Origins - Cuju in China - FIFA Museum Editorials

The Chinese ball game of cuju has a history dating back over 2,000 years, with mythical origins harking back to an even earlier age. Cuju is often written as ts’u-chü and translates literally as “kick-ball”.

The name served as a catch-all to describe a number of different versions of a game in which the ball was kicked, many of which coexisted. It is little played today except as a minor tourist attraction and on ceremonial occasions, but its vibrant history lives on, especially in relation to the founding myths of the Chinese nation and people.

HOW THE
GAME WAS
PLAYED

“A round ball and a square wall, just like the Yin and Yang. Moon-shaped goals are opposite each other, each side has six in equal number. Select the captains and appoint the referee(s)..."

Li You (ca. 55-135 AD)

Cuju involved a great degree of complexity and changed and developed over time. It could be played competitively or cooperatively, in a team or individually, and was often played for purely aesthetic reasons. The non-competitive version was called baida, with the range of skills that players sought to master known as xieshu. Competitive cuju featured two teams whose object was to outscore one another.

One of the best descriptions of a game of cuju dates from the latter stages of the Han dynasty (the period from 25 to 220, also known as the Eastern Han) and is by the poet Li You. Li You’s poem attests that cuju was seen as more than just a form of entertainment or military training. It was regarded as a metaphor for leading a good life.

“A round ball and a square wall,
Just like the Yin and Yang.
Moon-shaped goals are opposite each other,
Each side has six in equal number.
Select the captains and appoint the referee(s),
Based on the unchangeable regulations.
Don’t regard relatives and friends,
Keep away from partiality.
Maintain fairness and peace
Don’t complain of other’s faults,
Such is the matter of cuju.
If all this is necessary for cuju.
How much more for the business of life”.

Li You

THE PITCH

Cuju’s close links with China’s ruling dynasties meant that it was often played in the formal surroundings of the imperial court, where games were staged for enjoyment by the imperial guard and other soldiers. The poet Li You (50-130) gives us an important insight into the earliest known form of cuju, describing the pitch as having six (half-)moon-shaped goals at either end.

In another version of cuju, the goal was positioned in the centre of the pitch and featured two poles that were approximately 10-11 metres long. At the top, strung between the poles, was a panel or net of sorts, in the middle of which there was a circular hole – called the fengliu yan – through which the ball had to be kicked.

THE BALL

The balls used in cuju were originally made of two pieces of leather stitched together and filled with feathers. As the manufacturing process improved, a ball was developed that had up to 12 pieces of leather. It was precisely sewn together, covered an inflatable animal bladder and weighed around 560 grammes (by comparison, a modern football weighs approximately 430 grammes). This change in technology revolutionised the game, allowing the ball to bounce higher and more freely, thereby greatly increasing the range of skills that could be used. The importance of cuju is evidenced by the fact that balls were also manufactured at an imperial workshop.

GAMEPLAY

There were two principal styles of cuju. In the non-competitive version, known as baida, the aim was to demonstrate skill in keeping the ball off the ground, and to juggle it using the precisely defined methods of the xieshu system. Baida could be played individually or in teams of up to ten people.

In the competitive version of cuju, two sides of six played against each other, with the aim of kicking the ball through the fengliu yan in the centre of the court. A team would pass the ball around, again having to avoid it touching the ground at any point. It was then passed to a designated player, who attempted to kick it through the fengliu yan.

When one side had attempted to score, the ball would go to their opponents to try their luck. The exact rules that governed play are not known, but it is clear that the game was of sufficient complexity and competitiveness that referees were required.

AN ACCOUNT OF A GAME OF CUJU

An account of a competitive game of cuju is given in a book written by Meng Yuanlao in 1187, entitled The Eastern Capital: A Dream of Splendour. The book is a memoir of Meng’s daily life in Kaifeng, the capital of the Northern Song dynasty, before it was conquered by invading armies. He describes a royal birthday party at which two professional cuju sides played a game as part of the celebrations. One side wore green, the other red.

