Mooncake Festival Dice Game

Six dices in a bowl.

The Mooncake Festival Dice Game also known as Pua Tiong Chiu or Bo Bing Chinese dice game traditionally played as part of the celebration of the Mid-Autumn Festival.

The history of the game dates back to the 1600s when it was conceptualized by Chinese general, Zheng Chenggong of the Southern Ming along with his lower officer Hong Xu. Zheng at the time the game was invented was stationed with his troops in Xiamen where they are preparing to take Taiwan from the Dutch which was occupied by the Europeans since 1624. The game was an attempt to boost the morale of Zheng's homesicked troops every Mid-Autumn Festival.^[1]

The game known as Bo Bing (lit. gambling for cakes) in China, traditionally involves six dices and a China bowl with 63 different sized mooncakes as prizes for the winning players. The game became popular in Xiamen and is considered a folk game. In modern times, daily necessities, household appliances and money were sometimes given as prizes instead of the traditional mooncakes.^[1]

In the Philippines, the game is known as Pua Tiong Chiu among the Chinese Filipino community.^[2]

Rules

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

Prize	Combination name	Dice results
6th place	Xiucai	A 4-face, any number for the five remaining dices.
5th place	Juren	Two 4-face, any number for the four remaining dices.
4th place	Tanhua	Three 4-face, any number for the three remaining dices.
3rd place	Jinshi	Four of the same number except four
2nd place	Bangyan	All numbers (1,2,3,4,5,6), or three of a number and three of another number.
			(Example, Three of two numbers)
1st place	Zhuang Yuan	Four 4-face, or five of any number
	Ultimate Throw	Six 1-face or Six 4-face
A blank dice denotes a result of any number outside the given exceptions

If one manages to make an ultimate throw the player gets all of the other prizes designated for 6th to 1st place even those which were already awarded. This 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]

References