Why can the dice in A Dream of Red Mansions roll at 20 o'clock?

According to legend, the inventor of dice was Cao Zhi, a writer in the Three Kingdoms period. Originally used as a tool for divination, it later evolved into a game of concubines in the harem, betting on wine or silk sachets with dice points. In fact, in the process of archaeology, the earliest dice appeared in the mausoleum of Qin Shihuang. Dice was originally called Bobo, which was mainly used for playing Liubo games or drinking.

In A Dream of Red Mansions, the young masters and ladies of the Jia family often use dice for fun. For example, in the twentieth time, Jia Huan played chess with Baochai and Yingying at Aunt Xue's house. He used dice. When it was Jia Huan's turn to pitch, he won with a seven-pointer, a five-pointer and a turn. Yingying clapped her hands and shouted, but Jia Huan stared and screamed. The dice turned sideways. Jia Huan is anxious. He reached for the dice and said it was six o'clock.

Here, the dice they use should be no different from today's. They are all six sides, and each side is engraved with points from one to six.

However, by the sixty-third time, the dice used in the "Shouyi Red Party Banquet" seemed to be different.

First Qingwen took the dice, shook it, opened it, and it was five o'clock, counting Baochai. ? Baochai threw a sixteen, which counted as Tanchun? Tanchun voted for 19: 00, and Li was counted. Note: Have a drink by yourself and leave it at home. Li's next family is Daiyu. If you vote eighteen, it will count as Xiangyun. Xiangyun threw a nine o'clock, Musk Moon and Musk Moon threw a nineteen o'clock. What about Xiangling? Xiangling scored six points. Which one should Daiyu take? Daiyu threw blackjack. Should she attack someone?

In this competition, these ladies and grandmothers cast scores ranging from five to twenty. If they use six-sided dice, they need at least four. However, from the details in the book, it seems that they are not throwing dice.

In fact, there are some differences between ancient dice and today's dice. For a long period of history, dice were all multi-faceted, instead of hexahedron we use today. For example, fourteen dice were unearthed in Qin Shihuang's mausoleum, and eighteen dice were unearthed in Han Dynasty. However, even the 18-sided dice can't satisfy the situation that the daughter of the red chamber throws 20 points.

In the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, there is a 20-sided dice with symbols from ancient Greece, which is said to be the earliest 20-sided dice. In other words, there are twenty dice. So, does China exist in the era of A Dream of Red Mansions?

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, China had very close contacts with foreign countries, especially Zheng He's voyage to the West, which not only brought many foreign goods back to China, but also promoted the development of Chinese and foreign trade. In A Dream of Red Mansions, articles related to foreign countries are mentioned in more than one place.

For example, during the trip, Baoqin once went to Yanzi in the West Sea with her father to buy foreign goods and met a real girl. For example, Wang Xifeng once said that her grandfather was in charge of congratulations from all countries when they entered the palace, and all foreigners came to join in. Guangdong, Fujian, Yunnan, Zhejiang, foreign ships and goods are all their homes; For example, the "Rose Dew" given to Baoyu by Mrs. Wang was given by Fangguan, and Liu Jia thought it was the wine Baoyu usually drank.

Therefore, Ss thinks that people used this kind of 20-sided dice at the time of "Shouyihong", and its source, either China at that time, could also produce this kind of 20-sided dice, but it was not found in Chinese archaeology for the time being; Either there are foreign tributes, or the Jia family has twenty dice for each other.