Mahjong Currency and Mahjong Dollar [News]
Cofa Tsui
Almost all mahjong rule sets define the ultimate scores of a winning
hand in the form of points; and whenever such scores are to be paid
out the points are converted into cash value, regardless how large or
small the amount.
In order to add to the games of mahjong extra fun and excitement that
may closely associated to the real world, Cofa Tsui is delighted to
announce the concept of advancing the scores and rewards associated to
mahjong games to a new level of value, which involves the creation of
a new term called MAHJONG CURRENCY. Mahjong currency has the functions
equivalent to those of the monetary instruments in real world; it is
designed to replace the term POINT to represent the value of scores
and rewards in mahjong games.
The following paragraphs will outline the concept in more details.
1. Name of Currency: The name of the mahjong currency shall be called
MAHJONG DOLLAR. The corresponding name in Chinese shall be 麻将元 (in
pinyin: ma jiang yuan). The currency code for mahjong dollar shall be
MJD. In general, mahjong dollar (currency) shall be used to represent
the value of scores of winning hands in mahjong games as well as
rewards in connection to events and tournaments. [1]
2. Unit of Currency: The unit of the currency shall be MAHJONG DOLLAR,
or in the short form MADO. The names in plural forms are mahjong
dollars and mados, respectively. The corresponding name in Chinese
shall be 马吊 (in pinyin: ma diao). Use of the short form mado at all
times is recommended. [Pronunciation of MADO: MA sounds like "ma" in
the word mahjong. DO sounds link "do" in the word commando.]
3. Where appropriate mahjong currency can be converted between
currencies or other values of the real world at rates that are
prescribed in and for any specific event.
Although created primarily for the improvements of the game
International Mahjong and the rule set International Mahjong Rules in
mind, the concepts and purposes related to mahjong currency, the terms
MAHJONG DOLLAR, MJD and MADO, are also introduced to the world as part
of the World Unified Mahjong Terminology, therefore they are intended
for use by the general public and the use is unrestricted. [2]
About International Mahjong and Cofa Tsui:
International Mahjong is a mahjong game developed based on the game
play of Guangdong Mahjong and Hong Kong Old Style, with new patterns
added in recent years. International Mahjong Rules is a standardized
set of rules governing the game play. The standards associated to the
rules and to the game are currently managed and maintained by Mr Cofa
Tsui, the owner of relative registered trademarks associated to the
game International Mahjong and the writer of the rule set
International Mahjong Rules. Mr Tsui is resident of Greater Vancouver,
British Columbia. [3]
References:
1. Currency code in ISO 4217 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Currency_code
2. The World Unified Mahjong Terminology - http://www.imahjong.com/maiarchives209.html
3. International Mahjong InfoWeb and contact info: iMahjong.com
Copyright 2007 Cofa Tsui. All rights reserved. Feel free to quote and
use in other communications with proper credit.
al
> News release - Dec 23, 2007, Vancouver, British Columbia.
>
Your timing is right. This announcement is the Dawn of The Dollar.
It's a birthday of another Almighty.
> Almost all mahjong rule sets define the ultimate scores of a winning
> hand in the form of points; and whenever such scores are to be paid
> out the points are converted into cash value, regardless how large or
> small the amount.
>
> In order to add to the games of mahjong extra fun and excitement that
> may closely associated to the real world, Cofa Tsui is delighted to
> announce the concept of advancing the scores and rewards associated to
> mahjong games to a new level of value, which involves the creation of
> a new term called MAHJONG CURRENCY. Mahjong currency has the functions
> equivalent to those of the monetary instruments in real world; it is
> designed to replace the term POINT to represent the value of scores
> and rewards in mahjong games.
>
I am right. What will the real world be like in another 1000 years in
the future? The dollar may not be the standard of currency exchange.
What if it is the euro or yen?
I can see the dollar's popularity and prominence is only temporary,
whereas the POINT is universal and permanent.
> The following paragraphs will outline the concept in more details.
>
> 1. Name of Currency: The name of the mahjong currency shall be called
> MAHJONG DOLLAR. The corresponding name in Chinese shall be 麻将元 (in
> pinyin: ma jiang yuan). The currency code for mahjong dollar shall be
> MJD. In general, mahjong dollar (currency) shall be used to represent
> the value of scores of winning hands in mahjong games as well as
> rewards in connection to events and tournaments. [1]
>
When chips are used in play, why need the "dollar "sign' ? Chips
represent points and convertible to suit the gaming stakes. Why put
restriction to the game? Unless I am mistaking your concept, your
"mado" complicates the accounting.
