Celebration of game that led to modern soccer
"Lotuses moving gracefully in the wind" and "swallows returning to nest" are phrases that evoke images of nature at its best. But they serve another purpose. They are also the names of tricks in the ancient Chinese game cuju, a forerunner of modern soccer.
Li Weipeng, the seventh-generation inheritor of cuju in China, demonstrated these tricks during the China-Qatar youth cuju exchange on Nov 21 in Doha, Qatar, where the World Cup is in full swing.
Li also led Chinese and Qatari youth players, wearing traditional cuju costumes, to sample the ancient game and see for themselves the similarities and differences between cuju and soccer.