Board game
Board games have been played in most cultures and societies throughout history. A number of important historical sites, artifacts, and documents shed light on early board games such as Jiroft civilization gameboards in Iran. Senet, found in Predynastic and First Dynasty burials of Egypt, c. 3500 BC and 3100 BC respectively, is the oldest board game known to have existed. Senet was pictured in a fresco found in Merknera's tomb (3300–2700 BC). Also from predynastic Egypt is Mehen.
Rime table
The oldest known rhyme tables are a version of the "Yunjing" published with prefaces dated 1161 and 1203, and the "Qiyin lüe", which was included in the 1161 encyclopedia "Tongzhi". The two are very similar, and are believed to be derived from a single version pre-dating the Song dynasty. The tables were accompanied by a body of teachings known as "mēnfǎ" (), including rules for placing fanqie spellings that did not conform to the system within the tables.