从日本佛经注疏中发现一条关于拔河的珍贵史料,为唐代随鉴真东渡的高僧法进所记。通过分析这条新材料,说明唐代拔河盛行区域除两京地区以外,还大致包括今天的湖北、重庆、四川、贵州大部和湖南西部。推测拔河虽起源于先秦之荆楚,但并未随楚国势力的扩张向长江下游发展,而是在三国时期随蜀汉势力的扩张向长江中上游传播。唐代各地拔河运动形式具有三种不同的地域特征,都带有一定的赌博成分,但并未违反唐律的规定,属于健康的娱乐游戏。 A precious historical material about tug of war was found in the Analects of Buddhist Sutras in Japan. By analyzing this new material, it shows that except the two Beijing areas, the prevailing tug-of-war area in the Tang Dynasty roughly covered the areas of today’s Hubei, Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou and western Hunan. It is speculated that although the tug of war was originated from the Jingchu before the Qin dynasty, it did not develop with the expansion of the Chu nationality toward the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, but spread to the upper and middle reaches of the Yangtze River with the expansion of Shu forces during the Three Kingdoms period. The forms of tug-of-war movement across the Tang Dynasty have three different geographical features, all with certain gambling elements, but they have not violated the provisions of the Tang dynasty and are healthy entertainment games.