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FAQ 7e. Those Mysterious Special Tiles
That Come in Some Mah-Jongg Sets
Last updated January 31, 2010
If you are reading this, you probably have some tiles that you aren't sure what they are. "Mystery tiles." I recommend laying out all your tiles as is shown in the pictures in FAQ 7a. If you think you don't have any One Bams, then look for birds with the number 1 on them. Those are your One Bams. If you think you don't have any White Dragons, then look for blank tiles. Four of those are your White Dragons.
Once you have identified and arranged all the suit tiles and the winds and the dragons (and there don't seem to be any of those basic tiles missing), then your other mystery tiles are probably either flowers or jokers (or you may have both).
It is not unusual for sets to come with 16 or more flowers. Flower tiles might represent flowers, seasons, trades (occupations), virtues, historical scenes, games, or animals. Flower tiles might be marked with Arabic numerals 1, 2, 3, 4, or even 5. Or they might instead be marked with Chinese numerals 一, 二, 三, 四... or they might even be marked with Roman letters E, S, W, N ... or "SUM" "AUT" "WIN" "SPR."
Those who use flowers in the traditional Chinese way are already familiar with the fact that the 1 flower is the East seat flower, the 2 flower is the South seat flower, the 3 flower is the West seat flower, and the 4 flower is the North seat flower. Most of the time, our flower tiles just have numbers on them, but sometimes our flowers instead have season names on them (many times, but not always, numbers too) -- OR Roman wind letters. If you are playing and using flowers in the traditional Chinese way, you would see Roman wind letters as very convenient, and you would instinctively know why they are so marked.
If you have flower or season or animal tiles marked with numbers 1 through 4 or E,S,W,N, just call them all "flowers" and don't worry about it!
Or your "mystery tiles" might be other special tiles...
Most of the time, your "mystery tiles" are either FLOWERS or JOKERS. Sometimes they are just DRAGONS that look different from what you're used to. But there are also other kinds of special tiles. For example, Japanese sets come with "red fives" (akago or akapai) such as these:
Red fives are bonus tiles that double the score. Each red five contained in the winning hand counts as a "dora" (worth one fan). See FAQ 4b if you want to find websites that describe the Japanese rules.
Jokers are usually used as "wild tiles," a tile that can be used to represent any other tile in the set. This Wikipedia discussion of jokers in playing card games might prove helpful in understanding how to use jokers in a variant other than American mah-jongg. For information about the special requirements of joker usage in American/NMJL, see FAQ 19. If you don't play American/NMJL rules, you can decide for yourself how to use jokers. Read FAQ 14.
For the rest of this FAQ, it seemed best to simply share some questions & answers about "mystery tiles" that were asked and answered on the Maj Exchange Q&A Bulletin Board:
Name: Tom Sloper
Date: 28 May 2001
Hello Peter van Oort, you emailed me:
>I've a question about the meaning of the character on my tiles It's about the Flower and Season I've scanned the tiles and I send them as .tif with this mail I hope you can give me an answer which one is the spring summer autum and winter and which one is the plum, orchid, chrys and bamboo Maybe you can explain the characters on it
Peter, the tiles at the bottom are seasons, and the four tiles at the top are Singapore-style "animal" flowers.
Here's how Singapore "animal" flowers work:
Flowers are used the same way they're normally used in un-American forms of mah-jongg: they are exposed for bonus points (they are not used in the hand).
In Singapore, a variety of rules apply to the animal flowers.
As described by Strauser & Evans (see FAQ 3, some Australian/Western players give holders of animal flowers the ability to capture others. If your set has CAT and RAT flowers, then cat captures rat. Here's what captures what (each set varies; may contain different animal flowers):
According to one correspondent, an animal flower is scored the same as your own flower (the flower whose number matches your seat), 1 fan. And a matching animal pair (see Strauser & Evans' "capture" list below) is scored the same as having both of your own flowers: you collect $2 immediately from all other players if you have both your own flowers, or a matching animal pair.
According to another correspondent, if anyone gets all four of the animal flowers, there's a 4-point bonus added after converting the fan to points.
This adds a bit of extra strategic play to the game. If you pick a RAT flower, and nobody has yet exposed a CAT flower, you are likely to keep it concealed in the hand as long as possible. If you have to expose it, it's possible that someone else will have the CAT flower and will expose it, capturing your RAT. Then he/she has two flowers, and you have none. It's also possible that the rat is in the dead wall. Players of the American and Japanese games probably won't know what I'm talking about; American players don't use flowers the same way Asian players do, and Japanese players don't use flowers at all. [Portion in red was not in original reply to Peter - was added to FAQ for the benefit of readers.]
Have fun! -- Tom
Name: Tom Sloper
Date: 25 May 2001
Hello Mike Meulemans (vmmeule), you posted a "Sets Wanted" post (on our Sets Wanted board) and also a mah-jongg question:
>I would appreciate any information you have regarding these [Vietnamese] types of sets, the palying rules and where the sets can be purchased.
