Reflections | Paralympians deserve more support and appreciation. Ancient China offers lessons on that
People with disabilities were celebrated for their achievements in China’s past. Paralympians today deserve to be better appreciated
Let us be honest and admit that the Paralympics Games Paris 2024, which concluded on September 8, held far less interest for most than the preceding Summer Olympics.
Surely, athletes who must work even harder to compete are more deserving of our cheers and support? Well, apparently not.
For most of human history, people who live with disabilities have faced multiple levels of prejudice. That discrimination still afflicts some societies today.
Very early on, at least from the Han period (202 BC – 220 AD), China already had state-run agencies that admitted and took care of disadvantaged people in society, which included those with disabilities.
Apart from housing and feeding them, some of these agencies gave them an education or trained them in vocational skills that were appropriate to their individual abilities, such as singing or playing musical instruments.
