Author Archives: Kuan Yin

About Kuan Yin

Mah Jong enthusiast

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The above image is from the Harvard Museum.

There's a Chinese legend about Liu Hai and the three legged toad.

From Primal Trek:

"Liu Hai and the Three-Legged Toad

Liu Hai (刘海) is one of the most popular members of the Chinese pantheon of charm figures and represents prosperity and wealth.  There are a couple of versions of the story which have come down through history.

Liu Hai was a Minister of State during the 10th century in China.  He was also a Taoist practitioner.  One version of the story says that he became good friends with a three-legged toad who had the fabulous ability to whisk its owner to any destination.¹  This particular toad had a love not only for water but also for gold.  If the toad happened to escape down a well, Liu Hai could make him come out by means of a line baited with gold coins.

The second version of the story is that the toad actually lived in a deep pool and exuded a poisonous vapor which harmed the people.  Liu Hai is said to have hooked this ugly and venous creature with gold coins and then destroyed it.

The story of Liu Hai is frequently told as "Liu Hai playing with the Golden Toad".  There is a hidden meaning here.  The Chinese word for "toad" is chanchu (蟾蜍).  Sometimes, Chinese will only say the first character chan (蟾).  In some Chinese dialects, the character chan has a pronunciation very similar to qian (钱) which means "coin".  Therefore, a storyteller reciting "Liu Hai playing with the Golden Toad" could be heard by listeners as "Liu Hai playing with the gold coins".

There are many plays on words in the Chinese language and thus in representations in art.

 

 

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I love this old woodblock print, of Liu Hai and the toad. It is easy to see Liu Hai enticing the toad to give up his coin . It clearly shows us the string of coins that were the inspiration for the bamboo suit, with a string through that hollow center of the coin.

 

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You can read more about that ancient way of carrying coins in this post

We often see Liu Hai on Mahjong tiles too, with his three legged toad and string of coins. On this delightful pair of tiles you can see the toad with a coin above his head, and Liu Hai with his string of coins, perhaps having just lured the toad out of the well.

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Knots and thus tassels were important forms of art to the Chinese, and appear over and over, including as in the abbreviated form seen above with Liu Hai's string of coins, and on other Mahjong tiles as well.

Here's a photo I took to celebrate 2015:

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You can see the tassels at the end of the endless knots in the Wind tiles. (Those of you who have been following this blog will also recognize the presence of two fish, representing marital harmony, and peaches and bats surrounding the Craks, symbols of longevity. The shrimp are symbols of flexibility. Dragonflies represent summer, but I just learned that when associated with White, as we see for the White Dragon, they represent pureness of character, one of the five happinesses: long life, good health, wealth, good moral character, and a natural death.)

More on tassels and knots can be found here:

http://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/culture/knot.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_knotting

 

You can now follow me on Twitter!

@MahJonggGregg

To learn more about Mah Jongg, you might want to take a look at this book that I wrote with Ann Israel, published by Tuttle. To see more about it:

www.mahjonggtheartof thegame.com

To order it click here:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/mah-jongg-ann-israel/1118759459?ean=9784805313237

or here from Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Mah-Jongg-Collectors-Guide-Tiles/dp/4805313234/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1414844427&sr=8-7&keywords=mah+jongg

 

 

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There are times that some people just get lucky. 

Here's a photo of one lucky find.  To begin with, it certainly is an unusual box, with the very tall brass handle and big brass fittings. The inside is just as wonderful, but you will have to wait to see it!

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I recently received this email from a reader:

"Thank you, I have no prior knowledge of these so your help is invaluable. It was posted on a vintage facebook group I am in and I was drawn to it for some reason..  I had to have it, I just loved it.  I purchased it needing some tlc for $50 aud.

The lady found it in her bathroom 10 years ago when she purchased her home in Fremantle, Perth (Australia). I bought it 3 days ago in the same condition she found it. The only piece of paper that came with it is written in Dutch 

On some tiles the brass had separated from the timber base, I have glued both them and drawers back together. One drawer is missing the back piece, (I have not replaced the piece, not sure what to do about that) everything else is intact. I have not cleaned the tiles, I am reluctant to until I know more about it. The history is important to me and I would be devastated if I ruined the story.

Most of the set is glued together, no pins on the tiles just some type of adhesive. The drawers and handles are glued, however the runners are brass, these have screws. The screws are small and with the angle its hard to see if they are machine made. I could see circles on one though so I suspect handmade but cant be sure.

