Winds Order Revisited
pa...@email.unc.edu
following thread (and others):
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.mahjong/browse_thread/thread/6fac04a25fe921f1#
The reason(s) for the player’s positions around the table and the
order of play following an ‘anti-clockwise’ (counterclockwise - CCW)
direction rather than the direction that would follow the earthly
progression of the seasons remains unclear. Player order follows the
CCW manner typical of Chinese games which progress to the player on
the right hand side (in contrast to Western games which favor playing
to the left in a clockwise order), but when the Winds which identify
four players are associated with the seasons, this apparent
discrepancy appears. Thus: South plays after East just as Summer
follows Spring, but South sits to the right of East which would
indicate the reverse of the direction that the seasons are typically
portrayed [West is opposite East; North is to the left of East].
It has been proposed that, if mahjong evolved from Chinese card games
(as is generally thought), then the typical order of play to the right
(CCW) may have been retained and the titles (Winds) assigned to the
players simply followed the progression of the seasons (E, S, W, N),
resulting in the CCW seasons found in mahjong play. Mahjong is the
only Chinese game that I am aware of that assigns Winds-Directions-
Seasons to the four players, and this assignment is important in play
(effecting strategy and points). Although the apparent discrepancy in
player positions around the table may have simply been a result of
following tradition in the direction of play while superimposing the
Winds (seasons/directions) on the players, it is also possible that
there is another meaning to the CCW seasons in the progression of
players around the table.
It has alternatively been proposed that the CCW order of the seasons
may result from superimposing the heavenly order of the seasons onto
the earthly surface of a square playing surface (table) that may
represent earth [the square is traditionally associated with earth
whereas the circle is traditionally associated with heaven]. [To
visualize this, hold a paper above your head and mark the directions
in the sky on it; when subsequently laid face up on a table, the
resulting order for the seasons would be CCW as in mahjong].
Both proposals seem reasonable to me, and it seems that we have yet to
present evidence that may support favoring one proposal over the
other.
Recently I came across a book [“Imperial Wardrobe” by Dickinson &
Wrigglesworth (2000) ISBN 1-58008-188-6] that reproduces a painting
(p49) of a Qing imperial prince commemorative portrait that may be
relevant to this subject. But other than the closure on the prince’s
court robes being correctly on his right hand side, indicating that
the illustration of the painting is properly oriented (not flipped), I
am more interested in the painting on the screen that he is sitting in
front of. That screen shows five dragons of five different colors:
Blue, Green, Red, Yellow, & White, which tradition would indicate
would probably represent the five phases (wuxing) and the seasons of
Winter, Spring, Summer, Late Summer (or the center in some
arrangements of the wuxing), & Autumn, respectively, among five color
clouds. While somewhat different than mahjong where only four seasons
are considered (and only four directions/Winds corresponding to the
seasons of Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter), the screen painting
shows a roughly CCW arrangement of the five dragons. It shows The Blue
dragon (North?) roughly in the center above the head of the prince,
the White dragon (West?) in the upper right corner (over the left
shoulder of the prince), the Red dragon (South?) in the lower right
corner, the Green dragon (East?) in the lower left corner, and the
Yellow dragon (Center or Southwest?) in the upper left corner.
The position of the yellow dragon indicates a possible problem with
the above interpretation linking each dragon color with an element and
a season (direction) since it is neither placed in the center (as in
one traditional arrangement of the wuxing) nor between the red and
white dragons (between summer and autumn, as in the circular
arrangement of the wuxing).
The central dragon would be considered the primary dragon, an
interpretation reinforced by it being portrayed as front facing
whereas the other four are all shown in profile. For the Emperor, the
central dragon would be yellow (gold) and front facing, so an imperial
prince would probably not be able to use that arrangement for the
dragons. In this case, for some reason unknown to me, the prince chose
the blue dragon as the primary dragon. Perhaps then, this prince
simply switched the normal positions of the blue and yellow dragons
without regard to the resulting incorrect position for the yellow
dragon.
If other members of this forum have access to other illustrations
depicting five colors of dragons, I would be interested in knowing the
arrangement used. In any case, this single illustration indicates that
the CCW arrangement for the seasons may not be unique to mahjong.
Dan
msta...@talktalk.net
> If other members of this forum have access to other illustrations
> depicting five colors of dragons, I would be interested in knowing the
> arrangement used. In any case, this single illustration indicates that
> the CCW arrangement for the seasons may not be unique to mahjong.