> 2. Unit of Currency: The unit of the currency shall be MAHJONG DOLLAR,
> or in the short form MADO. The names in plural forms are mahjong
> dollars and mados, respectively. The corresponding name in Chinese
> shall be 马吊 (in pinyin: ma diao). Use of the short form mado at all
> times is recommended. [Pronunciation of MADO: MA sounds like "ma" in
> the word mahjong. DO sounds link "do" in the word commando.]
>
This sounds like history fixing and history mixing, Cofa.
Ma diao is supposed to be 马吊, an "important proginator" of mahjong.
That 马吊 has been the reference for the "money-base" for the mahjong
game according to some historians and prevailing literature.
What is your purpose in using the "mahjong dollar", MADO? Is it to
confirm your support for the "money-base" or a non-recognition for ma
diao the "Late Ming" game?
> 3. Where appropriate mahjong currency can be converted between
> currencies or other values of the real world at rates that are
> prescribed in and for any specific event.
>
Why add the step of conversion? The point system offers no need to
convert into other currencies. Each point is one unit of currency of
that locality and situation. Points are good for anywhere and any
time, simple and flexible, as I can see.
> Although created primarily for the improvements of the game
> [..]
What improvement did you have in mind. Would you please explain?
> About International Mahjong and Cofa Tsui:
> International Mahjong is a mahjong game developed based on the game
> play of Guangdong Mahjong and Hong Kong Old Style, with new patterns
> added in recent years. International Mahjong Rules is a standardized
> set of rules governing the game play. [..]
>
Guangdong mahjong is what I learned. I never bothered to question what
the different suits of tiles meant, as any other teenager then (and
now). In fact I never heard of the notion of "CASH", "String of Cash"
and "Myriad of Cash" until after reading about mahjong history. That
whole concept is foreign to me. And no wonder, the whole thing is
conjectured by foreigners like Culin, Wilkinson and Himly who listened
to players that had no idea of mahjong history other than what was
passed down by word-of -mouth. (I know, because I found myself once a
while using expressions I have no words for them even now). I just
learned this the other day.
古代的 = ancient (history) where 古 is olden, ancient. The word is made up
of two parts. The upper part is "ten" and the lower part is "mouth".
Etymology shows and verifies 古代的 or Chinese ancient history was
generally based on "word-of-mouth".
>[..]
I have been saying "Cash is no cash, like Mouse is no mouse". But now
you introduce another "concept" of CASH to the mahjong game. As I see
it, you are making the game more confusing, in terms of its origin.
CASH as MONEY alone does not explain anything in the mahjong
gameplay.
Take a look at the symbols in the web page and their possible relation
to the game.
http://www.taopage.org/iching/iching_symbols.html
++++++++
Cheers.....al
Cofa Tsui
> On Dec 24, 2:23 am, Cofa Tsui <cofat...@hotmail.com> wrote:> News release - Dec 23, 2007, Vancouver, British Columbia.
>
Thanks for the interest in the "news" message.
[...]
> > 3. Where appropriate mahjong currency can be converted between
> > currencies or other values of the real world at rates that are
> > prescribed in and for any specific event.
>
> Why add the step of conversion? The point system offers no need to
> convert into other currencies. Each point is one unit of currency of
> that locality and situation. Points are good for anywhere and any
> time, simple and flexible, as I can see.
With the new concept, within mahjong games the mahjong currency is
used to represent the value of points (rewards or penalties in games).
So instead of paying/receiving "points" the players are paying/
receiving "mados" (mahjong dollars). In brief, mados are points in
mahjong games.
Conversion with other currencies will be in play when, and only when,
"points" out of the games are to be connected (linked) into things of
day to day living.
Calling mados instead of points may add interest and excitement to the
games. Existence of standardized terminology that can readily be used
can be convenience that's good in handling things of mahjong games and
things of the real world (e.g., events and tournaments). These can be
the purposes of the new concept - at least these are part of my ideas.
[...]
I'll leave your other issues to readers who are interested.
MY WISHES FOR A SAFE AND HAPPY HOLIDAY AND A PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR!!!
--
Cofa Tsui
International Mahjong[r] Infoweb
www.iMahjong.com
al
> On Dec 27, 7:42 am, al <a...@ntl.sympatico.ca> wrote:
>
> > On Dec 24, 2:23 am, Cofa Tsui <cofat...@hotmail.com> wrote:> News release - Dec 23, 2007, Vancouver, British Columbia.
>
> Thanks for the interest in the "news" message.
>
> [...]
>
>
> >[..]
>
> [..]
> I'll leave your other issues to readers who are interested.
>
I was disappointed to read your expression of disinterest on the
issues. Your addition of mado (mahjong dollar), in my view, tends to
reinforce the money-base notion which was introduced erroneously long
ago by foreigners. Your MADO may serve a useful purpose for you in
some way now, but it can distort the mahjong symbols even further.
