Dragon and Phoenix in Chinese Art and Mahjong Part 1

Kuan Yin • April 7, 2014

The other day we had the good fortune to study photographs of a set sent to us by Bill Price. You will remember the tiles in that set are quite special: the One Bam is a phoenix and the One Dot a dragon. If any of you missed it, click here for a real treat.

The dragon and phoenix are a lucky pairing in Chinese art. When seen together, the dragon becomes male, and the phoenix female, and thus they represent good wishes for a happy marriage.

The above platter from the Lucas Collection in Australia shows the two of them, interestingly surrounding a flaming "pearl." The dragon has five toes, putting him in the category of an object that could be owned or worn by a member of the royal family; his whiskers, horns and chops are easily seen; his scales and serpentine body complete the look. The phoenix has a colorful tail and body, and the colors used make her most feminine indeed. They both have flames around them, those orange spiky squiggles. The platter is surrounded by meanders.

You will remember one of the first mahjong sets that was mass produced was made by the Mah-Jongg Sales Company of America. The Green (Dragon) actually is the symbol for phoenix but

the Red (Dragon) is the Chinese word for dragon. So even at the dawn of the game its designers felt it was beneficial to have the good omens of this pairing.

The above coin (from Baldwin's Auction House in Hong Kong) was issued in 1923, the very same year that the Mah-Jongg Sales Company really took the world by storm when it started exporting sets in big numbers to the States and elsewhere. Notice that pairing of the dragon and phoenix. The MJSA, when it used that pairing on its "Dragons" was probably hoping to create a happy marriage between the Mah-Jongg Sales Company and the players using its sets, rules and scoring system.

The good fortune of the pairing continues today. Here are two sides of the same coin, of recent minting. You see the pairing of the dragon and phoenix on the left and that other, all important symbol of China, the Great Wall. Given that the dragon is associated with power and the ruler of China, and the Great Wall certainly represents strength, it is not surprising to find these two symbols on the same coin. Don't forget the phoenix only appears in times of a just ruler, so we have a lot of important symbolism on one coin.

Our reader Katherine Hartman has found the ornate boxes seen above that she uses to house Mahjong sets. You will note the phoenix on the top of the box, and dragons surrounding the sides. As many of you already know, very few boxes were made expressly for Mahjong tiles in the early days of the game; rather other boxes had to be adapted. Some of you probably have to do that these days yourselves, when faced with the sad deterioration of some vintage and antique boxes, so the tradition of adapting boxes for new uses exists today. And should you find boxes that have the wonderful dragon and phoenix pairing, the tiles will have a happy home indeed.

Dragons in Chinese Art and Mahjong: Carved Boxes Part 3

Kuan Yin • April 5, 2014

This fabulous dragon box was auctioned off at the China Arts Auction. Look at the magnificent handle. The dragon's face is at one end, and his scaly body is the handle. and the other end has his tail curled back upon his body.

Here you can clearly see the sculptural quality of the handle which was attached to the top of the box, and not carved as one piece as we saw yesterday, and the rest of the deeply carved box.

Here's another view of the dragon box we saw the other day, sent to us by a reader. This dragon is fabulous: look at his head with its horns, whiskers, bulging eyes, and open mouth with teeth; his long scaly body with dorsal fin, and his hawklike feet with at least one prominent foot on the left with its claws. It is frolicking in the clouds, as can be seen by curlicued cloud-like shapes surrounding him, but look carefully at the smoke he is breathing, and what do you see? A fish!

"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." From Primaltrek

http://primaltrek.com/impliedmeaning.html

This very sculptural looking dragon looks like he could be on a Mahjong box. This photograph is an indication of the interest the Chinese still have in the dragon as a beloved and important part of their culture. Above is a screen shot somewhat cropped version of a photograph taken by Andy Wong. It's a 3D trompe l'oeil dragon painting or chalk drawing.

