The Zuihu game
ithinc
Inner Mongolia(Neimenggu). It is an ancient paper-card game. Zuihu
uses the Chinese Playing Cards(the 120 three-suit money cards) or the
Mahjong set getting rid of the Winds and the Flowers. When using a
mahjong set, the Red Dragon equals the Red Flower, the Green Dragon
equals the Old Thousand, and the White Dragon equals the White Flower.
Zuihu is a game played by four people, but only three hold cards in
each game and the fourth one is resting. The dealer draws 31 cards and
the non-dealers draw 30 cards. The playing rotation is anticlockwise.
The rules are quite complicated. I'll can only introduce part of the
features.
Here are some terms of Zuihu:
"Yao pai": Red Flower, White Flower, Old Thousand, 1-Dot, 1-Bamboo, 1-
Character, 9-Bamboo
"Bai pai"(white card): all other cards except the "Yao pai"
"Dui"(pair): two identical cards concealed in hand, including Yao Dui,
also called Yan Dui(eye pair), and Bai Dui
"Ha" or "Kan"(corresponding to Concealed Pung): three identical cards
concealed in hand , including Yao Ha and Bai Ha
"Lou"(corresponding to Concealed Kong): four identical cards concealed
in hand, including Yao Lou and Bai Lou
"Cha"(corresponding to Melded Pung): three identical cards, made by a
Pair and a drawn or claimed card
"Guang"(corresponding to Melded Kong): four identical cards, made by a
Ha and a drawn or claimed card
"Heng Fu"(horizontal set), also called "Bao": three cards of the same
rank of the three different suits, for example, 9B9C9D is called Nine
Bao; "Bao" can be attached with more cards of the same rank
"Shun Fu"(sequential set): three or more sequential cards of the same
suit
"Hu Shang": the seven special sets
"Qun": 7D 3B 3C
"Bang": 8D 2B 2C
"Hu"(tiger): 9D 1B 1C
"Jia": Red 9B Thousand
"Wu la": Red 9B 9C
"Jiang" or "Hun Jiang": White 8B 9C
"Wen Quan": 1D 2D 3D
Big "Yun Yao": Red White Thousand 1D 1B 1C 9B
Small "Yun Yao": Red White Thousand 1D 1B 1C
In Zuihu, there are two scoring units. One is Hu, and another is
Zui(mouth). Hu is only used in the playing procedure. Zui is used at
the final settlement.
Every special set scores 1 hu.
Yao Cha: 2 hu, Bai Cha: 1 hu
Yao Ha: 3 hu, Bai Ha: 2 hu
Yao Guang: 5 hu, Bai Guang: 4 hu
Yao Lou: 6 hu, Bai Lou: 5 hu
If a hand scores 10 or more hu and is complete, then one can claim
"Hu". A complete hand means the hand is composed of all horizontal
sets, sequential sets, special sets or Yao cards. After someone wins,
each player scores his hand in Zui and the "side settlement" is used.
The winner's Hu can be converted into Zui but the non-winners' Hu is
discarded. There're many other combinations which score Zui, for
example, Big Yun Yao scores two Zui and Small Yun Yao scores one Zui.
The fourth resting player can also scores his Zui by comparing the
first un-drawn card with the winning hand, and he need not pay for
others' Zui. About claiming a winning hand, there are many other
rules.
The playing procedure is similar to playing mahjong. One can claim
to Chow(to chow a horizontal set, a sequential set or a special set),
to Cha(Pung), or to Guang(Kong) or to Win. A quite special rule is
that, when drawing a card, one must expose it on the table and cannot
place it into his hand. He can make a chow or other sets with it, but
others' claiming for a Cha or Guang is prior than his own Chow. If he
cannot make a chow or other sets, he must discard it. There are many
other rules. For example, a Ha(Concealed Pung) cannot be separated to
make a Chow.
That's all for the simple introduction. In my opinion, this old
game is a child of the Shihu game. The most differences with Shihu is
the introduction of Zui.