Mike, we recently had a thread about Vietnamese sets and rules. It was deleted to make room for more posts (old posts have to be cleared off after about 10 days or 2 weeks due to the volume of posts here), but here it is again.
= = = = =
The Vietnamese game uses a set of 160 tiles, broken down as follows:
+ The usual basic set of 136 tiles (bams, craks, dots, winds, dragons)
+ 16 flowers/seasons/whatever (call them all flowers or call them all seasons, I don't care what you call them -- they should all be numbered 1-4 (four 1s, four 2s, four 3s, four 4s.).
+ 8 special jokers (illustrated below).
I am giving here: my own names for these tiles -- then Alan Kwan's translations of the Chinese writing -- and lastly the actual Vietnamese names of the tiles, sent to me by Chuong Bui Van in 1998.
The 4 red-character jokers in the photo (in order, left to right):
* Emperor -- almighty joker -- "To^?ng"
* Lord of Bams -- bamboo joker -- "Soo.c"
* Lord of Craks -- myriad joker -- "Ma`n"
* Lord of Dots -- circle joker -- "Thu`ng"
The 4 blue-character jokers in the photo above:
* Lord of Winds -- wind joker -- "Hy?"
* Dragon Lady -- dragon joker -- "Nguye^n"
* Big Flower -- double flower -- "Da.i Hoa"
* General (joker that can represent any suit tile only) -- honor joker -- "Ha.p"
Bigtime thanks to Erik Roenholt for the picture, to Alan Kwan for the identification, and (some years after the fact) to Chuong Bui Van for the Vietnamese terminology.
So -- the next challenge is actually finding a set like this. If you don't make it to Vietnam much, or if you don't live in a big city with a large Vietnamese community, this may be difficult. So you could try what I do -- I have made one by taking two sets and applying labels to some of the tiles from the 2nd set. Then, of course, that leaves you with some extra parts, but those can be sold on eBay.
As for the rules of the game, I don't have many specific details. But from the information I've collected, I believe you play the classic Chinese game.
You may use any rules you devise (the mah-jongg police will not arrest you). Be prepared to adapt to the rules of other players when playing at their table. Just be flexible (see my 3 rules on table rules at the bottom of FAQ 13 -- link is above left).
Hope this is enough to get you started! -- Tom
Red Dragons and Green Dragons come in lots of different styles:
I am often asked what the Chinese writing on mah-jongg tiles means. It's an FAQ! (^_^)
Name: Tom Sloper
Date: 25 Nov 2001
Hello konderla (kabsi),
>I found in my ancient HOngkong Mah JOngg book that the red dragon is called CHUNG, the green dragon is called FAT and the white dragon is called PO. Can you tell me what that means in english?
I think this might be covered in one of the FAQs, but here goes anyway.
The Chinese character that is most frequently used on the Green Dragon (see image below) was the subject of a discussion at the mahjong newsgroup in June of 2001.
In a footnote at FAQ 7b I state:
"The Chinese writing on the green dragon is pronounced faht and means fortune. The Chinese do not call this tile a "dragon"--only we Westerners call them that. See FAQ 6 for more on the variety of names people call these tiles by."
On 19 Jun 2001 Kevin Gowen commented on the mahjong newsgroup:
>>I was reading the FAQs today when I noticed the [above] in the
>>"Tom's Footnotes" section of FAQ 7b.
>>
>>This character has the meaning of "to shoot out" or "send forth". For
>>example, combining this character with the character meaning "sound"
>>gives the word "fayin" in Mandarin ("hatsuon" in Japanese), meaning
>>pronouce/pronounciation. I've never seen the meaning of "fortune"
>>attributed to this character.
My response:
I make no pretense of being able to read Chinese myself. My two main sources for this interpretation of the character are mah-jongg authors David Li and Cofa Tsui. See FAQ 6, the "Rosetta Stone."
As for the Japanese meaning of the character, I have anecdotal learning from my mah-jongg playing. It appears that this character is the one that's used in the term "ippatsu," which I've been told can be interpreted as "one hit" or "one shot." (When you declare reach, if you manage to win within one turn around the table, you have "hit it" in your "one shot" at doing so.) So that would seem to be consistent with the meaning "to shoot out."
But I've interrupted Kevin, who also wrote:
>>It is interesting to note that the version of "fa"(pinyin)/"hatsu"
>>(Japanese) used on the green dragon tile is the classical version,
>>still used where classical Chinese is written; Japan and mainland
>>China have simplified this character in unique ways.
Alan Kwan, a trilingual (English, Cantonese, Japanese) mah-jongg scholar in Hong Kong, added his remarks on June 19, 2001:
>It gets that meaning when joined with the character for "wealth" to
>make the compound which means "get rich". The compound with the
>character for "arrival/reach" also has a similar meaning.