Andy Wong's website:

http://www.commercialappeal.com/photos/2013/aug/11/455548/

And we can't leave without one more photograph of Liu Bolin, who is posed in front of the 9 Dragon Wall in Beihai Park in Beijing. From Wikipedia:

"The Nine-Dragon Wall lies north of the Five-Dragon Pavilion. It was built in 1402 and is one of three walls of its kind in China. It is made of glazed bricks of seven-colors. Nine complete dragons playing in the clouds decorate both sides of the wall."

To read more about the park:

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

The very sculptural dragon is very reminiscent of all the deeply carved dragons we have been seeing on Mahjong boxes this week.

Liu Bolin is represented by Klein Sun Gallery, and we thank them for allowing us to share these photographs with you.

http://www.kleinsungallery.com/artist/Liu_Bolin/works/

As always, if you have any comments please email

kuanyinart@gmail.com

Dragons in Chinese Art and Mahjong: Carved Boxes Part 2 • 3 Comments

Kuan Yin • April 4, 2014

I think many of us will have to agree this is one of the most delightful dragon Mahjong boxes we have ever seen. * Instead of having just a deeply carved dragon on the lid, or a beautiful handle, the beautiful handle has become a three dimensional dragon, a piece of sculpture posed on top of the box. Look at the attention paid to him, the mouth with its teeth (tho not too big to be intimidating!), his nose and whiskers, his backward facing horns, his "chops" along the side of his face, five toed detailed claws, and curled tail encircling the back of his body. How fabulous is he? Surrounding him, on the border of the box, are flower petals and bats.

Interestingly on this Mahjong box, it really is all about dragons, unlike some of the other carved boxes we have seen where they simply put in an appearance and go away.

Here's the inside of the box where we see two dragons. If the dragon on the lid looks somewhat friendly, these guys are almost smiling! They are surrounding a circle (the sun?), and the shou symbol, right below it, representing longevity. In Patricia Bjaaland Welch's book Chinese Art A Guide to Visual Motifs and Visual Imagery, the round version of the shou that we see above may mean a wish that a person live his full life span and die a natural death. We also see the four bats above and below the disk, and an endless knot, a Buddhist symbol, just behind each dragon's tail. Each knot represents a long life, uninterrupted by set-backs. (Wolfram Eberhard A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols)

On the above photograph of the box and its Mahjong tiles, if you look carefully you can see there are dragons along the side of the box. The box is the home of a much-sought after Chinese Bakelite set. The tiles have green wafer backs which you can see in the photo. What is so exciting about this particular set, especially in terms of this post, is the One Bam and the One Dot.

This is no ordinary Mahjong One Dot. Instead of being a version of flower or circles, we have a dragon! You can clearly see the dragon's head, his nostrils and backward facing horns. Other parts of his body are seen in the top of the tile, where they resemble mountains, and right below where it resembles a wave, and the rest of his body is hidden either by clouds or water.

And here is the One Bam:

A phoenix! How divine is that! We have a real, fully dragon box housing a Mahjong set with both dragon and phoenix tiles! And the pairing of these two creatures is what we will be covering soon.

We thank Bill Price for sending these photos of his fabulous set to us, allowing us all to enjoy it.

* As many of you know, oftentimes boxes were not made for mahjong sets; rather boxes were appropriated from those often used for jewelry (some of the five drawer versions, or ones with two large opening doors) or in this case a small fully carved box.

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

Dragons in Chinese Art and Mahjong: Carved Boxes

Kuan Yin • April 3, 2014

Here we have a deeply carved dragon on the side of a mahjong box. Isn't he just fabulous?! He definitely has more of the camel's head and lack of mane we expect, and his body is covered with fish-like scales. His claws are somewhat rounded, in keeping with the rounded shapes of the clouds, which here are ruyi-shaped (the mushroom shape often seen in Chinese art.) Note the cross-hatching around the center panel, forming a frame.

