Why are dice one and four marked red?

Now the dice have two colors of dots, one and four are red, and the rest are black. Why?

It turns out that its color change is related to Tang Dynasty. Legend has it that both Tang and Yang Guifei like to roll dice. When it was Tang's turn to roll the dice, Yang Guifei could only be defeated if both dice were at four o'clock. The dice stopped, and there were indeed two fours. Seeing this situation, Emperor Ming of the Tang Dynasty thought it was a good omen, so he ordered eunuch Gao Lishi to paint all four points of the dice vermilion, and later drew a little red on the side corresponding to the four points, which triggered folk imitation and has been passed down to this day.

Extended data

According to legend, the inventor of dice is 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. At that time, the dots on the dice were all painted black, and it was not until the Tang Dynasty that red strokes were added. But in archaeology, the earliest dice appeared in Egypt. More than two thousand years ago, the dice in ancient Egypt were called Huangqi.

Archaeologists once painted a gambling game called astragal on the wall of an unearthed ancient Egyptian tomb. This bone has four sides, and it is not symmetrical. Every time it is thrown out, it will fall on one of the four sides.

China's dice were never invented by Cao Zhi, because it has been proved that the dice unearthed from Qi Tomb in Qingzhou during the Warring States Period were not invented by Cao Zhi. Dice, as one of the six major operas in China, is regarded as the ancestor of China's operas, and it was popular as early as the late Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.

The real domestic dice in China are 14 and 18, and the dice unearthed in the Qin tombs are authentic local dice in China. [ 1]? Write Chinese characters,

With the cultural exchange since the Qin and Han Dynasties, many-sided dice were introduced to China, so Chinese and Western cultures combined.

Legend has it that Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty and Yang Guifei were throwing dice in the harem and were about to lose. Only four o'clock can save the defeat. One of them was still spinning like this, and Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty was so anxious that he even shouted "4! 4! "It is 4 o'clock after the dust settles. As soon as Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty was happy, he asked Gao Lishi to announce that red can be painted on the dice, but red can't be used indiscriminately.

Since the Qing Dynasty, the entertainment mode of dice has been basically decided, generally using three dice and a dice cup. The simplest dice cup can be replaced by a wooden bowl or a pottery bowl. Put a bottom plate under it to cover it when you roll the dice. Neither the dealer nor the player knows the number of dice. This method is very mysterious, which is convenient for the dealer to create an atmosphere and let the players gather at the table to bet. There is a beautifully made dice game set in the casino, which matches the cup. Its name is sic bo. In order to prevent bookmakers from rolling dice or cheating, Han Ye, a generation of gamblers, invented the electric sic bo, which is still used in Macau casinos.

reference data

Dice-Baidu Encyclopedia