Tracing the origin of Daur traditional hockey game

According to historical records, the Khitans of Liao Dynasty in ancient China loved to play hockey. It was also quite popular in the Tang and Song Dynasties before the Liao Dynasty. The names of the pioneers of ancient hockey in China cannot be verified, but it is certain that ancient hockey was popular at least in the early Tang Dynasty 1000 years ago. A colorful vase in the Tang Dynasty in the British Museum and an embroidered silk in Zhengcang Hospital in Japan are both painted with the patterns of children playing hockey in the Tang Dynasty.

Surprisingly, at that time, all hockey players were women. In the Tang Dynasty palace ci, there were two buildings in front of the palace, and the palace maid stepped on the ball. The step ball here refers to hockey. At that time, on the Cold Food Festival, ladies-in-waiting would show hockey to the emperor in front of the palace.

Treadmill games in Tang Dynasty and Northern Song Dynasty, as well as Boyekuo of Daur nationality, are very similar to modern hockey. The image of walking beads can also be seen from the two Tang Dynasty flower mats that have been preserved so far (now preserved in the north warehouse of Zhengcang Hospital in the northwest of Todasi Temple in Nara, Japan). The shape of the bat used by Daur people is similar to that used to play on carpets in the Tang Dynasty, and it is similar to modern hockey except for its length and weight.

With the passage of time, this sport has basically disappeared among other ethnic groups in China. Only in Molidawa was it passed down from generation to generation by Daur people and became the most popular sport among Daur people. At present, this kind of hockey competition is mainly distributed in Daur community of Daur Autonomous Banner in Molidawa, Inner Mongolia. Locals call this game boycott, which means a bent stick. They call this ball a wave train.