Who Invented Soccer?谁发明了足球？

The Brits formalized the game known globally as football—but its roots date back to ancient China and Mesoamerica. 足球这项全球知名的运动，其比赛规则是由英国人正式确立下来的，但其根源可追溯至古代中国与中美洲。

Soccer is by far the world’s most popular sport， and for good reason—beloved by at least 265 million people worldwide， it’s easy to play in a random yard or field and instantly relate to the players racing across stadiums.

足球是全球最受欢迎的运动。人们随意找个院子或空地就能踢，而且立马能与在球场上飞奔的球员玩在一起。这个说法有充分的依据——全世界至少有2.65亿人深爱足球。

But if you’re looking for the earliest ancestor of all that running， kicking， and cooperating， be ready to turn back your watch， spin your globe—and make sure not to literally lose your head. Here’s what you need to know about soccer’s ancient origins and why it’s the world’s favorite sport today.

如果你想知道这项集奔跑、踢球、合作于一体的运动源于何处，准备好回溯过去、跨越山海——但千万别因晕头转向而“身首异处”。若想了解足球的古老起源，探索足球为何是目前全球最受人喜爱的运动，请阅读以下内容。

Soccer’s ancient origins

足球的古老起源

The Chinese were the first to get their kicks1 by kicking balls into nets for sport2 in the third century B.C.， and the game known globally as football was formalized in England in the 19th century. But the predecessor of most modern ball games can be found in the Americas.

公元前3世纪，中国人最先以踢球入网为乐。直到19世纪，足球这项全球知名运动的比赛规则才在英格兰正式确立下来。但是，绝大部分现代球类运动的前身都可以在美洲觅得踪迹。

“The idea of the team sport was invented in Mesoamerica，” says Mary Miller， a professor of the history of art at Yale University who has studied extensive evidence of the sport.

耶鲁大学的艺术史教授玛丽·米勒研究过大量同足球有关的证据。她表示：“团队运动的概念起源于中美洲。”

In Mesoamerica， the vast historical region spanning from Mexico to Costa Rica， civilizations flourished well before Columbus “discovered” them， and many of these people played a sport that involved a heavy ball made from a substance derived from tree resin.

中美洲是从墨西哥到哥斯达黎加的辽阔历史区域。早在哥伦布“发现”美洲前，这里的文明就已十分繁荣。许多当地人都会参与一项球类运动。这种球很重，由树脂提取物制作而成。

It’s unclear exactly where the game was invented， but it was popular across Mesoamerican cultures like the Teotihuacanos3， Aztecs4， and Maya5 beginning about 3，000 years ago. Its name varied—ullamaliztli in Aztec， pok-ta-pok or pitz in Maya. So did its rules， which included moves such as keeping the ball in play6 by bumping it with body parts or using racquets or bats.

虽然这项运动的发源地尚不明晰，但从大约3000年前开始，它就风行于中美洲的各个文明，特奥蒂瓦坎人、阿兹特克人与玛雅人都是其爱好者。人们对它的称呼各有不同——阿兹特克人称其为ullamaliztli，玛雅人则称其为pok-ta-pok或pitz。这项运动在各地的规则也不尽相同，比如为了把球控制在界内，有的地方允许利用身体部位撞击球，或使用球拍或球棒击球。

Many of these games were played with 16-pound7 rubber balls， which still exist in the archaeological record. Other evidence of game play ranges from cer-amic vessels to more than 1，300 large stone courts that can be found across the region.

人们进行这项运动时大多使用重达16磅的橡胶球，这种球如今仍可在考古记录中探得踪影。其他同这项运动相关的证据包括陶瓷器皿，以及遍布中美洲的1300多个大型石头球场。

Aztec players bounced the ball back and forth between teams using only their hips and buttocks （feet or hands were off limits）. They tried to hit the back wall of their opponents’ courts with just one bounce， often sustaining life-threatening injuries when they were hit with the hard， heavy ball. If a player managed to get it into a high ring on the opposing team’s side， it was an automatic win—and a major honor for the winner.

阿兹特克球员仅用髋部和臀部（不准使用脚或手）在队伍间来回传球。他们试图只用一次传接就击中对手场地的后墙，但被又硬又重的球击中时往往会受到致命伤害。如果一名球员成功将球打入对方场地内高悬的圆环，其队伍便自动获胜——这是赢家的一大荣耀。

Making sacrifices

献祭

Though it was played as an everyday pickup sport， much like soccer or basketball， this ball game also held a sacred place in religion and warfare for Mesoamerican cultures. Aztec kings reportedly played it as a substitute for war， gaining ruling rights or diffusing diplomatic dramas with a game of ball. In Maya and Veracruz cultures8， the stakes were even higher： The losers of some ritual games were sacrificed.

虽然这种球类运动同今日的足球或篮球一样，是日常临时组织的休闲活动，但它也曾在中美洲各个文明的宗教与战争中享有神圣地位。据说，阿兹特克的国王们曾用它代替战争，通过球赛争得统治权或化解外交争端。在玛雅与韦拉克鲁斯文明中，球赛的赌注甚至更大：某些仪式性比赛的落败者会被献祭。

The specifics are unclear， but some courts are decorated with panels depicting the gory sacrifice of losing players. Sacrifice and sport are closely related in a Maya creation myth， too： It shows a pair of ball-playing twins defeating the lords of the underworld on the court. They go on to become the sun and the moon.

献祭的具体细节暂且不明，但某些球场的装饰板上绘有败方球员遭血腥献祭的场景。在玛雅创世神话中，献祭也和运动紧密相关：一对球技出众的双生子在球场上打败了冥界的诸位领主。他们后来成为太阳与月亮。

Despite evidence that the losers sometimes got the literal axe9， says Miller， some 20th-century archaeologists refused to believe that anyone except the winners were killed. “They couldn’t believe that the Maya committed human sacrifice，” she said. “We now know that’s absolute hooey10， and so is the notion that any victorious player would be sacrificed.” In Maya mythology， the loser of the ball game is decapitated， and today’s scholars widely accept that losers， not winners， got the chop11.

米勒表示，尽管有证据表明败方有时确实被砍掉了脑袋，但20世纪的某些考古学家拒绝相信除了赢家外的所有人都要被献祭。“他们无法相信玛雅人会进行人祭。”米勒说，“我们现在清楚那肯定是无稽之谈。此外，连赢家都会被献祭的说法也站不住脚。”玛雅神话中的球赛落败者会被斩首。现在的学者普遍认为丢掉脑袋的是输家而非赢家。

British schools invent a new incarnation

英国学校发明了新形式

Though other cultures like Native Americans and Indigenous Australians played similar games， the modern sport that some people know as soccer—and many others know as football—was birthed in British schools. Although they had played variations of the game informally for centuries， the sport became formalized in the 19th century.