To play Mahjong is to participate in a ritualized narrative of Chinese life. The are the peasant’s labor; the Circles are the merchant’s profit; the Characters are the official’s power; the Winds are cosmic fate; the Dragons are moral and economic virtue; and the Flowers are the aesthetic escape from material existence.
The Honor tiles are unranked and cannot form numerical sequences. They are divided into Winds and Dragons. chinese mahjong tiles meaning
Historically known as the "Arrow" tiles, these three tiles represent the three cardinal virtues of Confucianism and ancient examination systems. To play Mahjong is to participate in a
These four tiles correspond to the Four Gentlemen in Chinese art—plants that represent the four seasons and virtues. the Circles are the merchant’s profit