Cuju

Cuju
Chinese women playing cuju, by Ming dynasty painter Du Jin
Chinese蹴鞠
Literal meaning"kick ball"

Cuju or Ts'u-chü (蹴鞠) is an ancient Chinese football game, that resembles a mix of basketball, association football and volleyball. [1][2] FIFA cites cuju is the earliest form of a kicking game for which there is documentary evidence, a military manual from the Han dynasty.[3]

It is a competitive game that involves both teams trying to kick a ball through an opening into a central hoop without the use of hands whilst ensuring the ball does not touch the ground.[4] This is similar to how hackey-sack is played today. Descriptions of the game date back to the Han dynasty, with a Chinese military work from the 3rd–2nd century BC describing it as an exercise.[5][6] It was also played in other Asian countries like Korea, Japan and Vietnam.[7]

  1. ^ https://www.fifamuseum.com/en/blog-stories/editorial/origins-cuju-in-china/
  2. ^ "Sports". Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on April 17, 2021. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
  3. ^ "Classic Football History of the Game". FIFA. Archived from the original on December 25, 2012. Retrieved September 17, 2013.
  4. ^ Origins of Cuju in China fifamuseum.com
  5. ^ "History of Football - The Origins". FIFA. Archived from the original on October 28, 2017. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
  6. ^ Team, Editorial (August 22, 2021). "The History Of Soccer". historyofsoccer.info. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
  7. ^ Barr, Adam. "History of Football: Cuju". Bleacher Report. Retrieved July 7, 2021.

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