Book on Guandan, China poker-like game, accepted into Harvard Library; nation’s premier is a fan

The English version of a book about the popular poker-like Chinese card game Guandan has been accepted by libraries at top universities in the United States.The acceptance marks a milestone in efforts to spread knowledge about the game to the world.The Essence of Guandan, or Guandan Xin Fa in Chinese, was written by Yu Mingyang, an economics professor from the prestigious Shanghai Jiao Tong University, the Shanghai Morning Post reported.The book’s author, Yu Mingyang, above, is an economics professor in Shanghai. Photo: QQ.comIts Chinese version was published in 2023, with the English equivalent making its debut in October in Singapore, the report said.The English book, which costs about US$100, was recently accepted by libraries at some of the world’s top universities such as Harvard and Yale, according to Yu.“Poker was invented by the West. Promoting Guandan abroad is like using foreigners’ bottles to contain our wine,” Yu was quoted as saying.The English version of The Essence of Guandan, above, retails at about US$100. Photo: QQ.com“I think it is a cultural export. Popularising China’s wisdom and culture using a tool foreigners are familiar with.