Posted on 03/20/2019 9:29:35 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Chinese archaeologists have examined a batch of bamboo slips unearthed from a Western Han Dynasty (202 BC-8 AD) tomb and found they recorded the long-lost rules of "liubo", an ancient Chinese board game.
More than 5,200 bamboo slips were excavated from the tomb of the Marquis of Haihun near Nanchang in eastern China's Jiangxi Province. Over 1,000 of them were recently confirmed to be inscribed with the rules of liubo, according to the institute of excavated text research at Peking University, which is in charge of examining the items.
Liubo, literally "six sticks," is a two-player board game dating back over 2,000 years and believed to be the ancestor of Xiangqi, or Chinese chess. It was immensely popular among royals and commoners during the Western Han Dynasty, but its exact rules were lost after the Tang Dynasty (618-907).Zhu Fenghan, director of the institute, said that it is the first time that the detailed rules of liubo have been found, although the game is referenced in several ancient Chinese texts and game boards and pieces have been found in a number of Western Han Dynasty tombs.
Zhu said further research into the bamboo slips would help archaeologists reconstruct the game's rules.
The tomb of the Marquis of Haihun is part of China's most complete Western Han Dynasty cemetery. The excavation of the tomb began in 2011, with more than 10,000 artifacts unearthed so far.
(Excerpt) Read more at xinhuanet.com ...
Bamboo slips unearthed in ancient tomb in Shanxi Source: Xinhua| 2018-11-20 16:46:53|Editor: Liangyu
Much coolness!
LOL!
It’s amazing, it was hugely popular throughout the society, then plllt, everyone just lost interest.
Sort of like Pokemon Go.
Big, big marketing opportunity. I’d like to learn to play.... must be lots of folks who would.
Looking forward to seeing the rules of the game:)
What about Risk?? Were there rules for Risk found?!?!
Monopoly?? Did they say Free Parking gets the money in the pot or was that a lie back then too!!?
I am a board game fanatic. I cant wait to find out what the rules are. I will hop fully get a chance to try and play it in the future at least once.
“NO. MOPES. The answer is MOPES.”
Game on!
Good point, probably that'll be the next use for bambooo -- bamboo game board for "six sticks".
That was a short-lived phenom. One night at the peak of it, dozens of kids in small groups were wandering around my small hometown.
And here, I just learned how to play GO.
Surely there was an Arnold Rimmer type who kept a Risk type campaign book.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_Ovgnp2KXk
I buy the odd board game off Ebay that are vintage and usually related to some old TV show I like.
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