Kent Rucker's Art

My interest in starting a short

history of the Tarot with the evolution of it's materials rather than how or why the game was originally played, began with a 'Wiki' passage I read on 'Playing Cards'.

"Playing cards were found in China no later than the 9th century during the Tang Dynasty (618-907)...The Tang writer Su E stated that Princess Tongchong, daughter of Emperor Yizong of Tang, played the 'leaf game' with members of the Wei clan to pass the time.

George Kubler in his book 'The Shape Of Time' observed that many of the 'Prime Images' that humans have created were made from perishable materials. Yet their sturdier 'derivative children' exist today. For example the first movable type was made of clay. But the printing process gradually destroyed the clay. Obviously the printing process was so important that other sturdier materials for type were used. From clay through wood, copper bronze to iron.

      Wood block 'Diamond Sutra' 868 CE Tang Dynasty 

 "Of course, to say that man-made things are desirable is redundant, because man's native enertia is overcome only by desire, and nothing gets made unless it is desirable.

I was intrigued by the name 'Leaf Game'. I imagined the first playing cards were made of actual tree leaves. Similarly, 800 bamboo strips with chinese characters carved vertically down their lengths were discovered in a tomb in Guodian China. The strips dated back to the 4th century B.C. Four centuries before the Chinese invented paper. 

Maybe the value of the leaves was assigned by size, or color or shape or maybe a certain leaf had a Turing Pattern on the surface that resembled a dragon, boar, snake or rooster. I can imagine children and adults who played the game would want to keep those special leaves until the next time, only to discover that the leaves had become withered, brittle and faded. What could be done to continue to pass the time in this manner?

 "Every 'human' made thing arises from a problem as a purposeful solution."

George Kubler, Shape Of Time pg. 8

TAROT?