>
>Chinese is a very complicated language; each character may have a
>large number of different meanings, including both literal ones and
>implicit, subtle ones. In the case of mahjong, we're lucky if the
>correct character is still known; it would be hard to determine which
>shade of meaning a character is supposed to take on in this context.
>I myself don't have any take on this one.
So the question "What does the Chinese writing on mah-jongg tiles mean?" can be a complicated one!
Above: "red dragon" (left) and "green dragon" (right). I put those in quotes because the Chinese do not call these tiles dragons (as one can see in FAQ 6, the Mahjong Rosetta Stone FAQ).
Note that the characters are (L to R): "leung" (pronounced "loong"), meaning Dragon, Emperor, an emblem for China -- and "feng" (pronounced "fung"), meaning Phoenix, Empress, Prosperity. The leung and feng dragon tiles were sometimes used in earlier sets, up through the 1920's.
Q: "What the heck is the deal with these blank tiles?"
A: If your set has blank tiles, the blanks are either white dragons, or the blanks are extra tiles which you can use as replacements or jokers. Some sets' white dragons have a black rectangular design, or a black-outline picture of a dragon. If the set does not have such tiles, and it has blanks, then four of the blanks are your white dragons.
If your set has extra blank tiles, is a good idea to swap the spares with the white dragons every now and then, and use them in play. If you don't, and you eventually must use a spare, you don't want it to look too obviously new.
Originally, white dragons were blank tiles. That was fine when tiles were made with bone on one side and bamboo on the other, but it caused a problem when tiles were made of plastic (without a differently colored back). People were always turning the tile over to see what was on the other side (revealing to others that the tile was a white dragon). So a rectangular design was added. [Added Nov. 24, 2004] American players thought the blank tile looked like a bar of soap, so they call this tile "soap" to this day.
Name: Tom Sloper
Date: 03 Jan 2002
Hello joe alvarez (munchkin_alvarez), you emailed me:
>what are the other four flowers in mahjonng season tiles ?
I guess that depends on which four you mean by "other" (do you mean the flowers or the seasons?). The four seasons are Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter. Unless you mean Plum, Orchid, Chrysanthemum, Bamboo (the usual four flowers).
Or do you have a set that comes with Singapore-style flower tiles? Old Man, Pot of Gold, Cat, and Rat. Or Fisherman, Fish, Cock, and Worm. See above in this FAQ (scroll up).
Have fun! - Tom
Name: Tom Sloper
Date: 04 Jan 2002
Hello Joe (munchkin_alvarez), you emailed me:
>woops, sorry . I should have been more pecific i know the four flowers (plum, orchid, etc.) but, which flowers are presenting the seasons in the chinese type sets?
Joe, the images on the flower tiles vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, and sometimes from set types of one manufacturer. I imagine that the depictions of the flowers are just whatever the artist renders.
And they might not be flowers at all, of course (or they might not be seasons either, for that matter). We just call them "flowers" or "seasons" according to our whim.
I just took a quick peek at the season tiles from two random tile sets (one from Hong Kong and the other from Taiwan); the Winter flower (for example) of the HK set bears no resemblance whatsoever to the Winter flower of the Taiwanese set.
You would have to provide a photo of your specific season tiles to someone who is conversant with flowers; then that person might be able to identify your flowers for you. And whatever real-life flowers might be represented on your season tiles would not necessarily correspond to the flowers represented on someone else's set.
Tom
Season tiles from a Hong Kong set.
See? No correlation between the flowers on the two. And what do I know of flowers anyway? I'm no gardener! (^_^)
Name: Tom Sloper
Date: 21 Jan 2002
Hello karole couture, you emailed me pictures of your two mystery tiles and wrote:
>The alligator you say is common ...
It's not an alligator, I tell you! It's a dragon! (^_^) And I didn't say it was common. I'm not saying it's UNcommon either.
>...but have not seen the china man with the letter j.
OK. But since it's not a dragon, not a wind, not a flower, and not a suit tile, then what's left? Jokers. Coincidentally enough, this one is (as you said) marked with the letter J. There is no question what this tile is.
We must not allow ourselves to be confused by the wonderful variety of mah-jongg sets - we should instead EMBRACE the wonderful variety, and enjoy it! I refer you again to the series of columns I'm writing for the AMJA newsletter. http://www.amja.net.
>LMK what you think about the vintage of this set.
It's not from the 1930s, IMO. The NMJL introduced jokers in the 1960s. But I suppose it's possible that the notion of jokers was already in use in mah-jongg prior to that time. But most likely it's from after the introduction of jokers by the NMJL.
>Seems like we have 151 pcs ...
Even more reason to assume that the set is considerably newer than the 1930s, then.
>... and missing one pc.
See our "Tiles Wanted" and "Tiles For Sale" bulletin boards. Read the text at the top before you post (there are several sources for replacement tiles).
>No markings on the set as of a manufactor.
