Posted on 06/05/2006 4:00:02 PM PDT by blam
Ancient engraved chessboards found on Great Wall
Archaeologists have found two ancient engraved chessboards probably used by soldiers on the Great Wall more than 700 years ago at Qinhuangdao, North China's Hebei Province.
The two boards, one for Chinese chess and the other for the ancient game "Tiger Eats Sheep", were engraved on a stone in front of a Great Wall beacon tower possibly in the Song Dynasty (960-1279), said officials with the provincial department of cultural relics.
Archaeologists believe that soldiers from all parts of ancient China used to play chess to while away the time on the remote wall.
The chessboards were never mentioned in documents on the Great Wall or in local chronicles, said an official.
However, more work was needed to identify the exact date of the boards, he added.
Archaeologists have also found 17 Chinese characters in five lines engraved on a stone nearby, of which the names of two soldiers are still clear.
China's first emperor, Qinshihuang, founder of Qin Dynasty, had the Wall built as a defense by over one million workers in 12 years against attack by the Xiongnu, an ancient nationality in North China.
Rebuilt many times through the centuries, the wall stretches 6,000 kilometers from Jiayuguan Pass in northwestern Gansu Province to end at Shanhaiguan Pass on the shores of Bohai Bay in the east.
Source: Xinhua
cool
Hmmm.... it would be difficult to play Chinese Checkers on a vertical stone.
The scoreboard?
-PJ
He means pawns doesn't he?
yitbos
GGG Ping.
"in front of a great wall beacon"
SO true.
I thought the same thing, but somewhere in the article it says it was engraved on stone in front of the wall.
Chess was invented in India and was given to Persia as a military challenge. This was long before the Arab/moslem conquest of Persia. There was regular and continuing communication between China, India, and Persia in those days, and a couple of wars but they generally refrained from war.
[singing] "watch the moon Pass over Shanhaiguan, and watch the sun go down on Bohai Bay..."
Have traveled, will ping.
Have Gun, Will Travel.
Paladin
I just saw an interesting program on TV. The largest copper mine in the world is in Wales and it was already being mined when Stonehenge was being built. (I didn't know that!)
"it would be difficult to play Chinese Checkers on a vertical stone"
I thought the same thing, but somewhere in the article it says it was engraved on stone in front of the wall.
The Great Wall is flat on the top and has the equivalent of a road up there. It is very wide, and lots of tourists walk along the upper part of the wall. So it would be easy to have chess boards (or hopscotch), or anything else up on top of the Great Wall.
Copper mining is very old. Of course, as elements go, it'll never take me alive.
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