This set above, auctioned off at Channel Islands Auctions, features a wonderful deep carved front panel. The flaming disk may well be the object he's fixated on, and he's in the sky, seen in the clouds. On both of the boxes we have just looked at, the dragon scene does not relate in any way to the scenes on the other sides of the box. It just must have made the set more appealing to the buyer. Dragons can also appear on box handles. Here is one such example:

Here's a handsome fellow who definitely was the reason the new owner bought this box! And now follows a view from the side:

You can notice his camel-like head, long whiskers, and short backward facing horns. The carved scene he is covering is one of combat, but it does not seem to relate to the dragon whatsoever, unless we take the dragon as the symbol of the ruler and this is a story of a young ruler learning the arts of combat? And now for what has been promised for the last few days: information about those wonderful dragon and pearl photographs we saw. The artist is Liu Bolin, who is represented by Eli Klein Sun Gallery in New York City. Liu Bolin has been dubbed the Invisible Man, because very often viewers do not know that they are seeing him when they are looking at one of his photographs. In many ways, it is similar to many of us who don't know what we are seeing when we look at the art on Mahjong tiles and sets, but we are learning!

Above is the artist posed in front of yet another dragon from the 9 Dragon Wall in Beihai Park in Beijing, with the wall seen in its entirety in the photograph below. There is another 9 Dragon Wall in the Forbidden City.

We thank the people at Klein Sun Gallery, and invite you to explore more of the art and artists represented there.

To learn more about Liu Bolin, here are a few links: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liu_Bolin

http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2013/11/liu-bolin-the-invisible-man/100623/

http://www.npr.org/blogs/pictureshow/2011/04/06/134666588/chinese-artist-attempts-to-blend-in-literally

Dragons in Chinese Art and Mahjong Part 5 • 1 Comment

Kuan Yin • April 2, 2014

Dragons also appear on painted and lacquered boxes. You may remember seeing this dragon Mahjong box before, but it is hard to get tired of dragons! Here you can clearly see the dragon, frolicking in the clouds and partly obscured by them. His body is covered in scales, whiskers and horns are seen on his head, his five toes are splayed, and the flaming symbol of wisdom is within his sights. ( On this box, as in other Chinese art, fire is shown by squiggly lines like those just in front of the dragon and surrounding the "pearl", and clouds are those large round shapes, although they can often be much smaller.) If the dragon represents the ruler of China, as was believed, it certainly would be good if he were able to get a hold of that wisdom right within his grasp!

On another post we had a different interpretation of the dragon and pearl, but in Chinese art several different interpretations often are correct.

This dragon and disk is from another Mahjong box. The dragon is leonine, down to the mane surrounding his head. You'll notice the scales of the dragon are different than the ones on the other box, much bigger and less reptilian. The silver inlay is not actually silver, nor is it paint. Rather it is paktong, a substance also known as cupronickel. Paktong is an anglicization of the Chinese word. It can be found on box handles and other box trim, so if you have silver looking handles or trim on your box, it may well be paktong. The above box is in the process of being restored, having lost some lacquer, etc. A photo will be taken when it comes back.

From wikipedia:

"Cupronickel or copper-nickel is an alloy of copper that contains nickel and strengthening elements, such as iron and manganese."

...

"A more familiar common use is in silver-coloured modern circulation coins. A typical mix is 75% copper, 25% nickel, and a trace amount of manganese. In the past, true silver coins were debased with cupronickel. Despite high copper content, cupronickel is silver in color."

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

And now for our dragon photo of the day:

Here you see the dragon and "pearl." He is in the water's waves, his body with large scales has flames surrounding his limbs, and his claws certainly resemble those of a hawk!

Information about this and the other dragon images seen the last few days will appear on April 3rd.

Dragons in Chinese Art and Mahjong Part 4

Kuan Yin • April 1, 2014

These beautiful lacquer racks belonging to Katherine Hartman showcase some of the wonderful painting you can see on Mahjong accessories. Very talented artists designed and painted racks. The type seen here has a top shelf that slides back to reveal betting counters stored within. On the above racks, your eye would have been quickly drawn, by the brightness of the color and the wonderful design, to the dragons and pearl rack, second from the top. We already touched upon this topic, and here we will explore it a bit more in depth in connection with the dragon series, having to do with Mahjong accessories and the dragon and "pearl" pairing.

