Sport and Nationalism in China

Zhouxiang Lu, Fan Hong

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN:
  9780415540018
• eBook ISBN:
  9781317932567
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Nationalism & Patriotism
• Index: Social Sciences

This book examines the relationships between sport, nationalism and nation building in China. By exploring the last 150 years of Chinese history, it offers unparalleled depth and breadth of coverage and provides a clear grasp of Chinese sports nationalism from both macro and micro perspectives. Beginning with a discussion on the role of sport in the Qing Dynasty's Self-Strengthening Movement (1861-1895), the book examines how sport contributed to the shaping of the early forms of Chinese nationalism in the late 19th century. It identifies and defines the core functions of sport in the Chinese Nationalist Revolution which successfully transformed China from a culturally bound empire to a modern nation state in 1911. The following section, on the Republic of China Era (1912-1949), explores the interactions between sport and the construction of Chinese nationalism and national consciousness, illustrating how sport played its part in the building of the newly established nation state. Moving on to the Communist China Era (1949-present), the book scans the whole spectrum of both modern and contemporary Chinese nationalism and interprets the most important issues on the course of China's nation building, explaining why sport is so tightly bound up with nationalism and patriotism, and how sport became an essential part of nationalists', politicians' and educationalists' strategy to revive the Chinese nation.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Routledge Research in Sport, Culture and Society
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• List of Abbreviations
• Introduction
• 1 From Celestial Empire to Nation State: Sport and the Origins of Chinese Nationalism (1840–1911)
• 2 Sport, Nationalism and the Building of the Modern Chinese Nation State (1912–1949)
• 3 The Spirit of the Nation: Wushu and Chinese Nationalism in the Republic of China Era (1912–1949)
• 4 Nationalism and Sport in the Mao Era (1949–1976)
• 5 The Dream to Be a Strong Country: Nationalism, the Olympic Strategy and China's Gold Medal Fever (1980s–Present)
• 6 Sport, ‘Small Nationalism’ and ‘Big Nationalism’
• 7 Sport and Anti-Japanese Sentiment in Contemporary China
• Conclusion
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index