China, birthplace of football (2)

[Photo/Palace Museum]

Interesting facts about cuju:

1. Many emperors were football fans in ancient China

Throughout the country's long history, many Chinese emperors were big fans of cuju, such as Cao Cao, lord of Wei during the Three Kingdoms period (AD 220-280), Liu Bang and Liu Che, emperors during the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220), Li Shimin and Li Longji, emperors during the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907).

Emperor Hangaozu Liu Bang, the first emperor of the Western Han Dynasty was a cuju fan, who not only liked watching cuju games, but always tried his footwork on the playground.

Liu Che, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, who was crazy about cuju, would establish a cuju court wherever his army arrived during the war. He used cuju as a way of training soldiers.

The Tang Dynasty has the most emperor fans and many of them during the Tang Dynasty were also fond of polo, like Emperor Li Xuan, who boasted that he could be a Zhuangyuan (the number one scholar) if he took a polo exam.

Zhao Kuangyin, the founding emperor of the Song Dynasty was a big fan of cuju, along with his brother Zhao Guangyi, the following emperor, who always played cuju on the pitch together.

As a cuju fan, Zhao Ji, Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, set a rule that every year on his birthday day, cuju games would be held for him.

2. Women were also good cuju players in ancient times

The earliest record of women cuju players can be traced back to the Han Dynasty. We can see from the paintings there were girls with their hair put up, waving their long sleeves and looked chic when playing cuju.

Up to the Tang Dynasty, women players prevailed at the royal court, as emperors enjoyed watching football games. At that time, various skills were widely used in playing cuju, mainly serving as entertainment performances.

Moreover, unlike the men's game, the women's pitch did not have any goals or a set number of players. Sometimes only two women were enough for a match. Of course this match was much less intense than a men's match. It was more like a leisure game.