| Liubo | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 A pair of Eastern Han dynasty (25–220 CE) ceramic tomb figurines of two gentlemen playing liubo | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chinese | 六博 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | six sticks | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Liubo (Chinese: 六博; Old Chinese *kruk pˤak “six sticks”) was an ancient Chinese board game for two players. The rules have largely been lost, but it is believed that each player had six game pieces that were moved around the points of a square game board that had a distinctive, symmetrical pattern. Moves were determined by the throw of six sticks, which performed the same function as dice in other race games.
The game was invented no later than the middle of the 1st millennium BCE, and was popular during the Han dynasty (202 BCE – 220 CE). However, after the Han dynasty it rapidly declined in popularity, possibly due to the rise in popularity of the game of weiqi (go), and it became totally forgotten.
Knowledge of the game has increased in recent years with archeological discoveries of Liubo game boards and game equipment in ancient tombs, as well as discoveries of Han dynasty picture stones and picture bricks depicting Liubo players.