Wu Hsing
Wu Hsing Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 30 WU HSING dominoes
- 4 domino racks (Stellbänkchen)
Each domino is divided into two coloured halves. Every domino exists twice in the set. Doubles (for example BLUE-BLUE or WHITE-WHITE) are included.
For a game of two to four players, age 10 and up.
Setup
The 30 dominoes are shuffled face down and divided equally among all players. The number each player receives depends on the number of players:
- 2 players: 14 dominoes each
- 3 players: 9 dominoes each
- 4 players: 7 dominoes each
With 2 or 4 players, two dominoes remain over. In a 3-player game, three dominoes remain over. In that last case, one domino is placed face down back into the box, so that only one face-down pair is left on the table.
The two remaining dominoes are pushed together along their long sides to form a square, and then turned over without changing their position relative to each other. They form the "starting pair" (Startpaar).
Figure 1 shows an example of a valid starting pair: a 2 x 2 square with YELLOW | RED on the top row and YELLOW | BLUE on the bottom row.
If fewer than three colours appear within the starting pair, all dominoes are shuffled again and redealt. This must also be done if the starting pair consists of the dominoes BLACK-WHITE and WHITE-WHITE, or of RED-RED and YELLOW-YELLOW, or of both BLUE-BLACK dominoes. (Such a case occurs on average about every fifth time.)
Each player places their dominoes on their domino rack so that none of the opponents can see them. (With only two players, it is of course also possible to play with the dominoes face up.)
Colour Patterns
In the manner of a crossword puzzle, the dominoes are laid out so that the sequences of their coloured squares repeat a certain pattern in both the vertical and horizontal directions. Each colour that appears for a second time in an unbroken horizontal or vertical row fixes that pattern.
Figure 2 shows some examples. In the vertical column f there are already three yellow squares, so the pattern in this column consists entirely of yellow squares: ...YELLOW-YELLOW-YELLOW... Likewise a pure black pattern has formed in column i. The square X may never be covered with BLACK, because that would falsely continue the blue-black pattern begun in horizontal row d. Column i could therefore only be continued downward, with further BLACK squares.
Row g shows the pattern ...BLUE-WHITE-RED-BLUE-WHITE-RED-...
In horizontal rows b and c no colour has yet appeared for the second time, but the patterns are nonetheless fixed, because all five colours already occur.
Row b can continue to the right only with BLUE, and on the left only BLACK may be placed. The pattern in row c reads: ...RED-YELLOW-WHITE-BLUE-BLACK-RED-YELLOW-WHITE-...
On position Y neither a blue nor a white domino half may be placed, because that would create an invalid, irregular pattern in row h. Likewise a yellow square would spoil the pattern in row a. Only RED or BLACK may therefore go on Y.
On position Z a gap has arisen. This is quite typical for the game. On the sides of such gaps, entirely different colour patterns can then be formed. For example, later in the game a purely white pattern could arise to the left of position Z without difficulty, and above Z a pattern could also arise that has nothing to do with the purely yellow row below it.
The gaps correspond, so to speak, to the black squares in a crossword puzzle, and the colour patterns are the words between them.
Playing the Game
In turn, each player places one of their dominoes against the existing layout so that two or three already begun rows are extended in accordance with their colour pattern.
If three dominoes lie side by side with their long sides touching, a fourth domino may not be placed there in such a way that it also touches a whole long side.
Examples: In Figure 3 on the following page, a continuation of the game begun in Figures 1 and 2 is shown. Domino 1 continues one horizontal and two vertical rows.
Domino 5 would at the moment only extend one (horizontal) row, so it may not be placed. It does begin a further vertical row, but under the rules this does not count as an extension!
Domino 6 is also not allowed, because four dominoes would then lie with their long sides next to each other.
Domino 2 extends two horizontal rows. (The upper of these two rows previously consisted of only one white colour square, but this is also a valid extension.)
Domino 3 continues the vertical YELLOW row and surprisingly closes the gap mentioned above! Since the two colour patterns of the horizontal rows were thereby combined into one valid pattern, it is an allowed move and counts as an extension of one vertical and one horizontal row.
Domino 4 continues two long horizontal rows.
