A Thousand-Year-Old Drinking Game

Do you know about the 'Juryeongu,' a 14-sided wooden die excavated from Donggung Palace and Wolji Pond in Gyeongju? It was a tool used by Silla nobles during banquets for 'drinking game penalties.' Its surfaces are inscribed with ingenious penalties, such as 'Dance without making a sound,' 'Drink three cups of alcohol in one go (bottoms up),' and 'Endure tickling without flinching' – surprisingly similar to today's college drinking games. What's even more surprising is its mathematical sophistication. It's made of 6 quadrilateral faces and 8 hexagonal faces, designed so that the probability of any given face landing up is almost identical, around 7% when rolled. Silla nobles, who might seem elegant and solemn, had a hidden side to them: they enjoyed fun, random games all night long, utilizing advanced mathematical knowledge.