空竹 Kongzhu

So beautiful morning here in BJ. The air is fresh and the sun is shining. And I was told to come down to XuanWu Park to have a look at what the people are doing here. It seems like some kind of game or maybe it’s some formal exercise. It looks exciting. I wonder what it is. Later I am going to ask some people what they are doing and why they are doing it.
在北京这个美丽的清晨，空气清新，阳光明媚。朋友叫我来到了宣武公园看一看人们在这儿干些什么。这种东西看似是一种游戏，或是一种什么锻炼，非常有趣。我想要知道这是什么东西。一会儿我会问一问他们在做什么，为什么做这个活动。

字板一：什么是空竹
Board One: What is Kongzhu

采访北京市民
Interview with a citizen of Beijing

主持人：Hi, how are you?

女市民：How do you do? Good morning.

主持人：Good morning. 你好，早上好。

女市民：早上好。
Good morning.

主持人：你好，这东西，这是个游戏吗？
Hello, what’s this? Is it a toy?

女市民：这是一种游戏，还可以玩儿，它叫空竹。
It is a toy. Its name is Kongzhu.

采访男市民: 中国传统文化的一部分。
It is a part of Chinese culture.

采访杂技专家傅起凤：空竹是我们中国的一种特有的玩具，它同时也是一个很好的民间的体育项目。尤其我们北方冬天寒冷的时候，(玩的人很多), 虽然空竹很小，(但)抖起来费劲，会抖得满身大汗，活动身心. 所以它在北方民间特别流行。
Kongzhu is a typical Chinese toy. At the same time, it is also a wonderful folk sport, especially for the people who live in the north. Many people like to play it. Although Kongzhu is small, it takes a lot of efforts to play it. It will make you sweat and is a good exercise for your body. Therefore, Kongzhu is very popular in the north of China.

Host: So, I find out what this is, something in Chinese it is called “Kongzhu”. In English, we call it “diabolo”.
我终于发现了这是什么，中文叫做“空竹”，英文，我们称它为“diabolo”。

采访杂技专家傅起凤：为什么叫空竹呢，就是把竹子切下来一段，在边上锉上口，两边装上木板,中间装上一个轴, 抖起来有空气,就会发出响声，这个口有的锉四个，有的锉六个。最多是16个，32个， （空竹）抖起来又有声音，又有速度。
Interview: Why is it called Kongzhu? People cut a section of bamboo and make openings on the edges of it. Then they will place small wood plates on the two sides, and a wheel in the middle. When people play it, it will whistle. Sometimes people make four openings and some times six openings. At most 16 or 32. When people play Kongzhu, it whistles and moves fast.

采访空竹协会主任李宽江：空竹的历史是这样，按实物上来说到现在为止有600多年了，要按诗经来说有1000多年，当时空竹只供给宫廷皇帝，皇室人员娱乐的玩具，后来慢慢传到民间。从民间发展到全国各地都有了这个空竹。
Interview：Kongzhu came into being 600 years ago. But if we trace it according to Classic of Poetry, Kongzhu has a history of more 1000 years. At that time, Kongzhu was only played for emperors and aristocrats. Later it was played by more and more people. Kongzhu was played all over China.