Replica of a four-piece ball dating from the Han dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD).

Meng relates how the ball was flicked between the players before being passed to the “assistant ball leader”, who juggled it until it was precisely under control and then teed up the “ball leader”, who used his upper instep to try to score through the circular fengliu yan. The winners, although not recorded by Meng, would have been the team who passed the ball through the goal the most times.

Replica of a six-piece ball dating from the Tang dynasty (618-907).

Replica of an eight-piece ball dating from the Song dynasty (960-1279). This type of ball would have been used at the time of Meng Yuanlao’s description of a game of cuju.

THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF CUJU KICKS

A number of manuals on cuju were written over the centuries, some of which have survived. They offer a fascinating insight into the wide range of kicks that could be used, as well as the various movements and body postures involved. There were at least 16 basic types of “kick”, although the meaning of some has yet to be deciphered:

1 – The lian (upper-instep kick)
2 – The xi (knee kick)
3 – The guai (ankle kick)
4 – The da (kick with the tip of the foot)
5 – The bazi (splay-foot kick)
6 – The banlou
7 – The deng (heel kick)
8 – The chao
9 – The nie/nian (instep kick)
10 – The jian (shoulder kick)
11 – The zhuang (kick with the tip of shoe)
12 – The xiudai
13 – The zuwo/zugan
14 – The pai (breast kick)
15 – Zati (mixed kicks)
16 – The kong (stopper)

Woodblock print from the Cuju Tupu, an illustrated cuju manual by Tao Zongyi (1316-1403). It shows three players playing a clearly hierarchical game, headed by the “commander” (xiaowei). ©Linzi Football Museum

SUBCATEGORIES

We do not know if a header is among those not yet identified. The 16 categories above were subdivided into even more specific types and patterns. For example, for the knee kick, there were a further 18 kinds of kicks and kick patterns. Extrapolated across the 16 main categories, this would give around 300 kinds of “kick”!

Detail of a woodblock print from 1609 by Chen Yiguan showing a cuju player performing a heel kick (deng) at the ancestral shrine of the Song general, Yue Fei (1103-1142).

MOVEMENTS AND POSTURE

There were also rules and regulations regarding the movement of the body and permitted postures. For example, one cuju manual read:

“The body upright like a brush,
as though carrying a stone in the hands,
the heart/mind unconstrained and at ease,
the feet in a mobile stance.
The body upright, and not bent,
the hands hanging down, and not flying about,
the feet low, and not high,
the kicks slow, and not hurried.”

Description and diagram of the poles and the fengliu yan in a cuju manual. ©Linzi Football Museum

It was clearly a highly complex and exacting game at its height, with the players required to demonstrate a great deal of skill, together with an extremely high level of teamwork.

Scroll by Du Jin (active circa 1465-1509) showing women courtiers playing cuju in the garden of a palace.

NOT JUST A MAN'S GAME

Cuju was never entirely restricted to men. Women appear to have occasionally played the game informally alongside and against men. An illustration of a woman and man playing together can be found on a bronze mirror dating back to the Song dynasty (960-1279), while a 15^th-century painting by Du Jin portrays women playing against each other during the Tang dynasty (618-907).

The poem Gong Ci, written by Wang Jian (circa 766-831) during the Tang period, describes girls at the Yichun Academy playing cuju among themselves. During the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368), it is recorded that women played a version of cuju in which eight of them formed a circle around one in the middle and the ball was systematically passed from the middle to the outer players and back.

Reverse of a bronze mirror, on which men and women can be seen playing cuju together. This example is kept in the collection of the FIFA Museum.

Frontside of the bronze mirror. While this side was initially polished bright, to give a reflection, the reverse was decorated.

“Hidden are their slender fingers
in the sleeves, while
a pull at the red skirts
shows their tiny feet.
The ball is kicked time and again,
the maids blushing but speechless."

