Yut

Yut

Yut Nori (Yunnori) (sometimes romanized as nyout or yoot) is a traditional board game played in Korea, especially during Korean New Year. The game is also called cheok-sa or sa-hee. The combining-form -nori means 'game'.

Although the origins of this popular family game are unclear, some research suggests that yut was played as early as the Three Kingdoms (57 BCE – 668 CE), citing the Taiping Yulan, which states that people of Baekje played a board game similar to Chupu, which is believed to be similar to Pachisi, a board game originated in India.

There is a folk explanation for the game, describing a bet by some villagers to raise five different kind of livestock: pigs, dogs, sheep, cows and horses. Each of the villagers would raise only one type.

The board and the game are known to have been used in fortune-telling, particularly in mountain-areas and small farming-villages, but this is no longer practiced.