KEY evidence supporting the long-disputed claim that the Chinese invented golf will be on show in Hong Kong next month.

Two paintings, the "Wall Painting of Chuiwan" from the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) and "The Autumn Banquet" from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), both feature a man holding a stick and hitting a ball into a hole. They will be on display at the Hong Kong Heritage Museum's "Ancient Chinese Pastimes" exhibition between March 22 and June 26, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post said yesterday.

"The game shown in these drawings is very similar to modern-day golf," said Tom Ming Kay-chuen, chief curator of the Heritage Museum. "These are strong evidence that we invented the game."

It is generally accepted that the Scots invented golf as we know it in the 15th century. Its spiritual home has been the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews since 1897.

But Lanzhou University professor Ling Hongling last month claimed Chinese were playing golf by the year 945, over a millennium ago. He said he found a reference to the game called chuiwan - chui meaning to hit and wan meaning ball, and argued that Mongolian travelers subsequently took the game to Europe.

The drawings are among 120 exhibits from the National Museum of China in the exhibition, which showcases artifacts - such as musical instruments, figurines of music players and dancers, pictures on bricks, tools for chess games and picture scrolls - that trace the development of ancient music, dance, acrobatics and the operatic arts.

It will also examine the chess games, hunting and sporting activities of ancestors, reveal how scholars entertained themselves and describe aspects of urban and rural festival entertainment.

Several games will be recreated in the gallery to give visitors hands-on experience.

Editor: Wing