CHINLONE – AN ANCIENT ASIAN GAME OR INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE?

Abstract

Chinlone is an ancient Burmese ball game that is considered to be the national sport of Myanmar. What makes the sport truly unique is that it is not competitive in nature, and this is a fact that makes it different in comparison to other major ball games. The primary purposes of this paper is to further understand Chinlone’s history, relations to other Southeast Asian kickball games and its possible inclusion into UNESCO’s intangible cultural heritage. There is a lack academic texts in the English language detailing Chinlone’s history. There is some evidence to suggest that it may have its origins in the ancient Chinese sport of Cuju, and furthermore, it has many links to other ancient Asian games. One of the earliest mentions of Chinlone in the historical record describes it as more of a performance art akin to dancing meant to entertain Burmese royalty. During the colonization of Burma by the British, it began to adhere to the more ‘Western idea of sport’, something which was nonexistent in traditional Burmese society. Then, in the postcolonial period, it was used as a nation-building tool by the newly independent Burmese government to instill a sense of national pride and unity amongst the people of Myanmar, and it was during this period that the sport truly went through a process of ‘gamification’ where it was completely changed to resemble a modern sport. These are all important pieces of the history of the formation of modern Chinlone, and they all deserve much more looking into than has been afforded to them thus far. The sport itself has a very promising future, it has been included in the Southeast Asian games 3 times, and international participation is expected to continue increasing.