Rock, Paper, Scissors: Where Did It Come From?

Played to help make decisions or just for fun, many of us are familiar with the game
rock, paper, scissors. But where did it come from?

The game uses three different hand gestures with simple rules: rock beats scissors,
paper beats rock, and scissors beats paper. It's thought to have come from Asia —
although at first it didn't use rock, paper or scissors.

According to the World Rock Paper Scissors Association, the first known mention of
the game was in a book written during the Ming dynasty, which lasted from the 14th-
17th centuries in China.

In the book, the game, called "shoushiling" — roughly meaning "hand gesture
command" — is said to have been played as early as around 200 BC.

It's believed the game came to Japan in the 17th century as "mushi-ken." It didn't
use rock, paper or scissors yet: instead, there was a frog (your thumb), which was
beaten by a snake (your index finger), which lost to a slug (your little finger).

Another Japanese version, called "kitsune-ken," used a fox, a hunter and a village
leader.

By the late 19th century, a version using rock, paper and scissors was being played
under the name "janken."

This is the version that began to spread outside of Asia in the early 20th century.

In 1924, a letter to The Times in England called the game "zhot," while another
reader replied that it was played in Japan under the name "jan-ken-pon."

Three years later, a French children's magazine called it "chi-fou-mi," and the New
York Times described the game's rules in 1932. It was then included in Compton's
Pictured Encyclopedia in 1933, where it was described as a common way of making
decisions among Japanese children.

Now the game is played around the world, with the World Rock Paper Scissors
Association holding annual championship events. You can even register to become
a professional rock, paper, scissors athlete!