CHAO – Jade Green ed. An Imperial Deck of Playing Cards

See our Kickstarter campaign here.

China's extraordinary history dates back to more than 5000 years and provides a rich collection of royal subjects which forms the basis of the Chao Playing Cards (limited production run of 2500).

Jade CHAO Playing Cards

Over the lengthy span of Chinese history, each Chao (which is the pronounced word for dynasty in the Chinese language) is distinguished by the name and the impact of the individuals that ruled over that period of time. This very special and unique deck of cards pays tribute to four of the greatest and most recognized dynasties in Chinese history – Han, Tang, Ming and Qing. Each dynasty has an outstanding and reputable Emperor, Empress and General, each with their own notorious traits and fascinating stories. The CHAO depict these influential men and women that were renowned and celebrated from each of the four famous dynasties.

Jade green

This is the third edition of the CHAO playing card deck series which takes on a jade green color. Jade is an imperial gem stone originating from prehistoric China and considered to be special and have significant value. This jade green is used on the card backs and also on the tuck box where it is also embossed and gold foil stamped. There is a limited production of 2500 decks only on this edition. Never to be produced again.

3rd edition

To capture the essence of each dynasty, much time and resource was put into the research part of this project. The illustrations and design takes inspiration from not only the renowned rulers of the four Dynasties but also from Chinese culture itself, which is visible throughout the deck.

Chao Queen of Hearts

The chosen Chinese Emperors, Empresses and Generals for the King, Queen and Jack cards all represent great power, wealth and wisdom, each with different traits and personalities and each dynasty holds their own trademarks to differentiate them from others. Inspired by these different elements, each Emperor features distinct clothing and accessories from their era, Empress's have different hair pieces and holds the instrument that they played and Generals wear armor and yield the weapon used to fight in their notorious battles. Fine intricate details are added onto each court card, allowing each individual to possess different facial features which best reflects their character.

Jade green card back

The Chao was designed to closely follow that of a traditional deck of cards in terms of positioning including head facing direction, hand placements and the presence of weapons and artifacts.

Court card

The 4 aces includes very detailed Chinese patterns. We also added a Chinese dragon on the ace of spades – a symbolism of imperial power and strength.

CHAO ace of spades

Each suit i.e. Spades, Hearts, Clubs and Diamonds reflects one of the four chosen dynasties (Han, Tang, Ming and Qing).

CHAO pips

The Joker cards contains 2 very important figures of historic China which who are still looked very highly upon even up until this present day.

Jokers

An Imperial deck Made in the People's Republic of China

A new limited edition deck (only 2500 will be produced) manufactured by MPC. The card stock used is the M32 linen air coupled with the highly sought after BETA finishing which was made for truly exceptional handling. I guess you will have to try it to feel the unique difference of this newly engineered deck if you haven't already tried this combo before. As this deck is a limited edition, once it runs out, that'll be it. If we have any more decks left after this project, they will be sold at a higher price on our website until they run out.

The tuck box completes the overall aesthetics of the deck and come in a carefully chosen color which we call Jade Green, a significant and representative color of China. Embossing and gold foil stamping is used to symbolize wealth and royalty.

Foil stamped and embossed tuck box

The sticker seal on tuck box uses a stamp cutting design. The Chinese text shown is the name of our mother company QP Group with a traditional Chinese red ink stamp design.

Stamp cut seal

The Chao Playing Cards are designed and manufactured by MakePlayingCards.com (MPC), a professional playing cards manufacturer with over 40 years of experience specializing in custom playing cards and game cards. We are very proud to introduce the 3rd deck from the popular Chao Playing Cards series.

Pledge breakdown

Add-ons list

Stretch goals - Metal Embossed CHAO Coin

Beautiful imperial gold metal CHAO coins, great for collectors as well as for coin tricks. To get one, see the below:

CHAO gold coin

- At present, we'll be able to give 1 gold metal embossed CHAO coin to each and every backer of $40 and above.

- Stretch goal of $15K, we'll be able to give 1 to each and every backer of $25 and above and 2 to each backer of $70 and above.

- Stretch goal of $20K, we'll be able to give 1 to each and every backer of $14 and above, 2 to each backer of $45 and above and 3 to each backer of $90 and above

CHAO Vermilion Red and Porcelain Blue

Get the complete set.

The Chao Playing Cards are designed and manufactured by MakePlayingCards.com (MPC), a professional playing cards manufacturer with over 40 years of experience specializing in custom playing cards and game cards. We are very proud to introduce the Chao Playing Cards, the first of its kind, brought to you by MPC.