Do you know the history of the Sports Festival?

In 1942, during the difficult period of the Anti-Japanese War, the Nanjing National Government set up a national sports festival.

Sports activities play an important role in enhancing people's physical fitness, improving people's quality, and promoting people's all-round development. In Chinese history, sports activities have been carried out for a long time. In modern times, especially after the Republic of China and before the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, with the slow development of the economy and the gradual introduction of Western sports methods and theories, China's sports activities have entered a new stage: it is more commonly offered in schools at all levels. It has provided physical education classes, trained a number of teachers and professionals, established a number of non-governmental societies, organized some sports activities, etc., and once showed a prosperous scene. However, from the Beiyang government to the Nanjing National Government, everyone paid little attention to it and provided little support. In 1929, the Nanjing National Government promulgated the National Sports Law, but it was only a formal document and was never seriously implemented, thus creating a problem for Chinese sports. The situation where the career is far behind the world level. For example, at the 1936 Olympic Games held in Berlin, Germany, the Chinese delegation failed in all the events it participated in and only relied on martial arts performances to save a little face.

After the beginning of the Anti-Japanese War, the Nanjing National Government quickly tasted the bitter consequences of backward sports. At that time, there was an urgent need to expand the army. However, due to the lack of emphasis on sports in the past, the general public was unable to exercise due to difficult livelihoods, which greatly hindered the improvement of national physical fitness and made it difficult for the Nanjing National Government to recruit qualified soldiers - "strong men". "Not strong, mostly "thin". According to a report from the Ministry of Military Affairs in 1937, the physical standards for enlistment were lowered several times that year, but more than three-fifths of those who failed still accounted for more than three-fifths; when the air force was subsequently selected, less than one percent of those who passed the examination were physically qualified. This caused shock in all aspects. At the National Political Participation Conference, many representatives called for the launch of national sports activities to enhance the people's physical fitness. The National Government also had to adopt a temporary approach to focus on sports. On October 10, 1940, the Ministry of Education held the second session of the National Sports Conference in Chongqing, the capital of the country. Chiang Kai-shek emphasized at the meeting: "In the future, the education for the Anti-Japanese War and the founding of the nation must pay attention to sports, order and discipline." The meeting proposed And passed a bill to amend the "National Sports Law" promulgated in 1929. After efforts, on September 9, 1941, the National Government promulgated the revised "National Sports Law", which stipulated: All citizens of the Republic of China are entitled to sports. The obligation to train is to transform the people's physique and improve national health. It also stipulates that the Ministry of Education is the administrative agency in charge of national sports across the country. In early 1942, the Ministry of Education reported to the Executive Yuan: "In order to use the Double Ninth Festival custom (referring to the folk custom of climbing mountains on the Double Ninth Festival) to implement the national law (i.e. the "National Sports Law"), and to implement national sports to commemorate the first uprising of the founding father (i.e. Sun Yat-sen) For the sake of the Guangzhou Uprising planned to be launched on the Double Ninth Festival on October 26, 1895, September 9 was specially designated as the Sports Festival, and the "Key Points for Holding the Sports Festival" were formulated. This proposal was approved by the Executive Yuan and promulgated for nationwide implementation. This is the first sports festival regulated by the government in our country.

The celebration of the first Sports Festival in 1942 was very warm and grand.

Since August, the National Sports Committee of the Ministry of Education has made careful arrangements for the celebrations. By the end of August, statistics showed that the KMT-controlled areas that decided to hold large-scale celebrations included Chongqing, Kunming, Chengdu, Guilin, There are also many general activities held in 11 important cities such as Xi'an and Hanzhong and 16 counties including Liancheng in Fujian Province. Among them, Chongqing's celebrations are the most prominent. At 2:30 pm on September 9, the first 99 Sports Memorial Conference and the first Chongqing Sports Conference opened in the square of Confucius New Life Movement Model District. Subsequent sports activities held in Chongqing include: technical sports performances by the fitness class in the New Life Movement Model District, martial arts performances by the Chinese Martial Arts Society, tennis matches between the British Embassy in China and the Trust Bureau of China, the Dutch Embassy in China and the Central Bank, and softball by the United States Air Force. Competitions, East Sichuan Normal University student football games, glider parachuting, children's swimming performances, group aerobics performances, women's basketball games, mountain climbing, river crossing, shuttlecock playing, etc. Some other places have also launched some special activities based on local conditions, such as bicycle competitions in Jiangxi and shooting competitions in Xikang, etc., all of which have been welcomed by the public.

The Second Sports Festival in 1943 was still taken seriously by various places. For example, in Chongqing, on September 9, in addition to holding celebration meetings and sports performances and other traditional celebrations as usual, a unique event was also held The "National Health Parade" includes a sports performance team, a female nurse team, a cleaning team, a horse team, a slogan posting team, and ten horse-drawn carriages, all covered with health education slogans. There are two children in each car to express the importance of children's hygiene. meaning.

But the third to fourth sports festivals from 1944 to 1945 were held under a special background.

1944 was already on the eve of the final victory of the World Anti-Fascist War and the Anti-Japanese War. However, the Kuomintang became more decadent due to its passive resistance to Japan, conserving its strength, and waiting for victory. The entire war situation went from bad to worse, and they lost their troops in the Battle of Henan, Hunan, and Guangxi. The loss of ground and complete defeat caused panic among the people in the Kuomintang-controlled areas, and it was impossible for the people to have much interest in the sports festival that year. The Sports Festival on September 9, 1945 coincided with the signing ceremony of the surrender of the Japanese troops in the Chinese Theater in Nanjing that day. The whole country caroused and celebrated the victory of the Anti-Japanese War. Of course, the Sports Festival had no time to interfere.