Training the Body for China

Sports in the Moral Order of the People's Republic

By: Susan Brownell

Write A Review

Paperback | 1 August 1995 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Paperback
401 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
22.86 x 15.55 x 2.39

Paperback

$142.75

or 4 interest-free payments of $35.69 with

Ships in 10 to 15 business days

Competing in the 1986 National College Games of the People's Republic of China, Susan Brownell earned both a gold medal in the heptathlon and fame throughout China as "the American girl who won glory for Beijing University." Now an anthropologist, Brownell draws on her direct experience of Chinese athletics in this fascinating look at the culture of sports and the body in China.

Training the Body for China is the first book on Chinese sports based on extended fieldwork by a Westerner. Brownell introduces the notion of "body culture" to analyze Olympic sports as one element in a whole set of Chinese body practices: the "old people's disco dancing" craze, the new popularity of bodybuilding (following reluctant official acceptance of the bikini), mass calisthenics, martial arts, military discipline, and more.

Translating official and dissident materials into English for the first time and drawing on performance theory and histories of the body, Brownell uses the culture of the body as a focal point to explore the tensions between local and global organizations, the traditional and the modern, men and women. Her intimate knowledge of Chinese social and cultural life and her wide range of historic examples make Training the Body for China a unique illustration of how gender, the body, and the nation are interlinked in Chinese culture.

Shipping

	Standard Shipping	Express Shipping
Metro postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95
Regional postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95
Rural postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95

Orders over $79.00 qualify for free shipping.

How to return your order

At Booktopia, we offer hassle-free returns in accordance with our returns policy. If you wish to return an item, please get in touch with Booktopia Customer Care.

Additional postage charges may be applicable.

Defective items

If there is a problem with any of the items received for your order then the Booktopia Customer Care team is ready to assist you.

For more info please visit our Help Centre.

You Can Find This Book In

Non-Fiction Sociology & Anthropology Sociology Sociology & Customs & Traditions Sociology & Sport & Leisure Sports & Recreation Sporting Events & Management Olympic & Paralympic Games Society & Culture Cultural Studies Anthropology Combat Sports & Self-Defence

Miscellaneous Items

Acknowledgments
Winning Glory for Beijing
Historical Overview: Sports, the Body, and the Nation
Public Culture: On Sports Clubs, Public Events, and Representation
Body Culture and Consumer Culture in China's 1987 National Games
Qing Dynasty Grand Sacrifice and Communist National Games: Rituals of the Chinese State?
Training the Body for China: Civilization, Discipline, and Social Order
"Those Who Work with Their Brains Rule; Those Who Work with Their Brawn Are Ruled"
Sex, the Body, and History in Chinese and Western Sports
Bodies, Boundaries, and the State
"Obscene" Bodies, the State, and Popular Movements: Bodybuilding and Old People's Disco
"Face" and "Fair Play": Sports and Morality in the Economic Reforms
Epilogue: Beijing's Bid for the 2000 Olympic Games
Select Glossary of Chinese Terms and Names
References
Index
Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.

Training the Body for China

Sports in the Moral Order of the People's Republic

At a Glance

Paperback

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

More in Sports & Recreation

Belize

Lonely Planet Travel Guide : 10th Edition

Bedtime Tales for Cricket Tragics

22 Story Time tales from hit podcast The Final Word

World Football Records 2026

Mamba & Mambacita Forever

The Grade Cricketer: Alphas, Champs and Chop Kings

The unwritten rules of clubland

Collision

A Story of Danger, Discovery, Hope

Ten Out

The remarkable bowlers who have taken all ten wickets in an innings - cricket's ultimate feat

On My Own Terms

From Redfern to glory: A journey of resilience, grit and finding your voice

The 50 Most Ridiculous Ashes Moments

The Last Hart Beating

From the Dungeon to WWE

Just Go

Turning fear into a superpower

Magic Millions

Driven

The Inspirational Memoir from the Formula One Trailblazer, featuring an afterword by Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff

Haikyu!! (3-in-1 Edition), Vol. 6

Includes vols. 16, 17 & 18

Greatest Walks of the World

200 incredible hikes of a lifetime: amazing adventures and epic trails

Yoga Anatomy: 3rd Edition

Your Illustrated Guide to Postures, Movements, and Breathing Techniques

The Times Test Cricket

A history of the ultimate game, 150 years in the making

Tested: Reflections and conversations on leadership and resilience with Julia Gillard, Nedd Brockmann & Prof. Richard Scolyer, FINALIST at the Aust

The remarkable power of resolve

Guts and Glory

Diggers, Sport and War

Shot Ready

An inspiring look into the mind, life and philosophy of an NBA champion

Unbroken

The inspirational memoir from the double-world champion and Olympic silver medallist

Contours

The Courses Behind Remarkable Golf Adventures

The Chosen Few

A quest to name the ten greatest Australian and New Zealand racehorses of all time

Wild Guide: Sydney

Hidden Places, Great Adventures & the Good Life

This product is categorised by