Today I Learned : Football originated from Ancient China

Contrary to popular belief, Football (or Soccer to the Americans) is widely played across China.

Since China's entry to the international sporting stage, Football has been the main sport that young children are encouraged to play in schools.

Given the poor ranking the Chinese national team, it is surprising to learn that the Chinese are thought to be the people to play the earliest form of football.

According to FIFA

The first indications of an early formal form of football date back 3,000 years to Ancient China. A game played with a ball of animal skins stuffed with hair or feathers was kicked between poles some 10 metres high and was most likely used for military training. By 50AD, the game was named “tsu chu” (or “cuju”) and early records compare the round ball and square goal to Yin and Yang, the ancient symbols of harmony.

History of Chinese Football

The earliest mention of this game appears in the Warring States text called "Zhan Guo Ce." By the Han Dynasty the game evolved into the more commonly known name, "Cuju" - literally meaning "kick ball".

Earliest balls were made of leather but instead of filling with compressed air, it would be filled with fur or hair.

Cuju became extremely popular over the next several centuries, even becoming a professional sport played by the commoners as well as those in the imperial court. The first emperor of the Han Dynasty, Liu Bang was a Cuju fanatic. This allowed for Cuju to become a highly specialised sport where the imperial palace would have it's own Cuju stadium and many professional teams of 12 players were formed to face off with one another.

The Decline of Cuju

Cuju began it's decline around the 14th Century during the Ming Dynasty. As time went on, the game became progressively more and more associated with whore houses and decadence. The game was viewed as a way to indulge and entertain people of higher social class, for instance officials and noblemen. In an effort to attract these customers, whore houses and teams of prostitutes would form teams and play to attract the attention of these noblemen.

The game became a distraction, as such, the first emperor of Ming - Zhu Yuanzhang, publicly banned the sport making it less and less popular. By the modern times, the sport was all but extinct.

Football in China Today

Although the national team ranking is very low (81st). Modern Football in China is very well supported and covered by the media. The national governing body - Chinese Football Association operates a professional league called the Chinese Super League which is equivalent to the Premiership in the UK. The highest tier of football competition in China. Currently it has 16 clubs competing in this tier of competition.

With such an early entry to the sport, the Chinese Government has plans to make China a football super power, and in doing so, create 50,000 specialised football schools within a decade.

The general consensus in China regarding it's football prowess is despair. However, with so much money and coaching talent going to China, maybe we will see a turn around within a generation. After all, Football's grass roots are in China, how could they not stack up with the best?

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Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_in_China
http://quality.fifa.com/en/Footballs/Football-facts/Ball-evolution/
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1745118-cuju-2000-years-of-ancient-chinese-soccer/