Scoring
Each domino scores points as soon as it is placed. One of the players must keep a record of the results in a score book.
Points are calculated from the lengths of the rows extended: one counts the squares of each row and multiplies the totals together, the domino just placed always being included in the count. The result is doubled again if the domino just placed was a double, such as BLUE-BLUE or WHITE-WHITE.
Examples: In Figure 3 on the last page, Domino 1 scores 60 points for three rows (3 x 4 x 5 = 60). Domino 2, as an extension of 2 rows, scores 12 points (2 x 6 = 12). Domino 3, as a double for two rows, scores 50 points (5 x 5 x 2 = 50). Finally, Domino 4, as a continuation of 2 rows, scores 42 points (7 x 6 = 42).
No Legal Placement
As long as a player can place one of their dominoes, they must do so. If a player finds no possible placement, they lay all their dominoes face up on the table. If an opponent then discovers, contrary to expectation, that one of the dominoes could still continue the game, that opponent may point this out to the player and so force that player to make this move.
If more than one suitable placement is suggested, the player may choose whichever one they prefer.
If, however, none of the opponents shows a correct continuation either, the player returns their dominoes to their domino rack and receives no points for this round. The next player continues the game. In the further course of the game, however, the player may again take an active part if the layout changes in their favour.
End of the Game
When a player places their last domino, the game ends. The current round is however completed, so that each player who started after that player takes one more turn.
The game also ends if no one can place another domino.
Each player then receives negative points for every domino they did not play. Each double counts 5 negative points, and every other domino counts 25 negative points. The player who then has the highest score wins the game.
Note on the source: the penalty values above are transcribed as printed in the German booklet ("jeder Doppel-Stein 5, jeder andere Stein 25 Minuspunkte").
Variants
Friends of Sid Sackson have suggested a variant for two players for advanced WU HSING players, which excludes the luck factor of the random domino distribution. Since each domino exists in two copies, both players can play with exactly the same material of 15 dominoes. There is therefore no random "starting pair" as in the original rules. There are, however, two other ways to open the game:
A. The first player simply opens with any domino, and the second player then likewise places a domino of their choice.
B. Both players secretly choose one domino each and place it face down in the middle of the table. The two adjacent dominoes are then revealed simultaneously and form the "starting pair".
After that, the game proceeds as usual.
Earlier it was already mentioned that a game for two may also be played face up, since at any time one can recognise from the layout and one's own dominoes which dominoes the opponent still holds. Open play is of course also possible with three or four players. It proceeds somewhat differently, mainly more slowly; but it is also more demanding, because each player can now plan their moves precisely and align them with the dominoes of the following player, for example in order to deliberately block that player's play.
The Five Forces (Background)
The ancient Chinese used the term WU HSING, meaning "moving states" or "transformation states", for the group of the "Five Forces": water, fire, wood, metal and earth. They understood these as active, dynamic energies at work in all natural processes:
Water creates wood, but destroys fire; Fire creates earth, but destroys metal; Metal creates water, but destroys wood; Wood creates fire, but destroys earth; Earth creates metal, but destroys water.
The five planets (gods), the five directions, the five primary colours and the five sacred animals were assigned to the Five Forces:
| Direction | Element / Planet / Colour / Animal |
|---|---|
| NORTH | Water, Mercury, Black, Tortoise |
| WEST | Metal, Venus, White, Tiger |
| CENTRE | Earth, Saturn, Yellow, Human |
| EAST | Wood, Jupiter, Blue, Dragon |
| SOUTH | Fire, Mars, Red, Bird |
All of earthly life was based on the number five: there were five sense organs (ear, eye, nose, mouth and heart), five sacred mountains, five kinds of grain, five classic books, five human relationships (ruler–subject, father–son, husband–wife, elder–younger brother, friend–foe), five human qualities (form, feeling, consciousness, activity, knowledge), five blessings (long life, wealth, health, love of virtue, a peaceful death), five basic virtues and five commandments for the layman (do not kill, do not steal, have no sensual desires, do not speak nonsense, do not drink). But there were also five main weapons and five punishments (light beating, heavy beating, temporary banishment, lifelong banishment, death).
The Chinese word for "fate" literally means "the fivefold cycle".