A set of Liu Bo utensils includes a chessboard, six black chesses, six white chesses, a dice, and six sticks used to count the six rounds of play. Losers have to drink a cup of wine as a punishment in each round. In the rubbings of painted stones, drinking vessels can always be found besides the chessboard.

History has failed to tell us how to play the game, but one thing can be said for sure, it is very contagious. Almost everyone in Han Dynasty was hooked and played day and night. Many emperors were diehard fans. Sometimes, the war on the chessboard spread to the real world.

The emperor Liu QI (188 B.C. -141B.C.) for instance, as a prince, had a bitter quarrel with the son of Liu Bi during chess play. He got so angry that he threw the chessboard at his opponent, killing him. Two years after Liu Qi took over crown, Liu Bi avenged and rebelled with a team of other infants.

Arena of Death

A rubbing features a matador fighting with a bull. The defeated lion on the right was running for its life.

Fights between men, beasts, and bulls are one of the main subjects of the Han painted stones. In the middle of the 2nd Century, B.C., like their counterparts in Rome, the Han emperors built up arenas in which people fought with beasts. The maneuvers were performed by anyone, from ordinary people to aristocrats. The game was seen as a way of showing courage and masculine strength. The founding emperor of the dynasty purportedly paved his way to the throne by killing a huge white snake. Tigers and leopards were buried alive with emperors in their mausoleums.

Barbecue

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