The ancient wisdom of the cards
One of the earliest forms of playing cards in existence, perhaps the oldest, is Chinese Money Suited cards. Mah Jong (this version is paper) is the most readily available pattern of money suited cards in the west.
These cards are based on the concept of Chinese currency, with suits of Coins, Strings of Coins, and multiples thereof (depending on the pattern). Some scholars believe that the cards themselves were used as the prize won from gambling, while others believe that it may be descended from the Game of Leaves, an ancient Chinese role playing board game.
3 of Strings. Chinese Money-Suited Playing Card. Willkinson, W. H. Chinese Origin of Playing Cards. American Anthropologist, Jan. 1895.
3 of Coins. Chinese Money-Suited Playing Card. Willkinson, W. H. Chinese Origin of Playing Cards. American Anthropologist, Jan. 1895.
1 of Strings. Chinese Money-Suited Playing Card. Willkinson, W. H. Chinese Origin of Playing Cards. American Anthropologist, Jan. 1895.
2 of Strings. Chinese Money-Suited Playing Card. Willkinson, W. H. Chinese Origin of Playing Cards. American Anthropologist, Jan. 1895.
1 of Strings. Chinese Money-Suited Playing Card. Willkinson, W. H. Chinese Origin of Playing Cards. American Anthropologist, Jan. 1895.
1 of Strings. Chinese Money-Suited Playing Card. Willkinson, W. H. Chinese Origin of Playing Cards. American Anthropologist, Jan. 1895.
1 of Strings. Chinese Money-Suited Playing Card. Singer, S.W. "Researches into the history of playing cards." R. Triphook, 1816.
5 of Coins. Chinese Money-Suited Playing Card. Singer, S.W. "Researches into the history of playing cards." R. Triphook, 1816.
3? of Strings. Chinese Money-Suited Playing Card. Singer, S.W. "Researches into the history of playing cards." R. Triphook, 1816.
4 of Coins. Chinese Money-Suited Playing Card. Singer, S.W. "Researches into the history of playing cards." R. Triphook, 1816.
9 of Strings. Chinese Money-Suited Playing Card. Singer, S.W. "Researches into the history of playing cards." R. Triphook, 1816.
1 of Myriads. Chinese Money-Suited Playing Card. Culin, Stewart. "Chess and playing cards." Government Printing Office. 1898.
1? of Myriads. Chinese Money-Suited Playing Card. Singer, S.W. "Researches into the history of playing cards." R. Triphook, 1816.
? of Myriads. Chinese Money-Suited Playing Card. Singer, S.W. "Researches into the history of playing cards." R. Triphook, 1816.
1 of Myriads. Chinese Money-Suited Playing Card. Singer, S.W. "Researches into the history of playing cards." R. Triphook, 1816.
2 of Myriads. Chinese Money-Suited Playing Card. Culin, Stewart. "Chess and playing cards." Government Printing Office. 1898.
2? of Myriads. Chinese Money-Suited Playing Card. Singer, S.W. "Researches into the history of playing cards." R. Triphook, 1816.
3 of Myriads. Chinese Money-Suited Playing Card. Culin, Stewart. "Chess and playing cards." Government Printing Office. 1898.
3 of Myriads. Chinese Money-Suited Playing Card. Singer, S.W. "Researches into the history of playing cards." R. Triphook, 1816.
3 of Myriads. Chinese Money-Suited Playing Card. Singer, S.W. "Researches into the history of playing cards." R. Triphook, 1816.
4 of Myriads. Chinese Money-Suited Playing Card. Culin, Stewart. "Chess and playing cards." Government Printing Office. 1898.
4? of Myriads. Chinese Money-Suited Playing Card. Singer, S.W. "Researches into the history of playing cards." R. Triphook, 1816.
5 of Myriads. Chinese Money-Suited Playing Card. Culin, Stewart. "Chess and playing cards." Government Printing Office. 1898.
6 of Myriads. Chinese Money-Suited Playing Card. Culin, Stewart. "Chess and playing cards." Government Printing Office. 1898.
7 of Myriads. Chinese Money-Suited Playing Card. Culin, Stewart. "Chess and playing cards." Government Printing Office. 1898.
9 of Myriads. Chinese Money-Suited Playing Card. Culin, Stewart. "Chess and playing cards." Government Printing Office. 1898.
Chinese Money-Suited Playing Card. Singer, S.W. "Researches into the history of playing cards." R. Triphook, 1816.
Chinese Money-Suited Playing Card. Singer, S.W. "Researches into the history of playing cards." R. Triphook, 1816.
Chinese Money-Suited Playing Card. Singer, S.W. "Researches into the history of playing cards." R. Triphook, 1816.
Chinese Money-Suited Playing Card. Singer, S.W. "Researches into the history of playing cards." R. Triphook, 1816.
Chinese Money-Suited Playing Card. Willkinson, W. H. Chinese Origin of Playing Cards. American Anthropologist, Jan. 1895.
Chinese Money-Suited Playing Card. Willkinson, W. H. Chinese Origin of Playing Cards. American Anthropologist, Jan. 1895.
Chinese Money-Suited Playing Card. Willkinson, W. H. Chinese Origin of Playing Cards. American Anthropologist, Jan. 1895.
Chinese Money-Suited Playing Card. Willkinson, W. H. Chinese Origin of Playing Cards. American Anthropologist, Jan. 1895.
Chinese Money-Suited Playing Card. Willkinson, W. H. Chinese Origin of Playing Cards. American Anthropologist, Jan. 1895.
Chinese Money-Suited Playing Card. Willkinson, W. H. Chinese Origin of Playing Cards. American Anthropologist, Jan. 1895.
Chinese Money-Suited Playing Card. Willkinson, W. H. Chinese Origin of Playing Cards. American Anthropologist, Jan. 1895.
Chinese Money-Suited Playing Card. Willkinson, W. H. Chinese Origin of Playing Cards. American Anthropologist, Jan. 1895.
Chinese Money-Suited Playing Card. Willkinson, W. H. Chinese Origin of Playing Cards. American Anthropologist, Jan. 1895.
Chinese Money-Suited Playing Card. Willkinson, W. H. Chinese Origin of Playing Cards. American Anthropologist, Jan. 1895.
Chinese Money-Suited Playing Card. Willkinson, W. H. Chinese Origin of Playing Cards. American Anthropologist, Jan. 1895.
Chinese Money-Suited Playing Card. Willkinson, W. H. Chinese Origin of Playing Cards. American Anthropologist, Jan. 1895.
Tags: chinese, dice, china, history, 0827, asian
The game was often referred to as "gold speckled leaves", which does make it sound quite a lot like early gold-leaf Tarot cards. Many scholars will tell you that playing cards were invented in 827 because they have conflated these two games. If there is any relationship between these games, which I doubt, it is this:
Tags: chinese, china, playing cards, asian, 1294, history
On the twenty-third day of the sixth month in the thirty-first year of the zhiyuan period (17 July 1294), we caught Yan Sengzhu and Zheng Zhugou playing cards, and have also found wood blocks to print cards. Each person has admitted to the truth of the accusation. We have, according to the rules, passed judgement and punished correctly the organizer Lu Donger, accessory to gambling Zheng Zhugou, the owner of the premises Jiang Sier, and the block printer Ye Lin, and dispatched to the Ever-abundant Treasury for deposit the nine cards (zhipai) that were about to be destroyed, and...
