A great variety of contests of strength have been recorded in Chinese history books. As early as the Spring and Autumn and the Warring States periods (770 -221 BC), two forms of contest called "qiao guan" and "kang ding" had taken shape.
"Qiao guan" was a kind of weightlifting in which "guan," a heavy door bar, was lifted by a man grasping it by one end with a single hand. "Qiao guan" remained in vogue up till the Tang Dynasty (618 -907), but it was then no longer a contest of strength among imperial court warriors. Instead, it became a subject of cadet examinations, and door bars were replaced by weights that were made according to prescribed specifications.
In "kang ding," a meat-cooking vessel, or "ding," was lifted by holding its two loop handles. "Kang ding" was most widely practised in the State of Qin, where a famous muscle man named Wuhuo reportedly lifted a vessel weighing 500 kilograms. Professional "kang ding" activities began to appear in the Han Dynasty (206 BC -AD 220), along with other forms of weightlifting such as pulling up a tree and lifting a deer.
Stone objects weighing 100, 125 and 150 kilograms came into use in the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644 -1911) dynasties. As stone objects were easy to make and popularize, weightlifting using stone locks and stone bars became a traditional sport among the populace.
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