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AKISATO RITO/PUBLIC DOMAIN
An 18th-century depiction of kemari, the Japanese version of “Cuju.”
Essence of China
Cuju
2,000 Years of Ancient Chinese Soccer
SU HANCHEN/PUBLIC DOMAIN
By Leo Timm | Epoch Times Staff
A
ccording to FIFA, the earliest form of
soccer was a Chinese invention.
Dating back some 2,400 years, the
ancient Chinese game of Cuju shares key similarities with the modern sport—no hands or
arms are allowed and goals are scored by kicking a ball through two posts. And like contemporary soccer, Cuju enjoyed massive popularity on a professional scale.
First mention of the sport appears in the Warring States-era text “Zhan Guo Ce.” It seems
to have originated in eastern China’s Qi State.
By the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.—220 A.D.), the
game was called Cuju, best translated as “kick
ball.” The balls used were made of leather and
filled with fur or hair. Texts from this era credit
the game’s creation with the legendary yellow
emperor, or, more realistically, soldiers looking
to improve their footwork.
The game was incredibly popular for many
centuries, to the point that it was played professionally among both commoners and in the
imperial court. Liu Bang, founding emperor of
the Han Dynasty, was a known Cuju enthusiast. This resulted in Cujiu becoming a more
highly specialized sport. The imperial palace
included a dedicated Cuju court where professional teams of 12 players each would face off.
Another Han emperor, the great Wu Di, was
so fond of Cuju that he regularly had his attendants pen articles about the sport.
A Han Dynasty text established the rules and
interpretation of Cuju. The round ball and the
square court symbolized the traditional Daoist concepts of yin and yang. In comparison to
modern soccer, the goals were small, moonshaped holes and there were six of them at
either end of the court. The 24 players and their
team captains would elect a referee before the
game, who was to mediate based on the regulations and according to the standards of fair
sportsmanship.
Already in the Han Dynasty, Cuju’s popularity had reached obsessive levels. The “Shiji,”
or Records of the Grand Historian, mentions
the case of Xiang Chu, who kept playing Cuju
despite the advice of his doctor, who had
diagnosed him with a hernia. The stubborn
fan eventually died of his illness playing his
beloved sport.
Cuju enjoyed increasing popularity for over
a dozen centuries. In China’s final imperial
dynasty, the Qing (1644—1911), the game was
modified to be played on skating rinks.
Peak and Decline
By the Tang and Song dynasties, Cuju was
enjoyed by both men and women, and nobles
In
comparison
to modern
soccer, the
goals were
small, moonshaped holes
and there
were six of
them at either
end of the
court.
Cuju, best
translated as ‘kick
ball,’ used balls
made of leather
and filled with fur
or hair.
QIAN XUAN/PUBLIC DOMAIN
Song Emperor Taizu plays
Cuju with Prime Minister
Zhao Pu.
and commoners. One ancient text depicts the
splendid scene of a women’s match involving
153 people. The ladies, wearing four colors of
embroidered silk clothing and sashes, played
for an audience of tens of thousands.
In the 10th century, during the Song
Dynasty, professional Cuju clubs appeared in
many major Chinese cities. Individual players attained fame and fortune. These associations are considered the world’s first sports
clubs.
The Cuju societies were selective. Nonprofessional players would formally take up
study with experts and had to achieve a certain level of mastery before gaining acceptance to a club. Gao Qiu, a government official who served the Song Emperor Huizong,
was known for his excellent skills in Cuju.
A Cuju league, the Qiyun She, organized
annual nationwide championships.
Emperor Taizu of the Song Dynasty was
known for his freestyle Cuju, by which he
made use of his head, shoulders, back, abdomen, and knees to control the ball, keeping
it in the air for extended periods.
Cuju also features in one of the Four Great
Chinese Novels, the “Outlaws of the Marsh.”
The Cuju-playing official Gao Qiu appears
as one of the antagonists, and is mentioned
as being the Grand Marshall of the sport
by decree of the emperor. During the Song
period, as in the Han, Cuju was a frequent
spectacle enjoyed in the imperial court.
Cuju fell into decline during the Ming
Dynasty (1368–1644). The game became
associated with brothels and decadence.
Teams of prostitutes would organize and play
Cuju in hopes of attracting more customers;
officials and the nobility would neglect their
duties of leadership to indulge in Cuju and
other forms of entertainment. In an attempt
to shape up his administration, Zhu Yuanzhang, founding emperor of the Ming, even
banned the sport. As time went on, Cuju suffered from a poor reputation and began to go
out of fashion. By modern times, Cuju had
become extinct in China.
Though Cuju is a thing of the Chinese past,
it survives in Japanese shrines, where a stylized version called kemari is performed.
Kemari was introduced from continental
Asia over 1,400 years ago during Japan’s
Asuka period. Unlike Cuju, it is neither
competitive nor professional; the object is
to keep the ball airborne for as long as possible. Even in the 19th and 20th centuries,
as Japan underwent extensive modernization, the sport received backing from the
emperor and nobles, who helped preserve
this ancient East Asian tradition.
Children play Cuju in a Song Dynasty painting.
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