The Popularity of Ping Pong in China - Essay Example

Ping pong and China al Affiliation) Introduction Ping pong game was developed in in England through trying to emulate the indoor version of lawn tennis. The game was invented in the 1880s (Memphis, 2010). It originated from table tennis. The game developed many names due to the many manufacturers of the game. The name ping pong was got when the name was introduced in China. Ping pong as a game in China gained popularity due to several reasons. The reasons include the low cost of the game since no professional requirement is needed (Griffin, 2004). The activity also came to gain popularity due to political reasons behind the game. The game is of low intensity since little physical activity is needed. The game also have become more of men’s championship since 1959. Ping pong became an Olympic sport in 1988 (Hong, 2008). Popularity of ping pong in China Ping pong grew rapidly in China and became the main game due to several reasons. The main reason as to the popularity of the game was due to its low cost making it affordable to many. There is no professional training that was required and this made everyone being able to participate (Memphis, 2010). The country also contributed much in the popularity with Chairman Mao’s promotion on the game. He loved and played the game and wanted to make sure that the game was recognized. The country also had gold medal rush that was in favor of the game hence the popularity. The country also had glory on the game making it more popular (Griffin, 2004). The game has been the official one to the Chinese since 1950s and has from then has given china a taste of national glory. In national Olympics, china has won twenty three out of the twenty seven medals making it feel like the game has been china’s. China as a nation has focused less on other games rather than ping pong marking it not become a marginal country (Griffin, 2004). The game in china has symbolized and also played a direct role in the fate of the nation. It did this by absorbing the game from the imperial power and then they made it their own. Mao Zedong declared the game, ping pong the national sport for China. In the championships, China won its first victory in 1959 after defeating japan in the final stage. Popularity of the game in China has grown since 1988 (Hong, 2008). In 2008 the China team won both the medals, gold, silver and bronze in both the men and women category singles and again won gold and silver in both doubles. The winning of the medals then became regular for the players. When they first competed they dominated the dominated the world championship. This success made the popularity of the sport to be much and it was made a national sport. Ping pong also gained popularity since chairman Mao was a player of the game and he encouraged the Chinese to play the sport (Griffin, 2004). He reasoned that the game was a practical one in a country which had a high population density like China. The Chinese government took the game very serious spending huge sums of money on it through training of athletes, having ceremonies after victory and in building of stadiums to play the game. The stadiums were small but required technology in their makings. Ping pong and politics Sports from the early years have created and played important role in the diplomacy (Memphis, 2010). Ping pong diplomacy has much contribution through the exchange of players of table tennis between United States and China in the early 1970s. The game through the relation between the United States and China led to President Richard Nixon visiting Beijing (Griffin, 2004). Two months after the visit Zhuang Zedong also visited the united states as the head of Chinese table tennis (Hong, 2008). The visit also extended to Canada, Mexico and Peru. China attempted to reach other countries through the game but they were unsuccessful. Indonesian Table Tennis Association refused China’s invitation (Griffin, 2004). They claimed that accepting the invitation would improve their reputation. The actions showed equal scorn of both of the countries towards USSR. The table tennis players who went to china may have been the ones who triggered invitation from China (Deng, 2004). In 2008 an event which took three days was held at Richard Nixon presidential library and museum in California with all the original members from both the Chinese side and the American ping pong teams from 1971(Memphis, 2010). The teams that were present again competed. The competition lead to making of the anniversary of the invention of the game. Ping pong diplomacy was referenced in 1994 (Hong, 2008). This happened after getting hurt in battle that led to the development of attitude for the sport and joining the United States. This made the army team compete against the Chinese on a willingness trip (Memphis, 2010). The era of the diplomacy came twelve months earlier at the time the united states team in japan during the World Table Tennis champions got a surprising invitation from their Chinese competitors to visit their republic(Griffin, 2004). It became a surprise since there was no group which had been invited to the republic after the takeover by communist in 1949 (Deng, 2004). The Chinese felt that through the invitation, they could put a notice in the shift in the alliances to their neighbors who intended to be harsh. President Richard Nixon then said that they could not afford to leave the republic china from the family of nations. (Hong, 2008) President George Bush in 2002 took a trip to China and recalled the meeting of president Nixon that came out of ping pong diplomacy and. He told president Jiang Zemin about the time two different government came together in the grounds of common interest and also in the spirit of shared respect. This increased the transactions and activities between the different countries. In 1971 American ping pong team and their accompanying journalists were the first to the Chinese capital since 1949 (Memphis, 2010).National Committee on United States China Relations facilitated the meeting. Before the visit, eleven of the American players were admitted to PRC for a week when they all professed connection with the Black Panther Party which was much connected to politics. This was unexpected holding that American citizens had expressed interest in visiting China. The government had not expected that due to the conditions that was between the two countries. Ping pong made the relationship between United States and China strong and they started more activities rather than just the game. The people from the different countries are able to learn more from the different countries during the visit hence this contributed to developments (Hong, 2008). Ping pong and social norms Ping pong has led to collectivism, individualism and also hierarchy. Yaping Deng a ping pong player praised collectivism and obedience to the authority. He Zhili instead condemned individualism and was regarded a traitor to the country. She did this by not following the agreement of the Chinese ping pong team and also going against the principles that were put in place by the Chinese Sport (Deng, 2004). She extended the betrayal to China when she changed her nationality to Japanese and went to play pin pong for japan. Chire Koyama was a ping pong player who won the 1987 championship in India for china. She immediately left the team after she decided to give away the matches to her team mates. The reaction from the game was positive. An American player told reporters that the Chinese were real and are similar to them. He said that he made genuine friends. The relationship between the players was made to be well through the different games that they played in the different countries. The love of ping pong in china The love of the game came when there was a push by the government to the people to play the game in order to show that the Chinese could prosper in sports. The space was also a factor that led to the love of the game. There was no large stadiums that could support other games and ping pong became the most convenient since it requires small space. It also came out that the Chinese love the game since the name ping pong is easy for them to pronounce (Deng, 2004). The culture also came with celebration of the victory of the players which involved a lot of cultural practices. Ping pong has acted as a tool to build the relationship between China and U.S. it has also mainly acted to show the pride of China (Hong, 2008). References Griffin, N. (2004). Ping pong diplomacy: Ivor Montagu and the astonishing story behind the game that changed the world Sport in China: Sport in the Peoples Republic of China, China Open, Asia Pacific Football League, Project 119, Australian Rules Football in China, 2009 Beijing International Challenge, State General Administration of Sports, table tennis in China. (2010). Memphis, Tenn.: General Books. Xu, G. (2008). Olympic dreams China and sports, 1895-2008. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. Deng, Y. (2004). From bound feet to Olympic gold in China: The case of womens table tennis. Beijing: Beijing Publishing House. Hong, F. (2008). China gold Chinas quest for global power and Olympic glory. Great Barrington, Mass.: Berkshire Pub. Group. Read More