This photo shows the cover of a best-selling cbook about the traditional forms of the Wu Qin Xiexercise. It was written by Ha Lei, an officially recognized inheritor of this ancient skill. [Photo by Zhu Linyong/chinadaily.com.cn]

A Chinese sport going global

Daoyin qigong exercise caught the attention of a foreigner who came to China in the late 18th century.

French Jesuit missionary Jean Joseph Marie Amiot (1718-93) came to China in 1750 and worked as an official translator of Western languages for Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

Amiot was an Asian correspondent for the Academie des Sciences in France and the spiritual leader of the French mission in old Beijing. It was Amiot who first translated and introduced Hua Tuo's Wu Qin Xi to Europe, historical studies show.

Wu Qin Xi exercise, along with Yi Jin Jing (muscle-and-tendon-transforming exercise), Ba Duan Jin (eight-brocade exercise) and Tai Chi, enjoyed renewed popularity after New China was founded in 1949.

The people's Sports Publishing House has compiled and published a series of books about classical exercises. Each of these books had reportedly sold at least 2 million copies by the end of 1970s. These books and related video courses, including Wu Qin Xi, were introduced to Japan and the United States in the early 1980s.

In 1982, Wu Qin Xi became one of the recommended traditional exercises for China's medical college and university students. In 2009, Hua Tuo's Wu Qin Xi was listed as an intangible cultural heritage under state protection in Hua Tuo's home city of Bozhou, in East China's Anhui province.