Yeah. It's a mystery to me why manufacturers don't put their names on their products. It used to be the standard practice but it isn't anymore.
Name: Tom Sloper
Date: 18 Feb 2002
Hello betjoe926, you emailed me:
>about the men on the flower tiles what year did they go from men to florwers on the flower tiles?
betjoe, like I wrote to you (on the bulletin board) on Feb. 10:
>>You are assuming that "little men" were "the norm" at a specific period, with specific beginning and ending dates. That ain't the case.
betjoe, I don't know where you got the idea that "men" CHANGED TO "flowers" but that idea is erroneous.
Some flower tiles depict men.
Some flower tiles depict flowers.
Some flower tiles depict animals.
Some flower tiles depict musical instruments, games, boats, pagodas...
Flower tiles depicting men were made as early as the 1900s-1920s, and flower tiles depicting men, animals, boats, etc. are still made today. There was never a period in between, during which flower tiles depicting men were "discontinued."
I say again: your question is based on an erroneous assumption. I hope this satisfies your mah-jongg group.
When you have another mah-jongg question, please post it on the mah-jongg Q&A bulletin board.
Tom
Name: Tom Sloper
Date: 13 Aug 2002
Hello Kate Cohn (k8_cohn), you emailed me:
>I have a question about a ring I recently bought to give to some one... I was told that it was a bonus tile, or joker, but I am unsure of the meaning of the characters. I have attached a picture (if it works).
I was traveling when you emailed me, and I didn't have a program that could handle a .PSF file.
This is a Chinese joker tile. I wrote about these in my article on jokers for the AMJA newsletter (http://www.amja.net). The Chinese writing on the tile means "100 uses."
>Do you have any suggestions?
Next time you send someone a picture, it should be JPG format rather than PSF! (^_^)
Tom
6/24/04 Update. These Chinese jokers usually come in fours, with each one having different corner decoration:
Name: Tom Sloper
Date: 03 Sep 2002
Hello Chuck Longstreth in Duluth, MN (kxj), you emailed me:
>Hi Tom - I have a question about the type of characters used on the
>Wans.
>Is the type of character used to indicate the '10,000' a sign of the
>age of the set?
>(i.e. the more simple vs. the more elaborate)
No. It cannot be used as a definitive guide.
Most early (1920s) sets used the simpler-style crak character. But not all.
Most modern (1970s to date) sets use the more elaborate-style crak character. But not all.
>Or is it just a matter of how fussy the engraver wanted to be?
For some engravers, perhaps. I'm sure there also other factors behind the choice of which kind of crak to use.
Tom
Name: Tom Sloper
Date: 06 Oct 2002
Hello Eric Stott, you wrote:
>My set has five numbered flowers and five numbered seasons. All the books and directions I've looked at tell how to use these in sequences of four. Why five?
Since you've seen different books and other descriptions of mah-jongg rules, you will understand the "un-American" concept that the numbers on the flower tiles have significance. (The reason I call that "un-American" is that in modern American mah-jongg, the numbers on flowers are meaningless.) The number on the flower matches one player at the table. Mah-Jongg is usually played with 4 players, thus the flowers usually are numbered 1-4. With me so far?
Well, back in the 1930s or so, before the NMJL decreed flowers as wild (beginning the meaningless of flower numbers), when 5 people wanted to play mah-jongg together, the 5th player (who would sit out) had to have his/her own rack (since back then players used the chips stacked up on the left side of the rack). And I guess there was a way that the 5th flower tile could be used too, but I haven't yet come across a detailed description of that.
Folks probably played Chinese Classical, or an Americanized version of it, thus the number on the flower only scores points for the player holding his own flower ("seat flower"). So unless the 5th player was able to score points even while sitting out, or unless the 5th player doesn't sit out, it's difficult to figure out exactly how a #5 flower would work.
If anybody has a writeup showing how the 5th flower was used, please let us know! (Maybe it's even in one of my old books - if it's in a book, let us know that, and I probably have the book.)
For pictures of special tiles used exclusively in antique mah-jongg sets, see FAQ 11.
For more about the symbolism of mah-jongg, see FAQ 18.
Tom
Date: Thu, 28 Oct 2004 00:52:15 -0400
From: G [nethippie]
Subject: Mahjongg set tile identification
>Attached is a scan I made of two types of tiles I can't identify. I'm trying to determine if this set I just acquired is complete or not.
Hello, G for George. Read FAQs 7a, 7b, and 7e.
>All of the three suits, the winds, and the dragons are accounted for. There are two blank tiles,
>3 sets of the tiles in the upper row of the picture, and 4 sets of the tiles in the lower row of the picture. There are no tiles marked "joker." Total of my count for all tiles present is 166, which seems to be the right number.
Right number for what? (^_^) See FAQ 2b.
>I know for sure that it's an older set, as there is a rule card from the American Mah Jongg league from the 1963-1964 year. Manufacturer of the set is "Cardinal Products Company."
