Coan ki

Coan ki, also called zunqi and known in Latin as erectus ludus or The Bottle Game, is a Chinese board game similar to the western tables games. It was first described in 1694 by Dr. Thomas Hyde in De Ludis Orientalibus Libri Duo. The board is divided transversely into eight fields, and each player moves sixteen bottle- or vase-shaped pieces around it according to the roll of two dice, the aim being to bring every piece through one full circuit of the board and back to its starting position. Dice rolls can be divided between pieces in several ways, and a player who stations eight pieces in one field makes a block that the other player cannot pass. Players enter a stake before the game begins and the winner takes the pot, while rolling double one costs a piece and an additional fine.