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Chinese playing cards
Playing cards (simplified Chinese: 纸牌; traditional Chinese: 紙牌; pinyin: zhǐpái) were most likely invented in China during the Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279). They were certainly in existence by the Mongol Yuan dynasty (1271-1368). Chinese use the word pái (牌), meaning "plaque", to refer to both playing cards and tiles. Many early sources are ambiguous, and do not specifically refer to paper pái (cards) or bone pái (tiles); but there is no difference in play between these, as either serves to hide one face from the other players with identical backs.
Many western scholars, like William Henry Wilkinson, Stewart Culin, Thomas F. Carter, and Michael Dummett attribute to the Chinese the invention of playing cards. Michael Dummett also contends that the concept of suits and the idea of trick-taking games were invented in China. Trick-taking games eventually became multi-trick games. These then evolved into the earliest type of rummy games during the eighteenth century. By the end of the monarchy, the vast majority of traditional Chinese card games were of the draw-and-discard or fishing variety. Chinese playing cards have been spread into Southeast Asia by Chinese immigrants.
The leaf game played from the reign of Emperor Yizong of Tang in 868 to the Northern Song dynasty (960–1127) is often mistaken for a card game but it is described as a type of Shengguan Tu, a board game played with dice in which players consulted the leaves (pages) of a book. Ouyang Xiu (1007-1072) and Li Qingzhao (1084 – c. 1155) recorded that the leaf game's rules were lost by their time. The writer Yáng Yì (974-1020) and his friends are the last known players of the leaf game.
The earliest unambiguous reference to playing cards is from a 1320 legal compilation, the Da Yuan shengzheng guochao dianzhang (大元聖政國朝典章), during the Yuan dynasty. It refers to a 17 July 1294 case in which two gamblers, Yan Sengzhu and Zheng Zhugou were arrested in Shandong along with nine of their paper playing cards and the woodblocks used to print them.
If a loose definition of "card game" is used, then wine cards are arguably the earliest playing cards since they originate in the Tang dynasty (618-907). They are used in drinking games involving rice wine. Players simply draw or are dealt a card and follow its instructions such as drinking a certain number of cups or making someone else drink. The popularity of wine cards peaked from the 16th to mid-17th centuries. "Eight Immortals Wine Cards" are still used in Sichuan. The game uses nine cards, the eponymous Eight Immortals and one for the poet Li Bai, a member of the Eight Immortals of the Wine Cup.
Some cards have illustrations and/or poetry on them. During the Ming dynasty, most packs were printed as dual-use decks, which allowed them to be used just like money-suited playing cards for other card games.
Chinese dominoes first appeared around the Southern Song dynasty and are derived from all twenty-one combinations of a pair of dice. They became available in card format around 1600 in Anhui. Though not visually apparent, they are divided into two suits: civil and military (originally Chinese and barbarian respectively until the Qing dynasty). The invention of the concept of suits increased the level of strategy in trick-taking games; the card of one suit cannot beat the card of another suit regardless of its rank. The idiosyncratic ranking and suits come from Chinese dice games.
Domino card decks come in different sizes. Smaller decks are used in trick-taking and banking games. 32-card decks, with the civil suit doubled, are used to play Tien Gow and Pai Gow. Larger decks, for rummy or fishing games, may have well over a hundred cards and can include wild cards.
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Chinese playing cards AI simulator
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Chinese playing cards
Playing cards (simplified Chinese: 纸牌; traditional Chinese: 紙牌; pinyin: zhǐpái) were most likely invented in China during the Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279). They were certainly in existence by the Mongol Yuan dynasty (1271-1368). Chinese use the word pái (牌), meaning "plaque", to refer to both playing cards and tiles. Many early sources are ambiguous, and do not specifically refer to paper pái (cards) or bone pái (tiles); but there is no difference in play between these, as either serves to hide one face from the other players with identical backs.
Many western scholars, like William Henry Wilkinson, Stewart Culin, Thomas F. Carter, and Michael Dummett attribute to the Chinese the invention of playing cards. Michael Dummett also contends that the concept of suits and the idea of trick-taking games were invented in China. Trick-taking games eventually became multi-trick games. These then evolved into the earliest type of rummy games during the eighteenth century. By the end of the monarchy, the vast majority of traditional Chinese card games were of the draw-and-discard or fishing variety. Chinese playing cards have been spread into Southeast Asia by Chinese immigrants.
The leaf game played from the reign of Emperor Yizong of Tang in 868 to the Northern Song dynasty (960–1127) is often mistaken for a card game but it is described as a type of Shengguan Tu, a board game played with dice in which players consulted the leaves (pages) of a book. Ouyang Xiu (1007-1072) and Li Qingzhao (1084 – c. 1155) recorded that the leaf game's rules were lost by their time. The writer Yáng Yì (974-1020) and his friends are the last known players of the leaf game.
The earliest unambiguous reference to playing cards is from a 1320 legal compilation, the Da Yuan shengzheng guochao dianzhang (大元聖政國朝典章), during the Yuan dynasty. It refers to a 17 July 1294 case in which two gamblers, Yan Sengzhu and Zheng Zhugou were arrested in Shandong along with nine of their paper playing cards and the woodblocks used to print them.
If a loose definition of "card game" is used, then wine cards are arguably the earliest playing cards since they originate in the Tang dynasty (618-907). They are used in drinking games involving rice wine. Players simply draw or are dealt a card and follow its instructions such as drinking a certain number of cups or making someone else drink. The popularity of wine cards peaked from the 16th to mid-17th centuries. "Eight Immortals Wine Cards" are still used in Sichuan. The game uses nine cards, the eponymous Eight Immortals and one for the poet Li Bai, a member of the Eight Immortals of the Wine Cup.
Some cards have illustrations and/or poetry on them. During the Ming dynasty, most packs were printed as dual-use decks, which allowed them to be used just like money-suited playing cards for other card games.
Chinese dominoes first appeared around the Southern Song dynasty and are derived from all twenty-one combinations of a pair of dice. They became available in card format around 1600 in Anhui. Though not visually apparent, they are divided into two suits: civil and military (originally Chinese and barbarian respectively until the Qing dynasty). The invention of the concept of suits increased the level of strategy in trick-taking games; the card of one suit cannot beat the card of another suit regardless of its rank. The idiosyncratic ranking and suits come from Chinese dice games.
Domino card decks come in different sizes. Smaller decks are used in trick-taking and banking games. 32-card decks, with the civil suit doubled, are used to play Tien Gow and Pai Gow. Larger decks, for rummy or fishing games, may have well over a hundred cards and can include wild cards.