Long cards 5 -- (Double faced Nantong pattern)

[Double faced Nantong Pattern], Rugao city First poker-card factory, 120c+5.
花王紙牌， 如臯市撲克牌一廠120c+5

The following pattern is made by the same maker as Nantong pattern referred to earlier.
The pattern appears to be a double-faced version of the Nantong pattern. I have yet to find any information about this pattern in the literature.

The suit of coins. Looking at the Nantong pattern, it is clear these patterns share a family resemblance. The most notable difference is the size of the printed area. In the standard Nantong pattern, the printed image occupies half the card's area, unlike the present deck. 

The cards are of a "Double ended" design, a feature best seen in the ace and  Bai Hua card. Note the Yin-yang symbol on the card. It appears both as a motif in the centre, as well as a red stamp 

The suit of strings, I apologize that some of the cards (7,5,5 and 3) are displayed upside-down.

On the 8 of strings the maker's name is shown in small characters (hua wang)

The suit of myriads Like the Nantong pattern, the cards' values are displayed using dots. Here the double ended feature is most in evidence. Comparing the cards with those of the standard Nantong pattern reveals a sort of family resemblance, but the cards are not identical. Notably, the pips are the mirror image of those in the Nantong deck.

The Jokers in the deck. Like the other Nantong pattern,  there are five Jokers, each named 福, (Fortune) ,祿(Rank) ,壽, (Longevity) ,喜( Joy) , 財(wealth)   But the jokers in this deck are all named 百塔, and bear the same motif. By contrast, In the single-faced Nantong deck,one of the Jokers (labelled 喜, Joy ) is labelled 小先生-- Little Sir

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. 

"Long cards" 1: Nantong pattern 南通长牌

[Nantong pattern], "Flower-king playing-cards"  Rugao city poker-card factory. 120c.+5
《南通长牌》--“花王纸牌” 如皋市扑克牌一厂. 120+5 張

The term 长牌 means "Long cards"  The Chinese use this term to refer to several kinds of  Traditional playing-cards. Such a term is unknown in the West. occidental catalogers prefer to classify such cards by their suit-system [Vide S. Mann]. The western classification has its benefits, but we shall use the Chinese term as our guide here, leading our way through the different types of cards used in China.  Some of these cards may seem familiar. But there is little in the western literature beyond photographs of them. In this series, we shall remedy this defect, exploring these mysterious pieces of paper in more detail

I start off with one such deck, which I call the "Nantong pattern". It has a special place in my heart. Until recently, it was the greatest regret of my collecting career.

Sometime in 2010-2012, I was in Geylang, Singapore . It is a place famed for its food, and brothels. Walking back from a restaurant, I noticed something in a drain. Drawing closer, it turned out to be a pile of playing-cards. They were of the Chinese style, but of a pattern I never saw before. The bottom of the cards looked like the common Ceki cards that were used in this part of the world.  But The top half of the cards was occupied with a figure. Furthermore, the cards in the suit of myriads were not marked with the legend 萬, or any Chinese numeral. Instead, they were marked with dots, like dice.  I did not pick the cards up. After all, they might have been the remnants of an illegal gambling den. But a regret lingered in my mind.

  The only other time I saw the cards, was in a mahjong-set. A piece of cardstock, on which the pattern had been printed was used to hold the dice. Other sets in that shop had paper with remnants of domino-suited cards serving the same function. But it seemed preposterous to buy a whole mahjong set for a single scrap of paper. I let that pass too.

One day, whilst idly searching the internet, I found an image of these very same cards. I Clicked on the link. It led to the shop of a merchant, who sold these cards on the Chinese website Taobao. I ordered the cards at once.

*** 

The cards are known as 南通长牌-- Nantong long cards. Nantong is a city on the Yangtze river, Jiangsu. They are printed by [Rugao city poker-card factory] This deck is similar to Catalog No. 245B in Sylvia Mann's All cards on the table , but the decks are not identical. The differences will be noted at the bottom of the page. The chief difference are the figures attached to the tops of the cards. Sylvia Mann's deck seems to be made by a maker called 景記

In the notes that follow, I am indebted to Hu Baishen胡柏生 and Du Guoyuan杜国元's  book nantong long-cards-- Talking about Dazihe (南通长牌-- 话说搭子和). published by 大众文艺出版社. This book explicates the cards themselves, as well as their history and the game played with them. Readers unfamiliar with Chinese Money-suited cards may wish to peruse https://anthonylesq.blogspot.sg/2016/08/chik-kee-cards.html 

 There are three suits: Coins, Strings and myriads. Each has cards ranking one to nine. In addition, there are three extra cards, called "Generals". There are four copies of each of these cards. The deck thus contains 120 cards   The deck also has a set of five "jokers", giving a grand total of 125 cards.

The Suit of Coins, or 饼. The Chinese word literally means " Cake". Some take it as an allusion to the cake-like ingots of silver formerly used in China.  The bottom part of the card depicts the suit-symbols proper to the card's rank. The top half of the card depicts the figure of a person. The description of the cards is adapted from Hu and Du's work. 

1: Sha Wujing, or Friar Sand. He is one of the protagonists of the Journey to the west. The bottom part of the card  depicts Shi Qian, a character from The water margin, another Chinese novel

2: Li Tieguai, one of the eight immortals

3:Zhu Bajie, a protagonist from the Journey to the West. He has the head of a pig, and bears a rake, his trademark weapon. 

