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represented by a main token, alongside two other mandarin tokens. Each player starts off with 120 cash in tokens and as a student in China's imperial examination system who is able to rise up the ranks with the roll of the dice; ranking promotions or demotions arbitrarily correspond with the value rolled, and is dictated by a rules booklet available for reference during gameplay. Additionally, players who incur demotions have to pay fines. However, the game also includes the element of
33:
469:
as "vulgar entertainment" in the form of a gambling game, while praising it as a "graphic learning tool which clearly depicts the workings of the Qing bureaucracy". In contrast, Tong Hongju points out that even as a gambling game, the stakes are considerably low, and the element of gambling only
435:
is typically played on a sheet of paper with six dice that are to be rolled in a bowl. Boards come in two sizes: large and small, with the former naturally having more "charts" to indicate different bureaus than the latter. The number of charts available ranges from 63 to 117. Each player is
464:
summoned him for an explanation. However, Ji Yun was able to convince
Qianlong that he had been hard at work studying the bureaucratic system, and Qianlong became more impressed with the scholar. Cai Ce, who authored a pamphlet on the game, derides the utilisation of
253:", while stranded on a boat with a few friends in 836. Beyond that, however, the "few" historical sources "dealing with (the game) are confused and tend to feed off each other". Twelfth-century writer Xu Du references the game in a short passage in
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for its reflection of the values of the inventors' society. Historically a gambling game doubling as an educational tool for acquainting
Chinese males with the bureaucratic hierarchy, it still enjoys relative popularity nowadays.
261:
by Zhao Yi, rely heavily on the information provided by Xu. However, Xu's account was based on others' verbal accounts, and the quotations of his passage are believed to have been corrupted, according to Carole Morgan in the
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rules. Furthermore, the written instructions provided on one version of the board obtained by Carole Morgan often "contradict each other" and have to be "supplemented by orally transmitted rules".
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that Fang Qianli played; Li's game was improved upon and modified by subsequent officials, including Liu Gongfu, who is credited with creating the "version that has been transmitted to the world".
482:, remarks that the game is "unusual" in that it "not only reproduces the a complex administrative framework but also includes the malpractices inherent in the system".
440:; favours and titles can be bought, and the rules permit players to receive "donations". Since at least the Qing dynasty, there has been no universal standard of
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868:
479:
264:
370:) focused on a bureaucrat's "personal character and competence", and access to which was limited to the social circles of two Ming officials. An
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boards can cost as much as CN¥10,000. In
December 2008, as part of its winter festivities, the North District Tourist Service Centre (
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as a gambling game. Legend has it that his addiction impeded his ability to do his work efficiently, to the point that the
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164:, whilst accumulating more prestige and monetary funds than other players. Contemporary commentators have compared it to
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156:, with the earliest historical record of a variant of it dating back to 836. The game has players take on the roles of
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299:, a portion of which is dedicated to describing the game. In the nineteenth century, Chinese emigrants to the
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in as early as the seventeenth century, when Robert Hyde published the Latin book on "oriental games" titled
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board. In
January 2016, as part of its first anniversary celebrations, the Taiwanese Fongyi Academy in
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From entertainment to enlightenment: a study on a cross-cultural religious board game with emphasis…
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began promoting or demoting officials by the roll of a die instead of using his own judgement.
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Nowadays the game is still frequently played in parts of mainland China, as well as
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is based on, was first explicitly mandated upon
Chinese students during the
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456:, who was active during the Qing dynasty, was allegedly very addicted to
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as a pastime. The game boards they would use were typically printed in
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Tang government official Li He was the undisputed inventor of
160:; the objective of the game is to attain the highest possible
866:
Morgan, Carole (2004). "The
Chinese Game of Shengguan tu".
743:"彰化 冬遊鹿港 嘗糕餅 憶童玩 探百年古廟 [Things To Do This Holiday]"
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and "barely literate" blue-collar workers enjoyed playing
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is similarly "so flawed as to be practically useless".
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game boards are still in production. As of 2006, some
241:(838), Tang scholar Fang Qianli writes of his playing
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poet Wang Gui wrote a poem on a gambling game called
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which immediately succeeded the Sui dynasty. In his
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587:"'Shengguan Tu' board game made over in Kaohsiung"
899:The Qing Dynasty and Traditional Chinese Culture
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239:Preface to Selecting a Bureau by Throwing Dice
420:rolled out some hundred modernised copies of
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8:
334:inspired the creation of similar games. The
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374:anecdote by Zhao Yi has it that the ailing
554:(Thesis). University of British Columbia.
368:Promoting Loyal and Sycophantic Officials
31:
718:民俗文书收藏趣谈 [Discussion of Folklore]
346:, whose gameplay is identical to that of
869:Journal of the American Oriental Society
480:Journal of the American Oriental Society
265:Journal of the American Oriental Society
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354:or commoners, instead of mandarins. In
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291:The Western world became aware of
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476:The Chinese Game of Shengguan tu
233:was first introduced during the
932:Economic simulation board games
585:Chung, Jake (29 January 2016).
145:Table of Bureaucratic Promotion
25:Table of Bureaucratic Promotion
749:(in Chinese). 5 December 2008.
408:, Taiwan installed a lifesize
360:Instructions for all Officials
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1:
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901:. Rowman & Littlefield.
548:Ngai, May-Ying Mary (2010).
470:enhances the joy of playing
279:, the early incarnation of
136:), translated variously as
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30:
376:Emperor Xingzong of Liao
350:save players are either
148:, is an ancient Chinese
952:Traditional board games
897:Smith, Richard (2015).
297:De Ludis Orientalibilis
152:that originated in the
721:(in Chinese). Baihua.
390:and Taiwan. Likewise,
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168:for its mechanics and
927:Chinese ancient games
715:Tong, Hongju (2006).
364:Zhonning Shengguan Tu
344:Selecting an Immortal
223:Ministry of Education
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162:bureaucratic position
382:Twenty-first century
211:imperial examination
492:List of board games
249:), "an ancestor to
221:. According to the
139:Promoting Officials
120:traditional Chinese
90:Resource management
20:
560:10.14288/1.0071581
247:Selecting a Bureau
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166:snakes and ladders
112:simplified Chinese
942:Multiplayer games
937:Individual sports
478:published in the
414:Fengshan District
227:Republic of China
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876:(3): 517–532.
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563:. Retrieved
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18:Shengguan Tu
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835:Morgan 2004
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747:Apple Daily
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611:Morgan 2004
536:Morgan 2004
356:Baiguan Duo
340:Xuanxian Tu
255:Quesao Bian
219:Sui dynasty
193:edition of
52:Publication
921:Categories
861:: 211–252.
760:Smith 2015
498:References
438:corruption
372:apocryphal
305:California
277:Caixuan Ge
243:Caixuan Ge
229:(Taiwan),
150:board game
47:Liu Gongfu
503:Citations
448:Reception
418:Kaohsiung
388:Hong Kong
352:immortals
321:Guangzhou
158:mandarins
66:2 onwards
41:Designers
486:See also
452:Scholar
428:Gameplay
406:Changhua
401:北區遊客服務中心
309:New York
171:Monopoly
95:Strategy
890:4132278
225:of the
179:History
63:Players
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565:9 June
454:Ji Yun
313:clerks
130::
128:pinyin
122::
114::
83:Skills
74:High (
71:Chance
886:JSTOR
404:) in
342:, or
45:Li He
903:ISBN
723:ISBN
567:2017
307:and
208:keju
206:The
142:and
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124:陞官圖
116:升官图
58:836
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