Damaqiu（2）

打马球（2）

The sport of polo developed further when it came to the Northern Song dynasty.

到了北宋时期.马球运动继续发展。

Special rules were made in the reign of Song Taizong. Neverthless, it declined on the whole.

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。

Just at that moment, women polo tended to be thriving.

也正是此时，女子马球运动却表现出兴旺的势头。

It started in the Tang dynasty, but most of the women players then were girls in palace, who were slim and small.

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为宫中女子，一个个长的娇小玲珑，

It was impossible for them to ride horses to play polo, so a method of playing it on donkeys was invented.

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。

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 dynasties.

元朝时期的马球运动与唐宋时稍有不同。

First, 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.

首先，元朝时期的马球不是以坚木制成，而是用皮缝制的软球;其次，在打法上，也有自己的特点。

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.

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.

明朝时期马球运动仍有流行，据史书记载，明成祖朱棣常去东苑观看马球表演。

Information about it in the Ming dynasty is little.

但是，有关明代马球运动的资料很少。

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.

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.

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。

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.

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，后传人欧美各地。