The Body in Maoist Ideology as a Form of Social-Relational Communication

Maoist sport promoted sport ethics based on the elimination of hostile or aggressive feelings towards the opponent. The Chinese policy of ‘friendship first, competition second’ impressed Westerners, who were more inclined to agonism. Chinese sport ethics taught that you win even when you are defeated; this left foreign competitors in a state of emotional disorientation. During the 1974 Asian Games in Tehran, the defeated Chinese athletes all looked amused; they were the tangible representation of the motto ‘the important thing is to take part’. The exaltation of strength could have distracted the Chinese people from the ideal of collectivism, which is intellectual culture. The importance of sport would have encouraged the emergence of the cult of the champion, hence the superiority of one over others. This approach was intended by Maoism as a form of social pedagogy: discouraging competitive behaviour meant opposing liberalism, social Darwinism; China was educating the strong to help the weak, the rich to help the poor