The Qingming Festival, along with the Dragon Boat Festival, the Spring Festival and the Mid-Autumn Festival, is known as the four traditional festivals in China, and it is both one of the twenty-four solar terms and a festival. Tomorrow is clear, I don't know how you will arrange these three days of vacation? Do you go out to play or go home to visit the grave?
There must be festivals and customs, and festivals and customs are constantly inherited and changed according to different times and regions. The Qingming Festival has long been the custom of sweeping tombs to worship ancestors and pay homage to ancestors, and in the Song and Yuan Dynasties, it also integrated the two festivals of cold food and Shangwei, forming a traditional festival centered on ancestor tomb sweeping, integrating a series of customs and sports activities such as banning fire and cold food, walking on green outings and swinging, bowing, playing polo, and planting willows. Since then, the generations have largely inherited the old system.
Today I will introduce you to one of them - Keju.
The verb "蹴", that is, kicking with the foot, "ju" refers to the leather sphere, and the simple explanation of "keju" is to kick the ball, which is a very ancient sport. From its inception to its decline, Keju probably lasted for more than 2,300 years, or even longer.
On July 17, 2004, at the opening ceremony of the Asian Cup held in China, FIFA officially announced that football originated in the ancient Chinese Keju, and Zibo, Shandong Province, was officially recognized as the origin of world football. On May 20, 2006, Keju was included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list as an intangible cultural heritage approved by the State Council.
So when exactly was Keju formed? What kind of development and evolution has it undergone?
Keju scene simulation Of Linzi District Football Museum in Zibo City, Shandong Province
The "ju" used in Keju can be traced back to the stone balls used for hunting in the Stone Age, such as the Dingcun Cultural Site about 100,000 years ago and the Xujiayao Cultural Site 40,000 years ago, and the stone balls at this time are mostly hand thrown. In the later period of primitive society, stone balls kicked with feet and hollowed out pottery balls appeared.
Legend has it that Keju was made by the Yellow Emperor. In the Warring States Book, there is a record that after the Yellow Emperor killed Xuan You, he "made his stomach bow, making people cling to it, and rewarding those who were in the middle".
The term "Keju" was first mentioned in texts in the Chronicle of the Bian Quecang Gonglie and the Warring States Policy Qi Ce compiled by Liu Xiang:
Anling Hanri bus ride to deal with the disease... After the place of squatting, to be cold, sweating a lot, that is, vomiting blood. The subject replied, "When he dies day by day." "That is, death. Within the course of illness. - "History of Bian Quecang Gonglie" Seventy thousand households in Linzi... It is very rich and solid, and its people are all blowing pipes, drumming, beating, playing the piano, fighting cocks, running dogs, six bo, and bowing. - "Warring States Policy, Qi Ce"
Therefore, keju appeared at the latest in the Warring States period.
During the period of the Two Han Dynasties and three kingdoms, the development of Keju was relatively fast, which can be called the peak period of Keju's development.
At this time, the bow is a leather solid ball filled with hair or grass, which is very simple. As Bangu says in the Book of Han:
"Bow to Wei, really to hair, stomp and play."
In the Han Dynasty, the site of Keju was divided into two kinds, walled and wallless, and the walled Keju field was generally built by the imperial court and was more luxurious, and the east and west walls had a crescent-shaped bow room. The unwalled field is simple and rough: the center of the venue is demarcated, and each side of the competition can dig six earth pits as a bow room, and the one who kicks into the opponent's bow room more times within the specified time wins.
Schematic map of the Keju site in the Han Dynasty (Photo | "Research on the Development and Evolution of Ancient Chinese Keju")
In the Han Dynasty, books and articles such as the "Twenty-five Articles of Keju" were written specifically for the Keju movement. It shows that in the Han Dynasty, the keju movement was widely popular, and it already had independent venues, clear rules and diverse tactics.
Introducing Keju's books The Football Museum of Linzi District, Zibo City, Shandong Province
Some Han Dynasty portrait stones and portrait bricks still retain the picture of folk keju.
