Physical Education and Moral Embodiment in Primary Schools of the People’s Republic of China

This article examines the Chinese practice of body molding of children through detailed analysis of "physical education" and "physical exercise" as taught in Chinese primary schools. It shows that while some practices from the Maoist period may remain in use today, they have evolved or their meaning has been changed for adaptation to new aims and to the circumstances of China's only-child generation. Children must now embody a new set of moral values advocated by government.