Li Yu (1611-1680)

Later, Li Yu (1611-1680) – not to be mistaken with his aforementioned near-namesake of 15 centuries earlier – wrote a beautiful poem about women playing cuju, which details their outfits (red skirts) and reveals that they are being watched enviously by male youths:

“Their sweat-stained faces
are like flowers under dew;
their fair brows dusty from the toil
remind one of willow leaves in the mist.
Hidden are their slender fingers
in the sleeves, while
a pull at the red skirts
shows their tiny feet.
The ball is kicked time and again,
the maids blushing but speechless.
They are watched with envy
by the gallant youths of Chang’an.”

Li Yu (1611-1680)

It also appears that women were trained as professional players. Although the oppressive practice of foot-binding for women in this era meant that they could not use their feet to propel the ball, female players employed their hips and probably other parts of the body to demonstrate their skills with the ball. These women were often acrobats or other entertainers, who developed their cuju skills as part of their act.

EARLY
REFERENCES

There are both mythical and historical references informing us of the origins of cuju. The mythical references are intertwined with the story of the Yellow Emperor, Huangdi, and the founding of China itself, dating back to the third millennium BC. The historical sources, however, are much more recent, only appearing from the third century BC onwards.

MYTHICAL ORIGINS

According to a manuscript discovered at Mawangdui, the game of cuju emerged in the third millennium BC during the almost certainly mythical reign of Huangdi, the Yellow Emperor, who used it as a form of military training. After his forces defeated those of his enemy Chiyou in a battle for the control of China, Huangdi is said to have had Chiyou’s stomach stuffed with hair or straw and made into a ball.

Silk manuscript from tomb no. 3 at Mawangdui, near Changsha, dating from the Han dynasty. The text tells the story of the Yellow Emperor and his enemy Chiyou. The highlighted character is the ball referred to in the story.

Illustration of the Yellow Emperor, Huangdi (right), from a tomb dating to the mid-2nd century and of Chiyou (left), who was defeated by the Yellow Emperor.

Map showing China during the Warring States period. Linzi, the capital of the Qi state, is highlighted.

CUJU AND POETRY

Portrait of the poet Du Fu (712-770 AD).

Cuju and Poetry

Although some images of cuju have survived the passage of time, along with a few precious objects, our main understanding of the sport comes from the written word. Such was the importance of cuju in ancient Chinese culture that leading poets often wrote about the game.

One example comes from the pen of Du Fu, one of China’s most respected poets, who lived from 712 to 770. It reads:

“Ten years ago, I could play cuju with my children.
Many autumn cycles swing back and forth, customs remain the same.”

—

A poem from the first half of the ninth century by Zhong Wupo, entitled Rhapsody on the Ball Filled with Air, reads as follows:

“The leather covering that adorns it makes it a precious thing. Further still, the ball’s fuzzy surface is not yet weathered. Why, then, has no one extolled its beautiful form? Another reason to sing its praises: this lightweight, air-filled ball soars upwards and lifts spirits in its wake.”

—

Another ninth-century poem tells of Li Guangyan, whose day job was as a chancellor and general, and his prowess at cuju. The poem also shows that women were enthusiastic cuju spectators.

“Quick as a monkey on the ball field, with a falcon’s grace, three thousand ladies tilted their heads to watch him, trampling shiny earrings as they crowded for a view. Standards bobbed and waved, banners flashed and shone.”

FIRST HISTORICAL REFERENCES

In reality, the first recorded references to cuju in Chinese literature occur in the third century BC, during what is known as the Warring States period (475-221 BC). Both the Strategies of the Warring States and the Records of the Grand Historian – the two foundational texts of ancient Chinese history – mention cuju.

They refer to the wealthy city of Linzi in the province of Shandong, then the capital of the state of Qi, which was especially known for its love of music, chess and cuju. As the Warring States period came to an end and much of China was brought together under the leadership of the Qi state, the story of the game’s origins offered a unifying narrative for the new nation.

