Cuju

Cuju
Chinese ladies playing cuju, by the Ming Dynasty painter Du Jin
Chinese	蹴鞠
Literal meaning	kick ball
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin cùjú Wade–Giles ts'u chü IPA [tsʰûtɕy̌] Hakka Romanization tsiok-giok Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization chūkgūk Southern Min Hokkien POJ chiok-kiok

Cuju,or Tsu' Chu, is an ancient Chinese ball game, Cantonese "chuk-ko". It is a competitive game that involves kicking a ball through an opening into a net. The use of hands is not allowed. It is seen by FIFA as the earliest form of football for which there is evidence, being first mentioned as an exercise in a military work from 3rd–2nd century BC, whilst recognising that modern football codes were developed from "mob football" games having no historical connection to cuju. Cuju is a competitive sport which originated in China and was also played in Korea, Japan and Vietnam.

The first mention of cuju in a historical text is in the Warring States era Zhan Guo Ce, in the section describing the state of Qi. It is also described in Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian (under Su Qin's biography), written during the Han Dynasty. A competitive form of cuju was used as fitness training for military cavaliers, while other forms were played for entertainment in wealthy cities like Linzi.

During the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220), the popularity of cuju spread from the army to the royal courts and upper classes. It is said that the Han emperor Wu Di enjoyed the sport. At the same time, cuju games were standardized and rules were established. Cuju matches were often held inside the imperial palace. A type of court called ju chang was built especially for cuju matches, which had six crescent-shaped goal posts at each end.