Bo Bing (game)

Bo Bing (Mandarin Chinese: 博餅; pinyin: Bóbǐng; also known in Hokkien Chinese: 博餅 / 跋餅; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Poa̍h-piáⁿ, or Hokkien Chinese: 跋狀元餅; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Po̍ah-chiōng-gôan-piáⁿ) is a Chinese dice game traditionally played as part of the celebration of the Mid-Autumn Festival. It is traditionally played with six dice and a china bowl.

Bo Bing

Six dice in a bowl: a roll of 1-2-3-4-5-6 is a Bangyan, and its prize is the second largest mooncake
Other names	Po̍ah-piáⁿ Po̍ah-chiōng-gôan-piáⁿ Poa̍h-tiong-chhiu
Years active	17th century - present
Genres	Dice game
Players	2+
Chance	High
Materials required	Six dice, a bowl

Bo Bing
Traditional Chinese	博餅
Simplified Chinese	博饼
Literal meaning	Gamble for Pastry
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin bóbǐng IPA [pwǒ.pìŋ] Yue: Cantonese Jyutping bok3 beng2 Southern Min Hokkien POJ po̍ah-piáⁿ
Alternative Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	博狀元餅
Simplified Chinese	博状元饼
Literal meaning	Gamble for Champion Pastry
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin bó zhuàngyuán bǐng Southern Min Hokkien POJ Po̍ah-chiōng-gôan-piáⁿ
Pua Tiong Chiu
Traditional Chinese	跋中秋
Literal meaning	Gamble for Mid-Autumn Festival
Transcriptions Southern Min Hokkien POJ Poa̍h-tiong-chhiu

The game dates back to the 1600s when it is said to have been invented by the Chinese general Koxinga of the Southern Ming, along with his lower officer Hong Xu. Zheng was stationed with his troops in Amoy planning the Siege of Fort Zeelandia to take Dutch Formosa, which had been occupied by the Dutch since 1624. The game was an attempt to boost the morale of Koxinga's homesick troops during the Mid-Autumn Festival.^[1] The game became popular in Amoy (now Xiamen) and is considered a folk game.

The Hokkien Chinese name Po̍ah-piáⁿ translates as "gambling for cakes", and the game traditionally has 63 different sized mooncakes as prizes for the winning players: 32 of the smallest cake, half as many of the next largest, and so on ending with a single large Chiōng-gôan cake.^[1] In modern times, the game's instructions are often printed on mooncake packaging, although the game is also played with prizes of daily necessities, household appliances or money.^[1]

In the Philippines, the game is known as "Pua Tiong Chiu" (Hokkien Chinese: 跋中秋; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Poa̍h-tiong-chhiu) among the Chinese Filipino community,^[2] where the prizes are often usually money and/or appliances for adults and sometimes toys and food for children or sometimes mooncakes known in Hokkien Chinese: 中秋餅; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: tiong-chhiu-piáⁿ or Hokkien Chinese: 月餅; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: ge̍h-piáⁿ.

Rules

The game requires six dice and a wide mouthed bowl. The first player is assigned and rolls the dice and wins a specific prize depending on the dice combination. The dice are then passed to the next person, and the process is repeated until there are no prizes left.^[3] A throw is declared invalid if at least one of the dice lands outside the bowl.^[2]

