Chinese domino cards. Jinzhong Tianzi brand / Shu Brand Boutique / Chengdu Famous Trademark, China. Regular deck, Chinese domino cards, 92 cards. Size: 34mm x 140mm.
Deck make-up:
Cards: the 21 permutations of two selections from 1→6 (four copies of each, one differentiated).
Extras: jokers x2 (four of each, one differentiated).
Playing cards were most likely invented in China during the Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279). They were certainly in existence by the Mongol Yuan dynasty (1271-1368) as a 1320 legal compilation refers to a 1294 case in which two gamblers were arrested in Shandong along with nine of their paper playing cards and the woodblocks used to print them.
Some of the types of traditional Chinese playing cards that evolved since those times are still made even today. Size-wise, they are, almost exclusively, longer and much thinner in size than the standard "poker" playing cards of the West. Traditionally the Chinese cards have been made of card or thickish paper but these days are typically made of thin plastic. Below, you can see the main categories of the historical Chinese cards still in production. On the left are "domino cards", which feature different permutations of domino pips at the end of each card, and which interest us here. Then there are "chess cards", which feature characters corresponding to the names of the pieces in Chinese chess (xiangqi ). Next are "character cards", a large family of patterns which usually feature numerals or individual characters from sagacious Chinese sayings. Finally, are the "money-suited cards". These are so called as the suits of these decks are based on different denominations of Chinese money.
Chinese "domino cards" are a still-extant type of traditional playing cards. They are based on tile dominoes which, in themselves, are based on roles of (two) six-sided dice. If you work it all out, it comes to 21 different permutations (note that, unlike Western dominoes, Chinese dominoes have no blanks), though there are a very few patterns which do not feature all possible combinations. Traditionally, pip counts of 1 and 4 are shown in red, the others in black (although a double-6 is shown in both colours).
Numerous domino-card patterns exist. Each of the 21 cards can be represented by anywhere from four to six copies, often with some of the copies being differentiated in some way. There are zero to two different jokers, again often repeated.
Large domino decks are usually used for rummy- or fishing-type games; smaller decks for trick-taking and banking games. Some games require a deck to be divided into two suits. In these cases, the combinations 1-1, 1-3, 1-5, 1-6, 2-2, 3-3, 4-4, 4-6, 5-5, 5-6 and 6-6 are named the "civil" suit; the remainder, the "military" suit (though there are no explicit indications on the cards as to which belongs to which suit!)
As stated, many differing configurations of domino-card packs exist. The one featured here has four duplicates of each of the 21 permutations. One copy in each case carries a mark to differentiate it, in this case a blue fleuron / arabesque.
Domino-card decks also usually have thematic imagery placed in the middle of the cards to brighten them up. Often the set of images is from a classic Chinese novel such as The Dream of the Red Chamber, The Water Margin or Journey to the West. These images play no part in gameplay, though. In the deck shown, the gold text on the box (see scans below) seems to tell us the theme here is, "Jinzhong – Famous Women of All Ages," (or something fairly close). However, I don't know whether the reference to Jinzhong is to the Chinese city so-named or is something to do with the brand name of the deck. The ladies on the cards names' are given: for example, on the 1-1 is Yang Guifei ( 楊貴妃 ), the consort / concubine of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang and one of the Four Beauties of ancient China; 1-2 is Princess Wencheng ( 文成公主 ), member of a branch of the royal clan of the Tang dynasty; 2-2 is Wang Zhaojun ( 王昭君 ), another of the Four Beauties of ancient China; 2-3 is Empress Wu Zetian ( 武则天 ), who ruled China 660-705; 3-5 is Zhu Shuzhen ( 朱淑貞 ), a poet who lived during the Song dynasty; and so forth. However, I can't really find a consistent link amongst these ladies to the place Jinzhong. Perhaps somebody out there can clarify?
Rather pedantically, each and every card carries a patent number, which is shown above the picture, and, "Made by Xu Jinzhong," (there's that "Jinzhong" reference again) below the picture.
This pattern of this deck comes from Sichuan province in south-west China. At least one source tags it, "Eight Days and Nine Days – Peaceful Tour".
Physically, the deck is white plastic with four-colour half-toned printing.
Click on any card to explore the design.
(Comments or corrections, please e-mail: Click to see e-mail address.)
Card image size, below:
This deck comes with two jokers (which, like the other cards, are each repeated four times). The one on the left says, "Listen – use," ( 聽用 ). The one on the right says, "God of wealth," ( 財神 ). The body text on the latter is nothing more interesting than a statement of quality from the manufacturer; often the God of Wealth card carries a tiger.
Chinese Money-Suited Cards 1 (Jīn Hóu, Tiānjīn, China)
Chinese Money-Suited Cards 2 (Mín Lè, Shùyáng, China)
Chinese Money-Suited Cards 3 (unknown, China)
Chinese Money-Suited Cards 4 (Taizhou Luqiao Xingqin Plastic Factory, Shenyang, China)
Chinese Money-Suited Cards 5 (Jinxin, Jinxiang, Zhejiang Province, China)
Chinese Money-Suited Cards 6 (Guangzhou Qimiao, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China)
Chinese Money-Suited Cards 7 (unknown, China)
Luk Fu / Six Tigers 1 (Hong Shi Factory, China)
Luk Fu / Six Tigers 2 (Jinzhong Playing Cards, Chongzhou City, Sichuan, China)
Mahjong (Da Zong, Yiwushi Chuiyun Wanjuchang, Zhejiang, China)
Chinese Numeral Cards (Laughing About ( 笑谈中 ), Zhejiang, China)
Chinese Chess Cards (All American Group, Guangdong Quanmei Poker Co., China)