Editing Liubo (section)

==History==
[[File:Eastern Han Luoyang Mural of Liubo players.jpg|thumb|220px|Mural from an Eastern Han dynasty tomb at [[Luoyang]], [[Henan]] showing a pair of Liubo players in the foreground, the player on the right with his right hand raised up as if about to throw down the six throwing sticks]]

It is not known when the game of ''liubo'' originated, although according to legend it was invented by Wu Cao (烏曹, called Wu Zhou 烏胄 in the early 2nd century CE ''[[Shuowen Jiezi]]'' dictionary), a minister to [[Jie of Xia|King Jie]], the last king of the [[Xia dynasty]], who according to traditional chronology reigned 1728–1675 BCE.<ref>{{cite web | last=Xu | first=Shen | author-link=Xu Shen | script-title=zh:說文解字/06 | type=[[Shuowen Jiezi]] vol. 7 | publisher=維基文庫 (Chinese Wikisource) | language=zh | url=http://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E8%AA%AA%E6%96%87%E8%A7%A3%E5%AD%97/06 | quote=簙：局戲也。六箸十二棊也。从竹博聲。古者烏胄作簙。 | access-date=2009-06-26}}</ref> While there is no archeological or reliable documentary evidence to support the view that ''liubo'' dates back to the [[Shang dynasty]] (1600–1046 BCE), early Chinese records do indicate that ''liubo'' was already a popular game by the [[Warring States period]] (476–221 BCE). For example, the ''[[Records of the Grand Historian]]'' records a speech made during the reign of King Xuan of [[Qi (state)|Qi]] (reigned 319–301 BCE) that claims that the capital city of [[Ancient Linzi|Linzi]] was so wealthy that its citizens were all able to indulge in activities such as playing musical instruments, cockfighting, dog racing, playing ''liubo'' and playing [[Cuju|kick ball]].<ref>{{cite web | last=Sima | first=Qian | author-link=Sima Qian | script-title=zh:史記/卷069 |trans-title=Records of the Grand Historian vol.69 | publisher=維基文庫 (Chinese Wikisource) | language=zh | quote=臨菑甚富而實，其民無不吹竽鼓瑟，彈琴擊築，鬥雞走狗，六博蹋鞠者。 | url=http://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E5%8F%B2%E8%A8%98/%E5%8D%B7069 | access-date=2009-06-26}}</ref>

The game of ''liubo'' is also described in the mid 3rd century BCE poem "Summons of the Soul" ("Zhao Hun" 招魂) in the ''[[Chu Ci|Songs of Chu]]'':
<blockquote>
<poem>{{lang|zh|菎蔽象棋，有六簙些。| size = 110% }}
{{lang|zh|分曹並進，遒相迫些。| size = 110% }}
{{lang|zh|成梟而牟，呼五白些。| size = 110% }}</poem>

Then with bamboo dice and ivory pieces the game of Liu Bo is begun;<br />
Sides are taken; they advance together; keenly they threaten each other.<br />
Pieces are kinged and the scoring doubled. Shouts of ‘five white!’ arise.<ref>{{cite book | last=Hawkes | first=David | author-link=David Hawkes (scholar) | title=The Songs of the South: An Anthology of Ancient Chinese Poems by Qu Yuan and Other Poets | publisher=Penguin Books | year=1985 | location=Harmondsworth | page=[https://archive.org/details/songsofsouthanci0000unse/page/229 229] | isbn=0-14-044375-4 | url=https://archive.org/details/songsofsouthanci0000unse/page/229 }}</ref>
</blockquote>

Note that the line “Pieces are kinged” translates 成梟 ''chéng xiāo'' ”become an owl”. The earliest ''liubo'' boards to have been discovered are a pair of ornately decorated stonen boards from a 4th-century BCE tomb in the royal tomb complex of the [[Zhongshan (state)|State of Zhongshan]] at [[Pingshan, Pingshan County, Hebei|Pingshan]] in [[Hebei]].<ref>{{cite book | last=Rawson | first=Jessica | author-link=Jessica Rawson | title=Mysteries of Ancient China | publisher=British Museum Press | year=1996 | location=London | pages=159–161 | isbn=0-7141-1472-3}}</ref>

