As a competitive sport, diving not only has a long history, but is also popular among the general public. On the high diving platform, athletes pose and jump, performing various difficult moves in the air before falling into the water. This should be the public's impression of diving.
But, have you ever seen diving that uses a swing as a springboard? This highly enjoyable and highly difficult diving sport in the Song Dynasty is called "water swing".
01 Origin of "Water Swing" Sport
Diving has a long history of development in our country, and as the prototype of diving, "water swing" first appeared in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. According to records, Mrs. Huarui of the former Shu once recorded the sport of "water swing" in the book "Gong Ci". However, the sport was still in its infancy at that time and was not popularized, so the book did not mention the specific gameplay and form of "water swing".
It was not until the Song Dynasty that the "water swing” became popular. The founding emperor of the Song Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin, used it to train his navy. Later, under Song Huizong's vigorous publicity and promotion, "water swing" became a popular sport all over the country at that time.
02 The Gameplay and Rules of "Water Swing"
"Water swing", as the name suggests, means swinging on the water. There is a detailed record of it in "Dongjing Menghualu" written by Meng Yuanlao in the Song Dynasty. It is known from the text that the wooden frame of the "water swing" was fixed on some decorated colorful boats at that time. In order to create momentum for the competition, various acrobatic performances were performed at the stern, and there were many musical performers playing drums and flutes.
As the atmosphere of the scene warmed up, these contestants carefully hand-picked from all over the country began their performances.
Accompanied by the sound of music, the contestants spared no effort to get the swing up. With the swinging, their bodies swung higher and higher. When the swing was almost parallel to the swing frame, the contestants would leave the swing and rise into the air. After performing various difficult movements such as spins and somersaults in the air, they fell into the water. Finally, the audience would rate the contestants according to the difficulty and gracefulness of their movements, and those with excellent scores would get corresponding prizes.
Although the "water swing" seems to be very similar to today's diving competitions, in fact, because the take-off point is not a fixed springboard, there are stricter requirements for the contestants to grasp the timing of take-off. Therefore, the difficulty of "water swing" is far greater than that of modern diving competitions, and it is also more thrilling and enjoyable.
No matter what kind of diving competition it is, it fully reflects the sportsmanship of the participants who worked hard and dared to challenge themselves, and this spirit was also passed down from generation to generation.