Reflections | Ancient Chinese played football? Ball games popular in China centuries ago

Pickleball is experiencing rapid growth across Asia, gaining popularity in countries including China, Japan and Thailand. Invented in the 1960s by American businessman and politician Joel Pritchard, who went on to become the lieutenant governor of the US state of Washington, pickleball is at once tennis and ping pong, and everything in between. The name of the game has more to do with the “pickle boat” in the sport of rowing, reflecting its patrician origins, rather than with processed cabbages and cucumbers. In Malaysia, many purpose-built pickleball recreational centres have sprung up, with attached restaurants, cafes and shops, reflecting the social aspect of the sport. An entire industry, involving venues, coaches, equipment and apparel, has grown within the last year or so, buoyed by the increasing popularity of the sport. It is even making inroads in schools. I suppose the game appeals because it is suitable for all ages and levels of fitness, but I do not play pickleball, or indeed, any kind of ball game. I avoid sports for the same reason that I do not trust myself to drive a vehicle: I have the most catastrophic hand-eye coordination. The story of ball games in China begins during the Spring and Autumn period (770BC-476BC), a time when urban life was taking shape and cultural pursuits began to flourish. Among the emerging leisure activities, cuju, a game that involved kicking a ball through a goal without the use of hands, stood out as both entertaining and physically demanding. It is a very early form of football, a fact that even Fifa acknowledges. Although cuju (literally “kicking a ball”) saw a decline during the Warring States period (475BC-221BC) and the subsequent Qin dynasty (221BC-207BC), it experienced a strong revival in the Han period (206BC-AD220). During this time, the game took on a more structured and professional character. It served both as a military training exercise to improve soldiers’ coordination and stamina, and as a popular civilian pastime. Another development during this period was the rise of jiju (“striking a ball”), an early version of polo. This horseback sport involved hitting a ball with a stick while riding, an activity that combined horsemanship with coordination, and soon became a popular courtly pursuit. By the Sui (589-617) and Tang (618-907) dynasties, ball games had expanded in variety and sophistication. Rules became more defined, and equipment saw significant improvements. Leather balls filled with air replaced the earlier solid versions, thanks to advancements in craftsmanship. Cuju remained popular, but the horseback jiju reached new heights, especially among the nobility. Large fields to accommodate the equine participants and their human riders were constructed. Other ball games like paoqiu (“tossing a ball”) and shiwu zhu qiu (“15-pillar ball”), which resembled modern-day bowling, added to the era’s athletic repertoire, reflecting a growing enthusiasm for varied recreational sports. The Song dynasty (960-1279) saw a cultural boom that brought with it even greater diversity in leisure activities. Ball games were no exception. Cuju gained enough popularity to inspire professional associations dedicated to practice and games – the earliest “football leagues”, as it were. These organisations elevated the sport’s technical standards and promoted its spread across cities. The game of chuiwan (“hammering a ball”), involving striking a ball into a hole – not unlike modern golf – began to gain traction among the upper classes. In the northern, non-Han Chinese dynasties of Liao (916-1125) and Jin (1115-1234), jiju dominated the sports scene, a natural fit for the horseback traditions of northern steppe cultures. By the time of the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing dynasties (1644-1912), however, the competitive edge of ball sports began to soften. These games shifted towards leisurely entertainment and play, especially among court ladies and children. The influence of cuju, jiju and other ball games declined as modern ball games like football, tennis and badminton entered China from the West in the late Qing period. Traditional ball games have all but died out in China today, only occasionally performed or demonstrated as curiosities from a distant past.

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The Chinese started playing early forms of football and polo more than 2,000 years ago, and later games resembling modern golf and bowling

The Chinese started playing early forms of football and polo more than 2,000 years ago, and later games resembling modern golf and bowling