Characteristics of Chinese Traditional Sports Culture: From the Standpoint of Chinese Traditional Culture

Influenced by the three schools of thought of Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism in Chinese traditional culture, the Chinese sports culture has apparent differences compared to its counterpart in the West. Chinese traditional sports culture pursues “the cultivation of human mind” and “the identity of human and nature,” achieves moral and spiritual satisfaction and then “harmony,” and does not advocate competition and physical confrontation. The Western sports culture is characterized by “competition” and pursues the spirit of transcendence to itself and nature. In the process of the formation of Chinese traditional culture, the sports culture contained in it has been suppressed. The formation of the social atmosphere of “emphasizing literature and light martial arts,” the decline of the group of “chivalrous men,” the criticism of traditional martial arts in the May Fourth New Culture Movement, and the contemporary sports system of China all, to a certain extent, restrained the healthy development of sports culture. How to further improve, cultivate and disseminate sports culture is a problem that Chinese sports scholars and governors should address.