>
Any info you might have on this set would be appreciated.
>
Thanks!
>
George
Please ask me specific questions after you read those FAQs. I don't do well with these "any info" type of questions (I can't write you an entire book). Always a good idea to read the FAQs before asking a question - I promise you I'll make sure you get your exact answer, but the FAQs are always the place to start.
Tom Sloper
Los Angeles, CA (USA)
Oct. 27, 2004
My Vietnamese mystery tiles, part 2
>From: "Darren
>Sent: Thursday, March 5, 2009 3:04:34 PM
>Subject: RE: Mah-Jongg Q+A
>Thanks Tom,
> I didn’t see these mystery tiles in FAQ 7e, so here is a picture of them.
>Thanks,
>Darren
Hi Darren,
Sorry, I misspoke earlier. Turns out I didn't have photos of this type of tile in FAQ 7e (until now). But compare that photo with this photo from FAQ 7b:
I call your tiles the "kings & queens." They're a common feature of Vietnamese sets. They're used just like extra flowers (which is why they're numbered the same way flowers are).
Tom Sloper
Author of "The Red Dragon & The West Wind," the definitive book on mah-jongg East & West.
Los Angeles, CA (USA)
March 5, 2009
>Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2005 15:48:15 -0500
>From: Adam
>Subject: Special Unknown TIles
>I recently purchased a mahjong set with 168 acrylic tiles. 24 of the tiles were blank (though 4 seemed to have been digitally printed with images of flowers) Of the remaining 144 tiles there are a complete 136 suits and honors, but no season or flower tiles. However, there are eight tiles in their place. I have attached a JPG of these tiles. There are four tiles matching each of the two tiles in the image. 4 tiles with the Chinese character "Ruler" in orange, and four with a four-point star pattern with a rhinestone (!) embedded in the center.
>I have other info: The plastic trays are stamped with the Nintendo logo, so I assume they are the manufacturer (though I can find no information on the web regarding this)
>
>Any helpful ideas an how these tiles might be used?
>
>Cheers,
>Adam
>
>PS - through examination I have found
>The set uses only two inks: Black and red, and the tiles all seem to have been created from molds rather than stamped as they are completely identical without variance in detail between identical tiles. Except for: The 4 white dragons (simple black double border), the Rulers, and the Stars, Which all seem to have been engraved by hand, which leads me to believe that this set was customized with these tiles as well as the digital flower tiles (which would explain the use of the orange ink which is out of place). There were some cheap stickers on the blank tiles, so am assuming this set was customized to play NMJL games, but that still doesn't explain these 8 tiles. Is there anything more info you can offer? It's more of a curiosity than anything, since I collect out of the ordinary sets. Thanks!
Hello Adam,
Very interesting out-of-the-ordinary set you have there! Nintendo sets are not common here in the U.S. I have one, but mine is a normal Japanese set. Nintendo, of course, used to make all sorts of game supplies before they got into video games in the 1980s.
You didn't mention if your set has Western indices on it or not. I assume not, since as far as I know Nintendo made stuff for sale within Japan only. Which makes it odd that it would have been adapted for play by NMJL players, since Americans can rarely read the Chinese characters on the craks and winds.
You also didn't say if your set includes the original paper materials that usually came with the set. The writing on the orange tile says "white king" (or white "ruler" as you say). Presumably, it could be used as a joker. And the star tile too, I suppose. The real mystery is why the set has so many blanks. There's no mystery why the set has only 4 manufactured flowers (see FAQ 7a). And a minor mystery is what the heck you mean when you say the 4 other flower tiles are "digitally printed" - I guess you mean somebody put home computer-printed stickers on them.
I'm going to add your picture to FAQ 7e. Maybe somebody will know more and will write me.
Tom Sloper (湯姆スローパー)
Los Angeles, CA (USA)
September 30, Year of the Rooster
>Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2005 18:27:53 -0500
>From: Adam
>Subject: Re: Special Unknown TIles
>
>Thanks for the info [below] - you are correct, no Western indeces. The four flowers I mentioned are not typical engraved tiles - the flowers are actually digitally printed directly onto the tile.
>The ink on the fourth one was covered up by a sticker and came off when the sticker did. I have been trying as delicately as possible to remove the stickers from the remaining tiles. The fourth tile in the picture is a stickered tile to show you what I mean - it is not a tile-sized sticker; the sticker is just a glitter heart shape itself. The first three are the flower tiles I mentioned - those pictures have been digitally (I think inkjet) printed onto the acrylic. As of now there are six true blanks, and 14 what I assume are blanks with the glittery heart stickers. The center compartment of the case, which I assume was for chips or sticks, is filled with these tiles that I guess were added to the original 144 from other sets. Maybe?
