More than a hundred years forward, the Weekly Newspaper, a newspaper founded by the Tianjin YMCA, published an article introducing the history and current situation of the Olympic Movement, and specifically suggesting that China should send athletes to participate in the Olympic Games and strive to bid for the Olympic Games.
This article was later condensed into the famous "Three Olympic Questions", that is:
When will China send athletes to the Olympics?
When will China win the Olympic gold medal?
When will China host the Olympics?
Today, these three questions are already answered. But in that era of poverty and weakness, it took a higher level to come up with such bold ideas that had little to do with people's livelihood.
The author of this article is Zhang Boling, known as "China's first Olympic person".
Zhang Boling's contribution to China's Olympic movement can be summarized as six "earliest".
First proposed
As early as 1907, Zhang Boling proposed: "China should set up an Olympic team." In the spring of 1909, Zhang Boling went to Europe for an expedition, and after returning to China, he showed the students a photo of the 4th Olympic Games in London a year earlier. At that time, the word "Olympic" began to circulate in China.
Earliest created
In 1910, Zhang Boling first initiated the establishment of the All-China Sports Association. Later, the All-China Sports Association successively joined many international organizations such as the International Swimming Association, the International Lawn Tennis Association, and the International Football Association, and sent observers to attend the Olympic Games. In 1931, the All-China Sports Association was officially recognized by the International Olympic Committee, and since then China has become a member of the International Olympic Committee.
The earliest advocated
At the beginning of the establishment of Nankai School, Zhang Boling took the lead in writing Olympic education into the physical education syllabus, clearly stating that in cultivating a complete personality, morality, intellect and physique should go hand in hand and should not be abandoned. Zhang Boling used this to promote the construction of campus sports courses.
Initiated first
In 1913, Zhang Boling first participated in the launch of the "Far East Olympic Movement", which later became the Far East Games. As one of the members of the Far Eastern Sports Association, Zhang Boling has participated in 5 Far East Games and served as the president judge of the Far East Games. In 1915, at the Second Far East Games held in Shanghai, Guo Yubin, who studied at Nankai School and nicknamed "Scud", defeated Japanese athletes in the "880-yard race" and "one-mile race" and won two championships. This is the first time that a Chinese player has won gold in the international arena.
In 1920, the Far Eastern Sports Association and the Far Eastern Games were officially recognized by the IOC, becoming the first regional sports organization to be associated with the IOC.
Earliest enablement
In 1932, sprinter Liu Changchun refused to represent Manchukuo at the 10th Olympic Games. Liu Changchun responded that he would compete as a Chinese athlete: "I am a dignified people of the Republic of China, and this trip naturally represents China. Later, Zhang Boling got the news and actively contacted the International Olympic Committee to register Liu Changchun, and after receiving a agreed reply, Zhang Xueliang donated 8,000 silver dollars to fund Liu Changchun to go to Los Angeles, which was the "first person in the Chinese Olympic Games" and officially opened the history of Chinese participation in the Olympic Games.
Earliest bidding
In 1945, Zhang Boling organized a meeting of the All-China Sports Association and decided to bid for the 15th Olympic Games. Although it did not happen, China made its first attempt to bid for the Olympics.
On April 5, 1876, Zhang Boling was born in Tianjin to a Xiucai family. In 1891, Zhang Boling was admitted to the Beiyang Navy School in Tianjin to study navigation. After graduation, he was sent to the Beiyang Naval Division Fleet for internship.
In 1898, Zhang Boling personally experienced the humiliating scene of the British forced lease of Weihaiwei, deeply felt that "the way of self-improvement lies in education", and was determined to "create a new education and create new talents". That year, he met Yan Xiu, who advocated new learning, and together began the difficult road of running a school.
In October 1904, after four months of careful investigation, Zhang Boling returned to China and founded a private middle school. In 1907, the school built a new school building in the open depression south of Tianjin, which is known as "Nankai", which was called "Nankai Middle School". The school is famous for its novel Western-style education and strict teaching management. At that time, many dignitaries and celebrities sent their children to Nankai Middle School - Yuan Shikai, Duan Qirui, Feng Yuxiang, Liang Qichao, Zhang Zizhong, Ye Shengtao... Even overseas Chinese from Southeast Asia have come to admire it.
In 1917, Zhang Boling went to Columbia University in the United States to study education, and returned to China the following year to start planning the establishment of a university. In September 1919, Zhang Boling founded the private Nankai University with the tenet of "governing the country by culture, strengthening the country with reason, and enriching the country with business".
In just two or three decades, Nankai University has become one of the world's famous universities by virtue of its policy of promoting learning through industry. Graduates are so popular that some are booked before even graduating.
Zhang Boling regarded education to save the country as his lifelong philosophy, and successively founded Nankai Middle School, Nankai University, Nankai Girls' High School, Nankai Primary School and Chongqing Nankai Middle School, forming a famous Nankai education system and cultivating a large number of talents for China.
During the Anti-Japanese War, Nankai School became an important town of the anti-Japanese rescue movement in North China, and was bombarded indiscriminately by the Japanese army, and most of the school buildings in Nankai were destroyed. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Zhang Boling could no longer rebuild Nankai University. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the private Nankai schools were nationalized.
Lao She once wrote a message of congratulations that "if you know that there is China, you know that there is Nankai". However, those who know Nankai do not necessarily know Zhang Boling.
On February 23, 1951, Zhang Boling passed away. His last wish was to be buried on the campus of Nankai University, but he was rejected on the grounds that "Nankai University is for the people, not Zhang Boling".
In 1986, the bronze statue of Zhang Boling of Nankai University was completed, and the ashes of Zhang Boling and his wife were buried together behind the bronze statue. Zhang Boling's last wish was fulfilled, and he returned to Nankai University, which he loved all his life.
Education and sports are the two main lines in Zhang Boling's life, and the intersection of these two main lines lies in the strong country. Zhang Boling knows very well that if education is strong and sports are strong, China is strong.
One hundred years ago, Zhang Boling said: "The day the Olympic Games are held, it is the time when my China takes off!" ”
Today, Zhang Boling's ideas on education and sports still illuminate the dream of a strong Chinese country.