Sheng Ji

China’s Tractor: two decks, four jokers and climbing levels. Call trump with your level cards, lead pairs and tractors, and keep the fives, tens and kings from the other side. 4 players, in partnerships.

Also known as Tractor and Tuo La Ji.

Who To Play With

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How to play Sheng Ji

  1. 1Sheng Ji (also called Tractor or Upgrade) is China's great partnership game for four, played with two decks and four jokers: 108 cards. Partners sit opposite. Each side has a level, starting at 2, and the aim is to climb levels by winning hands. This version is a short game: the first side to climb past 7 wins.
  2. 2One side declares each hand and plays on its own level. Everyone gets 25 cards and 8 go face down as the kitty. Then, going round, anyone may call trump by showing a card of the level rank (a 2 when the level is 2): its suit becomes trump. A pair of the same level card beats a single card, and a pair of jokers beats both, making a hand with no trump suit (a pair of big jokers beats small ones). Pass if you can't or won't call. In the first hand, whoever wins the call leads and their side declares.
  3. 3Trumps, highest first: the big joker, the small joker, the level card of the trump suit, the level cards of the other suits (all equal), then the trump suit from ace down. Other suits run from ace down to 2, skipping the level rank. All trumps count as one suit.
  4. 4The starting player picks up the kitty and buries any 8 cards face down in its place, then leads. You may lead one card, a pair (two identical cards), or a tractor: two or more pairs of one suit with ranks in a row, like 7-7-8-8 (with the level rank skipped, so on level 9 the pairs 8-8-10-10 count as a tractor).
  5. 5Everyone plays as many cards as were led, following suit with as many of them as they can. If a pair was led, play a pair of the suit if you have one; if a tractor was led, play pairs of the suit (a tractor of the same length if you have one). Only a play of the same shape, all in the suit led or all trump, can beat the lead. Highest wins; between equal plays the first one wins. The winner leads next.
  6. 6Fives are worth 5 points, and tens and kings 10: 200 in all. Only the opponents of the declaring side collect points. If they win the last trick, the points in the kitty count twice for each card in the winning play.
  7. 7With no points for the opponents the declarers go up 3 levels; under 40, up 2; under 80, up 1, and they declare again with the starter's partner leading. With 80 or more the opponents take over as declarers, the next player leading, and for every 40 over 80 they go up a level too.

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