状元筹 Zhuang Yuan Chou -- A Chinese dice game

This post is about a rather charming Chinese gambling game, called 状元筹 Zhuangyuan Chou. A rough translation of the name would be "Scholar's lots",

I had seen images of these tallies some years ago. I was intrigued with these strange objects, each inscribed with the name of a class in the Chinese hierarchy of scholar-bureaucrats. What curious game could be played with these things, I wondered.  One day, ( around Chinese new year in 2013, I think) I went to a Mahjongg shop. After shopping for a while, I inquired about a certain "Zhuangyuan" game. Much to my surprise, the proprietor produced this selfsame set of tallies from a shelf. It was the only set left. Despite the rather steep price of $100, I bought the tallies. This was fortunate. The shop closed down a few years later

The apparatus for this game consists of a set of 63 tallies, or jetons and six dice. We shall first describe the tallies:

The largest tally is labelled 状元, Zhuangyuan (A), and is worth 32 points ( The inscription 三十二注, sanshiliu zhu at the foot of the tally means"32 points" in Chinese）.It is yellow in color, and has an inscription in red. This is the only tally with this value. It plays a special role in the game. 

The next largest tallies are labelled 旁眼, Pangyan (B) and 探花 Tanhua (C) Each is worth 16 points. The former is red, the latter a deep maroon. Like the Zhuangyuan tally, at the feet of these tallies is the inscription 十六注 Shiliu Zhu-- 16 points. 

These are followed by four tallies marked 会元, Huiyuan . (D) In real life, the tallies are a fetching neon green in colour. Unfortunately this colour does not show up well in the scan. Each tally is worth 8 points.

Next in line are eight scarlet tallies, labelled 進士Jinshi(E)   These tallies are worth 4 points each. 

Then there are 16 blue tallies, labelled , 举人,Juren (F)　and worth 2 points each.  

Last in line are 32 white tallies, each labelled  秀才Xiucai (G)  and worth one point each

It should be noted that for each halving in the value of the tally, there is a doubling in the number of tallies. The total value of these 63 tallies is 192. 

***

It is honestly quite hard to explain the significance of the ranks to a non-Chinese audience. You must remember that this game is actually about exams. For over a millennia, the Chinese have had an extremely well-developed (and grueling) system of exams, called the Keju. To say this exam played a significant role in Chinese is somewhat of an understatement. For many, it was the only way to get a job in the civil service, and hence respectable society. The exam has even entered popular myth. Indeed, the Chinese even have a god of exams, Wenchang 文昌. 

To get the rank of highest scholar in the country, 状元 ( Zhuang yuan) was an immense honor, an express ticket into the upper class. Even though the exams were abolished in 1905, till this day, Chinese newspaper reports on more mundane exams ( A-Levels, O-Levels, International baccalaureate) still refer to the top scorers as Zhuangyuan

***

 The rules for this game are based on three sources: C.T. Dobree's The gambling games of Malaya and the Chinese Baidu article on the game. (http://baike.baidu.com/view/360732.html).

The game is simple. Between three to eight persons may play. The only equipment required are six dice, a bowl, and the tallies. At each person's turn, the player drops the six dice into a bowl. He notes the combination of numbers the dice have generated. He then takes tallies from the pool, corresponding to the scores shown in the table below. 

Dice combination.	Take tallies worth.
One 4	1
Two 4s	2
Three 4s	16
Four 4s	32
Five 4s	64
Any Four-of-a-kind, except four 4s	4
A pair of 4s, 5s or 6s	16
The numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6	16
“How Tuck” 巧得= Qiao de *	32
Five-of-a-kind	32
Six-of-a-Kind	192 (GAME)
*A four-of-a-kind; with the remaining two dice adding to the same number as the one repeated. E.G [3,3,3,3,2,1], [6,6,6,6,3,3] [2,2,2,2,1,1]  "How Tuck" is the Cantonese pronunciation of 巧得. In Mandarin it is Qiao De. The term means "Chance gain"

The player then takes the requisite number of tallies from the pool. There are a certain number of niceties regarding the game. 

