Cuju was a kind of rubber ball made of leather outside and stuffed tightly with feather inside. Cuju means "kick the ball with foot". It was a popular sport played by ancient Chinese during the Qingming Festival. Legend has it that the Yellow Emperor was the initiator of cuju, who invented it to train his soldiers.

 

Started from the Warring States Period, ju was made of leather outside and stuffed with feather inside, which made it light and elastic. Until the Tang Dynasty, inflated afterbirth of animals was used to replace the leather and feather, thus the basic form of football took shape. The cuju game could be a competitive match of two teams with a goal on each side, or single-player or two-player activity in which no goal was set and the score decided the winner.

 

 

During the Han Dynasty (206 B.C. -220 A.D.), cuju was not only the recreational activity of the general public, but also an important means of military training. The activity was direct competition of two teams, having special play ground with two goals and fixed number of players. During the match, the players ran and strived to control the ball like fighting against the enemy in the battle, displaying its strong antagonism. And there was a referee specially set to guarantee the fairness of the game. It was the first prime time of cuju.

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