 The Chinese yo-yo is a toy from China consisting
of two equally-sized discs connected with a long axle. The Chinese yo-yo is kept
spinning on a string tied to two sticks at its ends. Each stick is held in one
hand. In modern times, it is used as a children's toy and as a performance tool
in juggling and sometimes in Chinese ethnic dance. It is possible to perform a
large variety of tricks with the Chinese yo-yo which can be as easy as throwing
the yo-yo up into the air or tossing it around the user's back.
This simple toy was nevertheless an integral part of ancient Chinese culture.
Performers of the Chinese yo-yo could often be found in the ongoing street
entertainment of Chinese festivals. This ancient spinning game is simple to
learn yet provides endless levels of skill development.
Like the Western yo-yo, it maintains its spinning motion through a gyroscopic
effect based on conservation of angular momentum.
The barbell-shaped, hollow toy is manipulated on a string tied to two sticks,
which are held by the player. By spinning the Chinese yo-yo fast enough, the
player can elicit a humming sound from the yo-yo. Once the beginner has learned
to spin the Chinese yo-yo and maintain its speed, he can then progress to
learning how to do tricks with the yo-yo, sticks, and string.
Reference to the "empty bell" was first found in annals of the Ming Dynasty
between 1386 and 1644 AD. The bamboo or empty bell, commonly known today as the
Chinese yo-yo, was originally made of two round, wooden ends connected in the
middle by a horizontal piece of wood.
Design
Chinese yo-yos were traditionally made of bamboo. Modern models, however, are
usually made of plastic, though the sticks continue to be made of wood.
Some Chinese yo-yos have grooves inset in the rim of the discs; these grooves
causes them to make a whistling sound when spinning at high speeds. The sound
allows the performer to gauge his speed and adjust the yo-yo accordingly.
A common variation is a Chinese yo-yo with only a single disc.
Chinese Name
There are many names in the Chinese language for the Chinese yo-yo, for which
the Chinese characters and the pinyin are given here:
- Che Ling - pull bell sound.
- Xiang Huang - a name given as if it's a sound instrument.
- Dou Kong Zhu - "shaking" empty bamboo.
Diabolo
The Chinese yo-yo is thousands of years old. It has been adapted in the West as
the diabolo. The Chinese yo-yo differs from the diabolo in two primary ways.
First, the axle of the Chinese yo-yo is much longer than the axle of the diabolo.
Also, the Chinese yo-yo has disc-shaped wheels whereas the diabolo consists of
two bell-shapes.
Chinese Yo-yo Tricks
There are many different ways to accelerate the yo-yo. The simplest way to
accelerate your yo-yo is to move both sticks up and down; this is known as open
string drive. To speed the yo-yo up faster you will go into what is called
closed string drive; in order to do this, you need to wrap the string the yo-yo
around the yo-yo once. For beginners, to get into closed string drive put the
yo-yo on the floor and have the string spread out under it. Now take the right
stick and move it counter clockwise, lift up the yo-yo and move the string under
it. Also note that when the yo-yo is running in the middle of the string, it
will be called standard position.
Different tricks require the performer to be in different modes, closed string
drive or open string drive. An (O) will represent open string drive to do the
trick and a (C) will represent that you will need to be in closed string drive.
- Accelerate (O/C) - the first thing you need to learn to accelerate.
- Lift Up (O) - lift the yo-yo up while running on the string.
- Swing (O) - swing the yo-yo from the sticks clockwise and then counter
clockwise (like a swing that goes over the top).
- Elevator (C) - have one stick at the top and one at the bottom and pull the
sticks apart, the yo-yo will ascend.
- Golden Chicken Stand (O) - get the yo-yo to run on the yo-yo stick and make
your body look like a chicken.
- Jumping (O) - have the yo-yo running on one of the sticks and then throw it
into the air and catch it with the other stick.
- Waterfall (O) - from standard position, take the right stick and wrap it over
the left stick and then under the yoyo; from here take the left stick and flip
it to the right.
- Wrap and Escape (O) - from standard position, take the right stick and wrap it
over the left stick and then under the yoyo.
Alternate Usage
Another toy named the Chinese Yo-Yo consists of a short stick with a long coil
of paper wrapped tightly around one end. Typically the whole device is about 12"
long with 4-6" of paper. With a light flick of the wrist, the coil of paper
extends out for several feet in the direction of the flick. As the device is
moved upright, the coil retracts back to the stick.
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