The same general name [Sugoroku] would be given by the Japanese to the following Chinese game, which I have occasionally seen played by the clerks in Chinese stores in our cities. Shing kun t'o, the "table of the promotion of the officials," is the celebrated game which is best known through Dr. Hyde's account as "the game of the promotion of Mandarins."1
It is played by two or more persons upon a large paper diagram, on which are printed the titles of the different officials and dignitaries of the Chinese Government. The movements are made by throwing dice, and the players, whose positions upon the diagram are indicated by notched or colored splints, are advanced or set back, according to their throws.2 The following story was related to me concerning the invention of the game: [Page 505]
The Emperor Kienlung (AD 1736-1796) was in the habit of walking at nightfall among the houses occupied by the candidates for the degree of Hanlin, who came up to Peking for the triennial examination; and hearing night after night, the song of the dice issuing from one of them, he summoned the offender before him to explain his conduct. In excuse, fearing punishment, be told the Emperor that he had constructed a chart, on which were written the names of all the official positions in the Government, and that he and his friends threw dice, and according to their throws traversed the board, and were thus impressed with a knowledge of the various ranks and steps leading to official advancement. The Emperor commanded him to bring the chart for his inspection. That night the unfortunate graduate, whose excuse was a fiction created at the moment, sat until daybreak, pencil in hand, and made a chart according to his story, which he carried to the Emperor. That august prince professed to be much pleased with the diligence of the scholar who improved his mind, even while amusing himself, and dismissed him with many commendations.
This familiar sounding story cannot be accepted without question, especially since it will be seen that Dr. Hide published his account many years before the period mentioned; but his informant, a clerk in a Chinese shop in Philadelphia, may not have stated the date correctly.
The paper charts for the game may be purchased at the Chinese stores in New York and San Francisco. The names of the different offices are arranged upon them in rectangular divisions, alongside each of which is a tablet with the name of the board or class under which those within it are included. They ascend from the lowest to the highest in successive stages, arranged in order around the chart from right to left, and from the outer division, which is devoted to provincial officials, to the innermost, which has the titles of the members of the metropolitan administration. The center is occupied with rules for playing. Four dice are thrown in turn by each placer, instead of 6, as formerly recorded by Dr. Hyde. Entrance is obtained by making a cast, either of 4 alike, by which the player is at once advanced to an '"hereditary rank;" of "three, four, five, six," called ch'ün fà; of 3 alike [Page 506] or 2 alike. All of these throws, in descending order, enable the player to enter one of the positions from which advancement may be obtained. Subsequent promotion depends upon the throw, doublets enabling the player to move once; 3 alike, twice; and 4 alike, 3 times. "Double fours" count highest, "double sixes" next, and so on down to "ones," through which the player is set back. The appropriate mote for each throw is indicated in small characters beneath each of the titles on the chart.
A curious contrast is presented between the little sheet reproduced by Dr. Hyde (Figure 13), upon which only the principal officials of the Ming dynasty are represented, and that now current, whereon may be seen the innumerable ramifications of the Chinese "civil service" under the present Tartar domination.
The charts such as I have seen used in the United Stales are printed in Canton, and bear an impression about 23 inches square. They are divided into 63 compartments, exclusive of the central one and the place for entering at the lower right-hand corner. The latter contains the names of 13 different starting places from yan shang, or "honorary licentiate," down to t'ung shang, or "student," between which are included the positions of t'ín man shang, "astrologer," and í shang, "physician." These are entered at the commencement of the game by the throws of "three, four, five, six," 3 "fours," 3 "sixes," 3 "fives," 3 "threes," 3 "twos," and 3 "ones;" and then in the same manner double "fours," and so on down to double "ones."
The 63 compartments, representing as many classes of officials or degrees of rank, comprise 397 separate titles, of which the highest, and the highest goal of the game, is that of man fá tin tai hok sz', or " grand secretary." This, however, under favorable conditions, can only be reached by a player who starts from a favorable point, advancement in the game being regulated by rules similar to those which actually regulate promotion under the Government. Thus a player whose fortune it is to enter as a physician or astrologer can only obtain promotion in the line of his service, and must be content with a minor goal, as he is ineligible to the high civil office of "grand secretary."
The dice are thrown into a bowl placed in the center of the sheet, the players throwing in turn, and each continuing to throw until he has made a cast of doublets or higher. It is noticeable that "fours," as in Dr. Hyde's account, constitute the highest throw. A pair of "fours," according to the rules, is to be reckoned as tak, "virtue," and leads to a higher place than those of other numbers. "Sixes" are next highest, and are to be reckoned as ts'oi, "genius; " and in the same manner, in descending degree, "fives" are to be reckoned as kung, "skill;" "threes" as léung,"forethought;" "twos" as yau, "tractability;" and "ones," chong, "stupidity."
The game is much complicated by being played for money or counters, which is necessary under the rules. By this means advancement may be purchased, degradation compounded for, and the winner of a high position rewarded. [Page 507]
The main point of difference in the game as it exists today and as described by Dr. Hyde is in the number of dice employed. The enlarged form of the diagram is of minor importance, as he himself says that the names of the officials written on the tablet are many or few, according to the pleasure of the players.
The game of shing kùn t'o and the Japanese game of many stations, described under the name of sugoroku, I regard as having been derived from the ancient Tartar game played with staves, which exists at the present day in Korea under the name of nyout-nol-ki. As to the backgammon game, which I consider to be a development of the same game, and which I have described as existing in Korea, China, Japan, Siam, and the Malay Peninsula, I am uncertain whether it is indigenous, has come over from India, or been acquired from the Portuguese or Spaniards in the fifteenth or sixteenth century.
Notes:
1. De Ludis Orientalibus, p. 70.
2. A similar but much simpler game, with the
titles of Japanese instead of Chinese officials, is played in Japan under the
name of kuwanroku.
Last update January 31, 2010