Poem by Zhong Wupo entitled Rhapsody on the Ball Filled with Air, dating from the first half of the 9th century.

THE RISE
AND FALL IN THE
HAN DYNASTY

Illustration from an 18th-century album showing the first Han emperor, Gaozu (256-195 BC).

Following the Warring States era, China was ruled by the Han dynasty from 202 BC to 220 AD. The resulting stability led to China’s growing wealth and cultural sophistication, and this provided an environment in which cuju could flourish.

The first Han emperor, Gaozu, who lived from 256 to 195 BC, constructed a large court for the game at his palace, and many in the Han ruling classes followed suit.

Illustration of Weiyang Palace in modern-day Xi’an, commissioned by Emperor Gaozu in 200 BC.

As early as the Han dynasty, there is archaeological evidence indicating the presence of cuju and ball games in general. In many cases, these are relief plates that usually decorated tombs. This limestone relief plate from 114 AD once decorated the tomb of the Dai family in Shandong Province and depicts the pleasures of the wealthy classes in the 2nd century AD. Among other things, it shows on the right edge a ball artist juggling seven balls and balancing another on his hip. ©Museum Rietberg

CUJU AND THE MILITARY

Cuju was regarded as an important part of military training. Indeed, one of the seven teachings of the Confucian scholar and politician Liu Xin (circa 50 BC – 23 AD) was that the sport strengthened “the fighting power of soldiers”.

Huo Qubing, a general in the Han army, allowed his troops to construct a pitch to play cuju when they were guarding the northern borders. However, as a result of the fracturing of the Han empire in 220 AD, cuju endured a slow decline, gradually dropping out of favour with the elite and even ceasing to be used in military training.

REVIVAL
UNDER THE TANG
DYNASTY

During the Tang dynasty, which lasted from 618 to 907, China was united once again. A centralised state machinery was established, which helped to spur economic development. Cuju reappeared as one of many sports that were played in the newly invigorated nation.

Scroll painting of the Qingming Festival by Zhang Zeduan (1085-1145), in ink on silk. The 5m-wide scroll shows the numerous activities taking place during the festival in Bianjing, modern-day Kaifeng.

A GAME FOR THE MASSES

The passion for cuju was not confined to the nobility. During the Tang dynasty, the game became part of the folk traditions of the Chinese people and was played during both the Hanshi and Qingming festivals.

Originally held in midwinter, the Hanshi Festival was known as the Cold Food Festival because fires were not allowed to be used to cook. Held 15 days after the spring equinox, the Qingming Festival, known as the Tomb Sweeping Festival, grew out of the Hanshi Festival.

As a time for people to make ritual offerings to their ancestors, it is still celebrated today and was made a public holiday in China in 2008.

Both adults and children
played cuju in everyday life,
but it held a special place
within the festival culture
of China.

Rubbing from a plaque commemorating the construction of a “ball court” (qiuchang) at the Daming Palace in Xi’an, the imperial residence of the Tang emperors.

WANG WEI’S DESCRIPTION

Wang Wei (699-759), arguably the Tang dynasty’s most famous artist and poet, recounted how cuju balls were “floating above birds” at one Hanshi Festival.

ILLUSTRATIONS OF ONE HUNDRED CHILDREN

Cuju was also a popular game for children, as evidenced by the number of paintings produced in the seventh century in a genre known as the “one hundred children”, which depicted brightly dressed young kids playing various forms of the sport.

Ink cake depicting a game of cuju in the “one hundred children” genre.

Detail of the ink cake, where a game of cuju is depicted.

Detail from the scroll painting One Hundred Children in the Long Spring by Su Hanchen, in ink on silk. An artist at the imperial academy, Su Hanchen was active between 1130 and 1160 and was the most renowned painter in the “one hundred children” genre.

PEAK
DURING THE
SONG DYNASTY

The Tang dynasty collapsed in the early 900s and China remained fragmented once more until 960, when General Zhao Kuangyin embarked on a military campaign to unite it yet again. As Emperor Taizu, he established what became known as the Song dynasty, which ruled until 1279.

