China Traditional Ball Sports-- Damaqiu
球类运动——打马球
Damaqiu, called Jiju or Polo on Horse, is a sport to hit a ball with a stick on the horseback. In the history of China, polo came to its summit in the Tand dynasty. The ball was made of a kind of light and hard wood, which was as big as a fist, emply in the centre and painted outside with vermillion or colors. The top of the stick used then was a shape of crescent moon. The court was a rectangle, which sometimes had a goal in the middle or two goals on two ends. The goal was made of wooden board, and in the middle was a one-chi-in-diameter hole with a net attatched. Two teams would be in the competition, and the one who scoked more would win.
打马球又称击鞠、打球，是一种骑在马上持棍击球的运动。唐朝是马球运动的鼎盛时期。当时马球运动所用的球是用质轻而坚韧的木材制成，大小与拳头相似，中间掏空，外面涂色，一般是朱红色或彩绘。击球杆的顶端呈偃木板制成，中间是直径一尺大小的洞，且洞后有网。比赛时参赛人员分成两队，以把球击进球门的次数多少计算胜负。
Most of the emperors in the Tang dynasty loved Damaqiu, of whom Tang Xuanzong, Li longji, loved it most. It is recorded, that in the year of 709AD--the third year of Jinglong during the reign of Tang Zhongzong, the Emperor watched the match between the Imperial team and the Tibetan team. The Imperial team suffered a series of defeats, which made Tang Zhongzong very angry. In order to save the face of Tang Zhongzong, Linzi Prince Li Longji formed a new team including another three imperial descends at once and competed with the Tibetan team of ten players. Li Longji dashed around in the seemingly empty court, and the four-player team swept the victory. Even the Tibetan Minister praised his skills greatly. After Tang Xuanzong came to the throne, he still stuck to playing polo and even forgot to hold court sometimes. Not only did he play the ball, but advocated developing this sport in the army. He once issued an imperial edict in 747AD, considering polo as "a plan to dispatch troops" and "terribly necessary", and ordered to spread it in the army. Hence, it bacame common in the army.
唐代皇帝大多喜爱马球运动，唐玄宗李隆基最喜欢这一运动。据历史记载，公元709年，即唐中宗观看了皇家马球队与吐蕃马球队的一场比赛，结果皇家马球队连战皆输，唐中宗十分生气。为了给中宗挽回面子，时为临淄王的李隆基与另外三位皇族成员组成四人马队与吐蕃的十人马队展开比赛。李隆基左冲右突，如入无人之境，最后唐朝四人队大获全胜，就连吐蕃大臣也对他的球技赞不绝口。唐玄宗继位后仍坚持打马球，有时甚至误了上朝。唐玄宗还提倡在军中开展马球运动，认为马球是“用兵之技”，“义不可舍”，此后，马球运动便在军中普及开来。
During the Tang dynasty, not only was polo popular in the palace and the army, but it was widely accepted by scholars.
唐代时期，马球运动在文人当中也很盛行。
The sport of polo developed further when it came to the Northern Song dynasty. Special rules were made in the reign of Song Taizong. Neverthless, it declined on the whole. Just at that moment, women polo tended to be thriving. It started in the Tang dynasty, but most of the women players then were girls in palace, who were slim and small. It was impossible for them to ride horses to play polo, so a method of playing it on donkeys was invented. Women polo was much more popular in the Song dynasty. The women players in the same attire as men not only played on the donkeys but on the ponies' as well.
到了北宋时期，马球运动继续发展。宋太宗时，专门制定了马球规则。然而，在宋代时期，马球运动整体呈现颓废趋势。也正是此时，女子马球运动却表现出兴旺的势头。女子马球运动始于唐代。不过，由于当时从事女子马球运动的多位宫中女子，一个个长的娇小玲珑，显然不适合骑那些高头大马，于是人们发明了让她们骑驴打球的玩法。到了宋代，宫中女子马球运动更是盛行。只是宋代时期的女子马球手不再骑驴，而是骑小马，其装束打扮和男子一样。
Polo was also played in the Yuan dynasty, which was slightly different from that in Tang and Song dynaties. Firts, the polo in the Yuan dynasty was a soft ball made of leather, but not wood. Second, it had its own characteristics in the playing method. Because the leather ball was soft, the excellent players could pick it up with a stick, hit it continuously in the air and ran directly toward the goal.
元朝时期的马球运动与唐宋时稍有不同。元朝时期的马球不是以坚木制成，而是用皮缝制的软球；在打法上，也有自己的特点。因为球是软球，水平高的马球手在比赛时常常把球用球棒挑起，在空中连击此球，然后直接奔向球门。
It was still popular in the Ming dynasty. It is recorded that Zhu Jing, Ming Chengzu often went to the East Garden to watch polo show. Information about it in the Ming dynasty is little. It completely declined in the Qing dynasty. It was hardly seen in the centre of Ancient China except in certain minorities, such as the Mongolians and the Tibetans.
明朝时期马球运动仍有流行，据史书记载，明成祖朱经常去东苑观看马球表演。但是，有关明代马球运动的资料很少。到了清代，马球运动彻底衰落，除了在一些少数民族如蒙古族、藏族中仍有保留，在中原已几乎见不到踪影。
Modern polo is an offical sport in the world competitions, which is quite same to the jiju in ancient China. However, modern polo originates in Europe and has nothing to do with the Chinese traditional Jiju. It was invented in India by the British colonists and then introduced to Europe, America and some other countries.
现代马球运动是国际大赛的正式比赛项目，它与中国古代马球运动没有多大的本质上的区别。然而，它起源于欧洲，与中国的传统马球运动无关，是英国殖民者首先在印度发展起来的，后传入欧美各地。
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