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 

Daun Tiga, or three cards-- part 2

" Daun tiga 'lei "
For part 1, see here 
Walter William Skeat's monumental Malay Magic: An introduction to the popular religion and folklore of the Malay Peninsula is a survey of the customs and folklore of the Malay Peninsula. To give an idea of the expanse of the work, here are some chapter headings "Crocodile folklore" "Funeral prayers" "Birth ceremonies". It was published in 1900.

The book contains two separate accounts of this game. The first and longer account was written by Sir W.E. Maxwell, the second by Skeat himself. Maxwell's description was previously published in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic society.  Both descriptions are fairly patchy. They appear to be more concerned with the customs and rituals surrounding the game, than the game itself.

Both authors agree that there are regional variations in the game. Maxwell gives the version played in Perak. Skeat gives the version played in Selangor.

Play
  The cards are shuffled, and the player to the right of the deler cuts them. The player who cut the cards looks at the bottom card of those he lifts. If he thinks the card is lucky, he accepts the cut, and puts down the cards he lifted. The dealer reunites the deck. He then cuts and looks at the cards as before.
 Three cards are dealt out to each player.
Two stakes are deposited by each player, the Kepala ( head) and Ekor ( tail). The Ekor is usually of greater value than the Kepala.
 The cards of the players are then compared against the dealer. [Presumably, players whose hands rank higher than the dealer are paid out, and vice versa. Maxwell does not describe the process of payouts, other than the following detail--]
  If the dealer has one of the hands called Tĕrus (see below), and the player holds a less valuable hand, both Kepala and Ekor are taken.
 If players please, they may bet amongst one another, instead (or in addition to-- the book is unclear) of betting against the banker.

  Scoring 
The hands are ranked according to the point-score assigned to them. If the point-score exceeds 10, then ten is deducted from the total points to give the final score.
Malay Magic does not tell us the exact system of points, apart from saying "A Knave, ten and nine is a good hand" From this, one can assume that the scoring system is similar to the one in Dobree.

The following hands are known as Tĕrus. These hands outrank all other hands.

Three Aces, called Sat Tiga
Three Courts, called Kuda or Naik Kuda ( Three Horses -- A.L)
A hand with the value of Nine
A hand with the value of eight.

In Perak, a hand of three threes is considered bad luck. Whoever is dealt such a hand throws it out. Here's Maxwell:

"A Hand of three threes, being Nine, is really a good hand, but it is considered a propitation of good luck to throw it down ( without exposing it), announcing that one is buta ("out"-- literally "blind" A.L.), in the hope of getting good luck afterwards"

Any player who holds a score of exactly 30 is said to be out, unless he holds three court cards.

In Selangor, the hands considered as Tĕrus are slightly different:

Three Aces, called Tiga Sat
Three threes, called Tiga Jalor 
Three 10s, called Tiga Puloh ( Puloh = Puluh = Ten-- A.L)
Three Courts, called Tiga ankong 
A hand with the value of Nine
A hand with the value of eight.

Reading both accounts, one gets the idea that Dobree's game is a simplified version of the version found in Malay Magic. In Malay Magic, the contract of Long is obligatory. Apart from that, there are few differences between the games. 

The whole book may be seen here: 

https://archive.org/stream/malaymagicbeingi00skeauoft#page/486/mode/2up

"Cuajo Filipino"

"Cuajo Fillipino", Fournier, 112c.

  Now we come to a curious version of the Spanish pattern ( see here and here) used in the Philippines. This particular example was made in the 1970s ( from an inscription found among the cards of the deck) by the Spanish company Fournier
  Spanish playing cards are still used ( albeit to a small extent) in the Philippines. This is not surprising from a nation that was colonized by Spain for over three centuries. Images of people using what are clearly Los Dos Tigres cards in the Philippines can be seen on the net, as well as videos of people participating in a curious gambling game called Sakla.  This involves a full deck of  Spanish playing cards. For a Fillipino's thoughts on playing cards in his country, see here https://libertadfilipinas.wordpress.com/2014/12/19/lost-filipino-culture-playing-cards-ii/

The most unusual feature of the deck is its structure. The deck has four suits, like most Spanish decks; but instead of the full 12 cards in each suit, there are only seven, viz;

