When it comes to football, I believe many students will think of the ancient Chinese Cuju . There is no doubt that football originated from ancient Chinese Cuju. In 2004, FIFA confirmed that the ancient Chinese Cuju was the earliest prototype of football. 
The earliest accurate and credible written records of Cuju. The movement was recorded in " Warring States Policy " and "Records of the Grand Historian". In 285 BC, that is, Warring States Period , Cuju was recorded for activities with both military and entertainment nature.
" Warring States Policy·Qi Ce " introduces the living conditions of Linzi, the capital of Linzi, Qi State, and writes: "Seventy thousand households in Linzi... are very rich and practical. All the people play the jiu, drums, zithers, zithers, pianos, cockfighting , dogs, six blogs, and treading ju."
From this we can see that Cuju in Linzi, the capital of Qi State during the Warring States Period, had developed into a more popular way of movement.
Han Dynasty period, Cuju ushered in a period of rapid development. Cuju can not only be used for entertainment and performance, but also for competitions and military training. I guess many students can't believe that Cuju can actually be used for military training? This is because in addition to training soldiers' physical fitness, Cuju can also enrich military life.
If the Han Dynasty was the first peak period of Cuju development, then the Tang and Song dynasties were the second peak period of Cuju development. After improvement, Cuju started from the initial use of solid balls stuffed with hair and became an inflatable ball. Because the football cost was lower, more ordinary people could afford Cuju. As the number of Cuju increased, there were teams and standards for Cuju, and organizations specializing in Cuju competitions appeared in the Song Dynasty.
said that, everyone must first think of , the first Cuju master in the late Northern Song Dynasty , Gao Qiu , because , Song Huizong , was very fond of Cuju when he was , Duanwang , when Gao Qiu was delivering things to the Duanwang Mansion, he accidentally showed his moves, and was left by , Zhao Ji, and after Zhao Ji ascended the throne, he began to promote Gao Qiu.
During the Tang and Song dynasties, due to the popularity of Cuju, Japan often sent Tang envoys to China, so it brought the Cuju gameplay back to Japan. Today, the saying that football is called " Cuju " can still be seen in Japanese and Korean. This is also influenced by Chinese Cuju.
Why did Chinese Cuju, which was still at its peak in the Tang and Song dynasties, become less popular in the Ming and Qing dynasties? Even after the middle of the Qing Dynasty, football became exports to domestic sales, and it appeared again in the Chinese people's vision?
All this comes from an imperial edict from Zhu Yuanzhang. After the establishment of Ming Dynasty , it was different from the previous dynasty's use of Cuju as a military training method. Zhu Yuanzhang believed that Cuju was a manifestation of losing one's ambition because Zhu Yuanzhang had an old opponent named Zhang Shicheng . Zhang Shicheng's troops like Cuju very much, but when Zhang Shicheng fought with Zhu Yuanzhang, it was vulnerable. Zhu Yuanzhang therefore believed that Cuju would not help improve the military literacy of soldiers. Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered that the Ming Dynasty army would not allow Cuju in the future, and violators would be confiscated and other punishments.
Because this order only prohibits soldiers from Cuju, and does not prohibit the people. In fact, it abandons the functions of Cuju competition and training, while Cuju is more about entertainment and viewing.
Therefore, Cuju was still popular among the people in the Ming Dynasty, but most of Cuju were women. At that time, Cuju was like a brothel girl performing singing and dancing vocals, which was a talent show. Although several emperors who like Cuju also emerged in the Ming Dynasty, there were even records that the emperor organized eunuchs and palace maids Cuju in the palace. However, Cuju at that time had developed into a very light thing, and even developed into shuttlecock , which was completely different from the development of modern football.
During the Qing Dynasty period, there were basically few records about Cuju. When the Qing army entered the pass, Cuju was forbidden during the Shunzhi period, Cuju was banned within the Eight Banners , and Cuju and ice skating were combined, and the movement form of " cuju on ice" appeared.
While the development direction of Chinese football has been deviated, Western country is keen on playing football. Britain is the first country to popular modern football.
According to legend, in the 11th century, a war broke out between England and Denmark. After the war, when the British were clearing the ruins of the war, they found a skull of a Danish invader. They were in resentment. The British kicked the Danish skull with their feet to vent their dissatisfaction. Later, everyone felt that it was very difficult to kick the skull, so some smart people thought of using the bladder of a cow to replace the skull, so the origin of modern football was found.
It can be seen from this that the birth of modern football itself is full of blood and killing. The first football game was not just an entertainment activity, but more like a confrontation.
Generally, there are two cities participating in football matches. The host throws the football into the air. When the game begins, both sides rush up, not only yelling, but also running and kicking. Which side can kick the ball into the other side's downtown area, which side is considered to be a winner.
The strong desire for victory made the participants on both sides crazy. In order to win, when football flew into residential houses, athletes would rush in and kick in, often making the houses rotten. Therefore, without thinking that there was a football game, the people had to close their doors and wait until the end of the game before they dared to leave the house.
Under the strong opposition of the people, the British government had to issue a ban, stipulating that football matches can only be played in open spaces and cannot enter the downtown area, so there is a special football field.
From 1848, the first textual rule of football, the Cambridge Rules, was born. This was the rule set between Oxford and Cambridge for a football match. The rule was that only 11 people played the game per team, and this rule continued until the near future.
1862, Nottinghamshire, England established the world's first football club. On October 26, 1863, the world's first official football organization, the English Football Association, was established in London, the capital of the United Kingdom. This day was also regarded as the birth day of modern football. Since then, with the further improvement of the rules of the game, football quickly spread around the world.
It can be said that when modern football was booming, Cuju in ancient China was evolving into a shuttlecock-style sports. Do you think the decline of modern Chinese football is related to Zhu Yuanzhang's ban on Cuju in military personnel? Welcome to discuss in the comment section below!