* When four 4s are scored, the player takes the 32-point tally 状元 and the pair of 16-point tallies  旁眼(B) and 探花(C) from their previous owners

* If a player throws a five-of-a-kind, (other than five 4s) he takes the 32-point tally from its previous owner (if any)

The baidu article agrees with Dobree's description, but adds a few more rules. 

* There is another combination, a pair of 1s, 2, or 3s. The Baidu article tells us that this combination wins you the marker labelled 旁眼. This combination is also nicknamed 大马军-- Big cavalier. 

* A pair of 4s, 5s or 6s wins you the marker labelled 探花. This combination is also nicknamed 小马军-- Little cavalier. 

* If a player throws five 4s,  He  takes the 32-point marker from its previous owner, even if the previous owner has scored a four-of-a-kind. This is in contrast to Dobree's rules, where you win 64 points from such a combination. 

Once all the tallies have been used up, the game ends. The number 192 ( the total value of all the tallies)  is averaged between the number of players. Players who score below  the aforementioned average pay to those who score above average. They pay to the winners the difference between their scores and the average,

***

The inscriptions on the tallies are shown below. The text has been transcribed, Top-to bottom, Right-to left. 

On the Zhuangyuan (A) 狀元/ 四紅巧合獨德五子/五紅奪色六子全

On the Pangyan (B)旁眼/ 大小军馬/分双順淂/ 

On the Tanhua (C) 探花/ 大小军馬/分双順淂

 The author has labored to make sense of the tallies, but could not make any sense from them. The text as engraved seems to be a set of rules for the game, specifying what dice combinations are needed to acquire the tally they are written on.

The text uses a lot of variant characters, so for example 淂 instead of 得(both meaning "To get")  and 収 instead of 收 ("To recieve"). In addition, The third character in the  left-hand row of the Zhuangyuan tally is hard to make out, but based on images of similar tallies online, it is probably奪 

If any reader may decypher the tallies, the author will be most delighted 

***

Below are scans from Dobree's orginial work on the game. Of especual note is the photograph depicting the counters from Dobree's day. Clearly the overall shape of the counters has not changed much in the half century since the book was published. The only major difference is the Zhuangyuan tally, which is made of dark-coloured material 

Rummy Tiles

[Rummy Tiles] 104+8 C, Singapore.

In Singapore, mahjong shops sell a kind of gaming-tile. The tiles are called 'Rummy', after the game that they are used to play. However, these cards are quite different from the Rummy tiles that are commonly known in the West.These tiles are in effect a pair of International pattern decks that have been transferred into tiles.

The cards have been fairly faithfully transferred. The pips are fully represented on each card, which have an index in two corners to assist the player. The Double-ended courts are also rendered in detail, with the appropriate index attached to each rank. The ace of Spades is also enlarged, agreeing to custom. 

But the most striking feature of the cards is their colour. Each suit is assigned a colour. Spades are black, Hearts are Red, Clubs are Green and Diamonds are yellow. The tiles are so small [ Around 3.5 by 2.8 cm], the risk of confusion between suits would be higher if only two colours were used. 

Knowledgeable readers might recognize these as the four colours of the German Turnierbild decks, save that clubs and Spades have swapped colours.

Through the four suits, the courts possess an identical design. They are differentiated only by the suit symbol, and the colour of the frame that surrounds the courts.  

The King is clearly inspired by the King of Diamonds in a standard deck. The Jack and Queen are less certain. The Queen might be inspired by Possibly the Q. of Diamonds or Clubs. 

The Suit of Diamonds. The attention to detail in the courts is formidable. The maker has taken care to give the faces and bodies of the courts different colours. 

The Joker depicts the head of a clown. There are Eight jokers in this set, corresponding to four in each deck. 

The tiles are relatively thick, as seen in the picture. 

Their backs are "Plain".By contrast, Most kinds of mahjong Tiles sold have a layer of different-coloured plastic attached to their backs. 

The tiles in their carrying-case. Such cases are also used to store mahjong tiles. The case is made of leather-like plastic. Within this case are stored four smaller "trays" that make the tiles easier to bring out of the case. In between them is an oblong tray, which would be usually filled with jetons. This set lacks the jetons. 

