What do mahjong symbols mean

You know you're amongst a Mahjong pro if you can see that they can tell what tile they hold in their hand simply by feeling the grooves and lines of the tile without looking. The craft of Mahjong, even in Hong Kong and China, is quickly disappearing as more and more people play online, and no one to take over the Mahjong tile making trade.

This does not grant permission for cultural appropriation and complete dismissal of the origins and cultural significance of the game and of the tiles, specifically. In Ancient China, coins were copper and circular with a square hole in the middle.

The bamboo tile is also said to represent the strings of copper coins that people use to string together coins at a time. It means 10, I had a Facetime conversation with my momma around this whole ordeal about these White women disrespecting and trying to change the face of Mahjong. She said something so simple yet true about this matter: change the tiles and designs if you want, but don't call it Mahjong. Thinking about Mahjong and how we play with my poh poh maternal grandmother at special occasions such as weddings to ordinary gatherings like family dinners brings a smile to my face.

I can almost hear the clanking of the tiles as they're being shuffled between games and the banter between family members. A Mahjong set contains a total of tiles. Further, each game contains four sets of tiles inscribed with the Chinese characters for the four compass directions, representing the four winds, as well as four sets of three tiles called "dragons".

While these tiles are represented in the game four times each, the four seasons and the four flowers are only once in the game and mach each other. The pieces of this suit depict bamboo sticks sou-zu. There are four of each of the following pieces, numbered 1 through This suit is formed by the wheels pin-zu. Both the circles and bamboo represent ancient Chinese currency , the former a tong , a coin with a square hole in the middle, and the latter, strings of such coins.

That character under the numbers? The honor tiles are made of two different kinds of suits. Each one is full of meaning and much more than just a pretty picture. Want to play or just love the game? Check out our mahjong collection!