Four Liubo Game Figures
c. 1st century BCE - 1st century CE
Han Dynasty (206 BCE - 220 CE)
earthenware with pigments
© Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond
Gift of Senator Hugh Scott, by exchange,
and The Arthur and Margaret Glasgow Fund.
photo: Katherine Wetzel.

Liubo

Liubo is an ancient Chinese board game. Its rules are mysterious and most have been lost or forgotten. Liubo changed over the centuries and eventually became a game that resembled chess. Each player had several game pieces. They had five pawns and one piece to represent a general. The object of the game was to capture and kill the other player's general.

The Great Wall

• Construction of the Great Wall began in the 7th century under Emperor Qui Shi Huangdi.
• The Great Wall extends from the Jiayu Pass (Gansu Province) in the west to the mouth of the Yalu River (Lianing Province) in the east.
• The Great Wall is the largest human-made construction in the world.
• The wall is 4,500 miles long (10,000 li or 5000 km).
• It stretches from Beijing to the deserts of Inner Mongolia.
• Parts of the wall are so wide at the top that 5 horses can march side-by-side in full armor.
• The wall is built on a bed of wide, square stones.
• Each vassal state under the Chou Dynasty built their own walls of defense in the northern parts of the country.
• There are towers along the Great Wall used by soldiers to protect themselves against attack.
• After the state of Chin unified in 221 BC to form China, the walls were joined to hold off invaders from the Tsongnoo tribes.
• The wall has been renovated several times since the Chin Dynasty. Major renovations began with the Ming Dynasty in 1368 AD, and took over 200 years to complete. The wall we see today is the result of these efforts.

China from A to Z

Ancient China was an amazing civilization. Many things in our everyday life were invented in China. Many of their ideas were far ahead of the rest of the world. Also, because China is such a large area, there are animals that are only found living naturally in China.

• Abacus: 2,500 years ago the Chinese came up with this tool to more easily calculate math. The beads on an abacus can be used to add, subtract, multiply, and divide numbers.
• Acrobatics: were being performed more than 2,000 years ago in China.
• Acupuncture: a medical treatment in which many, tiny needles are painlessly inserted into a person's body to relieve pain or cure an illness.
• Bell: invented in China more than 3,000 years ago. The very first bells were made of bronze.
• Calligraphy: the art of fine handwriting, considered a form of art.
• Compass: many people believe that the Chinese invented the compass about 1,000 years ago.
• Dominoes: invented nearly 1,000 years ago; ancient Chinese used dominoes to predict the future.
• Dragons: this mythological creature has been very important to the Chinese for thousands of years. They believe that the dragon represents strength and good luck.
• Fans: people in China began making fans about 5,000 years ago. Many Chinese fans are covered with beautiful paintings.
• Fireworks (gunpowder): 1,000 years ago, gunpowder was created when a Chinese man mixed together charcoal, saltpeter, and sulfur, creating an explosive chemical reaction when exposed to flame. Later, strontium, copper, and sodium were combined with the powder to produce colorful fireworks.
• Giant panda: these endangered animals live in bamboo forests in the southwest part of China; bamboo is a critical part of their diet.
• Goldfish: the Chinese raised goldfish as pets hundreds of years ago. Some goldfish live to be 14 years or older.
• Hacky sack: the game that we call hacky sack was created in China more than 2,000 years ago. The object of the game is to keep a little ball in the air as long as possible by kicking it with one's feet.
• Ice cream: about 4,000 years ago, the Chinese came up with the idea of ice cream by combining rice, milk, spices, and snow.
• Kites: first used in China in battles to scare enemies, to send messages to heaven, and for entertainment. The kite was invented more than 3,000 years ago.
• Paper: nearly 1,900 years ago, a man who worked for the emperor of China invented paper. It was made from a mixture of fishnets, rags, and plants. Today, paper is usually made of tree pulp.
• Peaches: Chinese people were the first to discover the delicious taste of peaches.
• Pekingese: a type of dog that came from China nearly 2,000 years ago. Chinese emperors used to keep these dogs as pets.
• Porcelain: a type of delicate pottery made of fine clay originated in China. For hundreds of years no one outside of China knew the secrets of out how to make porcelain.
• Printing: the Chinese carved characters into wooden blocks, inking them and pressing them into paper. This is the first record of printmaking.
• Rice: people in China have been growing rice for more than 7,000 years.
• Saddle: invented in China nearly 2,000 years ago.
• Shar-pei: a type of dog that comes from China. It has very loose, wrinkly skin.
• Silk: Chinese people have been making silk for more than 3,000 years. The silk threads come from a caterpillar called a silkworm.
• Sunglasses: these were invented in China about 500 years ago.
• Tea: people began growing tea in China almost 5,000 years ago.
• Umbrella: first intended to protect from the rain and sun. Later, umbrellas were used for ceremonies in China.
• Wheelbarrow: also known as the "wooden ox," the wheelbarrow was invented about 1,700 years ago by a man in the Chinese army.
• Zen: short for Zen Buddhism. It is the Japanese translation of China's Ch'an Buddhism.