Source text in Chinese | Translation by Alvin Liu (#5473) |
足球在中国古代称为蹴鞠,早在春秋战国时期就已广泛开展。汉代出现了中国第一部足球专著《蹴鞠二十五篇》。唐代在制球工艺上有两大改进:一是把用两片皮合成的球壳改为用八片尖皮缝成圆形的球壳。二是把球壳内塞毛发改为放一个动物尿泡,“嘘气闭而吹之”,成为充气的球。由于球体轻了,可以踢高。球门就设在两根三丈高的竹竿上。在踢球方法上,汉代是直接对抗分队比赛,唐代则是中间隔着球门,双方各在一侧,以射门“数多者胜 ”。唐代开始出现了女子足球。女子足球的踢法不用球门,以踢高、踢出花样为能事,称为“白打”。到了宋代,足球在技术上已由射门比准向灵巧和控制球的水平方面发展。而且制球工艺比唐代又有提高,发展为“十二片香皮砌成”。原料是“熟硝黄革,实料轻裁”。工艺是“密砌缝成,不露线角”。做成的球重量要“正重十二两”。足球规格要“碎凑十分圆”。 | Soccer was called 蹴鞠 (Cù Jú) in ancient China, which had been played extensively as early as in the Spring-Autumn and Warring State Periods. In the Han dynasty, China’s first monographic book on soccer named “25 Chapters on Cù Jú” appeared. In the Tang dynasty, techniques for making soccer balls had two improvements. One was that the ball cover was changed from being made of 2 combined panels of leather to a sphere stitched with 8 pointed panels of leather. The other one was the change from stuffing up the ball with feathers and hairs to placing an animal’s bladder inside and inflating it by someone with mouth to make an air-filled ball. Since the ball became lighter in weight, it could be kicked up to higher level. The goal was setup between two bamboo poles that were 3 Zhang (about 9.2 meters) high. In terms of playing methods, it was direct confrontation with players divided into teams in the Han dynasty. In the Tang dynasty, there was a goal in between with two teams on each side. The team scored more than the other won. In the Tang dynasty, woman soccer started to emerge. There was no goal in the field setup for woman soccer, and who could kick the ball high and demonstrate many styles would be considered as an exceptionally capable player. This was called “白打”(Bai Da). In the Song dynasty, the soccer playing skills had transferred from focusing on accurate shooting to emphasizing on agility and ball controlling level. Moreover, techniques of ball making had been further improved compared with those in the Tang dynasty. The ball was made of 12 panels of fragrant leather. The raw material was deeply tanned yellow leather which had been smartly cut from a piece of solid leather. The ball making techniques made the ball tightly stitched with seams and corners well hidden. Regarding specifications, the final ball must weigh 12 Liang (about 448 grams) exactly and must be very round. |