CHINESE GAMES WITH DICE AND DOMINOES. 503 



The moves are made according to the throws of the dice, the name 

 being derived from that of the highest throw, suf/oroJcu (Chinese, s/imwp 

 luJc), or '-double sixes."* 



tSugorolcu appears to be of great antiquity in Japan. The Wa Kan 

 sdn sat states that it is recorded in the Japanese Annals that sugoroku 

 was forbidden in the time of Jito Tenno (A, D. G87-C02), and that it is 

 probable that it was played in Japan before the game of <7ot was brought 

 to that country. The same encyclopedia, in the careful manner usual 

 in such works, makes a number of citations from Chinese authors with 

 reference to the origin of the game. It says it is recorded in the Suh 

 sz' ch'it that Ts'ao Chih§ of Wei invented svgoroliu^ and used 2 dice 

 for it, but at the end of the Tang dynasty (A. D. 618-013), the number 

 of dice was increased to 6. 



It is written in the Wii tsah tsu that sugorolu is a game that was 

 originally played in Hu (Japanese, Ko), the country of the Tartars. It 

 relates that the King of Hu had a brother who was put to deatli for a 

 crime. While in prison he made the game of sugoroku and sent it to 

 his father, writing with it a few words in order to make known how men 

 are' oppressed by others when they are single and weak. 



The Ngau lui yau states that sugoraku came Irom the T'ien Chuh, 

 ''India.'' 



The name of stigorolu is applied at the jiresent day in Japan to 

 various games played upon boards or diagrams, in which the moves 

 are made by throwing dice.|| Of these there are many kinds, among 



* Sugoroku is also called rokiisai, as will be seen from the names appended to fig. 11. 



t Chess, by whicli tlie game of 360 men, half black and half white, called by the 

 Chinese tvai k'i is meant. 



JIamnnable to identify either this or the two following works quoted in the 

 Wa Kan san sai. 



^ Ts'ao Chih (A. D. 192-232) was the third son of the great usurper, Ts'au Ts'au, 

 who overthrew the Han dynasty. He was distinguished by precocious talent and 

 poetical genius, and devoted himself wholly to literary diversions*. (The Chinese 

 Reader's Manual, No. 759.) 



II The name is also applied to at least one simple dice game in which no board or 

 diagram is used. Mr. Kajiwara informs me tliat in the Province of Aomori, a com- 

 mon game with 2 dice is called ichi-san suyoroku; so called from the name of the 

 highest throw, ielii san, "one, three." 



Japanese dice at the present day usually have their 6 faces marked with black 

 dots. Those used by gamblers are said to be larger than the kind employed in 

 popular amusements. The dice games are said to vary in dift'erent parts of the 

 Empire. Japanese sailors in New York City play a game with 2 dice called cM han, 

 " even and odd." They throw 2 dice under a cup. The even throws are called cho 

 and the odd han. The players, two or more in number, bet on the even or odd by 

 calling out and laying their wagers before them while the cup remains inverted over 

 the dice. They use foreign playing cards cut lengthwise in strips and tied in bundles 

 of 10 as counters, instead of money ; a custom that they say has its origin in the use 

 of the narrow Japanese playing cards, or bamboo tallies at home for this purpose. 

 The same game, under the same name, called by the Chinese dieumj pun, is known 

 to the Cantonese laborers in the United States as a common game in China. 



