The Olympics originated from ancient Greece, and many different sports are covered.However, many modern Olympic sports can be traced back to ancient China. By looking atthese ancient paintings, we can trace their evolution.
Cuju: origin of modern football
Cuju was an ancient Chinese competitive game involving kicking a ball through an openinginto a net, and reached the height of popularity in the Tang (AD 618-907) and Song (AD 960-1279) dynasties.
Zhao Kuangyin, the founding emperor of the Song Dynasty was a big fan of cuju, along withhis brother Zhao Guangyi, the next emperor, and they always played cuju on the pitchtogether.
The earliest record of female cuju players can be traced back to the Han Dynasty. We cansee from the paintings there were girls with their hair up, waving their long sleeves and lookedchic while playing cuju.
Up to the Tang Dynasty, female players prevailed at the royal court, as emperors enjoyedwatching football games. At that time, various skills were widely used in playing cuju, mainlyserving as entertainment.