In order to provide children a more meaningful festival, Xiamen Olympic museum has held the sports and study activities of "Love sports and grow up happily". Therefore students can learn knowledge, strengthen the awareness of sports and grow up happily.  Today, students from Xiamen Art School came to XOM to participate in the June 1^st activities, experience the ancient sport and feel the charm of the ancient sport movement.

Under the guidance of the narrators, the students watched and admired the exhibits of XOM in an orderly and enthusiastic manner, learned about the related cultural contents of ancient sports, deepened their understanding of the Olympic culture, and enhanced their enthusiasm for sports.

Here came to our ancient athletic competition. The students couldn't wait to put on their clothes and wear accesories. They took part in the ancient sports, such as Throwing Arrow to the Vase,  Archery and Cuju etc. Group competition shown positive team spirit and added a different color to the children's festival.

"Playing the game of throwing arrows to the distance pot after a class" -- Throwing arrows to the pot

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, archery was such a popular sport that one of the etiquettes for princes to entertain guests was to invite them to shoot arrows. Later, it happened that some guests really could not shoot arrows, and they threw arrows to the wine pot instead. As times went on, throwing arrows to the pot replaced archery as a game at banquets.

"Arrow shot through the vast sky" -- Archery

Archery was one of the six ancient Chinese talents, the ancient people raised self-cultivation through archery, and boosted the cultivation of gentleman demeanor.   In the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, archery activities developed greatly. In the Tang dynasty, the empress Wu Zetian established the system of martial arts imperial examination, regulating nine criterias for selecting and evaluating talents, five of which were categories of archery.

In the Song dynasty, archery was more popular among the general people. 

Cuju was also known as "Chuju", "Cuyuan", "Zhuqiu" etc.  "Cu" had the meaning of kick,and "ju" was the earliest ball with a leather cover and filled with rice bran inside. Therefore, "Cuju" refered to the kicking ball activity of the ancient people, similar to playing football nowadays. According to historical records, as early as the Warring States Period, the game Cuju was popular among the Chinese people for entertainment. From the Han Dynasty, it became the method of training soldiers. In the Song Dynasty, Cuju organizations and Cuju player appeared. In the Qing Dynasty, Cuju on the ice became popular. Therefore, it could be said that Cuju was a sport with a long history and of great influence in ancient China.

Through the learning experience of ancient sports, the students had a deep understanding of the cultural connotation of ancient sports, experienced the fun of sports, exercised the body, and had an unforgettable and meaningful children's day.

During the happy time in the museum, children's innocent laughter , the care and concern of the staff blended together, making the whole museum full of warmth, harmony and fun.

Our museum will continue to carry out such activities to bring museum culture and sports culture into children's vision. At the same time we wish all the children grow up happily.

Happy Children’s Day!