Illustration of the first Song emperor, Taizu (927-976).

THE CUJU-PLAYING EMPEROR

During the Song dynasty, China reached new heights of economic, cultural and social development. The populations of the cities of Kaifeng and Hangzhou rose to over a million, a national postal service was put in place, gunpowder and movable-type printing were invented, and education and social welfare programmes were established by the government. Literature, art and science prospered.

Against this backdrop, cuju reinforced its position as an important pastime and cultural institution, not least at the royal court. Emperor Taizu himself was reputed to be a highly talented player and was painted playing the game several times, notably by the artist Su Hanchen, who painted at the imperial art academy from 1120 to 1160. Across the rest of society, cuju became part of the rich leisure culture that was taking root in China’s urban centres.

The country's prosperity was
mirrored by the popularity
of cuju, making it once again
an important pastime. Even
the Emperor himself was known
to be a passionate cuju player.

Illustration in ink on silk, attributed to Su Hanchen. It depicts Emperor Taizu kicking the ball with his right foot, watched by his brother and successor Taizong in the centre, also wearing white.

CUJU SOCIETIES

As China’s social fabric grew more complex and leisure activities expanded, especially in the cities, cuju societies emerged to organise the game. Known as yuanshehui or qiyunshe, these societies organised matches, instructed players in the arts of the game and acted as associations for professional players. They also undertook tours in which they would demonstrate their skills in the palaces of the nobility and at public celebrations.

Cuju societies saw themselves as a force for social harmony, bringing together young men of many backgrounds and adopting something of a communal lifestyle, with members sharing clothes, money and food. There is no evidence that women were allowed to join. The societies also produced instructional manuals that not only explained the techniques of the sport but also promoted it as beneficial for physical and mental health. Their belief that the game helped to build muscles, reduce weight and delay the onset of ageing would not look out of place in a football handbook today.

MORE THAN JUST A GAME

During the Song dynasty, the importance of cuju also led to a handful of players becoming famous for their skills with the ball. Meng Xian and Lu Bao are two players who achieved national prominence and whose names were recorded for posterity. A national championship known as Shan Yue Zheng Sai was also held, although we have little idea of how it was organised or who was allowed to enter.

Woodblock print in black and white from a Ming dynasty (1368-1644) edition of the classic novel Water Margin, attributed to Shi Nai’an (circa 1296-1372).

PROFESSIONALISM

The increasing popularity of cuju was also demonstrated by the employment of instructors by cuju societies to teach the game and the emergence of professional players. Like other professional entertainers such as musicians, actors and dancers, cuju professionals would tour the country giving exhibitions of their skills and teaching them to others. Such was the level of organisation in the sport that players could only qualify as professionals after passing examinations, in which they had to demonstrate their mastery of the wide variety of kicks without errors.

Training was intensive and arduous, taking place over many years. This was not the only way that players could make a living from their skills. Members of the nobility also retained their own professional players. In the classic novel Water Margin, the future Emperor Huizong, who reigned from 1100 to 1126, employs the messenger Gao Qiu because of his great skills as a cuju player.

A HEALTHY PASTIME

Cuju was associated with enjoyment and happiness. The cuju player “does not aspire to fame and profit, but delights in strolling around at leisure”, according to one writer from the Song period. Another states that the sport “releases tension, raises the spirits and helps one to forget the pains and troubles of the busy world. It dissolves hardened energy and matter – qi – and causes the virtuous heart to become gentle and beautiful.”

Woodblock print in black and white entitled Cujutu, by Wang Qi (active 1565-1614).

PHYSICAL BENEFITS

The members of the cuju societies contrasted the hardship, toil and grief of the daily grind with the peace of mind and contented heart – xin – of a cuju player. It was further argued that cuju strengthened the body, helped digestion and combatted obesity, and was also good for invigorating the body in old age. It was likewise said to be a remedy for emaciation and consumption.