Prize	Combination name			Number of cakes available	Dice results		Probability
	Mandarin	Hokkien	English
1st Place 狀元 (Trad.) / 状元 (Simp.) zhuàngyuán (Pinyin) chiōng-gôan (POJ)	紅六博 (Trad.) / 红六博 (Simp.) / 六紅 (Trad.) / 六红 (Simp.) hóngliùbó / liùhóng (Pinyin)	六紅 / 六殕紅 la̍k-hông / lio̍k-phú-âng (POJ)	Six Fours	1	Six 4-faces		1/46,656 0.0021%
	要點六博 (Trad.) / 要点六博 (Simp.) / 六子 yàodiǎnliùbó / liùzǐ (Pinyin)	六博 / 六卜 / 六殕烏 la̍k-pok / lio̍k-phú-o͘ (POJ)	Six Ones		Six 1-faces		1/46,656 0.0021%
	黑六博 / 六子 hēiliùbó / liùzǐ (Pinyin)	六博 / 六卜 / 六殕烏 la̍k-pok / lio̍k-phú-o͘ (POJ)	Six of a Kind		Six of any number, except four or one		4/46,656 0.0085%
	五紅 (Trad.) / 五红 (Simp.) wǔhóng (Pinyin)	五紅 gō͘-hông / gǒ͘-hông (POJ)	Five Fours		Five 4-faces		30/46,656 0.0643%
	五子 wǔzǐ (Pinyin)	五子 gō͘-chí / gǒ͘-chí (POJ)	Five of a Kind		Five of any number, except four		150/46,656 0.3215%
	四紅 (Trad.) / 四红 (Simp.) sìhóng (Pinyin)	四紅 sì-hông (POJ)	Four Fours		Four 4-faces		375/46,656 0.8037%
2nd Place	榜眼 / 探花 / 對堂 (Trad.) / 对堂 (Simp.) bǎngyǎn / tànhuā / duìtáng (Pinyin)	對堂 / 榜眼 / 探花 tùi-tn̂g / póng-gán / thàm-hoa (POJ)	Three of a Kind	2	Scenario 1: 2 sets of three of the same number, except four.	(Example, Two sets of three numbers)	200/46,656 0.4287%
					Scenario 2: 2 sets of three of the same number, including four	(Example, Two sets of three numbers)	300/46,656 0.6430%
			Straight		All numbers (1,2,3,4,5,6) in sequence		720/46,656 1.5432%
3rd Place / 4th Place[lower-alpha 1]	進士 (Trad.) / 进士 (Simp.) / 四進 (Trad.) / 四进 (Simp.) jìnshì / sìjìn (Pinyin)	四進 / 進士 sù-chìn / sì-chìn / chìn-sū / chìn-sǐ (POJ)	Four of a Kind	4	Four of any number, except four		1875/46,656 4.0187%
4th Place / 3rd Place[lower-alpha 1]	會元 (Trad.) / 会元 (Simp.) / 三紅 (Trad.) / 三红 (Simp.) huìyuán / sānhóng (Pinyin)	三紅 / 會元 sam-hông / saⁿ-âng / hōe-oân (POJ)	Three Fours	8	Scenario 1: Three 4-faces, any number for the three remaining dice except for other 1 set of three of the same any number.		2400/46,656 5.1440%
					Scenario 2: Three 4-faces, any number for the three remaining dice		2500/46,656 5.3584%
5th Place	舉人 (Trad.) / 举人 (Simp.) / 二舉 (Trad.) / 二举 (Simp.) jǔrén / èrjǔ (Pinyin)	二舉 / 舉人 lī-kú / dī-kú / lī-kí / dī-kí / kú-lîn / kú-jîn / kí-jîn / kí-lîn / kí-dîn (POJ)	Two Fours	16	Two 4-faces, any number for the four remaining dice.		9300/46,656 19.9331%
6th Place	秀才 / 一秀 xiùcái / yīxiù (Pinyin)	一秀 / 秀才 it-siù / siù-châi (POJ)	One Four	32	A 4-face, any number for the five remaining dice.		17400/46,656 37.2942%
A blank dice denotes a result of any number outside the given exceptions

Mooncakes

If a player makes an ultimate throw, they receive all of the other mooncakes designated for 6th to 1st place, even those which were already awarded. This rule can be omitted to ensure all players receive a prize.^[3]

Rituals

Some players believe in rituals when playing the game that they believe will give them good luck. Reported practices includes throwing the dice with one or two hands, or exclaiming "Chiong Wan!"^[2]

Notes

1. Sometimes, the 3rd and 4th place are switched by game operators / event organizers.

References

1. "Mooncake gambling odds-on festival favourite". China Daily. 28 September 2008. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
2. See, Stanley Baldwin (17 September 2015). "Playing the Mooncake Festival's centuries-old dice game". GMA News. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
3. "Chinese Moon Festival Dice Game" (PDF). Westchester Association of Chinese Americans. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 October 2016. Retrieved 29 January 2017.