I am just off to work, but I remembered a particular document in my
research files regarding yin-yang and wu-hsing etc. The document is
called;
Yin-Yang Wu-Hsing and Han Art.
Cheng Te-k'un
Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Volume 20, Issue 1/2 (Jun., 1957,
162-186.
It may be available on the net? If not I can photocopy it and send
that to you. Let me know.
pa...@email.unc.edu
> I am just off to work, but I remembered a particular document in my
> research files regarding yin-yang and wu-hsing etc. The document is
> called;
>
> Yin-Yang Wu-Hsing and Han Art.
>
> Cheng Te-k'un
>
> Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Volume 20, Issue 1/2 (Jun., 1957,
> 162-186.
>
> It may be available on the net? If not I can photocopy it and send
> that to you. Let me know.
Thanks Michael,
The article is online. It seems like a good source of information,
although it does not give any information concerning a possible
reversal of the standard arrangement of the seasons. The article
reminded me that I should have mentioned that there are numerous other
associations with the five phases (wuxing) that occur in artwork and
should be kept in mind when looking for images that may support a CCW
representation for the seasons similar to the Winds assigned to player
seating positions in mahjong. While the five colors used for the
dragons in my previous post likely represent the five phases (wuxing),
often the directions are represented by the Green Dragon (East), the
Red Bird (South), the White Tiger (West), and the Black Warrior or
Tortoise (North). The following link is to an illustration of these
four deities of the four directions arranged in the normal (clockwise)
arrangement of the seasons, from the online article:
http://www.jstor.org/action/showArticleImage?image=images%2Fpages%2Fdtc.181.tif.gif&suffix=2718524
I would be interested in any symbols representing the five phases
(wuxing) that are depicted in a CCW direction for the seasons (like in
mahjong) rather than the normal clockwise arrangement.
I was favoring the dragons for several reasons. First, dragons are
associated with rain and wind, and mahjong refers to the directions as
Winds (I do not recall any of the other associations with the wuxing
or seasons having a connection with winds). Second, dragons are
associated with the Yang (heaven) principal (e.g. the Chinese Dragon
Emperor has the mandate of heaven), and thus may support the Heavenly
seasons arrangement of mahjong players around a Earthly table
interpretation, whereas other associations with the seasons may be
more closely connected with earthly principals. Thirdly, although the
four dragon kings that traditionally ruled the four seas that were
thought to surround the earth follow the standard arrangement for the
seasons, Winds come down from the sky and may thus be associated with
heaven rather than earth.
While I would be surprised if other associations with the wuxing
showed a CCW direction for their associated seasons, I would not be as
surprised if the CCW direction for Winds (and the dragon association
with heavenly winds) were occasionally depicted in artwork in a CCW
direction. The lone example that I provided in my previous post,
however, is insufficient to establish that the reversed (CCW)
arrangement for the seasons is not unique to mahjong. At present it
only points to something that we may want to keep in mind to see if
other more definitive examples come to light.
Dan
d_...@my-deja.com
> While somewhat different than mahjong where only four seasons
> are considered (and only four directions/Winds corresponding to the
Wasn't there a theory that originally there were five directions?
ESWN and the red Center?
pa...@email.unc.edu
> Wasn't there a theory that originally there were five directions?
> ESWN and the red Center?
Yes, for mahjong it is possible that the ‘Red Dragon’ (Zhong/Center
tile) may have originally been considered a part of the directions
(with the four Winds all in Blue), prior to the addition of the ‘Green
Dragon’ (Fa tile) and the inclusion of the ‘White Dragon’ (Bai tile)
in game play. Note, however, that in the traditional arrangement of
the five wuxing by color, Yellow (for Earth) would have been in the
center with Red (for summer) in the south...
Though Zhong in red rather than blue may be problematic in grouping it
with the four Winds, in traditional military arrangements the center
position is separated from the forward, rear, and flanking positions
in that the center was where the army command was located which
directed the four armies of the other directions. Thus it would not be
entirely inconsistent to make this ‘direction’ a different color from
the four surrounding units. Traditionally, however, the forward, rear,
and flanking armies used signal flag colors that corresponded with the
wuxing five phase color scheme (they would not all be blue; and the
center’s signal flag would be yellow).
Additionally, it should be pointed out that all the Flower/Season/
Joker tiles seem to be in sets of 4 rather than 5. Each one of these
four corresponding to the Wind of one of the four players. That the
sets of four seem to be emphasized in the mahjong sets indicates to me
that the four seasons correspond better than the five phases (wuxing)
when examining mahjong (with the yellow center or southeast direction
earth phase probably not represented).
Dan