The base of the cabinet has some residue adhesive on it, and you can see some brass pins, as the front of doors also overhang the base, I suspect there is a missing base plate. The cabinet is very heavy for its size. Someone has suggested it may be palm wood. The back corners of the cabinet are dovetailed, to my eye these are handmade by someone very skilled. There are slight irregularities which indicates to me a machine was not used (keep in mind though I can only compare from what I know about antique furniture, I have never looked into something so small before)

The pieces (tiles) measure 32mm long x 21mm wide x 16mm deep. There are irregularities in the engraving so this also tells me handmade. The two dice have a blank side for the one and the four is painted red. 

There are no markings that I can see on anything at all. 

Under the handle there is a small rectangular mark, I wonder if something had of been glued there at one stage."

So now for the big reveal:

A five drawer chest

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You will notice the tops of the tiles are brass, glued onto the wood backing.   Everything about this set is unusual. The Wind indicators are octagonal painted brass pieces, that fit into the large piece with the four big screws. The dice and the counters are also metal. I love the brass counters with the red trim on some of them. That blue color of paint is rare.

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Looking at the set like this, I get a nautical feeling about it. Certainly those big rounded screws around the wind indicators bear a resemblance to portholes on ships, such as this one from the mid 20th century. Brass was often used for ship fittings.

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Many portholes have three screws to hold the window in place, but not all as you can see above.

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The carvings are highly unusual, with great style.

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The Crak characters look like European versions of the design, as do the renderings of the Chinese numbers which are also highly stylized. I love the way these three numbers almost build to a triangle. The Arabic numbers are very clearly carved, with elaborate versions of the numbers.

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Look at the way the Chinese 7 is carved. It really looks like Neptune's trident to me:

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Here's Neptune in a statue in Virginia Beach, VA, with his trident which is quite similar to the Chinese 7, right?

The One and Two Dots have stars inside

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The One and Two Dots which are more elaborate than the other Dots which are circles within circles. To me these are very similar to the Nautical compass, or Rose Compass, with the two outside circles surrounding the eight pointed star:

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This image is from:

http://compassmuseum.com/nautical/nautical_2.html

 

The 7 Dots has a different design too, although we have seen this before on some other sets:

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The Bams are unusual too:

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It almost looks as if  the Two Bams are tied with a ribbon.

 

The Flowers, and there are only four as is common in many types of play:

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You will see the plants associated with these designs:

plum blossom, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum, but all lacking the Chinese characters we often see. I don't know the reason behind the "pip" on the top of the tiles, unless they are there to readily and quickly identify the tile by touch as a lucky or bonus tile.

Here is the translation of the piece of paper found with the set:

"Environmental pollution the Chinese way.

The government of the British Crown colony Hong Kong has, in the context of their environmental defensive, started to combat the Chinese passion: the game of Mahjong.

According to the government, the noise of the mahjong tiles on the gaming tables, disturbs the evening calm of the highly populated areas of Hong Kong, in a irresponsible way.

The government however does think twice before forbidding mahjong. Instead it suggests to cover the tables with cloth to hush the echo."

Many of us know how futile it would be to ban the playing of Mahjong; table covers are a much better way of dealing with the noise problem!

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Some closeups of the box, so that you can see the wood used and the brass runners for the drawers:

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Reader Tony Watson has weighed in with some thoughts about the wood used:

"I've had a really good look at the wood on these tiles; it's definitely NOT palm, the nearest thing I can associate it with is Laburnum, looking at the side grain. But the end grain is so straight, the tree diameter would need to be massive not to show any curvature so I don't think the wood is 'natural'.
I think this is plywood, but not your ordinary stuff; I think it's a load of veneers glued together - thats the only way I can see to get the grain looking the same on the end and the side; most evident on the edges of the top panel of the box. Down the side at the dovetails, you can see that the sanding has revealed the layers of the veneers (I think?) Don't know what the wood is, but it has flecks like beech, but so does iroko, so this might be a better candidate? "

 

Given that Fremantle is a major port in Australia, I would hazard a guess that the set was made for someone in the shipping business, perhaps a ship's captain who spent time in Europe, hence the piece of paper with the notice about noisy mahjong players translated at the beginning of the piece.

The sharp edges of the tiles indicate that the set was not made in China since the Chinese don't like sharp edges. The set's carvings somewhat resemble the mother-of-pearl one we saw earlier this year.

What a wonderful, probably one of a kind, find.

 

You can now follow me on Twitter!

