NAME: KHUSHI GOYAL

STD: XII-A
TOPIC: PLAYING CARDS
AND CALENDER
ROLL NO.:
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to thank my teacher, Mrs. Dipti
Desai for guiding me through this project and
for their valuable inputs which provided me
with a constant nudge for improvement.
It is imperative to thank our Principal
Mr. T. Balan for providing me the opportunity
to work on this project.
This project and reading-up on the same has
provided me with an in depth understanding
of the topic. It has nurtured my scientific
temperament and curiosity.
Where did playing cards
originate?
It is not clear how or when playing
cards were invented. However, there
are two implausible legends that
may, or may not, explain their origin.
The first alleges that playing cards
were created in the twelfth century
in the harem of a Chinese imperial
palace. The women residing there
lived boring lives just waiting every
day to be called upon by the
emperor. The legend claims that in
the year 1120 one of the women
invented playing cards to help with
the agonizing boredom. The second
gives you a picture that playing
cards were invented in India.
According to this legend, one of the
maharaja kept on pulling on his
beard. This habit disturbed his wife
so much that she decided to invent a
game that used playing cards just so
his hands would forget about his
beard.

Korea
These legends are delightful, and
may even be believed by some
people. But, the more likely scenario
is that playing cards originated in
Korea in the 7th century CE, and
were borne from a Korean
divinatory arrow. Two renowned
aficionados on the history of playing
cards, Sir William Wilkinson and Dr.
Stewart Culin, thoroughly
researched the possible Korean
connection and in the end, both
were certain that this is where
playing cards originated. Wilkinson
and Culin sincerely believed that the
origin of playing cards derived from
the original Korean cards because
they were similar in shape to the
slips of bamboo that were used as
arrows in divination rites. A curl in
the shape of a heart on the backs of
the cards was believed to represent
an arrow feather. Finally, it is
believed that the numbers on the
cards were connected with the cock
feathers on the arrows. The
dimensions of Korean cards are
about half-inch wide by six or seven
inches in length and are made of
oiled paper or leather.
China
Another theory from scholars is that
playing cards were invented in
China during the time of the Tang
Dynasty (613-906). This claim is
made because of a specific “Game of
Leafs” that was commented on in a
9th-century book called Collection of
Miscellanea at Duyang. These cards
have been noted to have had
markings taken from dice. During
the Tang Dynasty, printing had also
been invented, initially to print
Buddhist texts. Later, money, as well
as banknotes, began being printed
on paper. During this time period,
there is also proof that playing cards
were printed by the use of
woodblocks. There is a report that
dates to 1294, during the Zhongtong
Era (1260-1294), where it is said
that a Yen Sengzhu and Zheng Pig-
Dog were caught gambling in what
is today known as Shandong.
Allegedly, nine paper cards and
thirty-six taels were seized, along
with woodblocks for making playing
cards and some paper money. There
is another evidentiary report that
mentions playing cards. It is found
in a text from the time of the Ming
Dynasty (1368-1644). It is written
that a scholar named Lu Rong
(1436-1494), was laughed at
because he did not know how to play
cards when he was enrolled as a
government student in Kunshan.
There is clear evidence that playing
cards were in use in China long
before they arrived in the West.

Miscellaneous facts about

playing card history
Why does king of hearts appears to be
killing himself?
When the King of Hearts was first
designed, its character was holding
an ax. As the centuries went by and
new designs created, the ax head
has been removed by the designers.
It appears that the ax’s handle looks
like a dagger, which creates the
illusion that he is stabbing himself in
the head.

Why is the king of hearts only king

without moustache?
In the original design of the King of
Hearts, he does indeed have a
moustache, but as the centuries
went by, the design has evolved into
one without a moustache. No one
knows why the card designers
decided to remove the moustache.
What is the oldest deck of cards?
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is
the proud owner of the oldest deck
of cards.
In 1983, the Met Museum paid
$143,000 for the deck. They are
probably worth in the millions today.
The cards date to the 15th century
and are in excellent condition. It is a
Flemish hunting deck of cards. A
more unobstructed view of these
cards can be found here.
Originally, an Amsterdam antique
dealer won the deck in an auction
sometime in the ’70s. He paid a total
of $2,800.
The antique dealer was told by the
auction house in Paris that they
were a unique deck of Tarot cards
from the 16th Century.
The dealer was skeptical as to the
date of the cards, according to a The
Day article published in 1983. After
thorough research and
investigation, he discovered that
originates around the 1470s. This
date has been substantiated by the
Central Laboratory for Objects of
Art and Science in Amsterdam after
doing their independent study of the
cards.

