The Four Major "Football Stars" of the Northern Song Dynasty: Emperor Taizu of Song is also one of them

The football competition of the Northern Song Dynasty was also called Cuju, which was a very popular sports event. The football of that time was very similar in appearance to today's football. According to the records in "Song Dynasty Facts Class Garden", the ball was an inflated bladder with six or eight pieces of pointed leather sewn around it, so it probably looked similar to a modern basketball. At that time, from the emperor to the common people, everyone was fascinated by this game. In order to manage the Cuju teams well, standardize the competitions, and form large-scale and high-level competition content, people also organized and established a mass association specifically for playing football called "Yuan She". Individual members of the association were called "Yuan You". The association had a strong lineup, many members, and its influence was no less than today's football association. There was a saying at the time: If you don't join the Yuan She, you won't have a good time until you're old. In terms of competition mechanisms and number of participants, the Cuju of the Song Dynasty was also relatively flexible, with both large competitions involving hundreds of people and small family-style matches with just a few people. However, it was later destroyed by the Jin and Mongolians...