@MahJonggGregg

To learn more about Mah Jongg, you might want to take a look at this book that I wrote with Ann Israel, published by Tuttle. To see more about it:

www.mahjonggtheartof thegame.com

To order it click here:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/mah-jongg-ann-israel/1118759459?ean=9784805313237

or here from Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Mah-Jongg-Collectors-Guide-Tiles/dp/4805313234/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1414844427&sr=8-7&keywords=mah+jongg

 

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X 59 EAGLE SCENE crab

We've been looking at some of the wonderful sea creatures that we see on Mahjong tiles. The next three appear in our book: Mah Jongg the Art of the Game. They are from a fabulous set of Flower tiles, made of ivory backed with bamboo. Thanks to www.Mahjongmahjong.com for providing this wonderful set for our use in the book.

You can see how finely carved this crab is, and how there is attention to the rocks under the water, and the grasses growing at the bottom of the sea. Once again we see that small "H" mark on the shell of the crab, similar to what we saw in the other post. To me, that crab has a lot of personality!

 

X 59 EAGLE SCENE shrimp

Here we have a shrimp, swimming near the ocean bottom, past little clumps of sea plants. To the Chinese the shrimps are symbols of flexibility. I don't know about you, but I certainly could use a bit more flexibility in my life!!

 

X 59 EAGLE SCENE fish

And this may be one of the most delightful looking goldfish I have ever seen!  The bubbles are such a terrific touch! And as you probably remember, goldfish are symbols of wealth and prosperity.

Here's another shrimp, this time bone and bamboo, not from the book

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By sheer coincidence, today is the day the Italians celebrate:

The feast of the 7 fishes, Christmas Eve.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feast_of_the_Seven_Fishes

 

You can now follow me on Twitter!

@MahJonggGregg

To learn more about Mah Jongg, you might want to take a look at this book that I wrote with Ann Israel, published by Tuttle. To see more about it:

www.mahjonggtheartof thegame.com

To order it click here:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/mah-jongg-ann-israel/1118759459?ean=9784805313237

or here from Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Mah-Jongg-Collectors-Guide-Tiles/dp/4805313234/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1414844427&sr=8-7&keywords=mah+jongg

 

 

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carp from the Japanese Mahjong Museum
carp from the Japanese Mahjong Museum

I thought it might be fun to really get a good look at some of the marvelous treasures that were in the Japanese Mahjong Museum. For those of you who don't know, the Museum was founded in 2002 by a Japanese publisher, Mr. Kyouitirou Noguchi, and its collection was the finest in the world. Soon after Mr Noguchi died, the collection was sold. We all have high hopes it can once more be put on display for everyone to enjoy and study.

In the meantime, there are two wonderful catalogs of the collection. The photographs are extraordinary. The sets run the gamut from those made of  paper to ones made of cloisonné, and silver. The catalogs themselves have become collectibles. The set today is on page 14 of the soft cover catalog.

The game is called "The Officials Promotion Tiles" and it closely resembles some of the variants of the suits we see in Mahjong. Although not technically Mahjong, the set is very similar to what we have been seeing. And it's really pretty to look at!! The color palette is unusual, with the addition of the gold paint, and the blue is a lovely shade.

Carp have great meaning to the Chinese.

From Primaltrek.com

"The carp fish is a commonly seen visual pun because the Chinese character for carp (li 鲤) is pronounced the same as both the character (li 利) for "profit" and the character (li 力) for "strength" or "power". 

and

"A frequently seen image is of a carp swimming and leaping against the current of a river to reach the spawning grounds.  This refers to the legend (liyutiaolongmen 鲤鱼跳龙门) that a carp which is able to leap over the mythical "Dragon Gate" will become a dragon.  This is an allegory for the persistent effort needed to overcome obstacles."

Given that this set is all about Officials getting promotions, certainly the second meaning of the image has its appeal.

needle nose fish
needle nose fish

 

These fish were really hard to see as fish at first. But after looking at it for a bit, I was able to make it out. These fish do live in the waters around China. Don't you love the red at the tip of its nose?

needle nose fish
needle nose fish

The next fish is a bit more common on Mahjong tiles: the goldfish. I think this one has a great bit of spirit! He almost looks like he's smiling.

goldfish
goldfish

The goldfish is a symbol for wealth because the way goldfish is pronounced in Chinese. The first syllable is the same as "gold" and the second the same as "jade."

 

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fish

I am not sure what this fish is, but I like his looks!

Finally, from another suite of Flower tiles within the same set

turtle
turtle

Imagine getting that much personality on a really small turtle on  small tile! The tortoise, or the turtle in China, is a symbol of longevity. They also symbolize strength and endurance.

You can now follow me on Twitter!

