The Origin of Ancient Football

Football, or to be more exact, soccer, was first played in China in the Han Dynasty (206 BC –AD 220). Then, as now, the actual ball was made of leather, and inflated with hair and other soft fillings rather than air. That the so-called beautiful game has such a long history in the celestial kingdom may come as a surprise. The astonishing fact of the matter is that it was played by both men and women. This is attested by Han Dynasty historical records and images on bricks. The sport’s emphasis at that time was on individual rather than team skills.

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Football in the Han Dynasty was played on a pitch bounded by low walls on all four sides. There were 12 players on each side and two referees – chief and deputy. Han Dynasty strategists considered football, or cuju (literally kick ball), as an effective form of military training. It helped to build up soldiers’ physique, nurture valor and acquaint them with the subtleties of attack and defense. When celebrated Han general Huo Qubing led his troops to the Gansu Corridor to fight the Xiongnu (Hun) invaders, he gave orders to build and play upon a football pitch. This was an effective way of boosting troop morale as well as keeping them fit.

Female footballers appeared once more in the Tang Dynasty (618-907) at the time when air-inflated footballs, made from eight pieces of leather stitched together over an animal bladder, appeared. Women were the main exponents of a game that was actually a kind of reverse kick-basketball. Players from both teams took turns at aiming for a single, aerial, goal that hung in the center of the pitch. It was constructed out of two 10-meter-high poles, between which hung a net with an opening one meter in diameter. 

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