Card Game

Gigi Ung

We are living in a high-tech world, things that always stay with us day-and-night are the mobile, computer, iPad, PSP, XBOX, even some teens in our age say “LIFE without Technology means DEATH!” However have they ever thought of how their parents spent their leisure time when they were still a teen? What will they do? They were just the same with us “staying with technology all the time”? Now let us back to the 1960s: “Days without Technology”.

In the 1960s, there were different kinds of small games like the catching the water beetle (捉龍虱), catching the dragonfly (捉蜻蜓), hopscotch (跳飛機), pick-up sticks (挑竹簽), traffic light (紅綠燈), throwing the bean bags (拋豆袋), card games (公仔紙). In the above games that have mentioned, there are four types of games which already disappeared. They are catching the water beetle, catching the dragonfly, throwing the bean bags and the card games. Those games are considered as disappeared because we can only find those games in the old stores or museum. Within those four types of disappeared game, “Card Game” was the most famous and also one of the top ten games in 1960s. For the teens, these games are all unfamiliar with them and they even do not know how to play.

Mr. Ng, around 50 years-old, who talks about the history and the rules of playing “Card Game”. The “Card Game” is made of cardboard paper with around twenty or thirty historical cartoons printed on, like “Journey to the West” and “Dream of the Red Chamber”. Normally the paper can be divided into 25 pieces. He said that there were different sizes of the card, the biggest one is like the poker card and the smallest one is like two inch photo. He mentions that aside from those historical cartoons there were also some western idols like “Bruce Lee”as the movie “The Big Boss” was very famous at that period of time. “James Bond”, the famous actor, also printed on the card as the movie “007”is the most famous movie and some other famous scenery will also be printed on. “What is printed on the cardboard is all based on what or who is famous in that period,” said Ng. He adds that the riddle, the description or the caption of the printing in front can be found at the back of the cardboard.

Ng mentions “Card Game” is the top ten and is the most popular game in the 60s, which people’s age around 40 or above must know this game. In the past, part of the people who was born in 60s might not have the chance to be educated, so they could learn about the history of China through playing this game. “Every child was addicted to this game, it’s ridiculous but to say the truth, parents seldom stopped us playing this game because it was a way for us to learn and our parents were busy on playing Mahjong,” said Ng with tricky smile.

In addition, Ng teaches us how to play the “Card Game” by showing some examples. This game has various type of playing. One is playing between two people. First those two players have to make the deal that the loser has to give how many cards to the winner. After the deal, they have to choose a card and put it in the palm, and then phase the hands to each other. After the paper falls on the ground, check which side is on top, if the side with cartoon is on the top, it means you win. However if the side with words is on top, it means you lose which somehow like the “heads or tails”. He also mentions the other way of playing the card which at least two or above players have to participate in it. Before the game start, each player has to agree to pick five cards from their own. For example, if there are five players there should be twenty-five cards and among those card, players have to choose one as a “king” and put the “king” in the second last position. Each player has to use any ways to take away those cards that cover the “king”, aside from blowing the wind by mouth. Finally some players will slap on the table, some will even kick the table or keep jumping on the ground.

Ng says emotionally “Everyone loves keeping things. In our generation, we love keeping the cards, the worms. Now teens love to keep the electronic product that’s the big difference.” He added in the past, people were always getting together; like him, when he was a teen he always played different mini games with his friends every afternoon, but now the only thing that always get together is the human beings and the technology which they always hold the mobile on their hands. Ng says he can only reminisce the past because the game that he has played in the past will never appear again and what will never disappear is just his precious memories.