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Chuiwan: ancient golf In ancient China there was another sport, in which a stick was used to hit a ball. At first there were two ways to play: on horseback or on foot. The first resembles polo, a sport as popular as cuju in the Tang Dynasty. The second is like field hockey today, a highly competitive contest calculated by the number of goals. In the Song dynasty, a new method, called Chuiwan (捶丸), was invented. There were two main differences between chuiwan and the previous game: first, the ball was not hit into the goal but into a hole; second, direct confrontation was changed to indirect confrontation. The game of chuiwan consisted of two teams hitting the ball with a stick into the holes previously dug in the ground. Those who hit the ball the least number of times to get it into the holes or those who had the most goals were the winners. Chuiwan can be played individually or as a team. The distance between the batter and the holes differed from 10 to 20 meters. When one hit the ball and got it into the chosen hole in three strokes, one won a point. The sticks…