The Historical Origin of Tibetan Dice Games

The Tibetan dice game has a long history, which can be traced back to dice. According to documents, dice appeared on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau thousands of years ago. Ancient Tibetan ancestors used dice for divination. According to Dunhuang documents and other materials, "Tibetan divination forms are very rich, including bird divination, dice divination, sheep bone divination, dream divination and water divination. Most of these divination techniques are the remains of primitive culture, and some of them were developed, created and adapted according to the original concepts after entering the class society. " During the reign of the Nine Brothers of Sang Ma, a Tibetan tribe, the Nine Brothers of Sang Ma invented dice. In Boni's classic Nine Eyes of the Cat, when Shenrab Mivo, the founder of Boni, meets his son, it is said that people play with ancient divination methods with gorgeous mats and refined dice. These documents show that dice existed in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau two thousand years ago, but it was inextricably linked with the Bonism belief prevailing in Tibet at that time, making dice only a tool for divination and not a folk entertainment.

In the 6th century, the Tubo dynasty became more and more powerful. It was very popular at that time to use dice for divination and divination. Dice was found in the Tibetan cultural relics unearthed in Ruoqiang, Xinjiang, and its shape is exactly the same as that of the present dice. Since Buddhism was introduced into Tibetan areas, the influence of Bonism has been declining, and the contradiction between Buddhism and Benzene has become increasingly fierce, which eventually led to the complete collapse of the Tubo dynasty, and Tibetan history has also entered the era of separatist regime, which made many cultures prevailing in the upper strata of the Tubo dynasty spread to the lower strata, and dice began to move towards the people.

Gesar is the longest epic in the world and the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage in China. There are many stories about dice games. Because the Three Gods (Gesar) lost to his two brothers in archery, stone throwing and dice throwing, the task of reincarnation, exorcism and saving mankind fell on him. In addition, in Gesar, Shen Nian was described as Huang Ma, Huang Jia and Huang Shen, and he liked dice games, so he was called "the game god". Gesar and Seven Sisters throw dice; Especially in the Battle of Hollin, Gesar's story of subduing the devil through the dice game was vividly interpreted by rap artists from generation to generation, and the dice language was extremely classic.

Mirariba Biography is a famous Tibetan biographical literature, which was written at the end of 15. The biographer Sanjie Jianzan (1452- 1507) described in detail the life experience of the venerable Miriba (1040-123), and also reflected the political, economic and social life of China in the Song Dynasty after the collapse of the Tubo Dynasty. Speaking of Milla Reba's father, I also talked about the dice game.

There are many stories about dice games in Tibet. For example, ancient immortals decided their own jurisdiction by rolling dice; Immortals from all walks of life decide the joys and sorrows of civilians in their jurisdiction by rolling dice, and so on.

1642 created the Gandanpozhang local government period, and the dice game has become both a game of wits and a recreational activity. It has been welcomed by ordinary people and has become an important entertainment activity in people's lives.

Until today, the dice game is still a traditional entertainment activity in Tibetan areas and has become a bright pearl in Tibetan folk culture.