Research On The Development Of Sports Regulations In Modern China (1840-1949)

From 1840 to 1949, Chinese society was beginning a transitional period from tradition to modern, from close to open. In this specific transitional process, sports development was very complicated and full of change. By using sports regulations as a starting point, we can have a better understanding of the route of China sports development.On the bases of historical material, this paper researches on the revolution of sports regulations in 1840-1949 in China, and considers it experiencing 4 periods from embryonic period, transitional period, high-tide period to mature period, then analyses on the characteristics, causes, effects, rationality and limitations of each period.In the embryonic period (1840-1911), sports as a soldier training method was first appeared in the military regulations, with the educational system reform in late Qing dynasty, rules for sports class turned up in schools which had a feature of militarism. In the transitional period (1912-1926), under the changes from militarism educational view to pragmatism education view, competitive sports was intensified and martial arts was promoted while the abol ition of military training method in school regulations. And regulations on mass sports and sports competition were initially appeared. In the high-tide period (1927-1937), government was in the leading position in the sports development. With the promulgation of National Sports Law, sports had the highest level of legislative norm. Sports regulation system was then preliminarily established which involving school sports, mass sports, sports competitions and some other aspects. In the mature period (1937-1949), although the economy social development and sports practice was badly destroyed by the anti-Japanese war, the sports regulations were booming. The number of revised and new policies and regulations was much higher than before, especially on the fields of sports administration, sports teachers and sports funds. The regulations were more logical and better planned, emphasizing on their effectiveness. The revolution of sports regulations was continuously around the main themes of modern China:the establishment of nation-state and the cultivation of civil society. Meanwhile, it presented different characteristics and problems because of the changes of social environment, sports basis and decision-maker's sports knowledge in each period.