To celebrate the Beijing Olympics, Dunhuang academy held a photo exhibition recently, showing 22 Dunhuang murals featuring painted ancient sports. Wrestling, horsemanship, throwing spear and archery were involved in these murals, among which the most prominent, “The Illustration of the Maitreya”, a fresco from Mogao Grotto of late Tang Dynasty (618-907), portraying a torch bearer holding aloft the torch on it.

A mural about a torch bearer of late Tang Dynasty (618-907) from No.85 grotto of Mogao grotto in Dunhuang

Dunhuang grottoes were continuously carved from the middle of 4th century to 14th century and nearly 50000 square meters of murals have been handed down. A wide range of folk sports were usually as the theme of these murals, including archery, wrestling, swimming and Wushu (martial art), acrobatics and so on, even some Olympic events can find their origin from these murals.

Archery

To train the soldiers, the government of Han Dynasty held the competition for archery annually, which was part of a traditional military system. Every participant was allowed to shoot 12 arrows in the competition; with more than 6 arrows hitting in the target the participant would be given a prize of money, furloughs or a promotion.

A Mural about Archery of Northern Zhou Dynasty (557-581) from No.290 grotto of Mogao grotto in Dunhuang

Basically, archery in Han Dynasty has already possessed the attributes of modern athletic sports, very close to the archery competition of Olympics.

Bu da qiu

Bu da qiu is a sport similar to golf or hockey, which was prosperous in Tang Dynasty and evolved into Chui wan (strike pellet) in Song Dynasty, which also known as the origin of golf. With two teams in the competition of Bu da qiu in Tang Dynasty, the players struck the pellets with wooden sticks which were crooked in the end and the winner was judged according to the number of pellets in the opponent’s goal.

In the No.15 grotto of Tang Dynasty in Dunhuang, a mural painted with a boy standing on Pure Land Sect (Buddha’s seat in the form of a lotus flower) with a ball in his left hand and a wooden stick in right hand, is a precious historical record to witness the origin of hockey.

Horsemanship

There are many murals about horsemanship in Dunhuang. For example, in the No.61 grotto of Five Dynasty (907-960), a mural was depicted with six pictures to represent horsemanship. The riders in the mural standing straight on the horseback or holding two bows in the hand showcased their ability to keep balance despite the fast speed of the horse. Another picture in the mural portrayed some breathtaking actions performed on horseback.

A mural about horsemanship of Five Dynasties (907-960) from No.61 grotto of Mogao grotto in Dunhuang

Wrestling

Wrestling has been a traditional competition since the ancient Olympics came into being. A large amount of murals about this ancient sport have been found in Dunhuang. For example, there are a series of murals on the No.290 grotto of Mogao grottos portraying a fierce wrestling competition and in the No.61 grotto even has a mural painted with ancient sumo.

A mural about wrestling of Northern Zhou Dynasty from No.290 grotto of Mogao grotto in Dunhuang

In Dunhuang mural the sport of vaulting horse is similar to present-day high jump and long jump, which are composed of the motions of run-up, one-foot take-off, flight and landing.

Weightlifting is also involved in the murals. Most scenes described in the murals are men lifting by snatch with one hand or by clean and jerk with both hands. A mural from the No.61 grotto was depicted men lifting bell or brazier or standing upon the galloping horse with hand lifting an iron board.

Furthermore, other Olympic events such as javelin throwing, swimming and diving can be glimpsed from the murals as well.

A mural about javelin throwing of Western Wei Dynasty (535-556) from No.249 grotto of Mogao grotto in Dunhuang

The Dunhuang murals are not only a witness to the prosperity of ancient Chinese sport, but also a demonstration of the descendent relation between ancient sports and Olympic events.