PANACEA

Cuju seems to have been regarded as a sort of panacea for all kinds of ills, having a profoundly positive physical, mental and even spiritual impact. The game also appears to have had a moral and ethical aspect. Most of the cuju societies promoted the key Confucian virtues of benevolence, propriety, courtesy, wisdom and sincerity.

DANGERS

One cuju manual did, however, point out the dangers of “chattering, gambling, quarrels and fights, self-opinionatedness, rudeness, deceitfulness, bad-temperedness, litigiousness, debauchery, alcohol and womanising”. This suggests that these might have been problems associated with the game! There are also examples of cuju being linked with entertainment and drinking, and the literature reveals that there were many informal games that were perhaps more like a park kick-about among friends.

The original painting on silk of the Daoyin Tu, discovered in tomb no. 3 at Mawangdui and dating from the Han dynasty, along with a later reconstruction. The Daoyin Tu is the earliest physical exercise chart in the world and was used for improving health and the treatment of pain. It contains numerous exercises, including one with a ball (bottom left).

A SHARP DE-
CLINE DURING THE
MING DYNASTY

The advent of the Ming dynasty from 1368 marked a watershed for cuju. Over the next three centuries, China’s society and economy underwent significant changes and cuju lost the cultural importance that it had acquired under previous dynasties.

CUJU IS BANNED

The Hongwu Emperor, the first Ming ruler, went as far as banning cuju altogether because it was a distraction from work and military training. Those caught playing could pay a heavy penalty: having a foot cut off.

Despite the threat of
heavy punishment and
temporarely being
banned, cuju continued
to be played and
therefore stayed alive.

Illustration of the Hongwu Emperor by an unknown artist from the Ming dynasty.

Hanging scroll in ink and colour on silk depicting a hunt on horseback.

CUJU DISAPPEARS –
OR DOES IT?

With the emphasis on military training, cuju all but disappeared in official contexts, as sports such as horse riding were preferred as an adjunct to such training. A form of cuju played on ice also seems to have been encouraged at this time, but did not prove to be popular.

Given the severity of the punishment for playing cuju, it is perhaps not surprising that the long tradition of playing the game during the Hanshi and Qingming festivals also died out, as did the cuju societies. Even so, just as has been the case everywhere else in the world where football and other sports have been banned, records show that people still continued to play cuju informally.

Scroll in ink and colour on silk from the 15th century, by an unknown court painter, showing various amusements taking place in the palace garden of the Xuande Emperor (1399-1435). The emperor (seated) watches a game of cuju played by courtiers despite it having earlier been banned by the Hongwu Emperor (1328-1398).

In this section of the scroll the emperor (seated) watches a group of archers aiming at targets. It would appear that the arrows have soft tips and that the targets spin to indicate a hit.

At the end of a day watching and playing sport, the emperor is carried out from his garden on a palanquin.

Two of the sports depicted on the scroll involve arrows. Here, the emperor (seated) tries to throw an arrow into a basket.

The Emperor (in orange) takes part in the third of the ball sports depicted on the scroll, a game called chuiwan. It appears to have parallels with modern day golf, and perhaps even croquet.

Of the five sports depicted on the scroll, three can be described as ball sports. Here the emperor (seated) watches a game similar to polo.

A FOLK MEMORY
UNDER THE QING
DYNASTY

The decline of organised cuju continued under the Qing dynasty, which began in 1644. The stable and traditional social structures that had fostered the game’s growth in the Song and Tang periods no longer existed. Moreover, the Manchu rulers of the new dynasty encouraged wrestling as a sport at the royal court and as military training, leaving cuju bereft of aristocratic support.

WESTERN INFLUENCES

Following internal rebellions and foreign invasions, notably from Western empires, Chinese society became fractured. The social stability that had allowed cuju to flourish in previous centuries disappeared completely.

As the Western occupiers became more influential in China from the mid-19^th century, they also brought with them Western sports, including athletics. Cuju became little more than a traditional folk memory.