Cheers,
ithinc
msta...@aol.com
> Zuihu prevails in Northeast China, mainly in the eastern part of
> Inner Mongolia(Neimenggu). It is an ancient paper-card game. Zuihu
> uses the Chinese Playing Cards(the 120 three-suit money cards) or the
> Mahjong set getting rid of the Winds and the Flowers. When using a
> mahjong set, the Red Dragon equals the Red Flower, the Green Dragon
> equals the Old Thousand, and the White Dragon equals the White Flower.
> Zuihu is a game played by four people, but only three hold cards in
> each game and the fourth one is resting. The dealer draws 31 cards and
> the non-dealers draw 30 cards. The playing rotation is anticlockwise.
> The rules are quite complicated. I'll can only introduce part of the
> features.
Hello ithinc. Thank you for this excellent description. I shall
examine it closely.
As a note, I have a fairly modern, cardboard, Chinese "Liangshanpai
Majiang Zhipai" deck of cards. It consists of 3 suits of money cards
with figures from one of the novels plus 'edge marks' at top and
bottom plus ESWN plus red flower, white flower and old thousand with
the figure of wang ying on it. These three cards also have red
markings on them. I therefore suspect this is precisely the type of
card deck that could be used for zuihu plus MJ plus a variety of other
similar games of the shihu family? The entire deck is quadruplicated.
Cheers
Michael
ithinc
> As a note, I have a fairly modern, cardboard, Chinese "Liangshanpai
> Majiang Zhipai" deck of cards. It consists of 3 suits of money cards
> with figures from one of the novels plus 'edge marks' at top and
> bottom plus ESWN plus red flower, white flower and old thousand with
> the figure of wang ying on it. These three cards also have red
> markings on them.
Hello Michael,
Do you have a date and the producing area of the deck?
> I therefore suspect this is precisely the type of
> card deck that could be used for zuihu plus MJ plus a variety of other
> similar games of the shihu family? The entire deck is quadruplicated.
Probably. I even think that the reason for the Green Dragon to be
added in the mahjong set, is just for playing the games of the shihu
family. The Red Dragon could be considered as the fifth Direction, and
the White Dragon is just a filler, so the Green Dragon was added to
make the mahjong set available for playing Shihu game.
Cheers,
ithinc
msta...@aol.com
> On 8 1 , 9 43 , mstanw...@aol.com wrote:
> > As a note, I have a fairly modern, cardboard, Chinese "Liangshanpai
> > Majiang Zhipai" deck of cards. It consists of 3 suits of money cards
> > with figures from one of the novels plus 'edge marks' at top and
> > bottom plus ESWN plus red flower, white flower and old thousand with
> > the figure of wang ying on it. These three cards also have red
> > markings on them.
> Do you have a date and the producing area of the deck?
Unfortunately no. But judging from its condition and the printing etc
i would say no more than 20 years old - probably younger than that.
The seller said it was a 'local' deck - whatever that means. He is
based in Shanghai.
> > I therefore suspect this is precisely the type of
> > card deck that could be used for zuihu plus MJ plus a variety of other
> > similar games of the shihu family? The entire deck is quadruplicated.
>
> Probably. I even think that the reason for the Green Dragon to be
> added in the mahjong set, is just for playing the games of the shihu
> family. The Red Dragon could be considered as the fifth Direction, and
> the White Dragon is just a filler, so the Green Dragon was added to
> make the mahjong set available for playing Shihu game.
Not a bad idea. But why with the word 'fa'? Unless it was used by
annexing the zhong to make a phrase?
I like your idea because it puts the modification back into the
players hands, where I would have thought modifications would mostly
arise.
Also, I cannot fathom why both the Himly and Glover sets had 8 blank
tiles.
Cheers
Michael
pa...@email.unc.edu
> Not a bad idea. But why with the word 'fa'? Unless it was used by
> annexing the zhong to make a phrase?
Michael,
The phrase 'Bai Zhong Bai Fa' is derived from Chinese archery, but
according to Stephen Selby (a Chinese archery specialist I have been
in contact with) it also refers to '100% success in the imperial
examinations'. I found the phrase in both a modern and an old (1930's)
dictionary so it seemed like a fairly common phrase, and while perhaps
derived from archery it came to be used more generally (but my
dictionaries did not mention the imperial examinations).