  King, Knight, Valet, 4, 3,2 Ace, 

This unit is repeated four times, to give a full deck of 128 cards. Observant readers may note that this structure is identical to the Chinese Si Se Pai, --four units of 28 cards each ( see here and here)

The nature of the game played with this deck bears this out ( As pointed out on Pagat.com's page on Cuajo ). There are only two acceptable "runs" in this game; King, Knight, Knave, and 5, 4, and 3. This corresponds to the melds of 将士相 and 車馬炮 in Se Se pai. Rules for the game may be found here 

The suit of cups. One of the hings that strikes me is the sheer vividness of the color. The deep indigo blue, the vibrant orange, etc. This pattern preserves the "AHI VA" of the Los dos Tigres deck, found on the Knight of cups. On the 5 of cups is written "CORTES TABLA"

The second thing to note is the absence of index numbers, which are otherwise found in Spanish decks. Nonetheless, the "Pinta" (Pattern of breaks in the frame indicating the suit) are still present. 

The suit of coins. It is surprising to note that the ace of coins still bears the arms of Castile and Leon. The five of coins bears a profile of a woman. The four of coins bears the maker's name. 

The suit of swords. The ace of swords bears the inscription "CORTE TABLA", which is also found on the five of cups. The slight longitudinal  curvature of the cards is especially evident in this photograph. They are made out of a particularly fine material; almost resembling plastic. 

Three views of the wrapper. The cards are made by Fournier of Spain ( who has made several decks already featured on this blog). It is interesting to note that the deck is explicitly identified as "Cuajo Fillipino" perhaps indicating that the cards were solely made for export? 

 The back of the cards, and a warranty slip. 

車九 -- Koo Kiew (Che Jiu), A Chinese gambling game

I have recently been reading C. T. Dobree's remarkable The Gambling games of Malaya. This book, published in 1955. Dobree was the Assistant commissioner of police in Malaya at that time, and he intended the book to be used as a guide for policemen prosecuting illegal gambling dens [!]

There are several games of cards that are mentioned in this book, that have are otherwise unrepresnted in the english literature on this subject ( to my knowledge). One such game Dobree calls " Koo Kiew", or 車九. He also tells us that it is also called "Ten Kiew" 象九, and "Soo Kiew" 仕九

  Note that Dobree seems to be giving the names of the games in a variety (Hokkien? Teochew?) of Chinese. In standard Chinese (Mandarin) the names are rendered "Che Jiu", "Xiang Jiu" and "Shi Jiu" respectively.
 Regardless of the variety of Chinese, the names of the game all allude to the various ranks in the deck of cards used in the game. 車九 literally translates to as "Chariot-Nine", 象九 means "Elephant-Nine" and 仕九 means "Valet-Nine". The "Nine" in the name probably alludes to the highest point-score that can be obtained ( See below)

In Dobree's words: “ No skill at all is required for this game"; and for that reason I feel that it is ripe for reveival as a party game. It is a game that shares similarities to poker and baccarat.

This game is played with a deck of 四色 ( four colour) cards. For a description of this deck, see http://anthonylesq.blogspot.sg/2013/03/four-colour-cards-hokkien.html and http://anthonylesq.blogspot.sg/2016/01/four-colour-cards-2.html . If you do not have such a deck, you can follow the instructions at the bottom of the page for making one.

Play:
Up to 56 people can play at this game. Before play starts, a banker is selected.
The cards are shuffled. Two cards are dealt to every player, face down.
Without looking at the cards, all players stake whatever amount they please.
When all the stakes have been placed, all cards are revealed. Players whose cards score lower than the banker lose their stakes. Players whose cards score higher than the banker receive a payout.
In cases of ties with the banker, the banker wins.

Scoring:
A pair is two cards of the same rank and colour.
A mixed hand is a hand that contains anything other than a pair (this includes hands which contain two cards of the same rank, but of differert colours)

1. Pairs of the same colour take precence over any mixed hand.
2. For pairs, the ranks are valued as follows:
Highest:  将, ( General)
               士  (Valet)
               相/象  ( Minister/ Elephant)
               車   ( Chariot)
               馬 ( Horse)
              炮   (Cannon)
Lowest  卒  ( Soldier)
So, a pair of yelow valets beats a pair of yellow cannons, a pair of Red generals beats a pair of red ministers.

3. The colours (or "suits") rank as follows.
Highest : Yellow
                 Red,
                Green
Lowest:   White.
So,  a pair of green vales beats a pair of white valets, and a pair of yellow valets beats a pair of red generals.