>
>Cheers,
>Adam
Hi Adam,
The thing that confused me is when you used the word "digital." Digital printing is a very recent invention, so when you say something is digitally printed, I have to assume we're talking about something made very recently (since the early 1990s at the earliest).
The practice of adding flower graphics or even heart stickers most definitely bolsters your theory that the set was modified to play the NMJL game. You said the set had 8 extra (decal or sticker) flowers? Besides the 4 that came with the Nintendo set originally? For a total of 12 flower tiles in the set? And no joker stickers? If so, that would mean that the modification to NMJL would have occurred about 1943 (during the war against Japan).
Oh wait, I just re-read your email. There are 14 heart-sticker flowers, and 4 printed flowers, and 4 manufactured flowers, for a total of 22 flowers (and no jokers). That would place the modification at 1956-57. And that makes more sense.
But I assure you, digital printing most definitely did not exist in the fifties, so if you're sticking with the "digital" thing, then there really is a mystery. (I think you're wrong about them being digitally printed.)
Tom Sloper (湯姆スローパー)
Los Angeles, CA (USA)
September 30, Year of the Rooster
Nintendo, part 3
>From: Dale
>Sent: Monday, October 26, 2009 9:47 AM
>Subject: Mah-Jongg Q+A
>My mah-jongg question or comment is: I was just reading you FAQ 7e and saw your discussion on Nintendo sets. I just wanted you to know that the first set I purchased was in 1974 was a Nintendo set which I still have, was from a Korean gift shop on Olympic Blvd. in Los Angeles. This set has Western indices on it, so Nintendo did make sets with them. I just thought you would like to know.
>Have a great day!
>Dale
Okay, thanks Dale!
May the tiles be with you.
Tom Sloper
Author of "The Red Dragon & The West Wind," the definitive book on Mah-Jongg East & West.
Los Angeles, CA (USA)
October 26, 2009
I am occasionally asked what the Chinese writing on flowers and seasons means. This photo is courtesy of Colin Bisasky, who asked this very question in early January 2006. I added the text. "Mum" is short for "Chrysanthemum" (I would have had to make the writing much smaller to fit such a long word).
Not every set uses the same Chinese writing on its flower tiles. The flowers, although usually these same four flowers, are not necessarily numbered in this order. But the seasons are always numbered in this order. East corresponds to Spring, South corresponds to Summer, West corresponds to Autumn, and North corresponds to Winter. The wind is said to come from the indicated direction in the indicated season.
Another sort of flower tiles
TOP ROW: I honestly don't know what the pictures are supposed to represent. The red 2 looks like a gong or drum - the red 4 is, of course, a flower. I don't read Chinese myself, but I know a website that's very good for identifying Chinese characters. You can try it yourself too. At http://www.zhongwen.com/ you can look up characters by stroke count, which is the only one of several options Zhongwen offers that you and I can actually make use of. Guoyu (http://140.111.34.46/newDict/dict/index.html) can also be useful, but it's much harder to use so let's forget that one and stick with Zhongwen.
1. The first character (the #1 tile) is "yī" (pronounced "ee") and it means "one." Easy.
2. Five brushstrokes, says Edwin Phua. 年 is pronounced as "nián," meaning "year."
3. 四 - If you're familiar with mah-jongg, you know this one means "four." The Chinese pronunciation is "sì."
4. I count eight strokes. On Zhongwen I start looking for eight. I found it about halfway down on the right side. It's pronounced jì and Zhongwen seems to be saying that it has to do with seasons of the year. I looked it up in my Japanese book and in Japanese this same character does indeed mean "season."
So the writing across the four red-numbered flower tiles says "yì nián sì jì" ("yi" is pronounced as fourth tone here, says Edwin Phua) - "one year, four seasons."
BOTTOM ROW:
Sometimes these old flower tiles have writing that isn't used any more in China. The second row's characters are more complex and I couldn't find any of them on Zhongwen. Edwin Phua says these tiles depict the Four Arts of the Chinese Scholar [see Wikipedia]: 琴棋书画 ("qín qí shū huà"), representing zither, board game (go/weiqi), calligraphy, and painting.
But you can still just call them all "flower," of course.
Identify my Chinese Opera characters
From: "cynthia gallagher" (chiquitaroad)
Sent: Monday, March 10, 2008 10:46 AM
Subject: Mah-Jongg Q+A
> My mah-jongg question or comment is: Hello, I have a bone and bamboo
> set with Chinese Opera characters, men, for the 8 Flower/Season
> tiles. I've tried finding who they represent on the net but
> unsuccessfully. Can you help me with this quest? Do you know which
> characters they represent? Thanks, Cyn
Hi Cyn,
Chinese Opera, huh? I don't know anything about Chinese Opera. Are you sure that's where these guys are from? Because I've usually heard this sort of tile referred to as "Scholars." Wolfram Eberhard, in his book, "A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols," says that "scholar" is one of "the four callings," and that the scholars are symbolized by "the eight precious things." Eberhard doesn't give a list of the eight top scholars and how to identify them, but if you're interested in Chinese symbolism, I recommend his book to you - and also that of C.A.S. Williams, "Outlines of Chinese Symbolish & Art Motives." Both books are listed in FAQ 3, above left. Williams lists "The Eight Immortals," who may be what your flower tiles represent. It's too much work for me to try to help you identify which is which from Williams' book, but if you really want to know, I recommend you get his book. It's easy to find on Amazon (that's where I got my copy, if I recall correctly). And of course, a Google search on "the eight immortals" or "the eight scholars" might give you your answers as well.