The "Character Keju" figure on the Nanyang Han portrait stone (picture | People's Daily News)
Ten years of keju will be far away, and the custom of swinging is the same. - Du Fu, "Qingming" Keju repeatedly flew over the birds, and the swing raced out of the weeping Yangli. Teenagers travel every day, without being clear and clear. ——Wang Wei, "Cold Food City East Matter" Cockfighting Golden Palace, Keju Yaotai side. ——Li Bai's "Fifty-Six Ancient Poems" The colored rope whisks Tingke, and the light ball falls on the neighbor. ——Wen Tingjun, "Cold Food Festival Sending Chu Wang II"
From these verses, it can be seen that in the Tang Dynasty, there was already a custom of bowing during the Qingming Festival, not only the Qingming Festival could be played, but also as entertainment; not only the royal court could play, but also many ordinary commoners loved to bow.
During the Tang Dynasty, the production process of juju made great progress, and hollow balls that could be inflated appeared.
In xu jian's "Records of Beginners" of the Tang Dynasty, it is recorded:
This keju is known as a joke. In ancient times, hair was tangled with hair, and now it is used with skin. Take the cell as the inside, and hush it off.
Tang Dynasty Zhongwupo's "Qifu Fu" has:
Qi is a ball and merges into a quality. Leaping and profitable, boasting and taking truth. Do your best to be disciplined, and at first make it round because of the square; the false hand is closed, and finally it will be full and not overflowing. There is enough to invest in the hand, and there is no need to know the beginning. Shiye Square Spring Ji, Cold Food Jingyan. Compete and compete, rush to Khotan. Or slightly take the pill to go, and the sky will be full moon.
This bow is sewn from leather wrapped around the animal's bladder, and then filled with gas to make it swell, round, light and elastic.
Tools for Keju Blowing Wind The Football Museum of Linzi District, Zibo City, Shandong Province
Eight-petal bow Football Museum, Linzi District, Zibo City, Shandong Province
In the Tang Dynasty, the Keju Field added a goal made of silk mesh and bamboo poles to the Han Dynasty, and a round hole was dug in the center of the goal for the players to shoot. The double-goal keju field has goals at both ends of the court, and the single-goal keju field has a goal in the center of the field.
Schematic diagram of the Tang Dynasty double goal Keju venue (picture | "Research on the Development and Evolution of Ancient Chinese Keju")
Wu Yaohui Boxwood Sculpture "The Tang Dynasty" No. 2 "Keju" (Picture | Zhejiang Provincial Museum)
Ancient single goal Keju scene simulation Of Linzi District Football Museum in Zibo City, Shandong Province
Modern single goal bow activity (image | Zibo Civilization Network)
During the Tang Dynasty, the Chinese keju gradually spread eastward to Japan and Korea, and thus westward to Europe, and later developed into football in the modern sense in Britain.
In the Song Dynasty, the urban economy developed, the citizen class arose, and the Keju movement became more common, showing a state of prosperity. The Song Dynasty Keju was mainly based on entertainment competition performances. There is a single-goal form of keju, called "building a ball", which is mainly for the viewing and entertainment of the ruling class, and is mostly held in court banquets. The Song Shi Lezhi once mentioned: "Every Spring and Autumn Holy Festival, the three major feasts,...... Twelfth, Keju. ”
Simulation of the ancient Keju scene The Football Museum of Linzi District, Zibo City, Shandong Province
The other is the white-playing form of keju, which does not use the goal, and focuses on the trick skills of the action and the technique of kicking and controlling the ball. Gao Li in "Water Margin" is a master of white bowing. "When gao Li saw that he was angry, he also had the courage to make a Mandarin duck and kick back the king." Mandarin duck crutching is to kick the ball with the left and right outer ankles. Only a few kicks, duan wang applauded." Gao Li had to use all his life skills to flatter King Duan. That figure, this breath is like a maw glue stuck to the body. Gao Li was appreciated by King Duan for his superb keju skills, and after King Duan ascended the throne, Gao Li became a lieutenant. There are many examples of those in the Song Dynasty who were promoted to officials because of their outstanding ball skills. The Song Taizu Keju Diagram depicts the scene of six people, including Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin, Song Taizong Zhao Guangyi, and Zhao Pu, the prime minister.