 Note the Eight blank tiles in the left-hand side of the case. These are spares, If a tile is lost, this blank tile can be sent to an engraver to be engraved with a replacement. 

Kintokihana 金時花

金時花 Kintokihana, 48+1C. Oshi tengudo 大石天狗堂 

After a long interval, here is a deck from japan. We are told these cards come from Shikoku island in Japan. This deck was purchased around 5 years ago from a shop in Tokyo. The cards come in a elegant wooden box. The cards are also called Awabana 啊波花

Unlike the standard form of Hanafuda, the Kintokihana has the names of the months associated with each suit written on the card. The suit of "January", for instance has the words 一月“First month" written on the banner ( top row, 2nd from Left)  card. The remaining cards possess an encircled 一, meaning One. The same goes for the second row, showing suits from the second month-- 二月.

In other photographs of this pattern ( vide Andy Polett) the individual branches are picked out in white. In this example, the branches are picked out in silver ink. 
A translation of the short texts on the suit of January will be greatly appreciated. 

The Third [top row] and Fourth [bottom row] months.

The cards are very slightly curved along their width; you can see this in the 3rd month.

Unlike the other months, the "banner" card in the third month does not possess a numeral; rather a short text in japanese is shown, like in the "standard' hanafuda. 

Note The "Junk" cards in the third month. In this deck, the cherry blossoms are merely depicted. In the standard hanafuda, the cherry blossoms are shown growing from a branch. 

The Fifth and Sixth months. Some cards possess a stripe of silver across their width. This might be an aid to their identification. 

One of the major difficulties beginners have with hanafuda is knowing which card belongs to which suit. Unless you are familliar with Japanese plants, this is a hard task. It is further compounded by the same plant is depicted in different ways in the same suit. The numbers attached to the cards are thus an immense help, and it is hoped makers of Hanafuda would make more cards with this feature. 

The Seventh [top row] and Eighth[bottom row] months. 

On the two "Junk" cards of the 8th month, [ 2nd and 3rd from left, bottom] Japanese texts are seen. I would be most glad if anyone told me what they say. Note the blades of grass picked out in silver, on two of the cards in the Eighth month 

The Ninth [top] and Tenth months[bottom].   Note the horizontal bands of silver on some of the cards 

The suit of Eleventh (Top row) and Twelth months. Notably, the twelfth month is unumbered. 

To the far left we see the the extra card. It depicts Kintaro, a renowned Japanese warrior.

Hanafuda-- Angel, 翁

Hanafuda by "angel", "Old Man" (翁)48+1c,


EDIT: For Seven years, ( It was first published in 10/9/2011)  the author has given an erroneous title to the post.

The error surrounded the card's brand name. He initially misread it as 扇, meaning "fan". It was in fact the Similar-looking word 翁, meaning "Old Man".  The relevant character can be seen on the cards of the "December" suit (Top row). Seven years on, he re-publishes it, with the error corrected.

The name does not sound as incongruous as it seems. One of the most celebrated plays in the Noh repitoire is called 翁 Okina. A fascinating summary of the play, part ritual, part theater, may be found here  The author recalls the deck's wrapper depicted an actor, playing the role of the old man.

The deck contained 48 cards, plus one spare card. That spare card is shown to the left. It resembles the "Banner" card in the "March" suit of cherry blossoms. However, on the ribbon is marked the word 見本 Mihon , meaning Spare in Japanese. :" Sample" in Japanese.https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E8%A6%8B%E6%9C%AC

 As the commentator Porges said below "[This card] is to be placed on the front of the deck when on display in a shop, to indicate the quality of the cards."

Long cards 4: 樂山圈牌 Leshan cards

No. 8090,  Leshan Quanpai, Leshan Wanchengda industry Co Ltd, 80+10c.

No. 8090 樂山圈牌， 萬盛達 80+10

This is yet another form of "Long cards". They are used in Leshan, a part of Sichuan, China. These cards do indeed deserve the title of "Long cards". They are significantly longer than most kinds of Chinese playing card, ( 12 x 2.5 cm).