4:Tang Sanzang, yet another protagonist from the the Journey to the West. He is shown riding his horse, who will carry him to India to fetch the true scriptures of Buddhism. 

5: Sun Wukong, the beloved "Monkey" of the the Journey to the West. Along with Sha Wujing and Zhi bajie, Sun wukong protects the mild-mannered Tang Zanzang in his quest. 

6: Turtle spirit.

7:Clam spirit

8: Liu Hai chan, a Chinese immortal

9: The Qilin bestowing sons. 

The first "General card" is the white flower 白花 The card itself depicts Ruan Xiauwu, a character from The water margin. The Chinese words in black are 优极 "Excellent quality"  A red overprint covers them. It depicts Taibai Jinxing, the celestial messenger in the Journey to the West.  

The suit of strings.   The figures here are Chinese immortals. 

1: Taishang Laojun, one of the three pure ones of Taoism

2: Lu dongbin, One of the eight immortals. 

3: Cao Guojiu,  another of the eight immortals. 

4: Han Xiangzi, Another of the eight immortals. He plays the flute,being the patron of flutists. 

5: Zhongli Quan, with his magical fan. He is also one of the eight immortals. 

6: Zhang Guolao, another of the Eight Immortals. 

7: Bai niangzi , Madam white snake. From the eponymous drama. 

8: The subject of the red overprint is "The heavenly official gives blessings" 天官赐福. The Chinese characters are 如皋市扑克牌一厂, the maker's name. 

 9: The black Chinese character is 如, written in the archaic seal script. For its significance, see below. 

The second General card is the 红花, or Red Flower. It depicts Wu Song, one of the characters from The water margin. He is depicted with bulging eyes, a bare chest [with a pair of nipples!] and a pair of boots. The boots seem strangely unconnected to his body. 

The Red flower and nine of strings have the same overprint: A flower. 

The suit of myriads. In Other kinds of money-suited card, the values in this suit are shown by Chinese numerals. In this deck, the values are marked by dots. In addition to the figures in the top half of the card, the bottom part depicts yet another person. I will mark the figure on the top half by T, and the bottom half by B. Characters from the water margin are be marked with the initials WM

1: T: Hu sanniang, B: Yan Qing, (both WM)

2: T: Lan Caihe, one of the eight immortals B: Yang Zhi (WM)

3T: Guan Sheng B: Li kui, both from WM

4: T: Lu zhishen, alias Monk Hua,  B: Chai Jin (both WM)

5: T: He xiangu, one of the eight immortals B; Li Jun (WM)

6: T: Shi Jin. B: Sun Li (both WM)

7: T: Zhu tong B: Qin Ming (both WM)

8: Red overprint: Wu Yong B: Ruan Xiaoqi, the "Living king of hell"  (both WM)

9: T: The words 塑光.  B Lei Heng (WM) . The card has an overprint of a red flower

The last General is the 千子, or "Thousand children". Unique the other general cards, it is depicted as if it were a member of this suit, bearing ten dots. The card depicts Ruan Xiaowu, again from The Water Margin. The red overprint seems to have an inscription in seal-script, but unfortunately I cannot understand it. 

The five jokers. Four of them are marked 百搭- "Hundred connections". One of them is marked 小先生-- “ Little Sir" . On the other end,the cards bear one of the following words; 财[wealth] ,禄[rank],寿[longevity] , 福[fortune] and 喜[joy]. The top half of the cards depicts an animal. 

The inscriptions on the four cards above reads 江蘇如皋-- Jiangsu, Rugao [city]. The place where the cards are made. 

The main game played with this deck is called 笃子胡 or 搭子胡 in a subsequent post, I will describe the rules of the game.

Notes on Sylvia Mann's Catalog 245B 

As mentioned above, a very similar deck of cards is featured in Sylvia Mann's  Alle Karten auf den tisch / All cards on the table [ 1990] She dates the deck to the late 19th century,. The deck possesses 120 cards, [4 x 30] plus five cards-- exactly the same as the Rugao deck. Her notes on the deck are sparse. She notes the domino-like markings on the suit of myriads, and the figures on the top of the cards.  The image used to illustrate them is below:

Here are my observations on the cards.

Top row: The five jokers. They are much more elaborate than the cards of the Rugao deck

2nd row [from top] : The ace through Nine of Myriads, ace on the right, Nine on the right. The figures on the top of the cards are different from the rugao deck. The clam spirit is on the 4 of myriads, instead of the 7 of coins. The Eight of Myriads [ 2nd card from left] has the legend 永興, Yong Xing --" Eternally flourishing" 

3rd row [from top] The ace through Nine of Strings

Bottom row: From the left, The Nine, Eight, Seven, Six and Five of coins, followed by the thousand children, Red flower and White flower. The Six of coins bears the legend 景記, which may be the maker's name.

Like the Rugao deck, the Nine of Strings, Thousand children and Red flower  bear an inscription in the Seal script. Unfortunately I am incapable of reading the whole inscription,

The inscription on the Nine of myriads [2nd row, 1st from left]  is 雲.
The inscription on the Nine of strings  [3rd row, 1st from left] is 商
I am unable to read the inscription on the Ten of Myriads [ Bottom row, 6th from left]
The inscription on the Red flower [bottom row, 7th from left]  may be 實