Culture Insider: Ancient Chinese table games

Three people play Danqi. [Photo/Xinhua]

Danqi

Danqi was invented in the Han dynasty. The scholars at that time believed that sport was not a decent activity for them, and a minister invented Danqi. The middle of the chessboard for this game is bumped, like a hill, higher than the surrounding parts. The chessboard base is square and the top is round, symbolizing the "round heaven and square earth" in Chinese culture. Different rules were recorded, but in the Wei and Jin dynasty, each of the 2 players used 6 game pieces, and the number of the game pieces increased to 12 for each player in the Tang Dynasty (618-907). During the game, two players need to beat each other's pieces with their own.

Danqi was very popular in the Tang Dynasty, but later declined in popularity and was lost in the Song Dynasty (960-1279) .