MAH JONGG TILE DESIGN THEORIES (ARTICLE 214)

The name “maque” (“maqiao”) or mah jongg roughly translates to “sparrow.” Here are two theories regarding the designs on the tiles.

Theory 1: The Money System

It is well known that mah jongg is played with money so there is a connection to the designs on the tiles. The dots are the old copper coins with squares in the middle, bamboos are strings of coins (aka sticks; 100 coins on a string), and the characters are ten thousand coins (red wan symbol=myriad; 100 strings of 100 coins).

This is the most widely embraced theory because in an 1889 set, the bamboo suit was a string suit with no bird. The sparrow appeared after 1900 and was chosen because mixing the tiles sounds like sparrows.

Theory 2: A Sparrow’s Story

The bamboo suit relates to sparrows’ favored habitat. Like other birds, sparrows find good shelter among the bamboo trees and eat the seeds. Also, the sparrow symbolizes unity, and mah jongg is a social game. The character suit (wan kanji=myriad) relates to a flock of sparrows. The winds relate to the sparrow’s migratory patterns. The dragons relate to the circle of life. Red dragon (lucky to be born, the circle of life begins), green dragon (grow and multiply, the circle of life continues), white dragon (the circle of life ends).

This is a popular theory because of its homage to nature.

Other Tiles

The Flowers

The eight flower tiles include four tiles representing the four seasons: winter, spring, summer and fall:

• Winter (冬天, dōngtiān)
• Spring (春天, chūntiān)
• Summer (夏天, xiàtiān)
• Fall (秋天, qiūtiān)

The other four tiles represent the four Confucian plants: bamboo, chrysanthemum, orchid, and plum.

• Bamboo (竹, zhú)
• Chrysanthemum (菊花, júhuā)
• Orchid (蘭花, lánhuā)
• Plum (梅, méi)

The Winds

The winds are represented by the four cardinal directions, east (東, dōng), south (南, nán), and west (西, xī),l and north (北, běi).

Players take turns in this order because the Chinese navigate by looking up at the stars. One reason why Westerners get confused about the order of turns is that Westerners navigate by looking at the Earth.

The Dragons

Green Dragon

Fa choi” means “Get Rich.” It’s also known as “Fa choi” or “Fart choy.” The character “fa” by itself means “get” and the word “rich” was added. This is why the green dragons are sometimes marked with the letter “F.”

Red Dragon

Chung means “center.” Some folks say “hung chung” which means “red center.” This is why sometimes red dragons are marked with the letter “C.”

White Dragon

Po means “white” or “blank” and also “bai” or “bai-ban.” This is why white dragons are marked with a letter “B” or “P.” Originally, white dragon tiles were all blank.

There are two theories for the meanings of these tiles.

Theory 1: Archery

• The green dragon represents an archer releasing his draw.
• The red dragon represents a hit in archery.
  The white dragon represents a miss in archery.

This is one reason why these tiles are also known as “arrows.”

Theory 2: Confucian Virtues

• The green dragon represents sincerity.
• The red dragon represents benevolence.
• The white dragon represents filial piety.

Interesting Resources

Here is an interesting article on traditions and symbolism: https://www.superminted.com/the-great-wall-of-mahjong/

Here is an interesting debate if you want to dig really deep: https://rec.games.mahjong.narkive.com/vkACFWCo/why-a-sparrow

There are other birds in the one bamboo and it’s not necessarily a sparrow, but most often a Pe-Ling, a mythological singing bird. A pheasant, peacock, or parrot has also been chosen for some designs. Here is a blog post written by Gregg Swain you might find interesting: https://www.mahjongtreasures.com/2014/05/16/a-theory-about-the-evolution-of-the-one-bam-tile