Today, in our sports encyclopedia series, we will talk about the Cuju Game. Cuju is an ancient ball game from China that involved kicking a ball through an opening into the net. The game dates back to the Han dynasty, where military work from the 3rd–2nd century BC describes it as an exercise. It is believed that the very first mention of the Cuju game was found in the historical text in the Warring States era Zhan Guo Ce in the section describing the state of Qi. The game was also popular in Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. Cuju is now extinct and is not played anywhere else in the world. The basic objective of the game for each player was to score more points than the opponent.

There are two main variants of Cuju, the zhuqiu, and the baida, and both of them were extremely popular. The game of Zhuqiu was only played at feasts to celebrate the emperor's birthday or international events. In the Zhuqiu variant, the game is played with 12 to 16 players on each team. The second variant, Baida, became popular in the Song Dynasty. In the Baida variant, scoring goals used methods like playing in a field enclosed using thread. The players were required to kick the ball within the set limits. The basic target for each team in the Baida variant was to avoid fouls and score as many points as possible. For each fault, such as when a ball is not passed far enough to reach the other member, points are deducted. If players kick the ball too low or at the wrong moment, low points are scored. Players can only use their body and legs and are not allowed to use their hands. The winner in Cuju was decided by calculating the number of fouls and points scored by the team. The team with the most points was declared as the winner.