Written by: Staff Report
Posted on: January 27, 2020 | 
| 中文
(L) A Traditional Go Board and Pieces and Woman Playing Go (Tang Dynasty) (photo credits to wikimedia commons) (R)
Just like in Pakistan, board games have existed and been widely loved in China since the beginnings of Chinese civilizations. While board games in China have not been as popular as board games in the US, they have a significant following among local people. There are board game bars in cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Xiamen and Chengdu. Chinese people do not only see these board games as pastimes, or opportunities to compete against family and friends. They believe that each game is an opportunity to mediate, reflect and think about the deeper meanings behind each step.
Many Chinese board games have gained international recognition via the Chinese immigrants who carry these games with them to new countries. But this flow has been two-way, as international games such as ‘UNO’, ‘Magic: The Gathering’, ‘Yu-Gi-Oh!’ and ‘Monopoly’ are also popular amongst teenagers and young people of different generations across China. However, the following list presents traditional and authentically Chinese board games still played in China and the rest of the world.
A Board Game Bar in Chengdu (photocredits ot goChengdu)
This is said to be one of the oldest games ever played by any civilization, and one of the hardest to master. The story goes that Emperor Yao created this game to entertain and educate his wayward son, Dan Zhu some 3000-4000 years ago. The words ‘wei’ and ‘qi’ mean “surrounding game”, and Go was established as a gentlemen’s sport by Confucius (around 500 BC). Go has spread far and wide, reaching Korea and Japan, with professional players starting their careers as young school children.
Go is played on a 19X19 square board, and relies on simple ideas: black and white, square and circle, stone and wood. You place your colored piece on the intersection of these points, but you cannot move the pieces from there. The goal is to capture the opponent’s pieces as prisoners by surrounding them or controlling empty territory between your pieces (to find out more intricacies of the game, please click the link).
Chinese Men Playing Board Games in Shanghai in 1880
In 2017, Go made headlines when a Google artificial intelligence program AlphaGo taught itself the rules of the game. It beat 19-year-old Ke Jie, the previous human Go master player on a 2-0 score. According to Ke, the algorithm presented new and innovative techniques that he was not aware were possible.
Ke Jie Losing to AlphaGo (photo credits to dailymail)
It is said that Chess traveled to China from India, with records as far back as the Warring States period (475-221BC) speaking of courts playing the game. In fact, the Chinese word ‘Xianqi’ directly translates to ‘Elephant’s Chess’, which could allude to the elephants of India. Instead of the iconic chess pieces, Chinese Chess have small circle pieces which words such as ‘elephant’, ‘chancellor’, ‘flying horse’, ‘wagon’ on them.
Ke Jie Losing to AlphaGo (photo credits to dailymail)
The rules of Chinese Chess are quite similar to traditional chess: you must take the opponent’s king whilst protecting one’s own king. But Chinese Chess departs from its counterpart in many ways, starting with the fact that there are less pieces on the board. Also there is a line exactly in the middle of the chess board, which represents a river of peace between two powerful and warring kingdoms. This river can only be crossed in certain circumstances, and sometimes changes the powers of the pieces as they cross it.
Mahjong is one of the most popular and internationally recognized table games from China, which dates as far back as the Qin Dynasty. However, the game as it is now played, was crafted in Shanghai in the mid-late 1800s. It is a fast paced, four-person game that closely resembles gin rummy. The goal is to make sets of three or four tiles with the same matching symbols before your opponents, and each game often attracts crowds of people.
Ivory Mahjong Tiles with Traditional Chinese Images
Chairman Mao Zedong famously said about the game, “If you know how to play it, you’ll have a better understanding of the relationship between chance and necessity. There is philosophy [behind] Mahjong.”
Mahjong has featured heavily in American imaginations because Chinese immigrants brought it to the land in the 1920’s. Mahjong parlors in the US provided an opportunity for Chinese immigrants to reminisce about home and create ties of community with people of similar circumstances. Many films and television series also showcase traditional Chinese households playing this game; most recently, the game featured in the pivotal final scene of the film, “Crazy Rich Asians”.
Through resources on the internet and online versions of these games, it is possible for anyone to learn these games. The next time you’re interested in trying a new board game, consider trying these traditional Chinese games. Not only do they demand your full attention, they teach you about what next step to take to win the game.
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