Cubical Dice
Cubical dice, descended from Astralgi or sheeps' knuckle bones, made their way from Sumeria throughout the world. They had arrived in India by the 600s, and China by the 700s.
Chinese Dominoes
Dominoes are a Chinese invention; our western dominoes are a copy of theirs. Dominoes are, in turn, a representation of all possible combinations of a roll of two dice. There are 21 possible combinations, and with a blank tile that makes 22 unique dominoes.
In China, there is little distinction between gaming tiles made of bone or plastic and gaming cards made of paper. The same games are played with both types of gaming pieces, and they are used interchangeably.
Some scholars think that dominoes are the progenitors of money cards, and some have even tried to argue that the number 22 ties dominoes to the trumps of a Tarot deck.
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Image Gallery
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Chinese Domino
W. H. Wilkinson. Chinese origin of playing cards. American Anthropologist, Jan., 1895.
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Chinese Domino
W. H. Wilkinson. Chinese origin of playing cards. American Anthropologist, Jan., 1895.
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Chinese Domino
Chinese Domino. Willshire, W.H. A descriptive catalogue of playing and other cards in the British museum. Printed by order of the trustees, 1876.
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Chinese Domino
Chinese Domino. Willshire, W.H. A descriptive catalogue of playing and other cards in the British museum. Printed by order of the trustees, 1876.
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Chinese Domino
Chinese Domino. Willshire, W.H. A descriptive catalogue of playing and other cards in the British museum. Printed by order of the trustees, 1876.
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Chinese Domino
Chinese Domino. Willshire, W.H. A descriptive catalogue of playing and other cards in the British museum. Printed by order of the trustees, 1876.
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Chinese Domino
Chinese Domino. Willshire, W.H. A descriptive catalogue of playing and other cards in the British museum. Printed by order of the trustees, 1876.
×
Chinese Domino
Chinese Domino. Willshire, W.H. A descriptive catalogue of playing and other cards in the British museum. Printed by order of the trustees, 1876.
×
Chinese Domino
Chinese Domino. Willshire, W.H. A descriptive catalogue of playing and other cards in the British museum. Printed by order of the trustees, 1876.
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Tags: chinese, dice, china, history, 0827, asian
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Tags: chinese, china, playing cards, asian, 1294, history
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