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Chinese Yo-Yo or Pull-Bell
The bamboo "empty bell" is described in Records of Scenes at the Capital from the Ming dynasty (1386 - 1644 A.D.):
"The two ends are round saucer shapes. In the middle is a horizontal piece of wood. Mount it on a string and twirl with a vibrating motion. It emits a humming sound."
The game was played by boys and girls in the spring "when the willow leaves turn green" and became particularly popular in the North.
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There is even a poem about it:
Cut bamboo in the shape of a hip drum.
Pull both ends of the string slowly, gently!
When the wind blows, it spins like rushing water.
In the mountain temples, the sound of bells can be heard.
The song describes the single-bell form, which looks like a top with a handle, whereas the double-bell looks like two wheels on an axle.
Pull-bells also differ in the sounds they make because the pitch is determined by the number of holes in the pull-bell as well as by its size and thickness. The large diameter "vibrating bells" produce a "weng-weng" sound whereas bells with small sound holes are called "echo-bells."
Expert players can do tricks like "A Wild Goose Lands on the Flat Beach" and "The Golden Cicada Casts off Its Shell." As you might expect, "Rise Upward to the Blue Clouds" involves tossing the ball a yard or more into the air.
Kites
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There are many folk tales about the origin of the kite. A Song Dynasty commentary puts their first appearance in the Warring States Period, but Lin Kun of the Yuan Dynasty believed that the kite was invented in the Han Dynasty to unsettle the enemy by the eerie sounds made by attached whistles. History records that the kite was also used to signal for help, and one theory states that the kite was invented during the Five Dynasties period (907-959 A.D.) and brought to Europe by Marco Polo in the late 13th century.
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In China, kite flying is associated with autumn. Split bamboo, which is light and strong, is the traditional material for making the kite frame and there are hundreds of kite shapes including the centipede and giant dragon kites.
Jump Rope
The jump rope goes back at least 1,500 years in China. It was called "jumping one hundred threads" because the rope looked like a hundred separate ropes as it circled in the air. The game was particularly popular during the Spring Festival in the South.
Jump ropes can be made of many material combinations such as grass and cotton or straw and cotton coated with wax. Handles are made of rigid material for the best turning effect. Single and group jumping is as popular in China as it is in the West.
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The Shuttlecock (cu-ju)
The Shuttlecock game evolved from an ancient military exercise and was popular in the time of the Han and Tang Dynasties (207-906 A.D.). After the Song Dynasty (960-1278 A.D.), the game was called "cu-ju", the Chinese word for "arrow" which sounds the same as the word for "shuttlecock".
The shuttlecock consists of a small, weighted circular base with feathers or tassels at one end. It is generally kicked with the toe, heel and inner and outer side of the foot as well as the knee. The kick is carried out from a jump rather than a stationary position.
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Two levels of the game are: the "Lesser Accomplishments," which calls for kicking with one foot, and the "Greater Accomplishments," which uses both feet. Various tricks require the use of other parts of the body and "Ivory Chopsticks" calls for catching the kicked shuttlecock between two fingers.
The Shuttlecock game was considered a cold-weather game, since the vigorous exercise warmed the body, and in 1975, the government included shuttlecock in the elementary school physical education program, which revived its popularity.
The Top
The top in China can be traced back as far as the Song Dynasty (960-1279 A.D.), when its forerunner was a 4-inch ivory disc called the "qian-qian", which served as a pastime by court ladies. "Tuo-luo" the word for top, is first found in records of the Ming Dynasty (1386-1644 A.D.), when it was played by children when "the willows bud in early spring."
Some tops are spun by means of a string wound around the base and pulled sharply as the top is thrown forward. Sometimes, a small whip is used to maintain a continuous spin.
Tops come in a variety of sizes and material and are equipped with a sharp metal end in order to slip other tops during "top duels". In this century a giant top, over a foot long and correspondingly heavy, was developed in Ta-hsi village. To spin it, a rope, instead of a string, must be used.
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Weekly Chinese Words |
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| Transcription: |
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Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Chinese Yo-Yo
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| Transcription: |
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Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: kite
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| Transcription: |
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Part of Speech: Verb
Meaning: jump rope
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| Transcription: |
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Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: shuttlecock
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| Transcription: |
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Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: top
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Weekly Chinese Phrases |
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| Transcription: |
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Meaning: fly kite
Topic: game
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| Transcription: |
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Meaning: kick shuttlecock
Topic: game
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| Transcription: |
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Meaning: spin top
Topic: game
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