Bo Bing (game)

Bo Bing (Mandarin Chinese: 博餅; pinyin: Bóbǐng; also known in Hokkien Chinese: 博餅 / 跋餅; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Poa̍h-piáⁿ, or Hokkien Chinese: 跋狀元餅; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Po̍ah-chiōng-gôan-piáⁿ) as known in Mainland China, is a Chinese dice game from Southern Fujian traditionally played as part of the celebration of the Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Mooncake Festival. It is traditionally played with six dice and a china bowl. Bo Bing is a national-level intangible cultural heritage of China as of 2008. In the Philippines, the game is widely known as "Mooncake Festival Dice Game"/"Mid-Autumn Festival Dice Game" or "Pua Tiong Chiu" (Hokkien Chinese: 跋中秋; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Poa̍h-tiong-chhiu) among the Chinese Filipino community.

The game dates back to the 1600s when it is said to have been invented by the Chinese general Koxinga of the Southern Ming, along with his lower officer Hong Xu. Zheng was stationed with his troops in Amoy planning the Siege of Fort Zeelandia to take Dutch Formosa, which had been occupied by the Dutch since 1624. The game was an attempt to boost the morale of Koxinga's homesick troops during the Mid-Autumn Festival. The game became popular in Amoy (now Xiamen) and is considered a folk game.

The Hokkien Chinese name Po̍ah-piáⁿ translates as "gambling for cakes", and the game traditionally has 63 different sized mooncakes as prizes for the winning players: 32 of the smallest cake, half as many of the next largest, and so on ending with a single large Chiōng-gôan-piáⁿ ("champion cake"). These days in mainland China, the game's instructions are often printed on mooncake packaging, although the game is also played with prizes of daily necessities, household appliances or money. In the Philippines, the prizes are often usually money and/or daily necessities and household appliances for adults and sometimes toys, school supplies, junk food, various snacks and hobby items for the youth or sometimes for various ages, the prizes may also variously include mooncakes known in Hokkien Chinese: 中秋餅; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: tiong-chhiu-piáⁿ or Hokkien Chinese: 月餅; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: ge̍h-piáⁿ.