According to Patricia Bjaaland Welch in Chinese Art A guide to Visual Motifs and Visual Imagery, the pairing of dragons and pearls (or round disk or jewel) started in the Tang Dynasty (which ran from 618 until 906). She feels Robert D. Mowry offers the right explanation, that the dragon and disk represent elements from two traditions, the dragon from Chinese mythology and the jewel from Buddhism. The "pearl" may not actually be a pearl but a talismanic jewel that symbolizes wisdom. Welch adds the jewel often is seen surrounded by flames, adding to the belief that it represents the sun, but flames are often seen in Buddhist art, symbolizing magical powers.

We saw this dragon robe (Qing Dynasty) from the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art on an earlier post. You'll note here the dragon is surrounding a flaming object. Here it certainly does not resemble a pearl, but more like a disk, adding credence to the disk or jewel interpretation.

Above is a porcelain bowl from the Lucas Collection. You'll see a round disk, somewhat resembling a sand dollar, right in front of the dragon.

Above is another lacquer rack, quite different in appearance than the first dragon rack we saw. The dragons are hidden in the clouds, represented by the circular swirls. Two dragons surround the flaming disk; this type of two dragon rack is used by three out of the four players at a table.

The original East player has one with just one dragon.

And another wonderful dragon and "pearl" screen shot. Come visit the site tomorrow for another "photograph screen shot" and the information behind it.

Dragons in Chinese Art and Mahjong Part 3 • 1 Comment

Kuan Yin • March 31, 2014

Yesterday we touched upon reasons Mahjong sets become objects of desire. For many collectors, these dragons made by the Coronet Company, are the selling points. Who can resist these smoke blowing creatures?

These Dragons above, from an unknown manufacturer, have many of the features we have seen before, including horns and whiskers. Interestingly, the White Dragon is not a Dragon at all but a snake, one of the five poisonous creatures, often embroidered on children's clothing to ward off venomous dangers! The White Dragon appears a bit like some of the very elongated dragons we have seen before. The two Dragons have four toes, so these dragons were allowed to be used by low ranking officials. (Welch)

This Cardinal Company pair above has a red elongated Dragon as the Red, and the more squat Green one, very similar to that of the Royal Depth Control Dragon, seen below.

But look at these last two Green Dragons, they aren't like any dragons we have seen before! Why? We have yet to see a dragon with wings!! This must have been an attempt to appeal to the Western market, and was a real departure from Chinese dragons.

To refresh what Chinese dragons look like, we have a porcelain from the Lucas Collection ( as far as I can gather Lucas was the Director of the Asian Art Institute in Australia. ) Note the absence of wings on the dragon.

To end this post, look carefully at this screenshot of a photograph of a Dragon in China. More information and leads will be forthcoming, in a few days.

Mahjong tiles courtesy of Mahjongmahjong.

Dragons in Chinese Art and Mahjong Part 2

Kuan Yin • March 30, 2014

In Mahjong, as in Chinese art, dragons are depicted in different positions. In this post we will see them upright, from the side.

Many Mahjong companies gave a lot of attention to the designs of their dragons. Sometimes the creatures are so wonderful they become the reasons sets are bought.

The designs seen above certainly could have been why the above set, believed to be made of casein by the Waterbury Button Company, would have been sought after. The Dragons have five toes, putting them in the category of dragons associated with the top ranks of officials in ranks one to three, and the royal family, according to Patricia Bjaaland Welch.

Pung Chow, which made sets of pyralin, prided itself on its Dragons

and billed itself as the set with the Real Dragons. I think it is impossible to tell how many claws these have.

A version of this type of dragon can be seen below, on a screen being offered for sale by Holly Auctions.

And below there's a closeup of the terrific dragon head

The platter below, auctioned off at Sothebys, has another fabulous upright dragon.

