Professor Hu Xiaoming (胡小明) (April 1952 - May 30, 2014) was born in Sichuan and graduated from the Sports Department and a further teaching assistants’ training course on National Sport History at Chengdu Sport University (成都體育學院體育系). He was the associate chief editor of the university’s journal and the director of a research group on sports science and another on anthropology. In 1987, he received an exceptional promotion and became the youngest associate professor of physical education on the Mainland at that time and a postgraduate research supervisor. In 1993, he was further promoted to a professor of Physical Education and Sport History.

In 1998, he became a professor in the Department of Physical Education of South China Normal University (華南師範大學體育系); in 2000, he was appointed as the associate dean (scientific research) of the university’s School of Physical Education and Sports Science (體育科學學院); in 2001, he became a doctoral supervisor and an adjunct professor at Sichuan University (四川大學). He participated in writing a volume on sports in the Zhongguo Da Bai Ke Quan Shu: Ti Yu (Chinese Big Encyclopedia: Sports) (中國大百科全書‧體育) in 1979, and had authored Ti Yu Mei Xue (Aesthetics in Sports) (體育美學) and various treatises since then. His co-authored works include Ti Yu Xue (Sports Science) (體育學), Zhongguo Wu Shu Wen Hua Gai Lun (An Overview of the Chinese Martial Arts Culture) (中國武術文化概論), Zhongguo Ti Yu Shi Hua (China’s Sport History) (中國體育史話), Sheng Huo Jiao Yu Shi Jiang (Ten Lectures on Life Education) (生活教育十講), Dang Dai Ti Yu Xin Xue Ke (A New Curriculum for Physical Education in Contemporary Times) (當代體育新學科), Yun Dong Jing Sai Xue (A Study of Competitive Sports) (運動競賽學), Xi Nan Si Chou zhi Lu (The South-Western Silk Road) (西南絲綢之路). His 1999 treatise, Ti Yu Ren Nei Xue (The Anthropology of Sports) (體育人類學), was selected for entry into “Guangdong Province’s Database of Literature by Young and Middle-Aged Social Scientists” (廣東省中青年社會科學家文庫). In 2002, He was the chief editor of Min Zu Ti Yu (National Sports) (民族體育), which the publication has become a standard teaching text used by the physical education profession in the nation. Throughout his career, he managed numerous major projects including Study on the Development of Physical Education in Theory and Practice Since Reform and Opening-Up, a talent admission scheme funded by The National Social Science Fund of China (國家社會科學基金) of the Department of Higher Education of Guangdong Province (廣東省高教廳); in 2001, he was in charge of the project Study on the Modernization of Traditional Chinese Sports funded by the General Administration of Sport of China (國家體育總局), and a project funded by the Guangdong Province Higher Education Humanities and Social Science Research (廣東省高校人文社會科學研究) titled Study on Integrating Traditional Chinese Sports into International Sport Culture in the New Millennium. In 2002, he also led a Guangdong Philosophy and Social Sciences Planning Project (廣東省哲學社會科學規劃項目) titled Guangdong Ti Yu Gai Ge yu Fa Zhan de Ji Chu Li Lun Yan Jiu (A Study on the Basic Theories of the Reform and Development of Sports in Guangdong) (廣東體育改革與發展的基礎理論研究).  He also participated in other projects of national and provincial significance.