Mondo Knows Facts

Playing cards travelled from China to Europe

A Tang era pastime passed through Mamluk Egypt before reaching Italian cities Cards appear in China by the ninth century, where a game known as the leaf game used paper slips. Mamluk Egypt produced elaborate hand-painted decks with suits of coins, cups, swords and polo sticks. Italian cities were importing cards by the 1370s, and the suits evolved into the ones used today. It sits in Mondo's history collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.

Where this comes from

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

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Tags: playing-cards, china, games

Playing cards travelled from China to Europe: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?
A Tang era pastime passed through Mamluk Egypt before reaching Italian cities. The figure is taken from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
Is this really a history fact?
Yes. It sits on the History shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
What else can I read about it?
The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.