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One of the great things about Mahjong is the fabulous variations that exist within the strict parameters of the game tiles.

The tiles with numbers were clearly intended for the export market. The other tiles may have been as well, but often carvers did not put numbers on the tiles that were readily recognizable: the One and Two Dots can be easily understood.

Here you can see the Two Dots are either circles within circles or flower petals, both of which are often seen. With these circles within circles you can see the variations in ring width and color. The floral centers also have variations, going from the simple flower seen in row 2 on the left, to the more detailed one on the bottom row right. The flowers can be placed within other flowers.

The top left One Dot is  reminiscent of some of the earliest Dots with four dots inside the circle.

http://themahjongtileset.co.uk/tile-set-diversity/tile-set-diversity-1-1/

The top right One Dot is very similar to the bottom row left, similar to a flower within a flower, and is quite common. The second row left is one of the four tiles made by the Mah-Jongg Sales Company of America(MJSA); each of their four One Dots have a different interior, spelling out Free Mah-Jongg, supposedly an encouragement for people to play Mah-Jongg in their spare time. Notice the abstract cog-like center of the MJSA tile is seen in the lower right tile, where the partial flower petal in the NESW positions is a partial Shou in the lower right.

Although the second row right and third row right have different One Dots, you will see something in common: they both have the Shou (immortality) interior, seen more clearly in the second row set within the floral center, with two Shous divided into halves in the bottom One Dot, on the side of the floral center. The lower right Dot also has the plum blossom, the five petaled flower symbolizing the "five blessings": longevity, wealth, health, virtue, and natural death at an old age.

See here for more hidden meanings in Chinese art:

http://primaltrek.com/impliedmeaning.html

 

 

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This Mahjong One Bam is ornately carved in contrast to the simplicity of the others Bams which are shaped like rods.  The One Dot has the round shou in its center, symbolizing longevity and immortality, whereas the other Dots are simple circles. The top quartet of the Flowers/Seasons reads; fu 'good fortune and happiness'; ru 'like', dong 'eastern' and hai 'sea' = fu ru dong hai = "happiness and good fortune like the Eastern Sea". The bottom quartet reads; shou 'longevity'; bi 'compared'; nan 'Southern' and shan 'Mountain' = shou bi nan shan = "longevity compared to the South Mountain".

While typing this up, I noticed the top #1 Flower has a bat on it, another symbol of longevity. The moon rise appears on the #3 tile. The crane appearing on Bottom tile #1 is also a symbol of longevity.
 

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landscape with river
landscape with river

Here the Mahjong bone and bamboo Flower tiles are properly oriented in 1234 positions. A river is shown flowing through beautiful mountainous terrain. The Chinese character for mountain is seen on tile 2. Often Flower tiles show beautiful places in China. I love the details seen on the structure, including the stonework, the keystone on top of the arch and the roof supports. Remember these tiles are only an inch tall, so this is truly detailed carving.

Ray Heaton translated the tiles seen above, and they mean one of two things:

"Either "Green Hills Live Forever" or "Blue Mountains Live Forever".  The words for Green and Blue are the same, as is Hill and Mountain.  I think the full translation would be "May you live forever just as the Green Hills"... it seems Green Hills are associated more to a wish for a long life than Blue Mountains, but I suspect they're pretty much interchangeable!"

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Ruyi and flowers
Ruyi and flowers

The strange shape seen in each of these Mahjong tiles is a fungus known as lingzhi. The lingzhi is known as the herb of immortality. The lingzhi resembles the head of a scepter, ruyi,  (seen here in wikipedia ). Michael Stanwick notes that the scepter was actually modeled after the fungus.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MS-SchnitzlackRuyiSzepter18Jh.JPG

The scepter, a symbol of nobility, also means "according to your wishes" thus the fungus means that too. (Patricia Bjaaland Welch, Chinese Art A guide to Motifs and Visual Imagery). Michael Stanwick adds "The fungus symbolism was transferred to the scepter and the scepter was often given to old men of renown or people of note. The idea being, I think, to confer longevity onto the recipient."

The fungus is seen with different plants, with two different plant groupings representing the four seasons:

top row: peony (spring) lotus (summer) the next tile may be grapes or a reader has suggested it may be a stylized chrysanthemum (autumn) and either a narcissus or camellia (winter)

bottom row: Plum (winter) orchid (spring) bamboo (summer) chrysanthemum (fall)

I have found while researching that some plants and flowers fall into two different seasons, but here the bottom row is the grouping of four plants, plum, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum known as the "four gentlemen" in Chinese art. Patricia Bjaaland Welch's book Chinese Art  A Guide to Motifs and Visual Imagery is an excellent resource for understanding symbolism on the tiles.

