Liubo
Liubo , or Liupo (Chinese: 六 博; pinyin: liù bó, meaning: six sticks), was an ancient Chinese board game . It was around 1500 BC. Popular to AD 600.
Game board
According to Röllicke, the twelve 曲 道 , qūdào - "angular paths " are most important for the game of drawing . These are - as already in 139 BC. Described in the book Huainanzi - according to the cosmological system 二 繩 四 鉤 , èrshéng sìgōu - "2 ropes - 4 hooks" arranged (cf. also Chinese compass and Lo Pan ). One "rope" connects south and north, the other connects west and east. According to Röllicke (ibid), the 4 "angles", which each link two secondary directions, characterize:
- "the cyclical intermediate values of the lunar months (divided into two halves of six in accordance with the six yin and six yang of the tone scale),
- the phases of the twelve earth years of Jupiter,
- the location of the star houses and also the
- Markings of the twelve phases of each day ".
In this way the sky (circle) is projected onto the earth (square).
Play utensils
In two archaeological finds there were so-called "Sendtäfelchen", which meticulously list all grave goods ( Mawangdui and Fenghuangshan ):
| Mawangdui | Fenghuangshan |
|---|---|
| 12 qi ["game pieces"] (6 white, 6 black) |
dito |
| 20 zhishi qi [“game pieces put down to eat”] "fish"? |
dito |
| 30 suan [“counting stem”] (short) tokens or slips in the form of sticks |
dito |
| 12 suan [“counting stem”] (long) | dito |
| 1 gedao ["cutting knife"] | dito |
| 1 xiao ["cutting edge"] | dito |
| Wooden cube with 18 sides (象 XXXX) cai [“picker, collector”] or qiong structure of the cube (surfaces): jiao 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 12 - 1 - 11 - 2 - 9 - 5 - 10 - 3 4 - 6 - 7 - 8 white |
eighteen sided cube |
| - | bo ["rods"] |
| - | 1 boxi [“mat for the sticks”] |
| - | 1 bonang [“case for the sticks”]. |
The “six sticks” (split bamboo tubes; known from other finds) are not listed!
Rules of the game
The rules of the game are not handed down. In the literature it is sometimes described as a war game played with dice, as well as an ordinary board game. Presumably the rules and character of the game have changed a lot over the years. The game pieces are usually referred to as fish, stones and owls, more rarely as generals and pawns (analogous to the game of chess). The Chinese scholar Lien-shen Yang tried to reconstruct the rules. In his opinion, Liubo was played by two players with six stones and six sticks each.
literature
- Lien-sheng Yang: A Note on the so-called TLV Mirrors and the Game liu-po 六 博. Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Volume 9, No. 3/4, 1947, pp. 202-206
- Lien-sheng Yang: An Additional Note on the Ancient Game Liu-po. In: Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Vol. 15, No. 1/2, June 1952, pp. 124-139.
- Hermann-Josef Röllicke: About "Winkelwegen", "Eulen" and "Fischziehern" - Liubo: an old Chinese board game for ghosts and people (PDF file; 319 kB). In: The International Society for Board Game Studies , Vol. 2, 1999, PDF, 320kb.
- Peter Wiedehage: Liubo game board. In: Roger Goepper et al. (Ed.): Ancient China. People and gods in the Middle Kingdom. 5000 BC BC – 220 AD. Ruhr Cultural Foundation, Essen, Villa Hügel, June 2, 1995–5. November 1995, Hirmer, Munich 1995, pp. 334-337.
Web links
- Jean-Louis Cazaux: Liubo , accessed September 23, 2008.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Hermann-Josef Röllicke: From "Winkelwege", "Eulen" and "Fischziehern" - Liubo: an old Chinese board game for ghosts and people ( Memento of the original from February 1, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and still Not checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF file; 319 kB), p. 34 ff., In: The International Society for Board Game Studies , Vol. 2, 1999, PDF, 320kb.
- ↑ Hermann-Josef Röllicke: From "Winkelwege", "Eulen" and "Fischziehern" - Liubo: an old Chinese board game for ghosts and people ( Memento of the original from February 1, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and still Not checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF file; 319 kB). S. 27 f., In: The International Society for Board Game Studies . Vol. 2, 1999, PDF, 320kb.
