How Did a Whip Keep a Wooden Top Spinning?

From the late 1960s to the early 1980s, children in some parts of China played with wooden spinning tops that were not necessarily standard shop-bought objects. A scrap of hard timber from a carpenter or an old piece of furniture could be shaped into a broad body with a pointed base. An adult, or a particularly handy child, might drive a short iron nail into the tip to make a durable pivot. Names and construction varied by region; besides the general term tuoluo, local names such as bingga were also used.

The essential action was not simply to throw the top. A thin cord was wound tightly upwards from the tip, then the top was cast onto concrete, packed earth or another firm open surface while the cord was pulled sharply away. Once it stood up, a small whip was flicked in the direction of rotation to replace speed lost through friction. A strike that landed too high could knock it over, while one delivered against the rotation could make it wobble. Skilled players watched the lean and adjusted both aim and force.

Children might compete for the longest spin, or draw a circle and see whose top remained inside. Rules were negotiated on the spot, while differences in timber, iron tip and ground gave each top its own temperament. The pleasure lay less in owning a finished product than in sustaining it: running alongside, listening to its contact with the ground, reading its posture and deciding what to do next.