Zhu Lingqiu 竹鈴球

張馨月

Look！ What are they doing？ When I was walking with my friends on the playground last week， a special P.E. class attracted my eyes. In the class， there was a ball which was made of bamboo and there was a bell in it. There was also a BeiDou （） that was used to carry things in our daily life on the back. How interesting！ One student told us that they were playing Zhu Lingqiu.

Do you know Zhu lingqiu？ There is an interesting story about its origin. People of Tujia （1） lived in the mountains， most of whom make a liv- ing by planting crops. When the harvest was coming， people were busy har- vesting in the fields. They had to carry their babies with BeiDou that was also made of bamboo. People were working in the fields while their babies were playing on the clear areas. In order to focus on working， parents made a spe- cial toy for their babies. The toy was a ball that was made of bamboo. And there was a bell in it. Little babies could play with it and they can throw the ball into BeiDou. This toy was the embryonic form （） of Zhu Lingqiu.

With the development of Zhu Lingqiu， it has become a sport in our daily life. In order to remember traditional sport of Tujia， Zhu Lingqiu has gone into our P.E. class. It can build students up. Meanwhile， culture has been passed down from generation to generation.

Zhu Lingqiu is a symbol of Tujia culture. It's our duty to protect and develop it.