Here is a link to the Wikipedia article referring to the four gentlemen

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

 

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folk art Flowers
folk art Flowers

These delightful Mahjong Flowers seem like folk art to me. They are well carved, but the images are very simple. Although it is hard to know exactly what birds and bugs are seen on the tiles, there is a very faintly visible butterfly on the Red 1, more visible on the Red 2. Birds appear on the Blue 1 and 3 and Red 3 and perhaps 4. I must confess, I love the Blue and Red 4s, although I have no idea what insects or creatures they are!

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Chinese hawk
Chinese hawk

Most people would not think there is a great deal of symbolism behind this image. To many it looks like a hawk on top of a cage. It actually is a hawk on top of a globe of the world.  The ribbon in the bird's mouth signifies military strength and the tile represents China's power in the world. Propaganda, both in images and in words, frequently appears on Mahjong tiles.

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This is one of my favorite mass-produced Chinese Bakelite Mahjong sets. I like to call it the Talking Hawk One Bam because of the comic-book like talk bubble coming from the hawk's mouth, translated as a wish for good fortune and longevity. The One Dots resemble flowers within flowers, and the other dots are a much more simplified flower. The Craks are elaborate Wans, and the Bams are rounded. The Red and Green Dragons are the Chinese character Chung (center) and Fa (prosperity). The White Dragon resembles a frame decorated with meanders (abstract patterns).

Notice how the upper level of Flower tiles reads correctly with tiles 4321. The boat would not be recognizable without this orientation, and the wall only works this way too. For the lower tiles, the order does not make a difference. The lower tiles have the four important flowers: plum blossom, orchid, bamboo, and chrysanthemum, shown as if they are growing outside the windows. The bottom row of Flowers probably represents some of the ladies in the Twelve Beauties of Jinling (also known as Dream of the Red Mansion  or Dream of the Red Chamber), a tale familiar to most Chinese.

 

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I was really lucky: I bought this Fulton Specialty Company Mahjong set for $8.50 on ebay. The graphics on this wood set are delightful and rank among some of the best designs I have seen. I love the One and Two! Bams, and the others as well. A lot of thought went into the designs for all the tiles, and they are different from what we usually see, including the placement of the dots and Bams on each tile.  The two colors used for the Craks confused me at first; when I received the set and was trying to lay out the suits to figure out what everything was, I could not find the low number Craks. The Chinese numbers were so stylized I did not recognize them! The Craks were painted with two different colors, adding to the unusual appearance. A coating of green paint was placed on the backs of the tiles, giving them a two-tone look. (I think the 4 Crak is upside down-sorry!)

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Notice the number 2 is in the center of the circles, the arrangement of the other circles, and the Bams.

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Aren't these dragons fabulous!

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I love these cranes. (Cranes are symbols for longevity)

 

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Colorful counting sticks are part of the set.

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This great dragon is on the box top.

Thanks to CHarli's website for helping me to identify this set.

www.13orphans.com

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DSC_0349This delightful hand carved Mahjong set comes in a wood box with a sliding top panel. I love the Dragon Joker tile (I was lucky, there are 8 carved ones) and the One Dot with the symbol for longevity, Shou, in the center. The top row of Flowers are flowers: plum blossom, orchid, bamboo, and chrysanthemum, flowers usually seen when flowers are shown. The bottom row is a bit different: the rich man and the pot of gold, and two gods: according to Wikipedia probably Lü Dongbin, who dresses as a scholar and carries a sword, and Guanyin, the Goddess of Mercy. I love the gold paint used for the rich man, the pot of gold, and the spots on the peacock's tail.

Many experts consider these types of bone and bamboo tiles to be very well carved and a great value. Buy them while you can!

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Many Mahjong Flower tiles are not just flowers. Oftentimes, carvers would depict traditional jobs  and activities of the scholar. The top row shows traditional jobs: the scholar, the farmer working the land, the wood cutter (here he does not even have any twigs or branches, but this is how the wood-cutter is depicted, sitting down with a shoe in his hand), and the fisherman.

The scholar's activities are on the bottom row: painting, calligraphy, chess (or the game of go) and the lute or Qin. DSC_0354

Many times the scholar's activities are shown in a very abstract way; that post will come another day.

These Flower tiles can be read 1234 and 4321, but on other tiles it makes a difference because scenes can continue from one tile to the next.