May the tiles be with you.
Tom Sloper / トム·スローパー
/
湯姆 斯洛珀
/ 탐 슬로퍼
Los Angeles, CA (USA)
March 10, 2008
Author of "The Red Dragon & The West Wind," the definitive book on mah-jongg East & West. Available at bookstores, BN.com, and Amazon.com.
In late December 2008, reader Ellejai sent this photo of her "mystery flowers." Over the course of the correspondence, and with help from the Internet and her son who has studied Chinese and Japanese culture and languages, Ellejai was able to learn a few things.
Top row:
1. Spring - The Monkey King wears golden chain mail and a phoenix feather cap. He walks on clouds.
2. Summer - The Goddess of Mercy, Guan Yin (Kwan Yin). She's depicted with a water jar in the right hand, a willow branch in the left, and wearing a Buddha crown. In the book "Journey to the West," Guan Yin enlisted the Monkey King as a bodyguard for the monk Tripitaka.
3. Autumn: This is Liu Hai, and the next tile is his 3 legged frog or toad. You can find the story of Liu Hai on the Internet.
4. Winter: Liu Hai's 3 legged toad with a string of coins, symbolizing fortune and wealth.
The bottom row:
1. Rich man sitting on an ornate chair.
2. Pot of gold with three symbols inscribed on the pot.
3. Acrobats superimposed over the obverse of a Chinese coin with a square hole in the center. One acrobat is lying on his back flipping the other up in the air (like we used to see on the Ed Sullivan show when I was a kid), in a traditional Chinese acrobatic style possibly known as Wushu. Ellejai explained, "The two red symbols on either side of the coin are written in Manchurian (Boo Su or literally Su then Boo) and translate to "Soochow Mint", which is located in the Kiangsu Provence." Possibly this is an indication of where the set was made.
4. Not sure what the last tile depicts. Ellejai wrote that It "looks like 5 men sitting around a table in a cone shaped basket. The man at the head of the table is important and seems to have a crown or a some kind of hat on. There is something on the table, it looks like a kite? with three streamers that have symbols on the ends of the strings."
Zhao Gong Ming and his pot of gold
>From: "Ticktoc25
>Sent: Friday, January 30, 2009 7:56:59 AM
>Subject: Mystery Tiles cont.
>Hi Tom,
>I've researched the tile commonly called the "Rich man" and "pot of gold". The Rich man is really the Daoist god of wealth, Zhao Gong Ming. In one hand he is holding a gold ingot and in the other a magical iron whip. The magical whip is usually depicted in the form of a rú yì scepter which carries the meaning of "everything you wish". He is usually surrounded by jewels, gold, pearls, coral etc.
>The "pot of gold" more correctly should be referred to a "basin filled with treasure". Three Chinese characters are often present on the basin. The first one means "Basin" or "tray", the second means "Treasure" and the third translates as the word "together". ("Basin and treasure together".) The basin of treasure is filled with 3 gold ingots. In China ingots look like a rounded hat with a ball in it's center. Three of these ingots together carry the meaning of "prosperity". The basin is also contains some of the other treasures mentioned above.
>I still have my number 3 and 4 "flower" tiles to interpret, but all in all my set seems to have a carver who had a Daoist background.
>LJ
Wow, LJ!
Good job! So where did you find this information? Future seekers will want to know.
May the tiles be with you.
Tom Sloper
Author of "The Red Dragon & The West Wind," the definitive book on mah-jongg East & West.
Los Angeles, CA (USA)
January 30, 2009
Zhao Gong Ming and his pot of gold, part 2
>From: Ticktoc25
>Sent: Sunday, February 01, 2009 12:22 PM
>Subject: Mystery Tiles continued.
>Hi Tom,
>In response to your question as to how I discovered the information for the commonly called "Rich man" and "Pot of Gold" tiles being "Zhao Gong Ming" and his "Basin of Treasure" all I can say is that I spent hours and hours of work. After deciphering Quan Yin and the Monkey King, and Liu Hai and the 3 legged toad, I realized that there must be more to the "Rich man" than met the English eye. And frankly it bugged me that I didn't know that the words on the basin were! I will share a bit of what I did.
