Cuju

Song Emperor Taizu playing with Prime Minister Zhao Pu, painting by Qian Xuan (1235-1305) The Yongle Emperor (1402-1424) looks at his eunuchs at the game. Representation from the Ming Dynasty

Cuju (Chinese 蹴鞠, Pinyin cùjú, W.-G. ts'u-chü, also Ts'u Chü or Ts'u Ku) was an Asian ball game, considered a precursor to football. Edit HistoryQual

Cuju was played at the latest in the third century before our time. The leather ball, originally filled with feathers and hair, had to be transported through a narrow opening of only 30-40 cm into a narrow net attached to two long bamboo poles.

During the Tang dynasty, a ball filled with air was added. This resulted in the variants Zhu Qiu and Bai Da.

In the Ming Dynasty, interest in the sport subsided. It was not until the twentieth century, when the football game became globalized, that the game in China gained in importance again. Edit source text Weblinks Edit sourcetext

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