Note 343 — LX. THE GAMBLER’S TALISMAN.
Herbert Allen Giles translation
Gambling is the great Chinese vice, far exceeding in its ill effects all that opium has ever done to demoralize the country. Public gaming-houses are strictly forbidden by law, but their existence is winked at by a too venal executive. Fantan is the favourite game. It consists in staking on the remainder of an unknown number of cash, after the heap has been divided by four, namely whether it will be three, two, one, or nothing; with other variations of a more complicated nature. return to text