@MahJonggGregg

To learn more about Mah Jongg, you might want to take a look at this book that I wrote with Ann Israel, published by Tuttle. To see more about it:

www.mahjonggtheartof thegame.com

To order it click here:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/mah-jongg-ann-israel/1118759459?ean=9784805313237

or here from Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Mah-Jongg-Collectors-Guide-Tiles/dp/4805313234/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1414844427&sr=8-7&keywords=mah+jongg

 

 

 

 

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Qi Baishi, the Chinese artist who lived from 1867-1957, did this lovely scroll in 1950. It shows us five crabs (that number does keep reappearing, doesn't it?). This work is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum.

Here's what the catalog has to say about his work featuring crabs:

"Crabs became an important subject in Qi Baishi's painting after he moved into a new studio in 1913 and crabs frequented his backyard. He once observed, "When a crab moves, its legs rise and fall in strict order despite their great number. This is something crab painters in the world do not know." This work represents his mature style, when naturalism and abstraction found a new balance. The subtle gradation of the ink suggests the undulation of the shell's surface. The eyes have become two short slanting lines. The claws, as circular splotches of ink with two simple converging lines, are reduced to geometric abstraction. During the last forty years of his life Qi lived in Beijing and befriended people of radically different persuasions. His passive tolerance of things of which he might not approve shows in his sarcastic inscription to this painting, which reads: "I just fold my arms and watch you gentlemen go." The Chinese term for the sideways movement of crabs, hengxing, is also a metaphor for impudent behavior. Qi often humorously compared crabs to presumptuous people. Here, he states that he will simply stand aside and let these creatures have their way."

Of course the crab is symbolic in Chinese art. And once again it has to do with the way the Chinese word is pronounced.

From Primaltrek:

The Chinese word for crab (蟹) and the Chinese word for harmony (协) are both pronounced xie.  The crab symbol is sometimes used on charms which express a desire for peace such as the large tian xia tai ping (天 下太平) charm shown at Peace Coins and Charms.

The crab is also used to symbolize success in the imperial examination system.  This is because the Chinese word for the crab's shell (jia 甲) has the additional meaning of "first" as in achieving the highest score in the examination to become a government official.

Certainly we have seen many symbols wishing for success on exams, as these crabs might be doing. Doing well on Scholar's exams opened up the door for success to people outside the noble classes. Great grades could allow the student an important job in government, whereas failure would prevent any kind of government job.

Wonderful crabs appear on Mahjong tiles too.

 

These crabs are Dots in a Shanghai Luck Mahjong set
These crabs are Dots in a Shanghai Luck Mahjong set

These three tiles are the One, Two and Three Dot tiles from a Shanghai Luck Set, called that because of the presence of sea creatures. I love the way the crabs are shown, legs going in a few different directions, the eyes popping out, and the great attention paid to the claws on the One Dot. Can't you just see them skittering across the mahjong table?  Maybe when one plays with one of these sets is can be the Game of Skittering Crabs in stead of The Game of Sparrows!!

 

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Here is another crab from a different set of Flower tiles. You'll notice he too has the mark on the top of his shell, just like the ones on the One and Two Dot tiles above.

 

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Reader Bill provided us with these wonderful Flower tiles some of you remember from before. The crab certainly is quite recognizable, on the right tile, but what is the left creature?

Perhaps it is some kind of jelly fish?

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There is a Asian fascination with jelly fish, and they frequently  appear in aquarium tanks, and anyone who has had the delightful experience of seeing these creatures from afar can certainly enjoy their great beauty.

To learn more about Mah Jongg, you might want to take a look at this book that I wrote with Ann Israel, published by Tuttle. To see more about it:

www.mahjonggtheartof thegame.com

To order it click here:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/mah-jongg-ann-israel/1118759459?ean=9784805313237

or here from Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Mah-Jongg-Collectors-Guide-Tiles/dp/4805313234/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1414844427&sr=8-7&keywords=mah+jongg

 

 

 

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Scroll by Xie Zhiliu from the 1930s, in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Scroll by Xie Zhiliu from the 1930s, in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

This lovely scroll combines many of the themes we have seen before: flowers, rocks and a butterfly. The flower here is a lotus, a flower much loved by the Chinese.

From Primaltrek:

Because the Buddha is often depicted as seated on a lotus, the lotus is considered a sacred Buddhist symbol (one of Eight Auspicious Symbols) representing purity and detachment from worldly cares.

The lotus signifies the seventh month of the lunar calendar.

The Chinese word for lotus is lianhua (莲花) or hehua (荷花).  Lian is also the pronunciation of the word for continuous (连) and he is also the pronunciation for the word harmony (和) so the lotus has the hidden meaning of "continuous harmony".

