It is interesting to note that both Chinese and Greek educationists in ancient times emphasized that physical training should suit different ages. According to the Chinese classic work Li Ji (Book of Rites), children should learn "civilian dances" at 13, "martial dances" at 15, and archery and charioteering at older ages. Plato also advocated different sports for different age groups -- music and singing for 7-12, dancing, wrestling, archery and horsemanship for 12-17 and more physical training for 17-20.

Whether out of historical necessity or contingency, sports in both ancient China and Greece were closely combined with productive labor, military training, dancing and the whole educational system, thus providing an ideological foundation for China's ready acceptance of the modern Olympic ideals, which were deeply rooted in the ancient Greek society, in spite of the cessation of Olympic Games for15 centuries.