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sport in China's ancient past.” The surprise would not concern the antiquity of sporting activities in the ancient Chinese civilisation, but the fact that China joined only quite recently the quadrennial celebrations of the modern Olympic Games, begun in 1896. To refresh or increase everyone's knowledge in this respect, the first article of this section, by Vincent Heywood, of Hong Kong , presents how the first Chinese delegation—a football team—joined the Games in 1936, with some details on the sport as it was played during the Han dynasty! The celebration of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games will then be expanded in these pages by the contribution of Robert K. Barney, of The University of Western Ontario, Canada, who reflects on the “Olympic Legacies and Inherited Values” and their presence this year in Beijing.
Yves Camus |
