SHO｜Tibetan Folk Classic Dice Game

Last week, I went to the Old Bright Teahouse with Sam, the King, Yea and Kevin to visit the horseman recommended by Daofu. Because the old bright teahouse smoke, so the arts and Kevin chose to chat in front of the teahouse, I stayed in the teahouse for a while feel cold, so also went out, the teahouse door a group of grandpas sitting around together to roll dice, and from time to time to make the sound of HA, HI, SHO and so on. At that time, I and the art child said that we can try to observe half an hour here to see if we can figure out the rules of this game, it turns out that it is too difficult, because the old grandpas are using Tibetan to communicate, and the game props are quite a lot, in addition to the dice, the dice bowl, and a pile of sea shells and some imitation of the Yuan Daitou.

After that day, I couldn't get this game out of my mind, so I asked Ram, the netizen of the Loose Heart Inn, who couldn't tell me what the game was called, and it was Xiaoxi who happened to hear me asking about the game before telling me that she'd play it. "I was obsessed with knowing the name of the game, so I kept asking. I'm still disappointed by this uncertain answer, because I wanted to know the name and then look up the gameplay on Google.

But luckily for us, we were both free today, so we decided to play the game together under the sun while basking in the sun, and it was still a fun, strategic game. I'm not sure if you're going to be able to get a good deal on a new product, but I'm sure you'll be able to get a good deal on a new product. In the evening, I opened my computer and searched for "Tibetan dice game", and what I wanted popped up. The name of the game was really called "SHO", which is indeed the hottest folk game in Tibet, and can be said to be a household name. What's more interesting is that some students from Tibet University have written a thesis on this game, if you want to read this thesis, you can click to read the original text!

History of SHO

The history of SHO has a long history, and the roots of the game begin with the dice. According to literature, dice have appeared on the Tibetan Plateau thousands of years ago, and in ancient times the Tibetan ancestors used dice as a divining word for fortune-telling.

The sixth century AD period, the Tubo dynasty gradually strong, when the dice for divination has been very popular, "in Xinjiang Ruoqiang area unearthed in the Tubo cultural relics found in the dice, its shape and the current dice is exactly the same". Since the introduction of Buddhism into the Tibetan region, the decline of Benzite power, Buddhism and Benzite contradictions between the increasingly intensified, and finally led to the complete collapse of the Tubo dynasty, Tibetan history has also entered the era of fragmentation, so that a moment prevalent in the Tubo dynasty of the upper stage of the many cultures spread to the bottom of the local area, while the dice have also begun to go to the people.

Established in 1642 in the Gandan chapter of the local government period, the dice game has become a kind of that fight wisdom and recreational activities, by the ordinary people's welcome, and become an important recreational activities in people's lives. Until today, the dice game is still a traditional recreational activities in the Tibetan area, and has become a bright pearl in Tibetan folk culture.

Game props

A pair of dice

Dice bowl, generally made of high-quality wood

Dice tray, dice tray more than round leather cushion, diameter of about 20 centimeters, a height of about 3 centimeters, the surface is flat and smooth

Chips, generally the same shape and color of the ancient coins, small wooden sticks or wire production, each person 9

Small children, used to count, usually with sea shells, beans or small stones, of which sea shells are the best, the standard number of 64

Dice pad. With a smooth surface made of fabric, serge or leather, an area of about 1 square meters, more Tibetan blankets

Game terminology (can be ignored)

Need 2 and 3 points when said: "If you climbed the tree, satin robes and leather jackets broken also."

When you need 7 points, say, "The lama says don't do the three evils, but you do whatever you want."

If you roll 2 points, you will say: "Two points come neither too late nor too early, and the opponent can't run away from me."

If you roll 3 points, you will say: "Geshe (the monk) fell down from the horse, and didn't need to dismount to make a good deal of money."

Rules of the game

The game is usually played by 2, 3, 4 and 6 players, with the 4 and 6 player games being played in pairs. The 3-player game (3 or 6 players in groups of three) is the most common way to play, and since all three players want to win, they have to fight with each other.

At the beginning each person (in each group) holds nine chips, and in the morning the oldest must start rolling the dice, and in the afternoon the youngest must start rolling the dice, and then roll the dice in a clockwise direction.

The first chip placed after the start of the game in accordance with the number of dice points, the regulations for the placement of two, if the number of points rolled 2, 3 or 12, you can put three, the beginning of this chip is called the mother chip, from the second time onwards can only be under a chip, this single chip is called a child chip.

In the course of the game, when the number of points rolled matches the number of points in the original placement of the chips, you can add another chip from your hand to your own chips, and where the number of points is the same as the number of points between your own chips, they can be combined.

Players can play each other's chips on the condition that they eat each other's chips in the same way as they eat their own chips (the chips they eat are returned to the player's hand to start over). Whether you merge, upswing, or eat your opponent's chips, you have the right to roll again. In addition, when one's family has a smaller number of chips than the other and happens to roll on the number of pips that the opposing family's chips are on, they can only stay where they are and hold their position. When one family's chips are eaten up by the opposing family, as long as that family rolls a nine (which must be a 6+3 point), then all nine chips in the hand are placed on the nine and play continues with the opposing family.

Alternatively, when a player rolls a deuce, they may place two chips on the deuce. If the player already has his own chips on the 2, he can add one more than his original chips, for example, if he has two chips, he can add three more; if the player has his opponent's chips on the 2, he can eat his opponent's chips and put one more than his opponent's original chips on the 2, and then let his opponent continue to roll the dice. If the player rolls a 2 and doesn't want to just put a chip or eat the opponent's chip, they can roll again, and then they can apply the rolled point with the 2 at the same time.

The main forms of dividing the winners and losers in the dice game are:

Whoever among the players first puts his chips over the top and walks through the 64 small children is the winner, especially after the nine chips are gathered together, successfully passing the top is the best way to win;

When the mother chips are placed, and the players' rolls thereafter hit the opponents' mother chips in their positions, they can only move their own

During the game, when a player rolls a 2, he may continue to roll the dice. If he rolls a 2 three times in a row, he wins the game;

When a player rolls a special point with two dice stacked on top of each other, he not only wins the game, but also gets the whole set for himself if he is able to say the special dice word for the situation in a timely and complete manner, and this phenomenon is considered to be the most auspicious.

Note: This game is ideal for playing in a bar, where there is a penalty for dropping the dice, and a penalty for squeezing out the chips ......