What is the size of cards?

Presently there are two standard
sizes of playing cards. They are
Poker Cards and Bridge Cards.
These two decks were initially
printed by the United States Playing
Card Company sometime in the
1880s.
Poker Cards
The size of poker cards is (2.5 × 3.5
inches (64 × 89 mm).
The weight of one of these cards is
0.063 ounces (1.8 g).
The weight of the entire deck of 52
cards is 3.3 ounces (94 g).
Bridge Cards
The size of the bridge card is (2.25
× 3.5 inches (57 × 89 mm)).
The weight of one of these cards is
0.0576 oz per card (2 g).
The weight of the entire deck is 3
ounces (85 g.)

The Thickness of Cards

Early playing cards were made from
hemp and linen. The range of the
thickness was between 0.17mm-
0.24mm thick and 0.19mm-0.22mm.
They weighed between 400 and
800gsm.
Modern playing cards are made in
the range of 290gsm to 320gsm,
much thinner than early cards.

Why Are The Jokers In A Deck Of

Cards?
The Joker originated in the United
States around 1870 and was first
used in the game of Euchre. The
word Joker itself comes from the
German word “Juker,” which means
Euchre. It was soon included for use
in the games of Rummy and Poker,
where it was and still is considered
the strongest card, the “Highest
Trump Card,” or the “Wild Card.”
Many of the early Jokers had the
words “Highest Trump” or “This
Card Takes either Bower” written on
them (The word Bower comes from
German for Bauer, which means the
Jack, and is considered the strongest
pair in Euchre.) Today’s modern
decks still have the two Jokers; most
of the time, one is black and white
and the other in colour.

The Mystery of Cards in

Connection to the Calendar
It is an incredible coincidence as to
how a deck
of cards is similar to a calendar. The
values and numbers in playing cards
are identical to the weeks and
months of today’s calendar. It is
difficult to believe that the creators
of playing cards did not intend for
this to be so. An entire deck of cards
is made up of four suits, two colours,
and thirteen values starting with the
Ace to the King. Usually, two jokers
are included in the deck.
Analysing the similarities with the
calendar is mystifying. Here are
some remarkable comparisons:
 Two colours mean day and night.
 Four suits constitute the four
seasons of the year.
 Twelve court cards representing
the 12 months
 Thirteen cards in a suit represent
the 13 lunar months in a year
and/or 13 weeks in each quarter
of the year.
 Fifty-two cards suggest 52 weeks
in a year.
 As a bonus, if you add the values
of every card in a deck and count
the Jacks as eleven, the Queens
as twelve, and the Kings as
 thirteen, you will get a sum of
364.

What Does The 364 Mean?

This number has created a lot of
debate in recent times because we
all know the total days of the year to
be 365, and not 364. Many scholars
of the last century have suggested
the idea of adding the joker into the
equation by giving the joker a value
of “1,” which would then bring the
total to 365.
However, there is a big problem
with this analogy. The Joker did not
exist in the fourteenth century when
the deck as we know it originated.
So what were the creators of the
deck of cards thinking back then?
A possible solution could be that the
Gregorian calendar we use today is
calculated by using the sun, but in
agricultural societies, farmers still
decide their planting seasons by
following the moon, which has
thirteen cycles for a lunar year
(364days).
For thousands of years, people have
been affected by the moon primarily
because of its incredible effect upon
the earth. The seasons of planting
and harvest, the tides used by
fishermen, and even women’s
menstrual cycles all seem to be in
step with the moon.
The creators of playing cards may
have had the effects of the moon in
mind when they decided to design
the deck. This, of course, is if the
deck
of cards is connected to the
calendar.