Mahjong meaning

The pattern of each card has a meaning

Heaven and Earth and the Five Elements: East, South, West, North, and Middle match the five elements, namely: Eastern Wood, Western Metal, Southern Fire, Northern Water, and Chinese Earth. The ancients believed that the shape of the universe is the sky and the earth, so "white skin" represents the earth, and "fa" represents the sky (because the "fa" is at the top of the human being). "Zhong" not only represents the Chinese soil in the five elements, but also represents the people in the "three talents" of heaven, earth and people.

The flower card has a deep meaning: plum, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum occupy spring, summer, autumn and winter, and are known as the "Four Gentlemen". "Plum" means noble and arrogant, "Orchid" means graceful and ethereal, "Bamboo" means modesty and restraint, and "Chrysanthemum" implies coldness and purity, expressing people's perception of the order of time and the meaning of life, as well as a certain aesthetic personality The yearning for realm has become a symbol of Chinese people's feelings and aspirations.

Zhong, Fa, Bai: The three cards "Zhong", "Fa" and "White" respectively imply "Zhongzheng", "Development" and "Pure".

Wan, Bing, Suo: There is a saying that Mahjong was invented by a man named Wan Bingchuo. This person is very good in "Water Margin". Mahjong is based on 108 cards, which are metaphors for 108 heroes. For example, the nine pieces in the card are likened to "nine dragons" Shi Jin, the two pieces are likened to "double whip" Hu Yanzhuo, the one cake is likened to "black whirlwind" Li Kui and so on. The reason why it is divided into three categories: Wan, Bing, and Strip is the homonym of his own name.

Another view holds that "cake" means "tube", its pattern is the cross section of the gunpowder gun, and "tube" is the barrel of the gun. "Suo" means "bundle", which is a pair of birds strung together with thin ropes, and the bonus is calculated according to the number of birds. "Ten thousand" is the unit of reward, and tens of thousands is the amount of reward.

numbers in mahjong tiles

3 is the base number, and 9 is the pole number: 10,000, pie, cable (strip) three kinds of colors, which respectively reflect the existence of matter, and the number represents the quantity of matter. In ancient Chinese thought, 3 is the base number and 9 is the pole number, so there are 9 pieces of ten thousand, pie, and cable (strip) respectively.

36 Heavenly Gang and 72 Earth Demons: As mentioned earlier, mahjong uses 108 cards as the base, which is a metaphor for 108 heroes, which corresponds to 36 Heavenly Gangs and 72 Earth Demons, which is a reflection of the ancients' simple cosmology.

44 cards: 12 is a very important number in Chinese culture, such as 12 zodiac signs, 12 hours, 12 months, etc. The number of mahjong tiles, 144, is the square of 12.

13 cards per person: Match season has 13 weeks. In addition, the four seasons make up 52 weeks, a total of 364 days, plus the one when you win, which represents the last day of the year, so there are 365 days in total, exactly one year.