The 1998 edition of Water Margin (Picture | Video screenshot)
"New Water Margin" Li Zixiong version of Gao Li (image | Video screenshot)
Yuan Dynasty Qian Xuan's "Linsu Hanchen Song Taizu Keju Diagram" is in the Shanghai Municipal Museum
During the Song Dynasty, there was a similar organization to the modern Football Association or football clubs, the "Qiyun Society", also known as the "Yuanshe", and there was also a national Keju competition , the "Mountain Main Competition". Chen Yuanliang's "Shi Lin Guangji" has a poem: "The Qiyun Society of the Four Seas is angry on the spot, the writer is biased, and the Yuan Society is the most popular." "The emergence of this kind of folk Keju community all over the place has promoted the spread and in-depth development of the Keju movement. In 2001, starring Ren Quan, Li Bingbing, Li Zonghan and others, "One Foot in the River" was a TV series with the theme of the Song Dynasty Keju.
Stills from "One Foot in the Mountains" (Picture | Sogou pictures)
"Twelve incense cut into round brocade." "Cooked nitrate yellow leather, solid material light cut." Tightly sewn with no exposed corners. "The predecessor is healthy, and he weighs fourteen or twelve." "The incarcerated deep nest, the pear blossom can be played, the tiger's paw is beautiful, the side money is short and difficult to sew, and the six-leaf peach is envied." The Bow of the Song Dynasty was sewn with twelve pieces of leather, and its shape and weight were basically similar to those of modern footballs, and the craftsmanship was exquisite and varied.
Song Dynasty Keju (Image | China News Network)
In the Yuan Dynasty under Mongol rule, keju activity began to show signs of decline. Keju was not loved by the ruling class and gradually became a purely folk cultural activity. At this time, the phenomenon of male and female bows appeared, and it was usually used as a performance for people to watch, and its social nature gradually faded.
In the Ming and Qing dynasties, Keju was gradually recognized as a pastime for the lower classes. In the Ming Dynasty, it was strictly forbidden for soldiers to bow. It can be seen from the "Xuanzong Xingle Scroll" that the emperor only watched the keju performance and did not participate in the scene.
The Ming Xuanzong Xingle Tu is in the Palace Museum
The Qing Dynasty strictly banned Keju activities, and the traditional Keju activities were greatly restricted and discouraged, and further declined. The combination of keju and ice skating during the Qianlong period evolved into an ice sport. By the middle of the Qing Dynasty, Keju had completely disappeared. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, modern football was introduced.
China's ancient Keju has experienced a history of about 2,000 years from the Warring States period to the middle of the Qing Dynasty. On August 8, 1989, the "11th Asian Games Fund Lottery Ticket" issued by the 11th Asian Games Foundation included a lottery ticket reflecting the ancient Chinese sports classic "Keju".
The 11th Asian Games fund coupon "Keju" (photo | Five Rings Lottery Museum)
On September 12, 2005, the world's first professional football museum to comprehensively display the history of Chinese football's thousands of years of evolution and the development of world football, Linzi Football Museum, was completed and opened. In 2006, Keju was included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list as an intangible cultural heritage approved by the State Council.
Linzi Football Museum (Image | China Shandong Net)
end (some of the pictures come from the Internet if there is infringement, please delete it)
Resources:
Tian Zhisheng Research on the Development and Evolution of Keju in Ancient China[d] Master's Thesis of Beijing Sport University
Liu Bingguo History of Chinese Sports[m]
Chen Zhuo From the poetry of the Tang and Song Dynasties to see the development characteristics of the Keju movement[j] Journal of the Military Sports Continuing Education College