Chong ün ch'au is a game played with tallies, ch'au, the highest of which is called chong ün, the name given the Optimus at the examinations for the degree of Hanlin, whence I have styled it "The Game of the Chief of the Literati." (Plate 3 - US National Museum, Cat. No. 153605 - from Kwangtung, China. Two or more persons may play, using 6 dice and 63 bamboo tallies. The latter receive the following names:
First: One piece about 6 inches in length, called chong űn, the first of the Hanlin doctors. This counts as 32.
Second: Two shorter pieces called pong ngán, second of the Hanlin, t' ám fá, third of the Hanlin. Each count as 16.
Third: Four shorter pieces called úi ün, the First of the tsun sz', or literary graduates of the third degree. Each count as 8.
Fourth: Eight shorter pieces called tsun zs', literary graduates of the third degree. Each count as 4.
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Fifth: Sixteen shorter pieces called kü yan, graduates of the second degree. Each count as 2.
Sixth: Thirty-two shorter pieces called sau ts'oi, graduates of the first degree. Each count as 1. The first, second, and third classes bear rude pictures and names, but the others are, usually distinguished only by their size.
Two or more persons can play. The players throw in turn from right to left, and after throwing each draws the tallies he is entitled to according to the appended table. If the tally called for by a throw has been drawn , its value may be made up from the remaining ones; but the winner of the chong ün must surrender it without compensation if another player makes a higher throw than that by which he won it. The one who counts highest becomes the winner. The game is said to be played by women and children, and is not played by the Chinese laborers in the eastern United States, although they are generally acquainted with it.
A set of implements for this game from Johore in the collection of His Highness the Sultan at the Columbian Exposition was similar to that above described, and was evidently of Chinese workmanship. It was catalogued under the name chong wan chiam (chong ün ch'au), the tallies being called buah-buah bertulis. The throws in chong ün ch'au, in the order of their rank, are: 6 "fours." 6 "fives", 6 "twos", 6 "sixes", 6 "threes", 6 "ones". These throws are called ts'un shik, and take all the tallies:
Each of the these throws counts as thirty-two, and takes the chong ün.
Each count as 16, and takes either the pong ngán or t'ám. Three "fours" with any combination except those mentioned count as 8, and take one of the úi ün. Four "sixes," 4 "fives," 4 "threes," 4 "twos," or 4 "ones," with any combination of 2 dice except those already mentioned count as 4, and take one of the tsun sz'. Two "fours" count as 2 and take one of the kü yan. One "four" counts as 1, and takes one of the sau ts'oi.
The Chinese game similar to backgammon, which that accomplished scholar, Dr. Thomas Hyde, described in his work on Oriental games under the name of Chinensium-Nerdiludium (The Nerd Game of the Chinese)1 is not played by the Chinese laborers in America, nor do any I have met appear to be acquainted with it (Figure 4.)
According to Dr. Hyde, it is called by Chinese Coan Kï, which he ranslates as erectus ludus, or erectorum ludus, but which might be rendered as "the bottle game" or "bottle chess" Coan (tsun), meaning a vase or bottle, and Kï (k'í) being a generic name for games played with men as chess.
This game is played with dice and small upright pillars, from which the name is derived. The board is divided into eight equal parts by transverse lines, and the pieces, which are from 2 to 3 inches high and number 16 on each side, are arranged upon it when the playing commences, as seen in the figure.
The pieces are moved line by line, according to the throws with the dice, from the places on the left to the eighth place on the right, and from thence ascending to the [Page 499] opposite side and back to the starting place, the player who first gets all his pieces there wining the game.
Two dice are thrown, and the pieces are rooted to the places which the number of the throws directs. One may move whatever piece or pieces one chooses, according to the number, either pieces which have been moved before or those which have not yet been moved. If, instead of upright pieces, one plays with small flat discs, which is also permitted, they may be placed side by side or piled on top of each other, as seems must convenient.
A throw of 2 "ones" causes a piece to be set aside and delivered up as lost, or, if the game is played for money, it loses the player the tenth part of his stakes. Whoever throws "twos" or "threes" begins moving to the second or third lines, and so on. If doublets are thrown, one may move to the place corresponding to the half number of such doublets; and this may be done by moving 1 piece once to such half number, or 2 pieces at the same time to the place corresponding with such whole number, for in this case either 1 or 2 pieces together may be moved. If "five" and "six," which make 11, are thrown, one may move 1 piece to the fifth place and another to the eleventh, or else move 2 pieces at the same time to the tenth line or place, and then 1 of them to the nest line, which is the eleventh. And thus with respect to other throws: If single (as "two" and " four "), for the single numbers move as many places, but if joined (as "five" and "six,"), then otherwise, as already stated.
Notes: 1. De Ludis Orientalibus, Oxford, 1694, p. 65.
Last update January 31, 2010