Did Soccer Originate in Ancient China?

Modern soccer games dazzle fans with nimble dribbling, deft dekes and awe-inspiring goals. Yet those stunts would pale in comparison to the tricks performed in cuju, an ancient Chinese kickball game.

Similarities between the two games have led some historians and sports organizations—including FIFA—to view cuju as an ancestor of modern soccer, or fútbol. Like soccer, cuju doesn't allow the use of hands and employs various kicks and tricks to maneuver a ball. Various iterations of the sport evolved over centuries in China.

Though the exact origins are unknown, cuju has an ancient and macabre origin story dating to the third century B.C. According to legend, Huangdi, the mythical “Yellow Emperor” and founder of China, defeated his mortal enemy Chiyou in battle. Chiyou was skinned and his hide was turned into a shooting target, while his stomach was stuffed with hair and straw and made into a cuju ball.

In reality, written records of cuju don’t appear until around 300 B.C. during the Warring States period. Records are sparse, but Hans Ulrich Vogel, a sinologist at the University of Tübingen in Germany, says that cuju was likely commonplace in the Shandong region of China and was frequently practiced by troops as part of their military training.

The Warring States era gave way to a unified China during the Qin and Han dynasties. According to historical accounts, the first emperor of the Han Dynasty, had a cuju court constructed at his palace in 206 B.C., helping to popularize the sport.

Descriptions of cuju during the Han dynasty are sparse, but Vogel says there were probably many variations of the game. In one version, six half-moon goals stood at each end of the pitch, each defended by a goalkeeper. Vogel speculates that the object of the game was for players on the pitch to score within the half-moon goals.

Cuju was also rife with cosmic and political symbolism. The round ball represented the sky and the field, with its four corners, reflected the earth. Twelve players symbolized the 12 moons in a year. Cuju courts were also walled in, reflecting the construction of cities at the time, with stairs on the left and a ramp on the right, resembling the imperial palace. “The orderly game is then also compared to the successful governance of a state,” says Vogel.

In around A.D. 600 the game underwent a watershed moment when players began using air-inflated balls instead of balls stuffed with hair or straw. This bouncier ball would have allowed for many more skillful flourishes. Manuals from the 13th through the 16th centuries describe at least 16 different kinds of kicks.

In the Tang Dynasty, beginning in A.D. 618, cuju became more popularized among the masses and could be played in teams or individually. The solo version, known as baida, involved acrobatics and intricate juggling patterns. “My favorite kick pattern is monk jumps into the well,” says Vogel, referring to a move that involved forming a ring with the arms and dropping the ball from high above through the hole, followed by a “double ankle kick.” Some of the movements also carried sexual connotations.

A version of the team sport involved a net and goal in the middle of the pitch (like a volleyball net with a hole in the middle). Teams of six juggled the ball among themselves without letting it touch the ground and attempted to kick it through the hole in the net.. This later version was less aggressive, as the competitive, contact nature of the game was replaced by more harmonious and skillful teamwork. “Acrobatic skills likely became increasingly important, while the physical, military aspects receded into the background,” says Vogel.

During the Tang and following Song Dynasty, professional cuju associations were created and competed against each other, or in the case of baida, traveled like an acrobatic troupe. Women also had their own professional associations. Records describe that theatrical performances included acrobatic women playing with bound feet.

Attitudes toward cuju started to sour in China during the Song Dynasty (960-1279). Some Confucian scholars looked down upon physical exertion and cuju became associated with leisure, decadence and prostitution. More peaceful and artistic pastimes such as opera arose in the entertainment space.

By 1368, the Ming Dynasty Emperor Hongwu, banned cuju, saying it was a distraction from work and military training. Today, cuju is seldom played except in historical demonstrations or ceremonies.

Though both cuju and soccer involve the careful manipulation of a ball with the feet, Vogel is careful not to draw too many parallels. Many forms of cuju emphasized artistry and acrobatics rather than fierce competition.

“Harmony, technical skill and teamwork between players were central to many of its forms, with the ball not meant to touch the ground,” says Vogel. “Cuju is a wonderful Chinese game and sport that deserves its own independent consideration and reveals much about the history of Chinese civilization.”