[[File:Pottery game players.JPG|thumb|220px|left|Eastern Han glazed pottery tomb figurines playing Liubo, with six sticks laid out to the side of the game board]]
The game reached its greatest popularity during the [[Han dynasty]], as is evidenced by the discovery of many examples of Liubo boards or sets of Liubo game pieces as [[grave goods]] in high status tombs dating to the Han dynasty. Pottery or wooden figurines of players with model Liubo boards have also been discovered in some Han tombs.<ref>{{cite journal | author=甘肃省博物馆 (Gansu Provincial Museum) | script-title=zh:武威磨咀子三座汉墓发掘简报 |trans-title=Brief report of the excavation of three Han tombs at Mozuizi in Wuwei | journal=文物 (Cultural Relics) | volume=1972 | issue=12 | pages=9–16 | language=zh}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | author=河南省博物馆 (Henan Provincial Museum) | script-title=zh:灵宝张湾汉墓 |trans-title=The Han tomb at Zhangwan in Lingbao | journal=文物 (Cultural Relics) | volume=1975 | issue=11 | pages=80–81 | language=zh}}</ref> Engraved picture stones (畫像石) and moulded picture bricks (畫像磚) that were widely used to decorate tombs and temples during the [[Han dynasty#Eastern Han|Eastern Han]] period (25–220 CE) also frequently depict people playing Liubo, sometimes as a small part of a complex scene depicting many different activities, but sometimes as the focal point of the scene, with the players attended by servants and playing in the cool of a pavilion. Some picture stones and engravings on stone coffins, especially those from the area of modern [[Sichuan]] and [[Yunnan]] provinces, show two winged [[Xian (Taoism)|immortals]] playing Liubo on a mountain, usually as part of a larger scene depicting the [[Queen Mother of the West]] and various mythical animals.

After the end of the Han dynasty the game seems to have lost its popularity, and there are no known examples of ''liubo'' funerary ware or depictions of ''liubo'' playing later than the [[Jin dynasty (266–420)]]. Although the game is still occasionally referred to in some historical sources and in poetry as late as the [[Tang dynasty]] (618–907), it seems that ''liubo'' had been largely displaced by the [[Go (game)|game of Go]]. By the time of the [[Yuan dynasty]] (1271–1368) all knowledge of the game of ''liubo'' had been lost, and it is only with the archeological discoveries of recent years that the game has become better known.

There is some evidence that the game of ''liubo'' spread to beyond the confines of China. The ''[[Old Book of Tang]]'' mentions that Tibetans enjoyed playing both the game of Go and ''liubo'',<ref>{{cite web | last=Xu | first=Liu | script-title=zh:舊唐書/卷196上 |trans-title=Old Book of Tang vol.196A | publisher=維基文庫 (Chinese Wikisource) | language=zh | url=http://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E8%88%8A%E5%94%90%E6%9B%B8/%E5%8D%B7196%E4%B8%8A | quote=圍棋陸博，吹蠡鳴鼓為戲，弓劍不離身。 | access-date=2009-06-26}}</ref> but although ancient Tibetan Go boards have been discovered, no examples of Tibetan ''liubo'' boards are known.<ref>{{cite conference | first=Guntram | last=Hazod | title=The Royal Residence Pho brang byams pa mi 'gyur gling and the Story of Srong btsan sgam po's Birth in Rgya ma | book-title=Tibet, past and Present: Tibetan Studies I | conference=Proceedings of the Ninth Seminar of the IATS, 2000 | pages=27–48 | publisher=Brill | year=2002 | location=Leiden | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UsC1sEKQNeYC | isbn=9004127755}}</ref> The Chinese version of the ''[[Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra]]'' also mentions the playing of several games, including ''Liubo'', which some have taken as evidence that ''Liubo'' was transmitted to India. However, to date no examples of ''Liubo'' boards have been found outside of China.