This porcelain dates from the Kangxi period, which lated from 1654 until 1722. You'll notice the center dragon and the dragons around the side too. The rounded images surrounding him are clouds.

Upright dragons also appeared on wood tiles.

Don't forget this one by the Murok Company in Canada!

Dragons in Chinese Art and Mahjong

Kuan Yin • March 29, 2014

We have touched upon the importance of the dragon in Chinese mythology and art before on this website, but here we will go into greater detail.

The dragon has long been important to the Chinese. According to Patricia Bjaaland Welch in Chinese Art A Guide to Motifs and Visual Imagery, the dragon is the highest ranking animal in the animal hierarchy, and it has been loved throughout Chinese history. The dragon in the photograph above, in the collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, is an example of an early dragon. It's a vessel with a dragon's head, dating from the Western Jin Dynasty which ran from 265 until 316.

The Dragon is typically shown in profile, but as we saw on some photographs which appeared on this website, it often is facing the viewer. This is especially the case on Imperial robes; given that this creature was long associated with the Imperial family, it is no surprise its image appears on many objects associated with the life of the royal family.

The above robe is from the Metropolitan Museum's collection. It dates from the Qing Dynasty which lasted from 1644 until 1911.

Does this look familiar? Here the Imperial Dragon is the inside of a Mah Jongg box.

And here it is the rule book for the set.

Another dragon, auctioned off by Sothebys, this time is the top of a container. Its body is wrapped around the neck. He bears a certain resemblance to the bone and bamboo tile which follows it.

This wonderful mahjong dragon is almost facing us. You can only see some of its body because the rest is obscured by clouds.

Don't you love the claws sticking out of the clouds?

But more often we see the dragon in profile, or in a partial side view. Following are two such dragons.

These White Dragons were carved by Dee Gallo. You can notice the whiskers, and long body; the red feet are the best!

According to Welch, the traditional Chinese dragon has body parts from nine different animals "the head of a camel, horns of a deer, eyes of a rabbit, ears of a cow, neck of a snake, belly of a frog, scales of a carp, claws of a hawk, and palm of a tiger." It may be hard to see all of those aspects of the dragon's body, especially on small Mahjong tiles, but it is easy to see the camel head, the horns of a deer, and the scales of a carp on the tiles above.

And of course you remember these wonderful dragons, from an earlier post:

and

These dragons are showing four toes, which is significant in Chinese art. (Of course every detail is significant in Chinese art!)

The bone and bamboo tiles are from the Katherine Hartman collection.

The Phoenix in Chinese Art and Mahjong Part 2: With Peony • 1 Comment

Kuan Yin • March 27, 2014

The peony is important in Chinese art and symbolism. It is the king of flowers, and symbolizes "rank, wealth, and honor" according to Patricia Bjaaland Welch in her book Chinese Art A Guide to Motifs and Visual Imagery. Welch goes on to write that the pairing of the peony with the phoenix, the king of birds, is very auspicious indeed. Because the phoenix is associated with a swift rise in career or position, and the peony with rank and wealth, when they are together they represent "prosperity and righteousness."

Occasionally you may be lucky enough to find a mahjong set with not only a phoenix, rare enough by itself, but a phoenix and peony. Above we have one such tile, a One Bam Phoenix, with the bird depicted mid-flight. She has a peony in her mouth. (You can see the details of the two tail feathers, the red details, indicating she's a female.)

Above, in the collection of R M Chait, seen during Asia Week, is a beautiful porcelain with phoenix and peony; the phoenix has the peony in his mouth, seen above and behind the bird's head. Here too the bird is in flight.

And from John Nicholson Auctioneers, another phoenix with peony; you can see the head of the flower on one side and the stem on the other, once again held in the mouth of the flying phoenix.

And we end the post with another fabulous One Bam Phoenix and Peony.

The two tiles seen today are from the collection of Katherine Hartman.

Mahjong Treasures

Appreciating the Art of Mahjong; A Collector's Guide