Cockfights, Strange Stones and Pampered Cranes: Obsessive Pursuits in Ancient China

On August 30, China announced a policy that restricts the time minors can play online games to three hours a week. The new rules limit those under 18 access to online gaming platforms to one hour from 8 to 9pm on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, and on official holidays. However, on Saturday 8pm that week, many complained they could not log on their accounts for Arena of Valor, a popular game by Tencent. Two hours later, Tencent said that its servers were down and it had already fixed the problem. The company did not explain what had caused the problem. But players believed the rush of underage players logging on at the same time crashed the servers.As in the rest of the world, online gaming addictions among children have become a serious social issue in China. Some children sneak their parents’ debit cards to pay for online games. When denied access to gaming, some children become violent and hurt their parents. Some cases have ended in suicide. There are cases where parents are addicted to games, setting a poor example for their children. Some questioned the necessity of restricting online gaming, as children’s playtime is not of national importance.  But history tells us that games are important to a nation and society as a whole.  As a very popular folk song during the Tang dynasty goes: “you don’t have to send your son to school; a boy good at cock fighting has a much better future than a well-educated one; look at the boy from the Jia family, he was only 13 years old, but has more wealth and honor than big rich families.”How could roosters, stones, and even cranes be of any harm? When powerful people indulged in them in excess, they ruined everything, including the power they held.