image interpretation

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I am ending the year on a very wishful note. This delightful ebonized box with mother-of-pearl inlay has five stylized bats on the front panel, and another five on the top of the box. According to Wolfram Eberhard's A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols, a bat is a symbol of good luck and happiness and this might be because the Chinese word for "bat" is very similar to the  word for "good fortune." Five bats together signify the five blessings: long life, riches, good health, a life of virtue, and a natural death. The five bats here on the panel surround a symbol for longevity, so this really is a wish for wonderful luck.

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This is the top of the box which also is a wish for longevity and good fortune. You see the five inlaid mother-of-pearl bats surrounding a metal butterfly. In Chinese a butterfly is a symbol for longevity, because the second syllable in "hudie," the word for butterfly in Chinese, is pronounced the same as "die,"the word for 70 or 80 years of age. *

This is a good online resource for symbolism in Chinese art.

* http://primaltrek.com/impliedmeaning.html

And here is how you can tell if a box is real ebony or ebonized: real ebony has very few visible grains in it. Most often boxes were painted black to give them a more dramatic look, and certainly a black box offsets lovely mother-of-pearl inlay.

DSC_0546You can see the grain hidden below the black paint here.

 

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DSC_0437You will often see tiles with these scenes on some of the older bone and bamboo sets. These scenes refer to the Ruse of the Empty City, a story from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.  Zhuge Liang, the Prime Minister of Shu State, was in a terrible situation. He had sent the army to defend one of the cities in his territory, but heard the enemy was on the march, and nearing his city. He thought quickly and decided to act as if the city was well defended. He put himself on the city wall, playing music with two other people, and he ordered the people left in the city, mostly old men, to sweep the streets. (He told them there were soldiers scattered hiding everywhere.) When the enemy arrive at the city, they sensed a rap, because surely no one could look so untroubled as Zhuge Liang unless there was a trap. The enemy turned around, never entering the city. On the tiles you will see Zhuge Liang, playing an instrument atop the city wall, a drummer, and some older men sweeping the streets.

Here is a link to the story:

http://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/beijing-opera/the-ruse-of-the-empty-city.htm

www.silkqin.com

Here is a scene taken from the following website

www.silkqin.com

 

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And above is a photo of the scene in a Chinese opera, taken from the China highlights website linked above.

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The following addition was written by Ray Heaton, who translated the words on the tiles and provided the story information. Thank you, Ray.

This row is the story of Mi Heng beating the drum to curse Cao Cao.
Cao Cao, the main villain in the Three Kingdoms story, disregards a famous scholar, Mi Heng, who answers back sarcastically. Later, at a banquet, Cao insults Mi by ordering him to beat the drum for the guests. As he beats the drum, Mi describes the crimes of Cao Cao and strips off his clothes.  Cao becomes enraged and wants to kill Mi, but is afraid what other people would think if he did. So he sends Mi to a warlord who arranges to have him killed.
 

 

 

 

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I thought you would enjoy seeing this "helpful" sheet. It certainly seems to me that the person who made it up did not play Mahjong. You will note that some tiles, such as the Craks, are upside down, while others are right side up.

If only this had the same value as the Inverted Jenny stamp!

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

Translations of the suits are interesting. Kringel is a ring shaped biscuit or ring, Matador means matador, and Drachen is Dragons. Each flower pot looks like it has a scholar's rock next to it. These rocks are often seen on Flower tiles.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_scholar's_rocks 

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ebony and bone higlights
ebony and bone highlights

This Mahjong set is beautifully carved, with extraordinary details everywhere.

The One Bam peacock is charming, and the other Bams are ornate. The arrangement of the 9 Dots is unusual.

The top row of Flower tiles represent shanshui, a landscape with mountains and water. Frequently these scenes include someone in a small boat, as can be seen on tiles 1 and 2. Tile 3 has a pagoda nestled on the bank with a small junk beyond. Birds soar through the air on tile 4. The words on the tiles translate to wishes for a long and happy life.

Notice the different leaves and trunks on each tree in the bottom row of Flowers. The trees are pine, cypress, paulownia or Chinese parasol tree, and Chinese Toon or tree of heaven.

I am still trying to understand two images seen on the tiles: the one which looks like a pennant seen on the top #3, and the one that might be an abstract image of a pagoda, seen on top Flower tiles 1, 2 and 3. If anyone has any ideas, please let me know!

For more information about other images, Patricia Bjaaland Welch and her book Chinese Art A Guide to Motifs and Visual Imagery is very helpful. Excerpts from her book may be found online.

http://books.google.com/books?id=5sgO9BuZQSEC&printsec=frontcover&dq=patricia+welch+chinese+art&hl=en&sa=X&ei=gzi4UoXlIMa1kAf27IHYAQ&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=patricia%20welch%20chinese%20art&f=false

Below you will see what really sells these sets: the exquisite bone and ebony dovetail.

ebony and bone dovetail
ebony and bone dovetail

 

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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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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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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.

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The Chinese phoenix is a good luck sign. He only appears when the land is being ruled by a just king, according to Wolfram Eberhard, one of the leading Chinese symbolism scholars. The phoenix is one of the four fabulous creatures,recognizable by its long tail with a few feathers like those seen in peacocks. The other three fabulous creatures are the dragon, the turtle, and the Qi-lin, a special Chinese unicorn.  I fell for this bone and bamboo set because I loved the strutting phoenix: look at his attitude!

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Surprises can show up when you buy an old set. This set came with other tiles, covered by the Big Joker stickers that are issued by the National Mah Jongg League. (This allowed the previous owner to play with NMJL rules.) This is what I found under one such sticker, hidden for dozens of years. I believe this to be Cao Guo-Jiu, one of the Eight Immortals who often is seen wearing the official court clothing and holding a scepter. It is one of the finest carved mahjong tiles I have seen.

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The following tile did not come with the set, but it shows the Chinese character for Phoenix. The Mah-Jongg Sales Company of America, when they were first designing their own sets, placed the character for phoenix on what we call a Green Dragon today. (The Red was the symbol for Dragon.) There are two similar symbols for phoenix, one for the male and one for the female bird. MJSA used the male symbol, which has several small strokes at the bottom.

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