This period witnessed chaos caused by frequent wars. On the one hand, a turbulent society discouraged balanced development of sports. What the blessing was that sport activities of ethnic groups commnicated with those of the Han Chinese. The regimes established by different ethnic groups in the Central Plains promoted the national integration, which led to the result that sports had distinct national characteristics. Cavalry and infantry were main forms of fighting at that time, therefore, horsemanship and archery were highly valued. In the northern states, people, male of female, were good at the equestrian skills and archery competitions were often held between the north adn the south. With the rise of metaphysics in this period, health maintenance through sports became widely popular and gradually mixed with Taoism, Buddhism and medicine. Board games were developed to a great extent.

13 Go Chess Strategies was composed by Zhang Ning, a scholar in the imperial academy in North Song Dynasty. The book comprehensively discussed the Go theories especially the strategic principles before the Song Dynasty and is one of the earliest works on Go passed down from the old age.