Venice Japanese Community Center

Cultural Corner

Have you ever wondered about...

Mahjong?

Part I

Source Information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahjong#Mahjong_in_China
Wai Ling Cheng - http://www.otal.umd.edu/~vg/amst205.F96/vj07/project3a.html

http://www.mahjonggmaven.com/

http://www.kanjisite.com

Anecdotal

By Emy Murakawa

Let me start off by saying that mahjong has several spellings, sometimes represented as two words and sometimes hyphenated, depending on the source. The ones I have seen include mahjong, mah jong, mahjongg, mah jongg, mah-jongg, and mah-jong. Each reference will choose one to use, but as it is a phonetic spelling of Chinese characters, I daresay any one would be acceptable, no matter what authors may claim. I’ve picked what I think is the most common spelling.

I have several memories of my shipboard experiences coming back from Japan – practicing piano in a lounge on one of the decks, being introduced to Cream of Wheat, the emergency drills where the doors closed between halls, and the bunks in the cabins. One of my most vivid memories was the continual clicking noise and sounds of foreign conversation that could be heard on one of the lower decks during my explorations. The reason I could be found wandering the decks of the ship was that my mother suffered greatly from sea-sickness during our two-week voyage, and I recall a Japanese steward keeping an eye on me to save me from having to be confined to my cabin. On one such exploration, I went down to a lower deck to satisfy my curiosity about the clicking sounds. I only had a short glimpse as the steward soon came to collect me and usher me back to my own deck, but I remember (and I may be remembering it much larger than it actually was!) lots of hammocks and a number of tables with men in undershirts and slacks moving little white squares around on a table. I asked the steward about it, and he said they were playing mahjong, and the clicking sounds were made when they were mixing or stacking the tiles. He said that it wasn’t anything I needed to know about.

I don’t think I gave it much further thought until several years later when I went to work with my mother to Dr. Beltz’s house and his girls asked me if I would like to learn. It was quite titillating because the thing I remembered most was that I wasn’t supposed to know about it! They were quite blasé about the whole thing … they explained that the tiles were the Chinese equivalent of playing cards and that it was played like rummy. I was captivated by the tiles, the scrimshawed characters and pictures, and enjoyed “shuffling” the tiles and again hearing the sound of the ivory clicking. I did not really learn to play mahjong at that time, however, because we did not know how to use the “dragons,” “winds,” or “flowers” except as wild cards, nor did we know what to do with the stick tiles. We really only played rummy – but all of us learned our Chinese characters for the numbers 1 through 9! And, there were only three “suits” – numbers, bamboo, and circles. Sadly, my family moved away shortly thereafter.

I must have been in junior high school before I realized that 1) my family had a mahjong set, 2) my parents knew how to play, and 3) my father had significant knowledge of the game! I came home from a school event one night and found them playing with another couple – imagine my surprise! Up to that time, I’d thought it was a forbidden topic! Many discussions ensued with my dad. He said the reason the steward had told me that it wasn’t something I should learn was probably because I was so little at the time and the Chinese men on the ship were gambling. Anyway, thus began my education on mahjong.

Mahjong, like bridge, is basically a game for four people; unlike bridge, there are no partners. The game dates back to ancient China, but I haven’t been able to find out exactly where or when or by whom it was started. Most literature suggests that it pre-dates Confucius. And I can’t imagine that it spontaneously started with the bamboo-backed ivory tiles, either, so my guess is it would have to have had some more humble beginning, like paper, wood, or some other readily available material.

Anyway, most mahjong sets have152 tiles, although most games are played with only 136 or 144 tiles.

Four each of the circle, which is supposed to represent a copper coin –

Four each of what I always thought as bamboo (and my father called take), but which the literature I read said actually represents a rope of 100 coins –

Bamboo tiles

Four each of the characters that my dad called man, or 10-thousand (representing 10,000 coins or 100 ropes) –

Four each of the winds, representing the 4 points of a compass (east, south, north, west) –

		TOU / higashi – east (my father called it ton)
		NAN / minami – south (my father called it nan)
		SAI / SEI / nishi – north (my father called it shi)
		HOKU / kita – west (my father called it pei)

Four each of the dragons, simply called “red” dragon, “green” dragon, and “white” dragon. (My father called the “red” dragon chun, and the “white” dragon tofu, but I never heard him call the “green” dragon anything but green or gurinu!) –

One each of the plum, orchid, chrysanthemum, and bamboo flowers –

And, one each of the seasonal tiles representing spring, summer, autumn and winter –

The game of mahjong involves skill, strategy, calculation, and, of course, chance or luck! Many of you may have had your first introduction while watching the “Joy Luck Club” ladies play during the movie. I’ll present more about the game in future installments.