Is mahjong named after a bird?

Etymology. In Chinese, the game was originally called 麻雀 (pinyin: máquè)—meaning sparrow—which is still used in some languages in southern China. It is said that the clacking of tiles during shuffling resembles the chattering of sparrows.

How did mahjong get its name?

The name, signifying “sparrow” (maque), has been variously transliterated as ma tsiang, ma chiang, ma cheuk, and ma ch'iau. The sparrow or a mythical “bird of 100 intelligences” appears on one of the tiles. The name mah-jongg was coined and copyrighted by Joseph P.

What does the bird mean in mahjong?

The number one tile ​does not have a bamboo stick on it. Instead, it has a bird sitting on bamboo, so this set is sometimes also called "bird." There 36 bamboo tiles in a set.

What animal is in mahjong?

Singapore mahjong differs from the mahjong played in Hong Kong as it includes four animal bonus tiles: the cat, mouse, chicken and centipede. Curiously enough, these animals come as two pairs with a predator-prey relationship: the cat and the rat, as well as the chicken and the centipede.

Why is one bamboo a bird in mahjong?

According to one of the historic stories, mahjong was invented during a time in China when sparrows (meaning of mahjong in chinese) were a problem (too many).

Learn how to play mahjong in 2.5 minutes

What is the flower symbol in mahjong?

It is common to see the Flower tiles in sets of four, as four plants or flowers, and as the seasons of the year. Depending on the Mahjong set, the flowers are commonly the Plum Blossom, Iris, Bamboo, and the Chrysanthemum. These four flowers/plants represent the Four Confucian Gentlemen/women.

What is the red dragon called in mahjong?

the red dragon (chun), symbolizing the middle or animal order (including humans), the green dragon (fa), symbolizing the lower or plant order of life, the white dragon (pai pan – white tile), symbolizing the higher or spirutual order of beings.

Why do mahjong flowers have numbers?

The bonus tiles relate to the winds, as each season is associated with a direction and a flower with a season. Some tile sets will have the seasons and flowers numbered 1-4; these numbers correspond to the wind direction it is associated with: 1=East, 2=South, 3=West, 4=North.

Why are mahjong tiles called cracks?

“There are Dots, which represent coins, there are Bams, or bamboos, which represent strings of coins, and then there are Cracks, the Chinese word for character, which represents lots of money.

Why is it called crack in mahjong?

Around the mid-1900's, the card game changed to its current tile format. The motifs or suits of the tile game; Bamboos (familiarly known as Bams), characters (familiarly known as Kraks or Cracks), and Dots, were based on items used to keeping sparrows and other pests away.

What do you say when you win mahjong?

It is traditional when you win a game of mahjong to say: "Sik wu." In Western circles sometimes winners will instead announce "mahjong."

Is there a secret to mahjong?

Have a clear plan of attack – Think about the direction you want to take your hand and stick with it, while also remaining flexible. Picking up tiles for the sake of it won't work, and patience will always win out in the end. If your strategy isn't working, change tactics and look for other winning possibilities.

What is the rarest win in mahjong?

No prize for guessing, but the Big Four Winds/Big Four Blessings winning hand has the lowest probability in a game of mahjong. With a rare 1 in 57,856 chance of happening, this combination definitely needs to go onto your Instastory!

What is the secret to mahjong?

Keep an eye on similar tiles on top of each other

Whenever it is possible to identify two similar tiles on top of each other, solving them should become a priority. Otherwise, these may lead to an unsolvable puzzle. If those two tiles are the only ones left out of their symbol/suit to be matched, the game will be lost.

What is the clown in mahjong?

Animal tiles

These are known as heads (人头), faces (人臉), clowns (小丑) or snowmen (雪人). Sometimes, these four heads will be replaced with two pairs of male heads (male clowns, male faces) and female heads (female clowns, female faces).

What does the 🀄 emoji mean?

Emoji Meaning

The red dragon tile in the game of Japanese Mahjong. White, with red 中 character printed on it. Mahjong Red Dragon was approved as part of Unicode 5.1 in 2008 under the name “Mahjong Tile Red Dragon” and added to Emoji 1.0 in 2015.

What are the five types of mahjong?

A hand containing these five types: characters tile, circles tile, bamboos tile, wind tile and dragon tile.

What does Pong and Chow mean in mahjong?

There are three main types of melds: a Pong (three identical tiles), a Kong (four identical tiles), and a Chow (three suited tiles of the same suit in numerical sequence).

What is robbing the Kong in mahjong?

Robbing a Kong

When an opponent declares a "small exposed kong", and one is calling for the tile which is being declared as a kong, one can announce "fu" and claim the declared tile to complete his hand. This is called "Robbing a Kong".

What is the tile called in mahjong?

Mah-Jongg tiles are comprised of three suits of One through Nine: Craks (also called Characters, Wan, or Ten Thousand), Bams (also called Bamboos or Sticks), and Dots (also called Balls or Circles), and other tiles known as Winds, Dragons, and Flowers (in American Mah-Jongg, Seasons tiles are referred to as Flowers).

What does the bamboo 8 mean in mahjong?

Right as Rachel is saying this, she draws the most important tile in the game: an eight of bamboo. The number eight is of huge symbolic importance to the Chinese; it resembles the character for fortune and is considered a sign of wealth, prosperity, and happiness.

What does Chi mean in mahjong?

Playing a Game

You can also chi (literally to eat), which means taking the tile discarded by the person immediately to your left. To do this, say chi, show the tiles you're putting it with (and leave them lying down), then discard a tile yourself as normal. However, you can only do this to complete a run (see below).

What does the snowflake do in mahjong?

'Frost'(Snowflake) helps to freeze the combo counter until you collect 5 pairs of tiles. The multiplier grows without falling. It helps to earn a higher score in the game.

Why was mahjong banned?

Ironically, mahjong was outlawed under his rule. The early communists viewed it as an unnecessary distraction for the masses, and disliked its links to gambling and capitalism. It was not until 1985 the ban was lifted. Today the game is as popular as ever.