A lotus stem and lotus pod shown together symbolize marital harmony and sexual union.

Lotus seeds (lianzi 莲 籽) have the hidden meaning of "continuous birth of children" because the lian sounds like "continuous" (连) and the zi has the same pronunciation as the word for son or child (zi 子).

Examples of lotus charms can be seen at Open Work Charms, Pendant Charms, Lock Charms, Marriage Charms, and Boy Charms.

And I thought you'd enjoy this scene of children flying a kite shaped like a butterfly, found on Quan Dong's auction website:

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Certainly butterflies play an important role in Chinese life, in art and in play.

As we mentioned in the last post, butterflies are symbols of long life, joy and warmth (Primaltrek)

These delightful creatures often appear on mahjong tiles, but sometimes you have to look really carefully:

Butterflies appear at the corners of the tile
Butterflies appear at the corners of the tile

In the tile above, the butterflies form the frame around the Crak. Who says Craks have to be boring? I also love the way the number 1 is worked into the side of the "frame" instead of the top where it would interfere with the butterflies.

four split Mahjong flower pots with butterfly
four split Mahjong flower pots with butterfly

These tiles are examples of the split flower pots we often see, each half of the pot being a bit different from one another, with various plants in each. Because the Chinese often liked to have living creatures in their art, a butterfly can be seen on the bottom left set, the right tile. The butterfly is so well hidden it almost fades into the floral arrangement, doesn't it?

To learn more about Mahjong's art, you might like to consider this purchase:

The book I wrote with Ann Israel is being published by Tuttle. To see more about it:

www.mahjonggtheartof thegame.com

To order it click here:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/mah-jongg-ann-israel/1118759459?ean=9784805313237

or here from Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Mah-Jongg-Collectors-Guide-Tiles/dp/4805313234/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1414844427&sr=8-7&keywords=mah+jongg

 

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Butterflies frequently appear in Chinese art and in Mahjong. The first image you'll see is a black and white photograph of a woman's jacket from the early 19th Century in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum.

 

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but I looked further and found this beautiful color close-up

 

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How beautiful is that? The butterflies are iridescent, multi-patterned and just breath-taking. (thank goodness for color photography!)

 

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And here are some simpler ones, with beautiful patterns nonetheless, on a vase from the late 17th Century, once again from the Metropolitan Museum. The ribbons seen between the butterflies add to the auspiciousness of the butterflies.

Butterflies have a lot of meaning to the Chinese. Many times the symbolism has to do with the way the word is pronounced. Because the pronunciation of the Chinese word  is somewhat similar to the word for a man in his 70s, the symbol of a butterfly may refer to that older man. Butterflies can also symbolize joy, summer, and marital happiness, giving the image many meanings.

 

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And here we have butterflies again, in this folk art type set we saw earlier in the blog, with butterflies on the two 2 tiles.

And of course we have one again here:

 

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Tile #2 clearly is a butterfly, but the image on tile #3 has always mystified me.

I wonder if it might be a chrysalis? The butterfly about to emerge?

 

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And I will end the post with a lovely orphan tile, one from a set of creature Flower tiles.

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The book I wrote with Ann Israel is being published by Tuttle. To see more about it:

www.mahjonggtheartof thegame.com

To order it click here:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/mah-jongg-ann-israel/1118759459?ean=9784805313237

or here from Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Mah-Jongg-Collectors-Guide-Tiles/dp/4805313234/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1414844427&sr=8-7&keywords=mah+jongg

 

 

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Reader Tony Watson, whose google site is listed in the Resources area, has written a wonderful piece on hand-made sets.

Thank you Tony

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Close ups of each set now follow:

First set, French, possibly made by CF

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2nd set, a tiny one from Austria. with applied label

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3rd set, a very unusual one

$T2eC16N,!ygE9s7HHqhOBQtNh)1my!~~60_57

$(KGrHqF,!hsFCv6iDKSbBQtNiBzSSg~~60_57

 

4th set, handmade in Belgium of at least three different woods

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DSCF1508DSCF1509DSCF1510DSCF1511

 

The book I wrote with Ann Israel is being published by Tuttle. To see more about it:

www.mahjonggtheartof thegame.com

To order it click here:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/mah-jongg-ann-israel/1118759459?ean=9784805313237

or here from Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Mah-Jongg-Collectors-Guide-Tiles/dp/4805313234/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1414844427&sr=8-7&keywords=mah+jongg

 

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Written by guest writer WS

 

In his  semi-autobiographical novel EMPIRE OF THE SUN, G. J. Ballard describes what befell British citizenry in Shanghai China during the Japanese Occupation of the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945). It depicts events immediately following December 7, 1941, when Imperial Japan, having attacked Pearl Harbor, took over and occupied the long-established American and British settlements of the city. British and American civilians were rounded up by Japanese soldiers, and many were marched to their deaths in brutal Japanese internment camps. Ballard was lucky; his parents survived the death squads and he was reunited with them after the war. 

