Dice are not merely a Tibetan patent. It can be seen everywhere, especially when people play mahjong. It also has many other uses, but all are related to amusement. It is played by all ethnicities including Tibetan, Han and others. However, Tibetan dice has its special playing rules. First, the following properties are needed: a Tibetan style wooden bowl with a bigger body and smaller opening; a mat with a three centimeter- thick stuffed with yak or sheep hair; a pair of dice made of bone or plastic, or rare materials like ivory or turtle shell, etc.
The tallies are made of any materials available locally, including 9 pieces of platelets in three different colors called 'laghi'and 108 pieces of small balls called 'zhongbu' Second, the number of players are specifically stipulated, i. e. 2, 3, or 4, 6 persons or twosome teams. Third, the actual numbers on the dice make little difference. What's important is the appearing numbers matching the bid number, i. e. the number of the player's own 'laghi'bid, or he can grab the number of the opponent's 'laghi'
During this game, the most distinctive scene are the rhymes chanted by the player while throwing the dice. The sum of the appearing numbers of the two dice is from 2 through 12, of which all are relevant to winning or losing, so the players as sign each number with a nickname. In addition, people have created so called dice rhymes, which is very humorous, similar to the drinking rhymes of China's hinterland. As soon as a number appearing on the face-up side of the dice thrown by a player, he will recite the dice rhyme. For instance, as soon as he gets the number 2, he would chant something linguistically equivalent to: 'Here comes Mr. Two, who will corner you into the zoo' etc. Every number is assigned with such similar rhymes. They are changeable from time to time, with their subjects covering every thing dealing with history, culture, religion and folk customs, etc.
This game needs neither so much complicated properties and nor large space, therefore Tibetan people are fond of it very much. Whenever they have leisured time, they will play it for a while. Plunging into such a joyful and exciting atmosphere, people are soon carried away... ...
