Abstract
Commonly known as gui ju wen 規矩紋 or the geometric pattern in China and the LTV pattern in Western countries, the decorative pattern is derived from an ancient Chinese board game called liu bo 六博 in the Pre-Qin and Han Dynasties . The board game is alternatively called bo 博, lu bo 陸博 , or liu bu 六簿 . The name liu bo is composed of liu 六, six, and bo 博, sticks. It is perhaps the earliest known board game in China with a complete set of rules and props. It is a gambling game with a unique status in Chinese gambling history ; many gambling rules in later ages are still closely related to liu bo. The character bo 博 later came to be used to refer to different aspects of gambling such as du bo 賭博 (gambling), bo cai 博彩 (lottery), bo ming 博命 (life fighting), bo tu 博徒 (gambler), bo de 博得 (win) and so on. As far as we know based on excavated evidence, there are mainly five categories of physical data for liu bo, namely, the actual game board , depictions on stones and baked bricks , funerary models, bronze mirrors , and coin charms .
Translated by Yu Yao-long 余躍龍 .
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Notes
- 1.
《楚辭 · 招魂 》: “菎蔽象基, 有六博些。 分曹並進, 道相迫些”。
- 2.
《戰國策 · 齊策 》: “臨淄之中七萬戶…甚富而實, 其民無不吹竽鼓瑟, 擊築彈琴, 鬥雞走犬, 六博蹋鞠者”。
- 3.
《論語 · 陽貨 》: “子曰:飽食終日, 無所用心, 難矣哉!不有博弈者乎?為之, 猶賢乎已。”
- 4.
《說苑 · 正諫篇 》: “秦始皇帝太后不謹, 幸郎嫪毐, 封以為長信侯, 為生兩子, 毐專國事, 浸益驕奢, 與侍中左右貴臣俱博飲, 酒醉爭言而鬥, 瞋目大叱曰: “吾乃皇帝之假父也, 窶人子何敢乃與我亢!” 所與鬥者走行白皇帝, 皇帝大怒, 毐懼誅, 因作亂, 戰咸陽宮。 毐敗, 始皇乃取毐四肢車裂之, 取其兩弟囊撲殺之…”
- 5.
《漢書 · 遊俠傳 》: “陳遵字孟公, 杜陵人也。 祖父遂, 字長子, 宣帝微時與有故, 相隨博弈, 數負進。 及宣帝即位, 用遂, 稍遷至太原太守, 乃賜遂璽書曰: ‘制詔太原太守: 官尊祿厚, 可以償博進矣。 妻君甯時在旁, 知狀。’”
- 6.
《史記 · 宋微子世家 · 第八 》: “(宋湣公)十一年秋, 湣公與南宮萬獵, 因博爭行, 湣公怒, 辱之, 曰: ‘始吾敬若; 今若, 魯虜也’。 萬有力, 病此言, 遂以局殺湣公于蒙澤”。
- 7.
《史記 · 吳王濞列傳 》: “孝文時, 吳太子入見, 得侍皇太子飲博。 吳太子師傅皆楚人, 輕悍, 又素驕, 博, 爭道, 不恭, 皇太子引博局提吳太子,殺之”。
- 8.
《後漢書 · 許升婁傳 》: “升, 少為博徒, 不理操行。”
- 9.
《鹽鐵論 · 授時 》: “博戲馳逐之徒, 皆富人子弟。”
- 10.
《西京雜記 》: “許博昌, 安陵人也、善陸博, 竇嬰好之,常與居處。 其術曰: ‘方畔揭道張, 張畔捐道方; 張究屈玄高, 高玄屈究張。’ 三輔兒童皆誦之。”
- 11.
《顏氏家訓 · 雜藝 》: “數術短淺, 不足可玩。”
- 12.
《韓非子 ·外儲說左上》: “秦昭王令工施鉤梯而上華山, 以松柏之心為博, 箭長八尺, 棋長八寸, 而勒之曰: 昭王嘗與天神博於此矣”。
- 13.
《風俗通義 · 正失 》: “武帝與仙人對博, 棋沒石中。”
- 14.
曹植 《仙人篇 》: “仙人攬六箸, 對博泰山隅”。
- 15.
《顏氏家訓 》: “古者大博 則六箸 , 小博 則二瓊 。”
- 16.
《韓非子 》: “博者貴梟, 勝者必殺梟。”
- 17.
班固 《弈旨 》: “博懸於投, 不專在行。”
- 18.
They include the Blue Dragon ( qing long 青龍 ) guarding the East, the White Tiger ( bai hu 白虎 ) guarding the West, the Vermilion Bird ( zhu que 朱雀 ) guarding the South, and the Tortoise, with a snake coiled around its body, known as the Black Warrior ( xuan wu 玄武 ), guarding the North. See also Chapter Six by Alex Fang .
- 19.
“新有善銅出丹陽 , 和以銀錫清且明 。 左龍右虎掌四彭 , 朱爵玄武順隂陽 。 八子九孫治中央 , 刻婁(鏤)博局去不羊(祥) 。 家常大富宜君王 , 千秋萬歲樂未央 ”。
Acknowledgments
The author would like to acknowledge the use of images from The Xin Kai Yuan Collectors’ Net (www.kyqs.cn), CCTV (http://www.cctv.com), The Chinese Bronze Net (www.bronzes.cn) and Baidu (www.baidu.com).
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Song, J. (2016). Charms Decorated with Liu bo Patterns from the Han Dynasty . In: Fang, A., Thierry, F. (eds) The Language and Iconography of Chinese Charms. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-1793-3_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-1793-3_2
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