The Most Interesting Playing Cards In The World
The Most Interesting Playing Cards In The World
When Were Playing Cards Invented?
Playing cards are quite popular today, but have you ever stopped to think, “When were playing cards made?”. Well, that’s what we aim to find out in this article today, and hopefully, understand a bit about the evolution of playing cards and how the modern deck of playing cards came to be.
So, when were playing cards invented?
The earliest records of playing cards originate from ancient China, as far back as AD 868. A Chinese writer Su E describes Princess Tong Cheng playing the “leaf game” with the Wei Clan, her husband’s family. This mention makes the Tang Dynasty the earliest recorded official mention of playing cards in world history. Historians believe that the invention of playing cards was as a result of the woodblock printing technology. As paper production became more popular, Quyang Xiu, a Chinese writer, associated it with playing cards’ rising popularity.
Playing cards were recorded to come into Europe in the 1300s but surprisingly not from China, but the Egyptian Mameluke empire. We know this because there was an official ordinance banning them in Bern, Switzerland, in 1367. By 1377, playing cards were popular enough that the city of Paris had to make rules to control players.
When was the first deck of cards made?
In most places, the standard deck of playing cards consists of “suits,” and perhaps the most popular are the “Hearts, Diamonds, Spades, and Clubs,” but it didn’t start there. In fact, the deck and rank of cards that we are most familiar with today weren’t popular until the late 1400s. The Mameluke card suits discovered in ancient Egypt were goblets, swords, gold coins, and polo sticks.
However, Europe was yet to be introduced to Polo, so the suit was transformed unto batons and staves. And together with swords are still traditional suits of Spanish and Italian cards. In the 15th century, German card makers started experimenting with suits that were loosely based on Italian suits and eventually came up acorns, leaves, hearts, and bells. The suits are still in use today.
The French in 1480 simplified the shapes into trefle (clover), pique (pike heads), Coeur (hearts), and carreau (paving tiles). English card makers then used the shapes but changed the names. Spade (pique) might reflect the earlier use of Spanish suit symbols, with Espadas meaning swords. Clubs are what the Spanish suit of staves actually looks like, and Diamond is the paving tile’s shape. It was also during the 1400s that European cards switched from current royalty to historical or classic figures.
So, there you have it, a cliff-notes version of how the playing cards you so love came to be. The next time you pick up a deck of cards to play with some friends, take a few seconds to appreciate the rich history that you are holding in your hands.
Sources:
https://www.theguardian.com/notesandqueries/query/0,5753,-2647,00.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playing_card
https://bicyclecards.com/article/a-history-of-playing-cards/
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