“球王”李惠堂与民国体育慈善

“The King of Football”Lee Wai Tong and Sports Charities in the Period of the Republic of China

李惠堂是民国体育慈善“舞台”上具有典型意义的代表人物,民间对其有“看戏要看梅兰芳,看球就看李惠堂”的美誉。他不仅在体育赛场上有上佳的竞技表现,而且经常参与社会慈善活动,展示出高尚的体育道德与慈善热心。作为体育慈善的先行者,他凭借较强的社会责任感和影响力,担当了宣传者、组织者、竞演者三种角色,长时段、高频度、宽领域投身体育慈善义赛实践。在他的带动下,体育慈善义赛作为中国近代新兴的行善方式,开始吸引慈善界、新闻界的广泛关注,从而上升为民国时期一种醒目的文化风尚。

Lee Wai Tong(also known as Li Huitang)was renowned as a typical representative of the sports charity during the period of the Republic of China,and at that time,there was a folk saying,“Be sure to watch Mei Lanfang’s performance if you want to appreciate Peking Opera,and likewise,you cannot miss Lee Wai Tong’s football matches.”He not only had an excellent performance on the football field but often took part in social charity activities off the field,showing high sportsmanship and philanthropic enthusiasm.As a pioneer of sports charity,he had assumed the three roles of promoter,organizer,and competitor,and devoted himself to the long-term and wide-ranging practice of charity matches by virtue of a keen sense of social responsibility and enormous influence.Led by him,the charity match,as an emerging way of practicing virtue in modern China,began to attract widespread attention in the philanthropic circles and the press,thus becoming a striking cultural phenomenon in the period of the Republic of China.