4. When comparing mixed hands, each card is assigned a point value. Hands with the higher point value wins.

将, ( General) -- 1 pt
士  (Valet)-------- 2
 相   ( Minister)-- 3
 車   ( Chariot)--- 4
馬 ( Horse)------- 5
炮   (Cannon)---- 6
卒  ( Soldier)-----7
Note that  the point value is directly opposite to that of the rank.

5. If the point value of a hand exceeds 10, then only the last digit is considered. So a score of 14 rekons as 4, and a score of 10 reckons as 0.

6. When the point values are tied, then the hand that contains the higher-ranking colour (as decided by rules 3 and 4) wins.

Here are some examples.

Case 1: Hand A:  Pair of Yellow horses

Hand B: Pair of Yellow generals

Hand B wins, as a pair of Generals outranks a pair of horses ( Rule 2)

Case 2: Hand A:  Pair of Red Soldiers

Hand B: Red general, and White general

Hand A wins. Pairs of the same colour outrank those of different colours, regardless of the rank (Rule 1)

Case 3: Hand A:  Pair of Green Generals

Hand B: Pair of Yellow Soldiers. 

Hand B wins, because the yellow suit outranks the green suit ( Rule 3)

Case 4: Hand A:  White General, and White Minister

Hand B: Red General, and Red Minister

Hand B wins, because the Red suit outranks the White suit ( Rule 3)

Case 5: Hand A:  Green Soldier, Red Valet

Hand B: Red Horse, and White Chariot. 

Point score of both hands is equal, being 9 points. 

Hand A wins, because its highest-ranked card( Red Valet) is greater than that of hand B (Red horse)

Case 6: Hand A:  Red Chariot, Green horse 

Hand B: Yellow Chariot, White horse 

Point score of both hands is equal, being 9 points. 

Hand B wins, because its highest-ranked card( Yellow Chariot) is greater than that of hand A (Red Chariot) ( Rule 6)

Case 7: Hand A:  White Chariot, Red horse 

Hand B: Green General, Red general. 

Hand A wins, as point score of hand A ( 9 points) is greater than that of hand B ( 2 points) ( rule 4)

Case 7: Hand A:  Red horse, Yellow Soldier

Hand B: Green Valet, White Chariot

Hand B wins. Although hand B has a score of 12 , the initial "1" is dropped. Thus the final score is 2 points.(rule 5)  

*********************************************************************************

If you do not have access to a deck of four-colour cards, you can make one yourself using four decks of normal playing cards. 

Remove, the 5s,6s,7s,8s and 9s from each of the decks. The remaining cards ( shown below) are used in the game:

                    Corresponds to

King------------ General

Queen---------- Valet

Jack------------ Minister

4--------------- Chariot

3--------------- Horse

2--------------- Cannon

Ace----------- Soldier

For The  ranking of the suits, you may use the system adapted in Bridge: 

                             Corresponds to
Spades-----------   Yellow
Diamonds-------      Red
Hearts-----------     Green
Clubs ------------    White


Of course, you can come up with your own system. 

Tehonbiki

The game of tehonbiki is certanly a most curious one, and one with a very shady reputation in Japan. However, if we are to understand the game ,  we must first explain the perculiar apparatus used in playing it. Two decks of cards are used, the "harifuda" and the "mamefuda".

"Mamefuda" ( 豆札) , "大將軍" ,  48c. ( 6 x 8)  +  blank card

The whole series of Mamefuda, 1-6 ( L to R)

The deck of mamefuda consists of a series of 6 cards, numbered from 1-6 , repeated ( at least in the present example) eight times, to yeild a deck of 48 cards. As the cardstock is pretty thick, when the cards are stacked up, the stack is 7.5 centimeters high. However,  the whole deck of cards isnt used in the game, but only one series of such cards.
 The cards have several curious features. For one, the ce resembles a dragon. This is significant as the oldest japanese cards feature such an animal on the aces. Whilst in most other decks, this animal has been transformed into an unintelligable squiggle, here is remains more or less recogniable. Furthermore, the cards are much, much smaller than the usual Japanese cards. The cards are only 2.5 by 4.5cm. That makes them slightly smaller than a man's thumb. Otherwise, the cards more or less resemble the suit of coins in other japanese decks. For example, the 2s are framed, as well as the central pip of the 5.

