EARLIEST RECORD OF DIABOLO IN THE CHINESE CLASSIC – 帝京景物略
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- Written by 余俗慧
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RECORD OF DIABOLO IN THE CHINESE CLASSIC – 帝京景物略
April 26, 2023
楊柳兒活，抽陀螺。楊柳兒青，放空鐘。楊柳兒死，踢毽子。… 空鐘者，刳木中空，旁口，蕩以瀝青，卓地如仰鐘，而柄其上之平。別一繩繞其柄，別一竹尺有孔，度其繩而抵格空鐘，繩勒右卻，竹勒左卻。一勒，空鐘轟而疾轉，大者聲鐘，小亦蛣蜣飛聲，一鐘聲歇時乃已。制徑寸至八九寸。其放之，一人至三人。
-《帝京景物略．卷二．春場》/ 劉侗、于奕正合著 (1635年/明朝崇禎八年)
“Whipping the top in the time willows revive; Playing the diabolo in the time willows green; Kicking the shuttlecock in the time willows wither.” – Imperial Capital Guidebook (1635 A.D.), Volume 2/ (all quotations were translated by Mark Tsai)
The outset of diabolo initially came up in the officially acknowledged Chinese Classic named “Imperial Capital Guidebook” (1635 A.D.) co-authored by Liu Tong & Yu Yi-Zheng in Chong-Zhen 8th Year, Ming Dynasty, China. However, it is extensively believed that the outset of diabolo was even much earlier than that as the folk song had actually appeared prior to the Guidebook.
“Hollowing the wood out with holes aside, and glued it with asphalt. Facing the axle up on the ground, and prepared to loop the string around its centre. Drilling holes to the bamboo sticks, and measured string length to match it. Pulling string to the right and left bamboo stick followed accordingly. The “hollow bell” (kong-zhong/空鐘) would then burst to spin loudly. The humming sound could be as huge as a bronze bell or as tiny as a flying insect, it depended on the size of diabolo. Its diameter ranged from the regular up to 8 or 9 Chinese inches and could be played by 1 to 3 people.”
According to the above description, it might be discovered and summarised as the following points:
- 1.The most popular and conventional pattern of diabolo at that time was the single-sided diabolo (also known as “top diabolo”).
- 2.Diabolo was made of wood while the sticks were made of bamboos.
- 3.Most of the players were right-handed.
- 4.The size ranged from the regular up to 30.6 cm (1 Chinese inch at Ming Dynasty = 3.4 cm).
- 5.The group performance or team play had already come up.
Nowadays, the material, patterns, tricks and performing styles of diabolo are varying dramatically from the conventional ones. In Taiwan, it is officially acknowledged as a folk sport and particularly promoted in schools as part of the curriculum for physical education.
Photo Sources: 1. https://kknews.cc/history/r95b68v.html 2. https://ctext.org/library.pl?if=gb&file=24434&page=70 3. Provided by author (performer: Mark Tsai)
About the author:
Mark Tsai/ PhD in Communication, University of Canberra, Australia. He won the championship title from Australian Diabolo Tournament and is currently working at Medicare Australia.