Chapter 34 Shuanglu in the fourth quarter

Among ancient Chinese chess games, there is another board game called "Shuanglu" which was once popular.This kind of ancient chess game is called "Porosei Game" in the "Mahaparinirvana Sutra".In addition, there are aliases of "holding lance" and "long line". According to Yan Shu's "Lei Yao" in the early Northern Song Dynasty, Shuanglu originated in Tianzhu, that is, ancient India. It was introduced to China in the early years of Wei and Cao in the Three Kingdoms. Legend has it that Empress Wei and Wu Sansi fought in Shuanglu, and Tang Zhongzong raised money; Concubine Yang Guifei fought in Shuanglu with Tang Xuanzong, and the white parrot will be defeated. Stories have been passed down to this day.

There are similarities between Shuanglu and chess, but there are also obvious differences.Bai Juyi's poems are the best proof. Among them, "One first fights to break the eye, and six gatherings fight to make a flower" refers to Go; "Bing Chongxiang Opera Chariot" refers to chess; There are many ways to play Shuanglu, and the forms also have similarities and differences.According to Song Hongzun's "Pu Shuang", there are many kinds of Shuanglu bureaus, including Beishuanglu, Guangzhou Shuanglu, Dashi (now Arabia) Shuanglu, Chenla (now Cambodia) Shuanglu, Japan Shuanglu and so on.

These Shuanglu games are somewhat like a chess board, but they are not exactly the same.Except for the Japanese Shuanglu and Chenla Shuanglu which are round, the other types of Shuanglu are three-dimensional chess pieces, about three inches long, shaped like a mallet, a bit like pawns in chess. Shuanglu is played by two players, most of the chess pieces are 15 pieces per side, and there are also 12 or 16 pieces.When playing chess, roll the dice first.As for how to play chess by throwing dice, Tang Lizhao's "National History Supplement" said: "The dice are yellow and black, fifteen each, and there are two dice for picking." The record is quite brief.However, the shape of Shuanglu, which was introduced to Japan in the Tang Dynasty of our country, is still in the Japanese "Shuanglu Jinnangchao", the general idea is:

There are 12 lines on the upper and lower sides of the chessboard.There are 15 black and white chess pieces.Black moves from top left to right, and then from bottom right to left; white moves from bottom left to right, and again from top right to left.The two sit opposite each other and take turns throwing dice to play chess.There are two dice, and the six sides of each dice are marked with Backgammon was still spread in the Song and Ming dynasties, and it was mentioned in "Jin Ping Mei Ci Hua" and Ming Tang Yin's "Pu Shuang Preface".But after the Ming Dynasty, probably due to the popularity of chess, Shuanglu became less popular among the people.At present, people are not very clear about the moves of backgammon.However, there is a kind of "backgammon game" popular in many countries in the world. Its shape and moves are exactly the same as those of Shuanglu in ancient my country.