The next deck of cards used are the "harifuda"

"Harifuda" (張札) , "大將軍" , 42c. ( 7 x 6)

one series of harifuda. 1 to 6 ( L-R)

This deck also follows the same structure as the mamefuda, comprising of a series of six subjects repeated several times. However, this time, the values of the cards are given by a series of stylized chinese numbers. If you compare the above cards with the chinese numbers from 1 to 6, as below, the connection is clear:

一 二 三 四 五 六

Another curious feature is the red lines that appear on some of the cards. The one has a red line, the 2 and 3 have two and three lines respectivley, the four has none, the five has a red semicircle on the top and bottom edges of the cards, and the six has similar deocration in each of it's corners. I guess that this decoaration functioned as a form of index for the cards

 Here is an old uncut sheet of harifuda. Notice that the odd numbers here are printed in red, and the even numbers black. Also note that the six has the maker's name written on a banner between it's "legs"

Another piece of apparatus used is the memoku, or 目木. Rather confusingly they are also refered to as the "Mefuda". These are blocks of wood with the numbers of the harifuda inscribed on them. They are placed in numerical order before the banker, and are used to indicate his preference

***************************

 My understanding of the rules cheifly comes from Andy Polett's marvellous website
(http://l-pollett.tripod.com/cards70.htm) , and the actions of the propreitor of the cardshop from which I bought the cards from.

 The game of tehonbiki is certanly a most curious game, and can be said to be little more than a game of dice transferred to cards. This fact becomse more obvious when you consider the structure of the deck ( 1 to 6, as per dice) , and the manner in which it is played.
 
 The dealer first takes one series of mamefuda, and shuffles the six cards. He does so hidden from view, either in his pocket or with his hands behind his back, the small size of the mamefuda helping him in the process. Once it has been shuffled, a card is withdrawn , and placed under a piece of cloth. He does not look at its value.
The players now attempt to guess the value of the card that the bank has chosen. The player use the harifuda to indicate which card they bet is the one under the cloth . They do so by arranging the harifuda in various ways, and by these arrangements, the bets are made. The system of betting is too complicated to be shown here in detail, but the pariculars may be found on Mr. Polett's website.
 The bank then makes his own preference, by placing one of the Memoku to the right of the row.
The cloth is then uncovered, and the bets paid out.
 I am also told that the game is indeed in very ill repute, but rather surprisingly, one may find examples of these decks ( or at least the Harifuda) more easily than mekuri decks, or indeed kabufuda. I belive that some of these decks may have been ordered in error, as the spelling of Harifuda and Hanafuda is so close.

"Jie mi pu ke"

"Jie mi pu ke" ( 解密撲克)[ mystery solving poker"] -- "卡之王" ( "kazhiwang" , "king of cards") 54c.

 The following children's deck is a testament to Chinese ingenuity. Aldough the deck is printed on poor quality cardboard, and the printing is much off register, the maker managed to squeze six seperate decks into the space of a patience sized one .

as you may see, the majority of the card is taken up by a depiction of a superhero . however, notice that, beside the index signs, there are a pair of dice values.  there is also a circle, in which contains one ofthe symbols for "rock-paper-scissors".

to illustrate these features [and more] more clearly, I have labelled them bellow:

1- the standard index-signs

2- a pair of dice-values. evidently used as a substitute for dice

3- "rock paper scissors" symbols. - as above

4-"defence power"  - evidently used for a sort of comparing game

5- "attack power" - see above

6- a series of stars, each card hsving a diffrent number. Perhaps used for a comparing game?

The box that contains the cards, bears the legend:

" Jie mi pu ke must not be used for gambling"

This is all for a very good reason, as the cards come supplied with a little plastic sheet. if you place the backs of the cards to the plastic sheet, their value may be discerned.

note the faint "3 ❤"

D'Israeli on gaming

In 1791, Issac D'Israeli ( father to Benjamin Disraeli, the prime minister) published a book called "curiosities of literature". This book proved so popular ( it was a kind of Misclaney ) that he added two more volumes, and later wrote a further three volumes in a "new series"

In the first volume of series 1, D'Israeli wrote a little section on "Gaming".
In it he informs us that.....

Evidently, addiction to gambling is as strong as in 1791 as it is today.

And I wish a happy new year to all my Dear readers.