 
Others weren’t so fortunate.
 
A small leather beat-up Mah Jong case tells another tale about another family who might have escaped the horrible chaos of 1941 Shanghai. 
 
DSC_0118
 
Sometime before the Autumn of 1939, a certain Mr. E A. R. Fowles, for reasons currently unknown to us, booked first-class Stateroom No. 205 on the Japanese N.Y.K. liner M.S.Terukuni Maru scheduled from Shanghai to London. We know all this because his name is on the luggage sticker affixed to the Mah Jong case. 
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What is missing on the sticker is a date of embarkation. Also unknown is who he traveled with. Moreover, until I can find a deck plan of this liner, I don’t know if this was a suite or a single room.
We are not exactly sure who this man was, but according to immigration records, there was a Mr. E.A.R. Fowles residing in Shanghai who went there with his wife and three children in 1925 on the P&O Liner Morea. We don’t know Fowles’ occupation, but most likely he worked in the British finance world along the Bund in Shanghai and lived quite elegantly with Chinese servants in the British Settlement District.
Here’s what else we know about our Mr. Fowles; he was a prominent “rate-paying” resident on Shanghai’s Municipal Council, present at its Annual meeting on April 14, 1937 and accorded “two votes” out of a total of 251.
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At any rate, the total number of that august Shanghai Council, with a list composed mostly Anglican surnames, numbered just 334.  Since there were 60,000 business people—not including Chinese— living in Shanghai since the early 1930’s, the Fowles family was on quite an exclusive list. 
E.A.R. Fowles’s name doesn’t appear anywhere again on the 468 page report.
 
Fowles, along with the Council was charged with maintaining a standard of living for the Brits in the long-established “International Sector” extant since the 1800’s— from The Library and Orchestra Committees, to the drinking water, medical services and the police force. It also charged its ex-pat community to coexist with the Chinese, their Chinese servants and the increasingly hostile Japanese military. The 1937 minutes for The Council state what must have become a fast developing ad-hoc mission:
 
" The duty of the Council during these abnormal times is to adopt every means in its power to ensure the safety of life and property within the area under its control, and to preserve the peace, order and good government of the International Settlement…All persons are urged,… to bear cheerfully any inconvenience to which they may be subjected and to assist generally in preserving calm, peace and good order.”

Looking back, their society was a powder keg about to be lit. Indeed, the “Emergency Branch” report of the Council continues:
 
[The Ambulance Service] was constantly in demand and handled no less than 901 casualties suffering from bomb, shell, shrapnel…from hundreds of injured at the aerial bombing at the Bund and Nanking Road,…and the striking, by an unidentified projectile,…on August 23, at which calls the casualties were so numerous and the conditions so appalling that no record of the number of patients actually conveyed in ambulances …could be kept.

Perhaps it was a family emergency abroad, or perhaps Fowles sensed the forthcoming onslaught. We don’t know if he even picked up the ship in Shanghai. Whatever happened, his proper British world was unraveling, and people were fleeing Shanghai — just as many were fleeing Nazi Germany. He must have decided it was now the time to leave. (Ironically many Jewish people fled east by ship to Shanghai during this period, and the story of the Shanghai Ghetto is a miraculous one. The Japanese, as cruel as they were during those years, were not anti-Semitic. While there were indeed wartime hardships in Shanghai for Jewish people, the Japanese would not tolerate their persecution).
 
At any rate, Fowles’s itinerary from China to England called for a fortnight transit across the Indian Ocean into the Suez, the Mediterranean, and up into the Thames to London with numerous ports in between. How could Japanese ships be allowed to sail into European waters in the late 1930’s when England was at war with Germany? From 1937 until 1940,  Japan was still regarded as a “neutral” country by England. Basically even though Imperial Japan’s atrocities in Mainland China— in their quest for oil and resources—resulted in such appalling massacres as in Nanking and Manchuria, diplomatic relations between the countries held and trade continued. It was only after the Japanese signed the Tripartite Act with the Nazi Germany Axis in 1940 that Japanese ships were targets for British warships.
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from Wiki
 
The vessel Mr. Fowles booked passage on was 505’ long, built in 1929, and thoroughly air conditioned throughout for her southern route which took two weeks. While not as grand or luxurious as an Atlantic Greyhound, Terukuni Maru could carry 121 First-Class passengers, 68 Second Class with a Japanese crew of 177. I think his trip happened sometime after 1937, which I’ll explain below.
 
