Women playing "football" carved on Three Han Ques of Han Dynasty

The Three Han Ques(three gates of the Han Dynasty) are placed in Dengfeng of Henan Province. Carved on the Qimu Que and Shaoshi Que are the "women playing cuju" stone carving images, which are recognized by FIFA as the earliest recorded history of football.

　　Qimu Que

On July 14, 2023, the National Cultural Heritage Administration of China issued the First Batch of Ancient Famous Monuments and Carvings Cultural Relics List, and Taishi Que, Shaoshi Que, and Qimu Que were listed as the first three cultural relics of Henan.

When speaking of football, people generally believe that modern football originated in Europe and has a history of more than 100 years. But in fact, this sport originated in China over 2,000 years ago, and FIFA together with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) announced in 2004 that China is the birthplace of football. The activity of kicking a ball was called cuju in ancient China, and cuju is the earliest recorded sport of football.

　　The stone carving portrait of "women playing cuju" on the Qimu Que

The "women playing cuju" stone carving portraits on the Qimu Que and Shaoshi Que not only record the development of ancient football, but also illustrate that women's football game started as early as 2,000 years ago in the Han Dynasty. It is the earliest cultural relic evidence proving that China is the birthplace of football. In addition, there are more than 60 relief patterns on the Shaoshi Que, such as traveling by chariot, horse racing, elephant training, circus, cuju, and landscape, reflecting the folk customs of the Han Dynasty in China.

　　The stone carving portrait of "women playing cuju" on the Shaoshi Que

Taishi Que, one of the Three Han Ques, is located in the south of Zhongyue Temple in front of Taishi Mountain of Songshan Mountain, Dengfeng City. It consists of two parts standing on the east and west sides with a distance of 6.75 meters between the two parts, and is built of green gray stones. The body of Taishi Que is engraved with inscriptions as well as over 50 stone carving portraits, including chariots and horses, sword dances, mythological stories, and animals, depicting the scenes of life in the Han Dynasty.

The Three Han Quesis like a photography studio of history, recording the social conditions of that era and restoring for us the history of over 2,000 years ago. The cuju, chariots, horses and other things depicted in the portraits have evolved into the football and vehicles in our present society, and the colorful world recorded on the Three Han Ques by our ancestors will continue to exist in our lives.

　　Web editor: Li Xiaoshu, Zhang Rui