These cards belong to a family known in the west as "Character cards". The Chinese Name, 圈牌, Quanpai, "Round cards" may refer to the distinctive shape of the figures printed on them. The cards are also known as 樂山橋牌 -- Leshaqn Qiaopai -- "Leshan Bridge cards".  The Western game of Bridge shares the same name 橋牌Qiaopai , but as far as I know the games played with the Leshan deck have nothing to do with the Western game. They are occasionally known as 樂山貳七拾, Leshan er-qi-shi --Leshan Two-Seven-Ten  , after a game played with the cards,

As mentioned in a previous post, these cards use the two forms of Chinese Numeral as "Suits" , each suit containing the ranks from 1 to 10.

The suit of "Large writing" Below the cards are the standard forms of the characters depicted, as well as the Arabic numbers they correspond to.  The characters have become extremely stylized, more so than other kinds of card. 

The 1 of this suit reminds me of a stout man wearing a bowler hat. 

The maker's name, Wanchengda is printed in the middle of each card. 

The suit of small writing. Again, the corresponding standard forms of the characters are printed below each card.  In this deck, the large suit is printed in red, and the small suit in black. This is unlike other forms of Number cards, like the Luzhou deck. In such a deck, only the Two, Seven and Ten of each suit are printed in red, the rest of the cards printed in black.

Note card of rank 9 (2nd from right). The prominent Loop has three gaps in it. This suggests the cards were originally printed by stencil. Examination of the large suit bears this out. There are no complete white-on-red shapes. All shapes have a small gap in them, necessary for supporting the stencil. 
The brash simplicity of the 1 is rather pleasing.

The deck comes with a set of Ten extra cards, each numbered with an Arabic Number from 1-10. The first three are shown above. Each card possesses the same motif on both sides (i.e, no "Backs"). I have yet to find out their function. 

Games played with this deck:

As mentioned above, the main game played with the deck is called " Two-Seven-Ten" 

樂山貳七拾, Leshan er-qi-shi --Leshan Two-Seven-Ten. This game is of the same family as rummy and mahjongg, but is closer to the latter. Players attempt to form melds of multiple copies of the same card, or sequences of cards. The game also has a special meld, which consists of the Two, Seven and Ten of each suit, hence the name. 

"Long cards" 3:泸州大贰 -- Luzhou Da er

No. 189 " Big Two" [ Luzhou big two] , Binwang, 80c.
No, 189 《大贰》[泸州大贰]  宾王， 80副

Now we come to the another sort of Long cards, known to the West as the "Chinese character" cards. These cards distinguish themselves by the use of Chinese characters, instead of suit-symbols. Cards of this sort have featured before [ Four color cards, also ]. This post will show another sort, based on Chinese numerals.

The Chinese have two ways of writing numerals. One way is used for ordinary purposes. It is called "Small writing". Another way  called "Big writing" is used for financial purposes. The "Big writing" is much more complex. This prevents forgers from altering numbers, a thing that is easy with Small writing. The two forms are shown below.

The Big and small methods of writing form the two suits,  Their numbers for one to ten comprise the  ranks  There are four copies of each card in the two suits; the deck thus has 80 cards.

There are several varieties of cards that are based on such a principle. This particular example is used in Luzhou [ Luchow], a place in the South of Sichuan. Their chinese name, Da er, means "Big Two"

The cards in the "Small" suit. The cards of Two, Seven and Ten, are printed in red. The rest are printed in black. One of the cards of rank 1 possesses a QR code. 

The cards in the "big" suit. Like the small suit, the 2, 7 and 10 are in red. The maker's name is found in the center of each card. The letters are printed in a distinctly blobby font.

 The back of the box contains a rather pleasing announcement. 

Red Cross Society of China
Binwang Playing-card Co. Charitable fund

One box of Biwang poker-cards, Heaps of Love for Humanity 

When you purchase a box of Binwang Poker cards, or playing-cards, We will donate One Chinese Cent to the Red Cross Society of China, to show our Dedication to Society and love of Humanity

This donation resembles the situation in Russia, where the proceeds of the Playing-card tax went to the imperial orphanage. 

