| （1.School of Physical Education，South China Normal University，Guangzhou 510006，China；2.School of Physical Education and Health，Guizhou University for Nationalities，Guiyang 550025，China） Abstract: The field investigation of dragon canoe in the southeast Guizhou region not only presents an example of empirical study of sports anthropology, shows an effective way to study various primitive sports forms and acquire first-hand factual data, but also carries out in-depth explanation and analysis by applying cultural anthropology, and provides a more perfected clew for advocating ecological sport and protecting cultural heritages by means of theo-retical construction. This study reveals that the dragon canoe used by people of Miao nationality in the southeast Guizhou region is a living fossil in the process of germination of competitive sports, not provided with the nature of sport up to this day, should be deemed as a wizard ritual like competitive game relic showing unique national char-acters. Beyond the vision of sport, this competitive game still left over several riddles for cultural anthropological study. This study not only confirms the nature of a traditional physical activity, advocates that the protection of cul-tural heritages should include the protection of their ecological environments, but also verifies the important contri-butions of sport anthropology to sport theories.
Key words: sport anthropology；national sport；field investigation；Miao nationality；dragon canoe |
