Chui wan (strike pellet), one of the colorful ball games in ancient China, is believed to be the origin of golf, a modern outdoor game. Chui wan was originally called bu da (walk and hit), a game in which the player scored points by hitting the pellet into a socket in the ground. The game was developed from cu ju, or the ancient football game. Wang Jian, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, describes the game in one of his poems: "Stands have been set up on both sides of the palace hall, during the Hanshi festival court people play the bu da ball. They walk and kneel in competition, and the champion thanks the emperor when he wins." This proves that bu da, a game similar to golf, had been popular more than 1,000 years ago.
In a painting from the Song Dynasty there were two children playing chui wan. In the Yuan Dynasty, Wan Jing (Classic of Chui Wan) was published. The book says Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty and Emperor Zhangzong of the Jin Dynasty were all enthusiastic players of chui wan. A Ming painting, Ming Xuanzong Xingle Tu (Emperor Xuanzong of the Ming on the Spree), shows the emperor, in plain clothes, striking the pellet in the field. The painting also shows the course, the cup, and the colored banners. The club, ball, course and rules of chui wan were almost the same as those of the modern golf. In Europe, the game of golf was first seen in paintings of the 14th and 15th centuries, but that was several hundred years after the Chinese game of chui wan.
