Juryeonggu Die

Juryeonggu  is a 14-sided Korean drinking game dice from Korea. This Korean game named “ju-ryeong-gu” (酒令具), meaning “liquor command tool” dates from the Unified Silla period, about 668 to 935 ADA. A die made of oak was found in Wolji Pond in Gyeongju, South Korea while undergoing some dredging work in 1975. Sadly, this die was destroyed by the preservation techniques that were employed to dry the wooden die for display. However, photos taken of the die before it was lost, which means we can totally put together a replica to add to our historical die collection.

Below are the Korean, hanja characters and rule translations from the original die:

Original Juryeonggu Die Faces

• Sam-jan-il-geo (三盞一去) : Drinking three glasses of liquor at one time
• Jung-in-ta-bi (衆人打鼻) : Having one’s nose struck by many companions
• Ja-chang-ja-eum (自唱自飮) : Singing and drinking all on one’s own
• Eum-jin-dae-so (飮盡大笑) : Finishing an entire cup and laughing loudly
• Geum-seong-jak-mu (禁聲作舞) : Dancing alone, with no music
• Yu-beom-gong-gwa (有犯空過) : Staying still without flinching, even when being charged at
• Nong-myeon-gong-gwa (弄面孔過) : Staying still without flinching, even when one’s face is tickled
• Gok-bi-jeuk-jin (曲臂則盡) : Finishing an entire cup while interlocking arms with a companion
• Chu-mul-mak-bang (醜物莫放) : Drinking from a cup without removing something dirty   from it (presumably placed there by a companion)
• Weol-gyeong-il-gok (月鏡一曲) : Singing the song “Weolgyeong”
• Gong-yeong-si-gwa(空詠詩過) : Reciting a poem
• Im-eui-cheong-ga (任意請歌) : Asking a companion to sing a song of one’s choice
• Ja-chang-Goe-rae-man (自唱怪來晩) : Singing the song “Goeraeman”
• Yang-jan-jeuk-bang (兩盞則放) : When you receive two cups, drain them immediately.

Like any good drinking game players take turns rolling the die and follow the commands and generally acting a fool. The die features Chinese characters on it because the Korean alphabet, wasn’t invented until well after the Unified Silla period to which the original die dates.