Rock Paper Scissors most likely began in China: the earliest written mention is in Wuzazu, a book by the Ming-dynasty writer Xie Zhaozhe from around 1600, who said a hand game called shoushiling went back to the Han dynasty (206 BCE to 220 CE). The game then took root in Japan as a family of three-way hand games, settled into the rock, paper and scissors form we know as jan-ken, and reached Western readers in the early twentieth century, with English-language newspapers describing it in the 1920s.
That is the short answer. The rest of this piece is the longer, more careful version, because the origin of this game is full of confident claims that the evidence does not support. I will mark clearly what is documented and what is not.
China: the earliest written evidence
The oldest source people point to is Xie Zhaozhe's Wuzazu (often translated as "Five Assorted Offerings"). Xie wrote around 1600, during the Ming dynasty, and he placed the origin of shoushiling in the Han dynasty.
Two cautions matter here:
- A Ming writer describing the Han is not a Han source. Xie was writing roughly 1,400 years after the Han dynasty ended. His claim tells us the game was old and familiar by his time; it does not prove it was played in the Han.
- We do not know the exact hand shapes of shoushiling. Many modern articles assume it was rock, paper and scissors. The safer statement is that it was a hand game of the same kind, and that China had a broader tradition of drinking and finger games in which hands stand for things that beat each other.
So when you read "Rock Paper Scissors is 2,000 years old", the honest version is: a Ming-dynasty writer believed a game like it dated to the Han.
Japan: the sansukumi-ken family
Japan is where the game became what it is today. Japanese sources describe a class of hand games called sansukumi-ken, roughly "fist games of three who are afraid of one another", where A beats B, B beats C and C beats A.
| Game | Hand signs | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Mushi-ken | Frog (thumb), slug (little finger), snake (index finger) | The earliest Japanese version, imported from China |
| Kitsune-ken | Fox, village head, hunter | One of several character-based versions |
| Jan-ken | Rock (fist), scissors (two fingers), paper (open hand) | Took its modern form between the Edo and Meiji periods |
In mushi-ken, the frog beats the slug, the slug beats the snake and the snake beats the frog. Jan-ken replaced creatures with objects that any child could show with one hand, and it is the one of these games that stayed in everyday use. In Japan it is still the default way to decide small things: who goes first, who gets the last piece, who does the chore.
The West: newspapers in the 1920s
Jan-ken travelled west through contact with Japan in the early twentieth century. The paper trail is fairly clear:
- 1921: references appear in Australian and American newspapers.
- 1924: a letters thread in The Times of London connected a game called "zhot", played around the Mediterranean, with Japanese jan-ken-pon.
- 1927: Gerard Fairlie published a novel titled Scissors Cut Paper, which suggests the phrase was familiar to British readers.
- 1932: The New York Times explained the rules to American readers.
In other words, it is not an ancient Western game. For most English speakers, it has been around for about a hundred years.
Many names, one game
As it spread, the game picked up local names. A few you will hear:
| Place | Common name |
|---|---|
| Japan | Jan-ken (jan-ken-pon) |
| Korea | Gawi-bawi-bo, plus the variant muk-jji-ppa |
| United States | Rock paper scissors; "roshambo" in some regions |
| United Kingdom, Australia and elsewhere | Often "paper scissors stone" or "scissors paper stone" |
The origin of "roshambo" is disputed. A popular story links it to the French general Rochambeau, but there is no evidence for that. Another suggestion is that it is a corruption of the Japanese "jan-ken-pon". Neither is proven, and I would treat both as guesses.
Why it spread so well
Rock Paper Scissors needs no equipment, no shared language and no scorekeeper. It resolves in about a second, and both players accept the result because neither controlled it. That makes it a very good tool for settling small disputes fairly, which is how most people still use it.
It has also been used for bigger decisions. In 2005, the Japanese company Maspro Denkoh could not choose between Christie's and Sotheby's to sell its art collection, reportedly worth about 20 million dollars, and asked the two auction houses to play Rock Paper Scissors for it. Christie's won with scissors against Sotheby's paper. More stories like that are on our famous moments page.
From playground to organised play
Organised competition is a recent layer. The World RPS Society, based in Toronto, ran international championships from 2002 until its last event in 2009, and the USA Rock Paper Scissors League held championships in Las Vegas from 2006 to 2008. Both are gone now. There is no international governing body recognised by any sports federation, and Rock Paper Scissors is not an Olympic sport.
WRPSA is a modern community and play platform, not the successor to either organisation. If you want to see the game played in a structured way today, our rules page explains how we run matches, and you can play online free against the computer or other people.
FAQ
Did Rock Paper Scissors come from China or Japan?
Both, in sequence. The earliest written reference is Chinese (shoushiling, recorded around 1600). The rock, paper and scissors hand signs we use now come from Japanese jan-ken.
How old is Rock Paper Scissors?
The modern version is at least about 150 years old in Japan and about 100 years old in the West. The claim of a Han-dynasty origin, over 2,000 years ago, comes from a writer around 1600 and cannot be confirmed.
Why is it called roshambo?
Nobody knows for sure. The story about General Rochambeau has no evidence behind it.
Is there an official world governing body?
No. Earlier groups like the World RPS Society ran championships but have closed. For more on how the game grew, see our history page and pop culture page.