Games played with the deck 

The game played with these cards is similar to Rummy or mahjong, the latter bearing a closer resemblance. The Chinese Baidu article  article describes the game thus

 " It is loved by Young and Old, Male and Female alike. Playing it is a must at Festivals and Gatherings ...  It is far more lively and dynamic [than mahjong, ] " 

"Long cards" 2: 川牌 Sichuan Cards

No. 888- [Sichuanese domino cards] Binwang, 105+10c
No. 888 《川牌》 宾王， 105+10副

 Now we come to the other form of "Long cards" -- Ones based on Chinese dominoes. There are several kinds of Domino cards used in China, such as the "Fifteen point" (十五湖) cards used in Hong Kong ( see Here). These cards are used in Sichuan [Szechuan] ( yes, the same place as the sauce!) and are thus called by the Chinese "Sichuanese cards" ( 川牌)

The composition of this deck differs in several ways from Chinese dominoes made of wood.
A set of domino tiles contains 21 unique tiles. Some of these tiles are doubled. The complete set contains 32 tiles.
  The structure of the Sichuanese deck is simpler. There are Four copies of each tile/subject. The deck thus contains 21 x 4 = 84 cards. However, some decks, like this one, possess 5 copies of each card. To these 105 cards are added "Jokers" . There are two kinds of joker, with five copies of each kind. The whole deck thus contains 115 cards.

The pips in the Sichuanese deck are oriented horizontally, unlike the vertical arrangement of pips in the Fifteen-point cards. 

In the middle of each card, is depicted a personage from The Water margin, a Chinese novel. The personage depicted does not influence the actual value of the card. It is merely decoration. Decks are produced that lack the central personage
The individual ranks are also given names. For example, the [6,6] is called "Heaven" . These names are the ones used in Sichuan. Some differ from the names used in Pai Gow, which may be more familiar to western readers.  

Pips	Chinese Name	English Translation	Character depicted
[6,6]	天	Heaven	Song Jiang, leader of the 108  outlaws
[1,1]	地	Earth	Gongsun Sheng
[4,4]	人	Human	Tai Ming
[1,3]	和	Harmony	Zi Jing
[5,5]	梅子	Plum Blossom	Ge Ping
[3,3]	長三	Long Three	Wu Song
[2,2]	長二	Long Two	Monk Hua

 Of the five copies of each card, one of them is marked with a green flourish (like the  [5,6]) , and the other four are plain. (like the [4,6]). I have chosen to alternately show cards that bear the flourish, and cards that do not. I must emphasize that ALL the subjects exist in Flourished and unflourished forms. 

Pips	Chinese Name	English Translation	Character depicted
[5,6]	斧頭	Axe	Zhang Qing
[4,6]	紅十	Red Ten	Yang Zhi
[1,6]	高高兒	Tall One	Suo Cao
[1,5]	貓貓兒	Kitty	Xu Ning
[4,5]	紅九	Red Nine	Lu Junyi
[3,4]	紅七	Red Seven	Huyan Zhuo
[1,4]	紅五	Red Five	Li Ying

The Last Seven cards in the deck. The central personage is printed in Red or Black, depending on the presence of red pips ( the 2s and 4s) in the card. For example, the [1,4] which has red pips, has its its personage printed in Red. The [2,3], which has no red pips, has its personage printed in Black. This is probably economizing on the printer's part. However, the presence of red pips affects the score a card is given in the games played. An observant player might exploit this feature.   

Pips	Chinese Name	English Translation	Character depicted
[3,6]	黑九	Black Nine	Wu Yong
[2,6]	平八	Level Eight	Lin Chong
[2,5]	黑七	Black Seven	Hua Rong
[2,3]	黑五	Black Five	Zhu Gong
[3,5]	黑八	Black Eight	Guan Sheng
[2,4]	二紅	Two Red	Liu Tang
[1,2]	丁丁兒	“Ding Ding”	Dai Zhong

The two "Jokers" of the deck. On the Left, printed in green is 聽用- Ting Yong- "Listen and Use". On the Right, printed in red is the 財神 Cai shen-- " God of Wealth" . 

Here are two copies of the [1,1] one with the flourish, and one without. 

Games played with the deck

The two main games played with the deck are 打亂出- Da Luan Chu, a Trick-taking game, and 鬥十四 - Dou shisi , a rummy-like game. I hope to describe the rules of the two games in subsequent posts.