>
>I visited many web sites about Chinese mythology and ideology. My son helped me with Chinese symbols and words. Wikipedia, and Godchecker.com were helpful, as were web sites with pictures and commentary. Once I determined that my tiles were specifically of Daoist (Taoist) origin, I was able to narrow the search down. A book called "Five-Fold Happiness" by Vivien Sung is a good reference, though by the time I discovered this book I had pretty much found out as much as I could. I also went to one of my local Chinese Restaurants and found a person who is fluent in both English and Chinese. He helped me with the translation of the characters on the Basin.
>
>What I can say is that, at present, there is no one place that all the information can be found. Only by searching and putting together all the pieces can the answer be discovered. I've enjoyed learning about the Chinese culture and how it has been engraved in our MJ tiles! I'm thinking of writing a book about special MJ tiles so others will be able to discover the rich meaning of their tiles also.
>
>Alas, my Chinese friend was unable to help me with my last two tiles, so I am now looking for a Daoist who may be able to help get me started with the meaning of those. I'll let you know what I find out.
>Ellejai aka LJ
Hi Ellejai,
Wow. So many people come here looking for instant gratification to their mystery flower questions, and are disappointed when I can't help them. Those people don't appreciate that the quest itself can be so rewarding. What fun you had -- what dedication to the quest for knowledge. I think it's a wonderful subject for a book, and I hope that you will write one.
May the tiles be with you.
Tom Sloper
Author of "The Red Dragon & The West Wind," the definitive book on mah-jongg East & West.
Los Angeles, CA (USA)
February 1, 2009
And another "mystery flowers" exchange on the Mah-Jongg Q&A Bulletin Board, this one with Johni and Lori, from early September 2008:
Someone Lori knows who can read Chinese translated the writing as follows:
1: Benevolence (with open gate symbol)
2: Religion/Belief (woman kneeling and praying)
3: See (verb) (woman standing and gazing ahead)
4: Mother (empty chair image)
N: Moon (man walking under moon holding long scroll)
E: Middle (man deep in thought)
W: Appreciate/Enjoy (man standing, gazing up and ahead, one hand raised)
S: Autumn (person on ground in front of broken swing or chair?)
Note that Johni and Lori play American-style mah-jongg, so they arrange winds as "NEWS," but the Chinese arrange them as "ESWN." So the order of the wind flowers is wrong in the photo, and would not make a proper sentence. They should be read this way:
E: Middle
S: Autumn
W: Appreciate/Enjoy
N: Moon
"What do my flower tiles say" is a fairly common question, and doesn't always get the happy answer. By which I mean, you find out that the characters say some nonsense thing like "Benevolent Religion See Mother, Mid Autumn Enjoy Moon." (See, so now you have to figure out what the heck that means!) So what you need, if you want to figure out what your mystery flowers mean, is for someone who's fluent in Chinese (not just the language but also the culture) to see the tiles and explain them for you - someone who's fluent in Chinese AND also willing to read an email in English and reply in English. You can also use a website like http://zhongwen.com/ to try and read the characters yourself. Either way you go, good luck -- you're on your own if you want to try.
For further reading, Jesper Harder's site in Denmark has a discussion about the Chinese writing on mahjong tiles. And these books are also very useful if you are researching your flower tiles or other mah-jongg symbolism:
WHAT CHARACTER IS THAT?: AN EASY-ACCESS DICTIONARY OF 5,000 CHINESE CHARACTERS, by Ping-gam Go. Simplex Publications, ISBN-13: 978-0962311352 - second edition, paperback - May 1, 2002. Most Chinese dictionaries sort by the complexity of the character, IE the number of strokes in the character. The unique feature of this dictionary is its arrangement: first by the English word of the character's root, and then by the number of strokes. This simple arrangement dramatically narrows your field of search for any given character. This dictionary teaches you how to identify the radicals and also provides etymology to help you memorize it. (Thanks to Bruce Bacher)
A DICTIONARY OF CHINESE SYMBOLS: HIDDEN SYMBOLS IN CHINESE LIFE AND THOUGHT, by Wolfram Eberhard. Routledge, London, 1986. ISBN 0-415-00228-1. Originally published in German as Lexicon chinesischer Symbole by Eugen Diederichs Verlag, Cologne, 1983.
OUTLINES OF CHINESE SYMBOLISM AND ART MOTIVES, by C.A.S. Williams. Dover Publications, ISBN-13: 978-0486233727 (multiple editions; available in paperback and hardcover). Not about mah-jongg, but useful for mah-jongg scholars, and those wishing to better understand their ornately carved tiles or unusual flower tiles in collectible sets.
Not about mah-jongg - the title is self-explanatory. Useful for mah-jongg researchers and historians.
Occasionally someone sends me a photo of their "mahjong" set and it turns out it isn't mahjong at all, but rather Rummikub (sometimes made under alternate names):
© 2001-2010 Tom Sloper. All rights reserved. May not be re-published without written permission of the author.
Thanks also to British mah-jongg scholar Michael Stanwick; his research has informed some aspects of this article.
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