The Tibetan traditional game "Shö" (dice throwing)
Potala Palace Murals, 16th Century
The essence of play is freedom.
Just as they cherish freedom, a fondness for play is an inherent nature of all humanity. From this, the development of folk games with distinct regional characteristics constitutes a chapter in the cultural history of every nation. This is especially true for the plateau-dwelling people, who roam the grasslands and rest beneath snow-capped mountains—embodiments of freedom itself.
Tibetan Games Depicted in the Murals of the Potala Palace
From left: Archery, Stone Lifting, Boat Rowing, Wrestling, Swimming Race, Dice Game
Throughout the endless river of history, the hardworking and wise Tibetan people have invented a series of folk games closely related to their way of life and environment, such as equestrianism, archery, kite flying, and Shö (dice throwing). These games not only preserve glimpses of this ancient nation's primordial landscape but also serve as a refuge from the monotony of daily life, offering lasting solace to both body and mind.
Photographed by Charles Alfred Bell (attribution uncertain)
"Shö" as a Primordial Worldview in Tibetan Culture
Shö is a traditional folk game that brings together diverse cultural elements of Tibet, embodying wisdom through symbolism, metaphor, and order. The Tibetan word "Shö" (ཤོ) means "dice," and today it is commonly used to refer to the dice game itself. The history of Shö in Tibet dates back to the ancient era of the Masang brothers in tribal Tibet. Over more than two thousand years, Shö has evolved into a vibrant living art form among the people. Even today, the scene remains awe-inspiring: the dice thrower chants rhythmic phrases, shakes the dice bowl vigorously, and then slams it down decisively under the watchful eyes of all players. In the ensuing silence, schemes and calculations simmer subtly around the Shö board, creating an atmosphere of palpable tension.
Dice, Image source: Internet
Early Shö carried strong religious attributes. In Tibetan mythological narratives such as the Epic of King Gesar, Shö represented the will of the deities, and people often used dice throws to decide how matters should be handled. The practice of divination with dice has a long history, with early Bön texts clearly documenting the story of Tonpa Shenrab Miwoche using a gold dice inlaid with turquoise.
Portrait of Palden Lhamo Adorned with Dice
Image source: Internet
Leveraging this mystical attribute, it also once played a corresponding role in political and military affairs. The late Tibetologist Wang Yao, based on a dice from the Tibetan Empire period unearthed in Ruoqiang, Xinjiang, concluded that dice games were also customary among Tibetan military forces at the time. Additionally, Shö is an important component of the traditional Nine Skills of Tibetan Men, as it was believed to sharpen eloquence and mental acuity.
"Mural of the Potala Palace: The Nine Skills of Men"
Between 1694 and 1695
Tibetan "Flying Chess"
Shö can be described as Tibetan "Flying Chess." Its mechanics are similar to modern flying chess, as both involve rolling dice to determine movement, and the first player to reach the opposite side wins. The rules of Shö vary across different regions. A typical Shö set includes several components:
1. A pair of dice;
2. One dice bowl. The bowl serves as a dice cup, usually made of wood. A small hole is pierced at the center of the bottom to prevent air pressure buildup when players slam the bowl down forcefully;
3. One dice board. A soft, circular cushion made of yak leather;
4. Cowrie shells. Used for demarcation and counting, typically 64 in number;
5. Token coins. Usually nine in total;
6. A dice mat. A grid-patterned mat that prevents the pieces from scattering and defines the play area.
Traditional Tibetan Dice Game
Image source: Internet
The distinctive vocabulary of Shö is highly characteristic. For example, tokens are called "dice dogs," and completing the game is referred to as "crossing the mountain." Based on these clues, a paper titled *"Divination Tool at the Altar" and "Secular Game Object"* states: "The author argues that the game's rules reflect a localized hunting culture. We boldly hypothesize that the streamlined arrangement of cowrie shells represents a great mountain—its left side, like the front of the mountain, marks the starting point of the game, while the far right, akin to the back of the mountain, signifies the endpoint."
Traditional Tibetan Dice Game
Image source: Internet
The Imprint of Traditional Hunting
The grand chants recited by players during Shö are the most captivating aspect of the game, known in Tibetan as *Shöshe* (ཤོ་བཤད). Although they vary slightly by region, these chants are generally characterized by short phrases, rapid rhythm, humorous language, and themes centered on Tibetan life and historical events, reflecting a distinct folk style. Examples include:
"Have you been to Gungthang? Have you met Milarepa? Beneath the lofty Willow Palace stands Hor Zasa."
(གུང་ཐང་དུ་འགྲོ་མྱོང་ངམ། མི་ལ་རས་པ་མཇལ་མྱོང་ངམ། གུང་མཐོན་པོ་ལྕང་ལོ་ཅན་པ་རེད། དེའི་འོག་ལ་ཧོར་ཁང་ཛ་སག་རེད།)
"Sit, sit, sit—rather than sitting idle, why not venture into Changthang?"
(ཙོག་ཙོག་ཙོག་པར་སྡོད་པ་ལས། ནོར་མེད་ན་བྱང་སྟོང་འགྲིམ་པ་དགའ།)
"Parara, parara—this year comes a Parara, last year came a Parara; the antelope drinking water, with pointed ears."
(པ་ར་ར། པ་ར་ར། པ་ཟེར་བ་དུས་དེ་རིང་ཧྲོག་སེ། དུས་ན་ནིང་ཧྲོག་སེ། དགོ་བ་ཆུ་འཐུང་ཧྲོག་སེ། ཨ་ཅོག་རྩེ་བཞི་ཧྲོག་སེ།)
Traditional Tibetan Dice Game
Image source: Internet
Terms such as "Para" refer to the dice points. These terms differ from everyday numbers and carry special names—for example, "Para" indicates two points. The origins of these names are defined in the Epic of King Gesar, though some Bon texts offer slightly varying interpretations.
King Gesar, 17th Century
Collection of New York T-house
Regarding such "Shö language," Chögyal Namkhai Norbu once pointed out that in an ancient "sgrung" (narrative story) about the Masang, it was mentioned that when throwing dice, one must call out the desired points using "the language of the Masang." Thus, the mnemonic codes for dice points originate from the Masang myths of the Tibetan ancestors, and the preservation of these ancient codes seems to awaken a certain historical memory. At a certain moment, the game serves as a crucial script for reviving ancient memories through storytelling.
Cowrie Shells
Image source: Internet
Today, the transformation of many ancient traditional games into sports seems to reflect a trend of "projectification" in our era. In the face of this trend, some have begun to engage in deeper reflection: What is lost when free play becomes standardized sport under rigid rules? What is gained?
Contemporary anthropologists openly acknowledge that industrialization-era standardization stems from the inherent demands of industrial culture—a stark contrast to the cultural and ideological forms represented by traditional games in their earliest days (non-industrial cultures, such as agrarian, hunting, or primal societies). Today, the essence embodied by most sports has fundamentally shifted in character. Fortunately, Shö has retained its spirit of freedom and its role in spreading that freedom. The laughter that erupts when people toss dice during Linka gatherings stands as the purest testament to this enduring joy.
Summer Linka
Image source: "Tibet"
