Sport in Asian Society Past and present

The 2002 Word Cup in Korea and Japan is just one example of how important modern sport has become to Asia - politically, economically and emotionally; and yet the development of sport in this largest and most diverse continent on earth has been little studied. This collection explores sport's role in many Asian countries, including China, Japan, India, Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia and Iran, and charts its progress from imperial legacy of the West in the 19th century, to instrument of national self-assertion and prestige in the 20th, and finally to global consumer culture into the 21st century and beyond. These essays provide insights into a complex society which is becoming a major force in world sport.

Linking sport to the emergence and growth of modern Asian society this collection of essays offers a lucid, original and highly readable history of politics, culture and sport in the world's most populous region.

Prologue - Asian sport - from the recent past, J.A. Mangan; imperial origins -Christian manliness, moral imperatives and pre-Sri Lankan playing fields -beginnings, J.A. Mangan; imperial origins - Christian manliness, moral imperatives and pre-Sri Lankan playing fields - consolidation, J.A. Mangan; celestials in touch -sport and the Chinese in colonial Singapore, N.G. Aplin and Quek Jon Jong; "sportsmanship" - English inspiration and Japanese response - F.W. Strange and Chiyosaburo Takeda, Ikuo Abe and J.A. Mangan; "healthy bodies, healthy minds -sport and society in colonial Malaya, Janice N. Brownfoot; cricket in colonial India -the Bombay pentangular, 1892-1946, Boria Majumdar; sport in China - conflict between tradition and modernity, 1840s to 1930s, Fan Hong and Tan Hua; ideology, politics, power - Korean sport - transformation, 1945-92, Ha Nam-Gil and J.A. Mangan; shackling the lion - sport and modern Singapore, Peter A. Horton; the juggernaut of globalization - sport and modernization in Iran, H.E. Chehabi; "Pancasila" - sport and the building of Indonesia - ambitions and obstacles, Iain Adams; communist China - sport, politics and diplomacy, Fan Hong and Xiong Xiaozheng; the road to modernization - sport in Taiwan, Trevor Slack et al; sport in India - policies, practices and problems, Packianathan Chelladurai et al; from Iran to all of Asia - the origin and diffusion of polo, H.E. Chehabi and Allen Guttman; epilogue - into the future - Asian sport and globalization, Fan Hong.