Tujeon () are the traditional of Korea used in the latter half of the Joseon dynasty.
Composition
A deck typically contains forty, sixty or eighty cards: nine numeral cards, and one General (
jang), to each suit. In a full eight-suited deck, the suits and their generals are as follows:
-
Man () led by the King
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Fish () led by the Dragon
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Crow () led by the Phoenix
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Pheasant () led by the Falcon
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Roe deer () led by the Tiger
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Star () led by the North Star
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Rabbit () led by the Eagle
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Horse () led by the Wagon
Yu Deuk-gong (1749–1807) wrote in his text that in the suits of stars, horses, roe deer, and rabbits, the ranking of the numeral cards are in inverted order with nine being the lowest rank and one being the second highest, outranked only by the general. This ranking can also be seen in archaic games such as Ganjifa, Madiao, Triomphe, and Unsun Karuta.
The physical cards are very long and narrow, typically measuring about tall and across.
History
In his 1895 book
Korean Games, with notes on the corresponding games of China and Japan, ethnographer
Stewart Culin suggested that
tujeon originated from the similarly shaped symbolic bamboo "arrows"
belomancy in sixth-century Korea.
This hypothesis, however, is supported mainly by visual similarity and remains unsubstantiated.
(1732–1809) claimed that () brought the Chinese card game of [[Madiao]] back to Korea.
By the early 19th century, tujeon evolved somewhat from its original form: decks were typically only forty to sixty cards in size, using four or six of the eight suits; and the numeral cards were no longer marked to distinguish their suit, being used interchangeably. Only the generals kept their suits.[ Sutda (archived) at hana.kirisame.org. Retrieved 13 November 2016.]
Games
By far the most popular game was
gabo japgi, so much so that the name was used interchangeably with
tujeon.
Also known as
yeot bang mangyi (엿방망이, "sweetmeat pestle"), it is a baccarat-like game similar to the
Chinese domino game
goryeosi ().
[ Kol-Ye-Si rules at domino-play. Retrieved 5 November 2015.] It is played with the 60 card deck and the object is to reach
gabo or
kapo which is gambling slang for 9. The game seems to be derived from
kabufuda games where the goal is to reach
kabu or
kaho which is also slang for 9. Both
kabu and
kapo are possibly descended from the Portuguese
cavo which was slang for a stake or wager.
Another similar game is Komi, played with
ganjapa cards, from
Odisha, India along Portugal's old trade routes.
Baccarat did not appear in Europe until mid-19th century France and was preceded by a simpler game called Macao, further hinting at a Portuguese connection.
The rules for all these games are likely derivative of the 16th century
Ming dynasty game of
sanzhang (三長) which was originally played with
madiao cards
but modern players prefer using the
French deck.
Another popular game was dongdang (), an early rummy game similar to khanhoo.
In popular culture
-
Mr. Queen in Ep. 16 being played by King Cheoljong and his friends.
Playing the
tujeon cards is a theme used in several period drama series. Among them:
-
The fight between Kim Gong-ryang and Prince Gwanghae in Ep. 08 of The King's Face.