The arrival of new sports from the western world - like association football - influenced the decline of cuju in society.

18th-century illustration of the Qianlong Emperor watching a wrestling match at a frontier fortress. He was the fifth emperor of the Qing-Dynasty.

Woodcut from the late Qing dynasty (1644-1912) showing two children playing cuju.

Woodcut in black and white, dating to 1886, depicting the story Cuju on Dongting Lake from Strange Tales from Liaozhai, written by Pu Songling (1640-1715).

WANG SHIXIU

Cuju’s place in the cultural heritage of China is reflected in both poetry and stories. One famous example is the short story Wang Shixiu, one of the 431 written by Pu Songling (1640-1715) in his “Strange Tales from Liaozhai”.

The story features Wang and his father. Natives of Luzhou, both of them were skilled cuju players, but when Wang’s father was 40 years old, he drowned while crossing the Qiantang River. Eight or nine years later when Wang was on his way to Hunan, he anchored his boat on Dongting Lake.

Listen to the story by clicking on the play button below…

The Story of the wang shixiu

Painting of cuju by Huang Shen (circa 1687-1772).

CUJU
TODAY

In its many forms, cuju had proven to be remarkably resilient through the centuries, but its decline under the Ming and Qing dynasties appeared to be terminal.

Team lineup of the Chinese National Team ahead of the quarterfinals of the AFC Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates 2019.

Basketball superstar Yao Ming in red during China's quarter-final match against Lithuania at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

MODERN REVIVAL OF CUJU

Modern sports such as association football, athletics, basketball and table tennis dominated the Chinese sporting scene from the early 1900s, not least due to the influence of the Young Men’s Christian Association on China’s education system.

In the late 1950s, a few Chinese historians began to unearth the history of the ancient game, but it was not until the 1980s that significant research into cuju was undertaken at Chinese universities. As China sought to become a major force in world football, it revisited the history of cuju and the Linzi Football Museum was opened in 2015, showcasing the culture of the game.

Since the 1950s, the cultural
heritage of cuju has been
rediscovered with research
studies being conducted and
even a museum constructed.

A modern re-enactment of cuju, photographed in 2007.

Linzi Football Museum in Zibo, Shandong province.

CUJU AND ITS PLACE IN SPORTING HISTORY

To the modern eye, cuju appears to be a fusion of contemporary sports – basketball, football and volleyball all spring to mind – and the fact that an ancient game can bear comparison to modern sports is perhaps one of cuju’s greatest historical legacies. But simply drawing parallels with modern sports does little justice to the role that cuju played in Chinese society for the best part of two millennia.

There was no single, definitive form of cuju played during that time and, depending on the version, the purpose could be either to win a match or merely to demonstrate ball skills. But aside from unravelling the mechanics of the game, our interest also lies in the culture of a people that allowed ball sports to flourish over such an extended period of time.

While no case can be made that cuju influenced any of the modern ball games codified in the 19^th century, its adaptability and enduring appeal show an innate desire within humans to play games with a ball. Cuju also demonstrated that, given the right conditions, this innate desire could lead to an extraordinary level of sophistication.

That cuju was able to develop into such a sophisticated game is a reflection of China’s long history. Extended periods of political stability and economic prosperity saw the game flourish and embed itself into the popular culture of both its rulers and its people, so that even after periods of instability and decline, it was able to re-emerge. Even today, after 400 years in the shadows, its cultural value is once again a source of pride for the Chinese nation and since 2015 cuju now even has its own museum.

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CREDITS

Content & Exhibition

FIFA Museum AG

Special thanks to

Dr. Jing Yang (Research)

Tony Collins (Research)

Dr. Kevin Moore (Research)

—

Linzi Football Museum, Zibo

—

Museum Rietberg, Zurich

The British Newspaper Library

Storyboard & Screendesign

Zense

Website development & technical support

Dept Agency

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HOW THE GAME WAS PLAYED