上海博物馆藏品 | Collection of Shanghai Museum
明人唐文鳳在《梧岡集》中有《題蹴鞠圖》詩，詩中說明：
1. 前兩人踢球的是宋太祖趙匡胤與其弟宋太宗，
2. 後四人觀看的是大臣趙普、楚昭輔、党進、石守信，都是宋朝開國的功勳，他們都喜歡踢球；“明良相逢同一時，乘閑且複相娛嬉，軍中之樂諒亦宜。”
此圖說明瞭蹴鞠是宋代初年軍中之樂，是宋朝開國皇帝和貴族都喜愛的活動。在《宋史·禮志》《樂志》中記載，凡是朝廷的盛大宴會都有足球表演。在《武林舊事》中記載，宋代除了官家有蹴鞠專業藝人之外，民間中也有蹴鞠藝人表演。

Cuju is an ancient game of football in China. Tang Weifang, an literati in the Ming Dynasty, has written a poem as an inscription for the painting. According to the poem, we can identify the characters in the picture:

1. The two people playing football at the front are Zhao Kuangyin, the Emperor Taizu (or Grand Ancestor) of the Song Dynasty, and his younger brother Taizong.
2. The four people at the back watching the game were the ministers Zhao Pu, Chu Zhaofu, Dang Jin and Shi Shouxin, all of whom were the founding fathers of the Song Dynasty. They all liked playing football. Playing football is an enjoyable pastime for the army at the time.

According to Yuezhi (or Treatise on Court Music) from Songshi (or History of the Song), all the grand banquets held by the imperial court involved football performances at the time. Also, as documented in Wulin Jiushi (or Old Stories of the Martial World), professional artists of cuju would be invited to perform in the houses of government officials, while ordinary people also enjoyed watching cuju performances from time to time.