Sports and the Construction of the Chinese Nation: A Shift from State Construction to Nation-State Construction
by Guochun Liu, Qing Chang
Insight - Sports Science, Vol.3, No.1, 2021;
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Using methods that include dynamic investigation, historical research，and theoretical analysis, as well as dialectical thinking about double crises and double sublation, this paper explores the relationship between sports and Chinese nation building and highlights the role of sports in constructing the Chinese nation in different historical periods and against different political backgrounds since the founding of the Peoples’ Republic of China in 1949. In the early years, sport primarily focused on serving people’s health, production and labor, and national defence. However, learning from the Soviet Union model, competitive sports began to serve as a bridge to open up a new prospect for China’s diplomacy and help to establish the legitimacy of its international status. After economic reform and opening up, thanks to the “ Ju Guo Ti Zhi ”（national system：unified mobilization and deployment of relevant national forces）with concentrated efforts and resources for Olympic sports, China realized the century-old dream of uniting Chinese national spirits and strengthening national confidence, pride, and honor. Finally, the national rejuvenation as the new historical mission now highlights the shared prosperity of sports and the country and advocates the concept of people-oriented development with humanistic values based on cultural attributes, thereby realizing the transformation of New China’s sport from national construction to nation-state construction.
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