The Game of Chap-Ji-Ki. 
Introduction. 
A few words on the peculiar form of gambling propensity 
called the game of Chap-Ji-Ki, or the Chap-Ji-Ki, before it passes 
away out of men’s mind and becomes one of the dead ghosts 
of a forgotten past, may not be out of place or devoid of inter- 
est even to the general public. The game owed its success and 
long immunity from punishment to the originality and organising 
powers of its promoters. It broke upin 1896 when the Govern- 
ment began to hustle and harry the gamesters in real earnest. 
The Chinese ladies of Singapore found then they could not give 
their little private card parties in safety yet few women gam- 
bled more fiercely or played for higher stakes than these 
Chinese whilst the fever lasted. Any one who has read of the 
universal high playing amongst Euglish ladies at Vaux Hall in 
the days of the restoration of Charles II. will have some faint 
idea of how passionately absorbed the Chinese women of Singa- 
pore were in this new form of gambling. In the hope that a 
wider knowledge of this game may be generally useful and of 
special service to others, this little sketch is drawn up. 
Gambling is perhaps the commonest form of amusement 
known tothe Chinese. Its speculative character, its prospects 
of loss or profit, appeal irresistibly to his genius, Out-door 
sports have little attraction for him. A mild kick at the flying 
shuttle cock, a languid dallying with a struggling kite is quite 
enough for him; when heavy physical exertion is indulged in, 
be sure there is some utilitarian object in view—a prize in the 
gymnastic ring or perhaps honours in the military school. 
From the Chinese point of view, as with us, gambling (whether 
it be in the form of cards, dominoes, fan-tan, or dice) is per se 
no vice. It is aonly the abuse and misuse of gambling that, toa 
Chinese mind, constitutes an offence. One’s length of days here, 
is to his mind, but a long game where the cards are always 
changing. Gambling seems to clear his mind and brace his 
nerves. It is training ground to him for the real gamble of 
