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Liubo () is an ancient Chinese board game played by two players. For the rules, 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 immensely 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 Go, and it eventually became almost 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. ==History== 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 King Jie, the last king of the Xia Dynasty, who according to traditional chronology reigned 1728–1675 BCE. Although 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 (reigned 319–301 BCE) that claims that the capital city of 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 kick ball. The game of Liubo is also described in the mid 3rd century BCE poem "Summons of the Soul" ("Zhao Hun" 招魂) in the ''Songs of Chu'':
The earliest Liubo boards to have been discovered are a pair of ornately decorated stone boards from a 4th-century BCE tomb in the royal tomb complex of the State of Zhongshan at Pingshan in Hebei. 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. Engraved picture stones (畫像石) and moulded picture bricks (畫像磚) that were widely used to decorate tombs and temples during the 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 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 (265–420). 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 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, but although ancient Tibetan Go boards have been discovered, no examples of Tibetan Liubo boards are known. 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. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Liubo」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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