MAH-JONG.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume L, Issue 16348, 4 February 1924, Page 11

MAH-JONG.

THE GAME FROM CHINA. No need to speak of age where MallJong is concerned. Everybody knows that it comes from China, and it is as old as Teni|uew, another national Chinese game, which was played in the fardistant centuries. In England, however. Mnh-Jong is very young, and inclined, like till young things, to sprawl. Everybody is playing it; everybody is playing it differently. According to history and legend, Mah-.long Was played by Confucius; it commemorated the Great Wall of China and 108 revolutionaries who were banished by the Emperor during the Sung dynasty. A fisherman is supposed to have thought of it as a cure for sea-sickness, and a Chinese general id' the imperial Army is said to have added (he Winds and Dragons to keep his soldiers from falling asleep. All this you may believe or not. It is certain that there, were 108 Cards in the original game and that the addition of Winds and Dragons brought the number to 136. The ivory carvers of Ning Po turned the cards into "tiles," as the dominoes now used are called, and it is with UK) of these that the regulation game is played. •9 $ >:'• * Mah-.long means "sparrow," because the players, like the sparrows, pick up the chance crumbs discarded by others. There are three suits running from Ito 9. They are called "Characters," "Bamboo," .and "Circles." There is no need to describe them as they are easily distinguished by their names. All the three suits, with the exception of the l's and it's, are classed as "minor" pieces, and in the scoring count, the least. There are also lour Winds, four of a kind to each Wind: East, South, West, and North.

' These four Winds and the l's and it's of each suit are "major" pieces, and come next in rank ami value. Finally, there are the three "Dragons" in sets of four: While Dragon, Rod Dragon, Green Dragon. These an; classed its super-pieces and have the highest value of all. In the casket there are also four "Flowers" and four "Seasons," pretty pieces which merely give high scoring but do not represent any skill in playing. ' t There is also the "Box of! Winds" and the counter made of short pieces of bone and inscribed with dots: Five for five hundred, one for one hundred, ten for ten points, and two for two. A thousand points, with a limit of 300, or 500, makes a good proportion for playing. 'j he object of each player is to make up a hand of fourteen "tiles," and in some cases more (it sets id' four have been gathered), and to declare this hand lu-fore any of the other players. To make up this hatid the player collects threes or fours of a kind in any sun, numeral sequences in any suit, sets of Winds and Dragons, and a pair. These sels may lie compared to Ihe i ricks made in Bridge. * k- * * The game starts by four players standing round a table .and going through the process of the allotment of scuts'. This may be done in a formal manner which necessitates four throws of the dice before East for Ihe round is decided, or in the friendly fashion of each player throwing the dice, (he highest throw settling the place to be occupied by East. All counting is to be done anticlockwise from left to right, on tho persons sitting round the table, beginning with East. ' After this the four walls are built, each player setting up a wall of .'l4 pieces before him in two layers of 17 each. The walls must be pushed closely together to form a square. East then throws the dice to deckle" which witil is to be opened, and, the number being counted out on the other players, tho player to whom the number falls then throws the dice again 1o see where the wall is to be opened. /' Tile number thrown is counted along tho wall front right to left. Where the count stops the two "tiles" must be lit'ted out and. placed on the top of the opening to the right.Then Kris) , takes the fust four "tiles" to the left of the opening, and the other players follow in succession (from left to right). Bitch player hits 13 "tiles." East takes one more, making M. and Kust discards one "tile" into the court. Then comes the turn of each player round the table from left to' right, but all must draw one "tile" from the wall before discarding. Fast, after the first discard, does likewise. Each discard can be taken by any of thi' other players for, a set of three or a sequence, until the next discard is thrown on the table, after which it cannot be touched.

The discards arc acquired in Ihe following manner: By a "Pung"—that is. taking a "file" that matches two of a kind already 'in the player's hand. The three must be tit once hud on the table beside. Ihe player. By it "Chow"—-that is, taking a discard that makes a numeral sequence of three, two of which are already in the player's hand. It must be remembered that a "Chow" can only be taken from the discard of a player on the left. When a player has completed a winning hand "as described above, the fact is proclaimed. Every player, show's his "tiles." The score is counted tip, beginning with 'the winner. If East has won, East is paid double by all the other players; if East has lost, East paws all the other players double. There are no "post-mortems"; each player has'his own sorrow or joy. * e *> * *

There tire many points in the game which eaiinot be gone into in this limited space. Oneis getting sets of four, called "Kong." These are obtained bv taking a discard which makes a fourth to a. set of three already in the hand; like a "Pung," they must be put on the table, but ■(be player must draw •) "Loose Tile".and not from Hi,, wall. TIM "Loose Tiles" are. those which were removed to open the wall and which lie on the lop of the "Dead "Wall "--that is, "tiles" to the number of fourteen which must, be Klight.lv separated from the main wall, and which can only' bo dnftvn upon when a "Kong" is made. From this necessarily brief: description if will be gathered thai Mah,Ton<>- is a well-organised game; skill only comes with time, and one of Hie greatest points is to learn a good system of scoring so as to know what to play for. .