DICE from KOREA

Nyout (originally Yut or yoot) is a traditional board game played in Korea, especially during Korean New Year.
Its origins are unclear, but there is ample evidence that yut was played at the time of the Three Kingdoms (57 BCE - 668 CE).
The game is also called cheok-sa or sa-hee. The suffix nori means "game".
There is the rectangular board which is normally made up of stitched cloth. There are two straight courses and two diagonal ones.
Each of the straight courses comes with five stations, the diagonal ones have five stations, too, but one is shared.
This brings the number of stations to twenty-nine in total. The board is also known to be drawn onto the floor.

Instead of dice, nyout (or yut) sticks are used. There are two kinds of yut stick: jang-jak yut and bam yut.
Jang-jak yut are made of fire wood. There are four sticks of about 15 cm length and a diameter of 2 cm to 3 cm.
These sticks are split into halves. Chestnut wood is most commonly used, but birch wood is also common.
These woods are chosen for the weight and the fresh sound when playing.

Bam yut, on the other hand, are wooden sticks of about 3 cm length. They have a diameter of about 1 cm, and again are split into halves.
The bam yut are played in a small bowl, shaken in the palm, and then released.


[0777 x4] Set of 4 wooden jang-jak yut, 216 mm