Description
Yut nori , also known as yunnori , nyout , and yoot , is a traditional board game played in Korea, especially during Korean New Year. The game is also called cheok-sa (척사; 擲柶) or sa-hui (사희; 柶戲). The combining- form -nori means 'game'.
Although the origins of this popular family game are unclear, some research suggests that yut was played as early as the Three Kingdoms (57 BCE – 668 CE). The Taiping Imperial Reader states that people of Baekje played a board game similar to po yut, which is believed to be similar to Pachisi, a board game originating in India.
There is a folk explanation for the game, describing a bet by some villagers to raise five different kind of livestock: pigs, dogs, sheep, cows and horses. Each of the villagers would raise only one type.
The board and the game are known to have been used in casting hexagrams, particularly in mountain-areas and small farming-villages, but this is no longer practiced.