Most likely, Fowles’ splendid Chinese Bakelite Mah Jong set remained in his stateroom. 
 
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I certainly don’t think it ever made out of his room and into the ship’s more public First Class Salon depicted below.
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Picture of lounge from Antique Postcards
 
Why? Because the tiles have Chinese propaganda vilifying his Japanese hosts. Japan marched into Shanghai on July 7, 1937, and took it over. It is highly doubtful a set such as this one could have been made in Mainland China after that date. This is why I think the set must have been manufactured, most probably in Hong Kong in 1938, soon after Japanese hostilities began with China and why I place him on the this ship at about this time.
This item could be considered contraband. It’s subject matter was taboo to the Japanese and certainly to the crew. How did it get onboard through customs? Was Mr. Fowles so important his luggage was never checked? Was he a diplomat?  Again we can only guess.
 
The message on the tiles takes no guesswork, however.
 
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Look closely at this Flower Tile of what can only be a kimono and clog-clad Japanese man running from a house with a bomb aiming right at him.
 
Other Flower tiles are equally anti-Japanese:
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The tiles depict Chinese troops defending their country. The top row reads: "Aviation to save the country." This expression was also used on War Bonds in 1941 to help the war effort against the Japanese. The bottom row calls for "a move of the troops to save territory."
The top row shows a portable canon launching artillery and an aerial bomber over a mountain range. Below is a close-up of that tile.
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The phoenix and dragon are also beautiful and an interesting addition to the set. Remember the Emperor was associated with the Dragon, seen in the One Dot, and the Empress with the phoenix, seen as the One Bam. Interesting—since the monarchy had been gone for years, but perhaps a subtle reminder of old days?
 
Certainly this set was important to Mr. Fowles; his name was embossed in gold leaf on the back of the  set’s leather case.  
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Maybe this Mah Jong set expressed his personal hopes for a free and independent China. If this is the Mr. Fowles we think it might have been, he’d lived there and raised a family for 13 years and most likely was devastated as to what was happening to his adopted city. I’d like to think that perhaps Fowles played the game in his stateroom with his family or like-minded refugees from Shanghai shouting “Mah Jong” while their room steward, a Japanese spy, listened with an ear to the door totally clueless as to what was really being thought, and what tiles were being played with.
 
Again, this is all vivid conjecture—we just don’t know.
 
We have no record of a E.A.R. Fowles debarking in London, or whatever happened to him and his family, or if he ever returned to China. We do know no Fowles were on Terukuni's May 1939 voyage as this name doesn’t appear on that passenger list. And, unless any of you have any further information on Mr. Fowles, our story ends there.
 
Or does it? 
 
Remember I said that Fowles had to have left Shanghai before Terukuni Maru’s fall sailing on September 29 1939. That was to be her final voyage; for it was 62 days later on Nov 21at 12:39 am, following inspection by Royal Navy Minesweepers off the coast of England (remember, in 1939 she was still considered neutral), she hit a floating magnetic mine, and blew up. Terukuni Maru rolled over, twin screws in the air and was gone within 45 minutes.
merchant_navy_ship_WWII
There was not a single life lost among the 28 passengers or 177 crew, which my friend and ocean liner expert John Maxtone-Graham told me was “quite remarkable.” Four of the eight lifeboats could not be launched as she heeled onto her starboard side.  Her sinking has been described as Japan's only  World War II casualty outside East Asia before the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.
merchant_navy_39__WWII
 
I don’t think Fowles was aboard her final voyage. His surviving Mah Jong case proves it. He had 45 minutes to get off the ship. Would he go back for his beloved Mah Jong game and take it into the lifeboat? I don’t think so, for two reasons: First, the liner sank too quickly — although one passenger described a steward having the time to run quickly back to a rapidly-filling cabin to get her life vest. Second, and more importantly, if he was traveling with his family, he would first want to make sure his daughters, wife and son were put into the lifeboats. That would be his priority. While there was no panic and the Japanese crew reportedly behaved in the best traditions of the sea, certainly the scene on the boat decks was one of grave urgency.  At any rate, we have currently have no record of who the survivors were and Fowles doesn’t appear in any photos or newsreels of the disaster.
 
 
On the other hand, if the set was as dear to him as I think it was, maybe he did grab it. After all, it’s not large — only 9” x 14” and could easily fit onto his lap.
 
