It was Mr. Du Yaquan in the Republic of China who first linked poker with horse-hanging. Du Yaquan said in the book "Bo Shi" published in April 1933: "The suspected western brand has a considerable relationship with the ancient horse brand in China, because there are many similarities. For example, the horse card has four doors, namely Qian Wen, Suozi, Wanguan and Wanguan, each with one to nine cards, and the western card game is also four doors, each with one to ten cards and ten cards, with little difference. There are nine horses, nine sikas and two others. The horse brand is the most respected, and there are three cards, K, Q and J, which are almost the same. Horse cards are very big, and there are many human figures painted, so are western cards. Tell this to a gentleman in the west, who thinks there are many similar things in society and there is no need to imitate them. A gentleman's words are naturally given, but his so-called creation does not have so many coupling points. Because he consulted the western language books and knew that the western language cards actually originated in Asia and flowed in during the Crusade War, which had a lot to do with the spread of printing, the doubts he gave were confirmed. "
Mr Du Yaquan's argument has two points. First, there are many similarities between playing cards and horse cards. Secondly, by looking up the western dictionary, he knew that poker originated in Asia and flowed into the west through the Crusade War.
Here, I don't want to compare the similarities and differences between poker and horse cards. Because there are many differences between poker and hanging horses. Here I mainly talk about historical facts.
Mr. Du Yaquan believes that the horse brand was spread to the west along with printing during the Western Crusades. The implication is that playing cards in western countries evolved from horse cards. I deny this statement.
According to the horse brand, it appeared in the middle and late Ming Dynasty. Gu said it was "apocalypse", that is, 1620- 1627. The "last year of Wanli" in Wu Shuo is 1572- 1620. Juck Zhang said it was founded by Wang Shizhen, and Zha Wang Shizhen's date of birth and death was 1526- 1590. It is impossible for Wang Shizhen to invent the Malaysia Airlines logo at birth, at least after 1550. Even if we push back the time when the Malaysia Airlines logo appeared, it was after 1500, that is, in the middle of the Ming Dynasty.
But we know that playing cards appeared in the west much earlier than horse cards. For example, Germany recorded 1377, Spain recorded 1377, Luxembourg recorded 1379, Italy recorded 1379, and France recorded 1397. If only the Chinese and western records prevail, poker appears earlier than horse cards 150. This is going backwards in history.
2. As for the time of the Western Expedition, there were eight times in history, the first time was at 1096- 1099, the second time was at1147-1150, and the third time was at 60. The fourth time in 1202- 1204, the fifth time in1217-1221,and the sixth time in 1228-229. Take the last eastward advance as an example. 1290, there is no horse brand in China.
As for the time when printing spread abroad. Not only Mr. Du Yaquan holds this view, but many people have written books and articles saying that western playing cards are influenced by the printing and card circulation in China. There is no doubt that western printing was influenced by the introduction of China printing. The key point is, when was China printing introduced to the West? Is it about the card? The exact time when China printing was introduced to the West is not recorded. However, the time when the earliest printed matter appeared in the West can be verified. According to records, the earliest printed matter in Europe was the religious printed matter published in Nuremberg, Germany at the end of 14. But this religious print no longer exists. At present, the earliest woodcut religious painting in Europe is the statue of St Christopher and Jesus by the Rylands Library in Manchester, England. This painting is printed on 1423. Based on this historical fact, the earliest printed matter in Europe was at the end of14th century, but the earliest playing card record in the west was 1377. Another historical fact is that the earliest existing playing cards are all hand-painted. It's not printed. This shows that playing cards existed when China printing was introduced to Europe.
Mr Du Yaquan is a modern educator in China. In his early years, he specialized in science, and compiled many physical and chemical books and natural history textbooks, such as Botany Dictionary and Zoology Dictionary. It is said that mahjong is the national sport of China people. Comparatively speaking, Go is suitable for scholars, and it's too cold. Playing chess is easy to be associated with the old man shaking the cattail leaf fan with bare arms and shouting, which is inevitably rude; Mahjong is not limited by gender or age. Xian Yi, men, women and children, fully embodies the triviality and excitement of secular life and is full of earthly fireworks.
Mahjong began in the Qing Dynasty and evolved from "Ma Pai". Ma Pai, also known as Yezixi, consists of 40 cards. Cards are divided into four categories: cross, swastika, letters and money. The portrait of Liangshan hero in Water Margin is painted on cards with crosses and swastikas, while letters and money are painted with figures for seeking money. It takes four people to play, each with eight cards. Put the remaining cards in the middle and play them with great fanfare. It is generally believed that "Ma Pai" came into being in the middle of Ming Dynasty. Scholars in the Ming Dynasty were not only enthusiastic about it, but also wrote and studied it. Such as Zhiheng Pan's Ye Pu and Feng Menglong's Ma Hangpai Jing. In fact, "Ye Zi Opera" has been popular in the Bo Opera places in the Tang Dynasty, but the Xuanhe cards and Touch cards that appeared in the Northern Song Dynasty vaguely show the embryonic form of mahjong. Du Yaquan's "Bo Shi" said: "The horse brand of the apocalypse, although popular in Qingganlong, was influenced by the brand of announcing peace and touching cards in the late Ming Dynasty, and became a mahjong brand together with four generals in the southeast, northwest and northwest."
As for the name of "Ma Pai", Zhiheng Pan called it "Horse Falling", "It is not feasible to say that a horse has lost four feet". Because the "horse card" is also played by four people, it can't be played without three, so it is named.