They are unclear and unsubstantiated now.
Excerpt from Wilkinson’s Chinese Origin of Playing cards (1895) page
61 - 78:
“The suit of ping, "cakes," was originally and properly that of ch'ien
"sapecks" or "cash;" the "strings" are strips of one thousand cash,
the "myriads" are myriads of cash.”
Improper interpretation by foreigners led to confusion and mistaken
notion of money-base in Chinese card games, especially for the mahjong
symbols. As an example in the quoted text above, “ping” is not a
“cakes”. Ping was meant 燒餅 which is a thin flat round sheet of crusty
but pliable dough, like that served with Peking-Duck in Chinese
restaurants; it is not a baked cake. A baked cake is more like 糕. A
sponge cake for example, is 鬆軟蛋糕.
The difference is subtle and significant. The two items 燒餅 and 糕 are
different in many ways: appearance, method of production and purpose
of use. Foreigners just can not appreciate the finer points of native
culture.
So, whatever translation offered by a foreigner, we should take it
with a grain of salt.
Although Wilkinson claims “The suit of ping, "cakes," was originally
and properly that of ch'ien "sapecks" or "cash;" the "strings" are
strips of one thousand cash, the "myriads" are myriads of cash”, but
beware.
First, the ping (燒餅) is NOT chien or “cash”other than the fact the
shape is round. A 燒餅 does not even have a square hole in the middle.
It is obviously NOT cash.
Going from NOT-cash to “string of cash” and “myriad of cash” is a huge
stretch of imagination. Yet so many people accepted the notion for so
long is simply amazing. Why a stranger from the Western world can have
so much influence to even the Chinese minds of today just baffles me.
There are self-proclaimed scholars and people far more articulate than
I am remain silent or disinterested on the history of the game.
What is more? Some people say a string is 100 cash and others say it
is a 1000 cash. The dictionary says a string is 1000 chein. The true
value or denomination has been disregarded even though that affects
directly the validity of the concept of “cash”.
Regardless whether a string is 1000 or 100 coins, chien was meant for
use as loose change to make up fractions of a cent. It makes no sense
to transport or store hundreds and thousands of chiens. The notion of
string and myriad can only come from foreigners who lack depth in
appreciation for Chinese history and culture. Simple words like (十)
ten, (百) hundred, (千) thousand without the (萬) ten thousand could have
done a better job of indicating quantities if chien was to denote cash
amounts. Nothing was gained by including a “String” which carried with
it nothing but ambiguity and confusion. Chinese people called it just
suo (索), with no implication of monetary value. Money (cash) notion
came from a foreigner’s conjecture when the Chinese people did not
know any better.
From etymology, the suo (索) is a word made up of three components,
upper, middle and lower are symbolized with a quantity (十), a bundle
together and threads, respectively. Translation is more like a rope
than 'a string of cash'. A rope is only a rope.
Anyways it was supposed to be a decimal system of currency, but look
at what Wilkinson said. The chien is “worth just now about1/15 of a
cent”. That to me is an indication of a serious lack of knowledge.
According to Wilkinson, “Everyone knows the sapeck of China, a round
coin of brass and copper, with a square hole in its center. It is as a
rule very badly cast, and it is worth just now about 1/15th of a cent.
This coin, then is the unit of the kun p'ai.”
I have never seen a bad cast copper coin. How Wilkinson can justify
his claim that “as a rule”, they were “badly cast”, I don’t know.
Could the chien be so badly cast to such extend that they did not have
square holes? If so, then they were not copper coins of cash and they
could have been coins for divination.
http://www.taopage.org/iching/iching_symbols.html
++++++++++++++
Cheers….al
Cofa Tsui
> On Dec 27, 3:46 pm, Cofa Tsui <cofat...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> > [..]
> > I'll leave your other issues to readers who are interested.
>
> >+++++++++++++++++++
>
> I was disappointed to read your expression of disinterest on the
> issues. Your addition of mado (mahjong dollar), in my view, tends to
> reinforce the money-base notion which was introduced erroneously long
> ago by foreigners. Your MADO may serve a useful purpose for you in
> some way now, but it can distort the mahjong symbols even further.
> They are unclear and unsubstantiated now.
Hello Al,
Your "disappointment" would not be necessary if you understood
correctly my announcement of details of the new concept of the mahjong
currency (please refer to the 1st post on Dec 23). Clearly the message
has absolutely nothing related to research of mahjong's past; and in
deed it also says clearly about why it is created. I believe
reasonable researchers and historians, current or future, shall not be
misrepresented in any way. However, if you, or anyone, has any doubt
about the concept itself I shall be glad to get into it further.
[...]
Cheers!