Page 151 - A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols BIG Book

G

Games

youxi

Many games that now enjoy worldwide popularity were invented in China: kite-flying is
perhaps the most obvious example. Then there is the magic square, which it is said
appeared to Emperor Yu one day when he was walking by the river Lo. And chess
itself, of which there are many varieties in China, is supposed to have been developed
from a mysterious document known as the ‘Plan of the Yellow River’.
The first known reference to playing cards also occurs in ancient Chinese literature.
They appear to have developed from the ancient game of ‘pot-throwing’ (tou hu) during
the Tang Dynasty (618–906), the apogee of Chinese culture. Since then, Chinese playing
cards have been rectangular and very small: they are often compared to the leaves of
plants. It is particularly at New Year, when the children get lots of toys, that women
play the ‘leaf-game’ (ye-zi xi).
The domino too is first mentioned in ancient Chinese documents, and here again fact
and fancy are inextricably mixed up as in the case of other games.

Playing cards and dice

Dui-z is a kind of party game, played by scholars and literati. One player utters a
sentence; the second player then utters a parallel sentence – i.e. each component of the
second sentence must formally and positionally reflect the corresponding component in