Many popular games played today originated in China. Chinese checkers, dominoes and tangrams all have Chinese origins. Below is a listing of a few Chinese games.
Kites
There are many folks tales about the origin of the kite. A Sung Dynasty commentary puts their first appearance in the Warring States period. But Lin K’un of the Yuan dynasty believed that the kite was invented in the Han dynasty to unsettle the enemy by the eerie sounds of attached whistles. History records that the kite was also used to signal for help. One theory has the kite invented during the Five Dynasties period (907-959 A.D.) and brought to Europe by Marco Polo in the late 13th century. In Taiwan, kite flying is associated with autumn. Split bamboo, which is light and strong, is the traditional material for making the kite frame. There are hundreds 59of kite shapes including the centipede and giant dragon kites.
Jump Rope
The jump rope goes back at least 1,500 years in China. It was called “jumping one hundred threads” because the rope looked like a hundred separate ropes at it circled in the air. It was popular during the Spring Festival in the South. Jump ropes can be made of many materials including grass and cotton, and straw and cotton combinations coated with wax.
Single and group jumping is popular in China as it is in the West. Round and Round Number of players: The entire class forms a circle.
Procedure
1. A large circle symbolizing the moon-cake is drawn on the ground. This circle is divided into 12 sections, and each section is given a different number.
2. The class is then divided into three groups. Each group chooses a leader.
3. In turn, the leader of each group takes a member of her/his group into the center of the circle.
4. This member is blindfolded, spun around four times and then allowed to take four steps in any direction.
5. She/He is then given the score of whatever section in which she/he lands. When all the players have had their turn, the team with the highest score wins.
Fingers Out
Number of players: Two. Can be played anywhere.
Procedure
1. Two players face each other.
2. They count,“one, two, three!” and on “three” they put out their right hands, closed or with one or more fingers extended and at the same time shouting out some number.
3. The player who guesses the correct number of the sum total of fingers extended, or the nearest to it, scores a point.
4. Five points may constitute a game.
Compare these Chinese games to American games. How are they similar?
• Tsoo Tsoo = variation of Blind Man’s Bluff
• Forcing the City Gates = Red Rover, Red Rover
• Round and Round = variation of Blind Man’s Bluff
• Fingers Out = variation of Scissors, Paper, Stone
