sizes and ages, are seen with cords in their hands, pulling, yanking and jerking, or letting loose, all sorts of agile rice-paper monsters in the azure sky. The fun consists in making the kites fight — in entangling them and cutting one another’s strings by sudden jerks.
There is a story to account for the origin of the Kites’ Day. Back in the world’s history, when Time was yet a boy, a man, while working in the field, was told by a passing stranger with an august mien, that a terrible plague was about to visit his house on the ninth day of the ninth month, and that the only way to escape was to hie to a high hill near by. After giving this warning, the stranger disappeared mysteriously. This man, who was, by the way, a good man, went home, and getting his whole family together before the fatal day arrived, set out with them to the hill designated and remained there all day. To while away the time probably, his children flew their kites. Hence the custom. After sunset, they went home and found that all their cattle, chickens and ducks had died. This proved that they themselves had been saved by the intervention of some deity. Ever since, people have made the day a national holiday.
Kicking the shuttlecock is a favorite outdoor amusement with both boys and gentlemen. The shuttlecock consists of a bunch of feathers stuck in small, round pieces of leather, or pasteboard, and tied together by a string. The game is to kick it when it is served to you and not allow it to drop on the ground. When one muffs, he has to serve some one else. From two to six persons can play. Skilful players will keep the shuttlecock above ground for some time. We also have something which is a feeble apology for the manly sport of base-ball. A piece of snake-skin is wound around with yarn till it attains the size of a billiard ball. Boys in China toss it, or make it bound, as American boys do their rubber balls.
Penny-tossing, or rolling, carries out the idea of marbles. But it is not considered a nice game, and only bad boys indulge in it. Swimming is not popular, although many Chinese boys learn to swim.
Fishing means work with the Chinese. A man, or boy, goes a-fishing simply for the fish, and not for the fun; and I am of the opinion that my countrymen are right.
Of indoor games and pastimes there is only a small list. Since young ladies and gentlemen are not allowed, in China, to enjoy one another’s society, dancing is, of course, out of the question. A Chinese gentleman would consider it foolishness and an insensate waste of time to hop about and twirl around for a whole night. Amusements requiring so much exertion are not to his taste; and as for throwing his arm around a girl’s waist in the whirl of the waltz, a Chinese gentleman would not permit himself such an indecorum. Accordingly, gentlemen’s indoor pastimes are cricket-fighting and quail-fighting.
Cricket-fighting is a sort of passion, or craze, with some Chinese. In the cricket season, men and boys hunt for them by the wayside, or among thickets on the mountains. When caught they are fed and afterwards tested as to their fighting qualities. A good fighter will fetch quite a large sum.
Dominoes is a game played by men and women as well as children. It is different from the American game, being more like the card game of whist.
Guessing Pennies always furnishes much amusement to little boys and girls. Chinese coins are made of brass and copper, with a square hole in the middle for convenience in carrying. On one side is a legend in Chinese giving the name of the emperor’s reign and the words “Tung-pao” i.e., currency. The game is to guess the name of the reign, when the coin is turned upside down. Another game is played around fruit-stand; it is to guess the number of seeds in an orange. The loser pays for the orange while the winner eats it.
There are not many games in which boys and girls play together. If they do play together it is only while they are children, under ten or twelve. Growing-up girls will have nothing whatever to do with boys, though Chinese boys and girls are very sociable, each with friends of their own sex.
Lee, Yan Phou. When I Was a Boy in China. D. Lothrop Company, 1887.
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