The wonders of the internet may reveal the final chapter about the real Mah Jong Treasure of a certain mysterious E. A. R. Fowles.
Our thanks to Ray Heaton for providing translations and images, and to Michael Stanwick for his research.
 The book written by Gregg Swain and Ann Israel can be found on Barnes and Noble:
and Amazon
The website for the book includes reviews of the book, and author signings and other appearances.
 
 

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IMG_1662 - Version 2

From time to time we come across a set with great history. The other day I met a lovely lady named Mim whose family has owned this F. Ad. Richter set ever since they lived in Europe in the 1920s. Mim played with this set when she was a little girl, and when she moved into a retirement community a few years ago, she brought this set with her. The set has been a treasured possession for her for about 90 years. The pieces are still in the original cardboard box, four big "drawers" for the suits, Honors and Flowers, with the counters in smaller boxes forming the bottom layer. And many wonderful memories are associated with this box of 144 special tiles.

Richter was a manufacturer in Germany in those early days, and its designs are sophisticated and unusual, even in this simple wooden set. There is a special look to their images, all quite different from what we normally see. It seems the designers were given artistic freedom, and all suits, but especially the Craks and Bams, have their own style.  Even the letters and numbers have their own look, inspired by German lettering. Interestingly, even though Joseph Babcock gets credit for marketing the game in the 1920s, Richter was involved with the game years before. The story about Babcock is that he learned the game in 1917, but according to CHarli, Richter sent someone to China in 1916, during the First World War, to study the game, and the company started making sets soon thereafter, probably the first one to make them for international sale.

IMG_1662 again

As you can see here, there is a great deal of flair, even in the Winds which are quite unique in their appearance. There is a real Germanic look to the letters. The Red and Green Dragons face forward, looking directly at the viewer.

 

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The Dots have a very detailed One Dot, evolving into simpler designs, but still featuring the numbers with that same Germanic style.

 

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The Craks almost seem to leap out of the drawer!

To me, they resemble these photos by Eadward Muybridge from the late 1800s.

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But look at these designs! The Bams are fabulous. Note how the diagonal of the One Bam bird almost "morphs" into the 2 Bam bamboo shoot and into the 3 Bam. Notice how the 8 Bams altho they do look a bit like other 8 Bams, actually have four vertical stalks, two long and two short, and four short diagonals. The 5 Bams and 9 Bams are real standouts.

 

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The last drawers that contain the wooden counters

 

IMG_1660and the Wind indicators, (apologies in this photograph the S is upside down).

I asked a graphic designer to tell us about the typeface used. I thought it was quite unusual, and this is what he said:

"The typography or “typeface” of the numerals on the Dots and Dragons of this set by Richter are noteworthy. While the lower numbers and the 8 are what is called a basic “Gothic style,” the “6”, “7” and “9” are in a distinctive calligraphic font which was very popular in Germany in the 20’s and 30’s called Fraktur. Basically, think of The New York Times or the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung for the City of Frankfort which is still in circulation—their banners are in this font. See the example below.

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Fraktur fell out of favor in Germany bigtime after WWII but what is so delightful, it’s calligraphic numerals look somewhat “Chinese,” and ultimately they would evolve into what I call a variation of the ubiquitous “Chop Suey Fonts” used on countless Chinese Restaurant signs and menus to this day. Indeed, check out Pizzadude’s Chinese Takeaway, a contemporary “ethnic” font used now.

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Germany, was barred by the 1918 Versaillles Treaty from trade with China (indeed Britain and France stripped all of Germany’s Chinese Colonies and gave them to Japan—whether or not that was a good thing is for historians to debate).  At any rate, could it be that the Germans, who were not allowed access to the flood of imported Chinese Mah Jong sets in Europe, were then forced to come up with their own inventive designs for this game, sui generis? Without making too much about it, I think this is the case. Certainly one could argue no one came up with more smartly designed tiles and boxes than the Germans did in the twenties and early 30’s—whether or not their sets were made of Mother-Of Pearl, bone or of "stone" by Richter.

The numerals on this charming German wooden set can be seen as a small but further  example of the flowering of German ingenuity regarding Mah Jong.  It’s an almost “transitional” set to the Western Market. The Mah-JonggTM Sales Company, and their desire for continuity and control of the market had little tolerance for delightful quirkiness such as this. The exotic-pseudo yet very endearing “Chinese” font of this German set would have no place in Mr. Babcock’s world. "

The set came with the original paperwork

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IMG_1669and the old typed instructions from the 1920s that were added to make scoring and playing easier.

Many thanks to Mim for sharing this Mahjong Treasure with us all.