Catalogue of the collection of playing cards bequeathed to the Trustees of the British museum by the late Lady Charlotte Schreiber.

192

CATALOGUE OF CARDS.

3. Cards derived from Coins.
vi. K'anhu ("Khanhoo ").
No. 15. A specimen of a pack as purchased at a shop, in its box
with the wrappings unopened.
No. 16. The game in its simplest form. (A Canton pack, plain
black backs). There are three suits, Cash, Strings, and Myriads, each of
9 cards, from the ace to the nine spot; and three additional cards,
"Redflower," "Whiteflower," and "Old Thousand." These last three
which, under some name or other, are found in every Khanhoo pack,
fairly correspond to our " coat" or court cards (king, queen and knave)
except that they belong to no suit and are equal among themselves. The
total of this pack is 3 X 9 + 3, or 30.
No. 17. The more usual form of the game, namely the set of 30
cards (as in No. 16) quadrupled, with certain jokers (in this case the Five
Blessings). Plain maroon backs; from Canton.
No. 18. A curious pack from Peking; dull black backs. The 30
cards simply quadrupled, without jokers. The peculiarity consists in the
squeezer marks which differ for pips as well as for suits.
No. 19. Also from Peking; large cards, with green figured backs.
The 30 cards quadrupled, with six jokers.
No. 20. From Foochow. Short square cards, black pattern on back.
The same number of cards as Nos. 17-19, but with only two jokers.
No. 21. A Swatow pack, narrow grey curved cards with figured
backs. The suit names are strings, cakes and rouleaux, and ace of
rouleaux is represented by the card "myriad rouleaux." " Whiteflower"
and " redflower" are as usual, but " old thousand " is replaced by a card
bearing the character shih, "reality." There are some irregularities in the
pack. Thus, though there are 4 each of all other cards, there are only
three aces of cakes, and three 6's of rouleaux, while on the other hand
there are six 7's of rouleaux. Chinese carelessness is probably to blame.
No. 22. A very superior pack, from Canton. Black backs, rounded
edges. The usual 120 cards (4 times 30), together with 5 jokers (the
Blessings, in colours).
No. 23. Precisely similar to No. 17, only far narrower. Also from
Canton.
No. 24. From Kiukiang. Large cards, with honeycomb pattern on
back. The 5 jokers (the Blessings) are marked at top and bottom in red,
by way of squeezer sign. " Redflower " is replaced by " Prince of Mao."
No. 25. From Chungking. Similar to No. 24; oiled cards, plain
red backs. No jokers. " Redflower " is replaced here by " Wang Ying."
Note that one 9 of myriads has been supplied from another pack.
[Note.-The suits here are similar to those of Europe, except that
(1) there is no 10 spot; (2) there are no court cards; (3) the cards do
not take one another.]