Myth and Mahjong

Myth and a game...

There are few games whose history is shrouded in quite as much myth as Mahjong. While some contend the game is over 2,500 years old, records can only verify it dating back to the mid nineteenth century, at the very earliest, likely in the provinces around Shanghai. In less than 40 years, the game went from being a local craze to creating a worldwide shortage of ivory and bone for tiles during the 1920s.

Mahjong roughly translates as "chattering sparrow". One of the many myths claim it was so named because Confucius liked birds and used the game as a teaching tool that he then took across China in his travels. However, a great many games in China claim to have been invented by Confucius, so coupled with the lack of even a single ancient tile, this theory seems unlikely. In fact, the oldest artifact identifiable as a Mahjong tile dates to the 1880s. So much for myth...but here is something interesting.

Game Over: Mahjong Can Cause Epilepsy

Posted Aug 4, 07 12:43 PM CST in World, Science & Health Editor's Choice

(newser) – Playing the traditional Chinese tile game of mahjong can induce epileptic fits, a new study from Hong Kong shows, and the only remedy is to lay off the tiles. Men were far more susceptible than women, according to the authors, and it wasn't just lack of sleep or gambling stress that provoked the attacks. • The problem is the game itself, which demands high levels of mental processing—drawing on memory, reasoning, and calculation, among other skills.To make matters worse, in China mahjong is often played in jam-packed parlors, where the actual sound of the tiles hitting the table may contribute to the seizure syndrome.

Source: BBC

A game can make you ill...Myth? or Reality?

Well then...how about this little gem?

Mahjong has also been the fall of many a woman. No...it is true, really. Let me explain. When playing the game with men, many women actually pay off their debts by having sex with the winners. Such stories are of course just rumors in the Sibu of the 50's and 60's period or just whispers which circulated quietly... like a silent revolution in the back rooms or the hair dressing salons. Well, any thing could happen between a man and woman. If the woman insists, a man cannot resist as the saying goes.

Why is this important? Well, a man I know has challenged me to a Mahjong game...and for money. I know...I shouldn't gamble...however...considering the possibility of losing...well how can I resist?

So...tonight fortunes will be at stake...and I am thinking that maybe I should lose...just to insure my friend's ego remains intact...or maybe I have other reasons...haha




So...let the games begin...hmmm...myth or reality...like the Zen Master says...we shall see.

Love,
The Lass.

Wish me luck...which ever way it turns out...