During the Han Dynasty, the popularity of cuju gradually spread from the army to the royal courts and upper classes.
At the same time, cuju games became standardized as rules were established. The Indians of Mexico and Central America played a game with a rubber ball. The playing field looked like the capital letter "I", with walls around. Attached on the two long sidewalls were stone or wooden rings and the aim of the game was to project the ball through the rings. The game served as both a competitive contest and a ritual ceremony. In Canada, the Inuit tribes reportedly played a game on ice called Aqsaqtuk. They used animal skins to make the balls and filled them with grass, animal hair, or moss. They played the game on huge playing fields. One story says two villages played against each other with goals five kilometres apart.