Dan
d_...@my-deja.com
> The phrase 'Bai Zhong Bai Fa' is derived from Chinese archery, but
> according to Stephen Selby (a Chinese archery specialist I have been
> in contact with) it also refers to '100% success in the imperial
> examinations'. I found the phrase in both a modern and an old (1930's)
> dictionary so it seemed like a fairly common phrase, and while perhaps
> derived from archery it came to be used more generally (but my
> dictionaries did not mention the imperial examinations).
>
> Dan
Are you sure it is "Bai Zhong Bai Fa"? I've always heard it as
"Bai Fa Bai Zhong" ( ) -- "100 shots, 100 hits", or
"100% success".
For ithinc, is it possible for you to pose the Chinese characters
corresponding to the PinYin English words? Sometimes it is
easier to understand given the actual Chinese character or phrase.
Thank you.
msta...@aol.com
Hello Dan. Yes, but as the previous poster has remarked, isn't the
phrase baifa-baizhong? I had this in mind when I asked about the
phrase, but where does the blank tile come in? Unless it refers to a
blank sheet of white paper?
Cheers
ithinc
> For ithinc, is it possible for you to pose the Chinese characters
> corresponding to the PinYin English words? Sometimes it is
> easier to understand given the actual Chinese character or phrase.
In most time I post the Chinese characters together with the Pinyin
and English. But sometimes if I post the Chinese characters, it will
puzzle you, for the game is transmited in mouth and the adopted
Chinese characters just represnt the pronunciations and have no
meanings. If you want to know some Chinese characters for the Pinyin,
you can Email me. I will send you what I have seen.
Cheers,
ithinc
ithinc
> Also, I cannot fathom why both the Himly and Glover sets had 8 blank
> tiles.
But why not? They are spare tiles, so whether 2, 4, 8 or more or less
could all be understandable. So 8 spare tiles is a
tradition.
ithinc
ithinc
> Hello Dan. Yes, but as the previous poster has remarked, isn't the
> phrase baifa-baizhong? I had this in mind when I asked about the
> phrase, but where does the blank tile come in? Unless it refers to a
> blank sheet of white paper?
Hello,
Baifa-Baizhong and Baizhong-Baifa both exist and mean the same. Baifa-
Baizhong is used more often. This phrase might also be the reason of
why the Dragons are called Arrow Tiles in Chinese. But I don't know
when the Arrows came into use. Wilkinson's translation "hit and go"
seems also a related with this phrase.
For the blank tile, I think it came into use together with the Green
Fa. It could also be such a case, the 8 blank tiles had ever been
painted in hand and used in the game, then finally Green Fa was
formally added.
Cheers,
ithinc
pa...@email.unc.edu
> Are you sure it is "Bai Zhong Bai Fa"? I've always heard it as
> "Bai Fa Bai Zhong" ( ) -- "100 shots, 100 hits", or
> "100% success".
Sorry for the confusion, I had intended 'Bai Fa Bai Zhong'.
Though perhaps unlikely since Bai3 ( 100) and Bai2 ( white) are
different characters (pronounced with different tones), I wondered if,
knowing the Chinese love of puns (facilitated by the Chinese
language), this phrase could be a pun when connected with the 'Arrow'
tiles.
Dan
msta...@aol.com
But was it? And spare for what? Is there evidence of spare tiles of
this number in other games of that period?
Cheers
msta...@aol.com
Forgive my obtuseness, what pun did you have in mind? (I must be tired
(sigh)).
pa...@email.unc.edu
> Forgive my obtuseness, what pun did you have in mind? (I must be tired
> (sigh)).
Don't forget that the Bai/white tile resembles an archery target,
thus:
100 shots, 100 hits (Bai Fa Bai Zhong) could substitute for target
shot, target hit?
Would that qualify as a pun (same sounds but different meanings)?
Sorry, I must be tired as well.
Dan
ithinc
Hmm, I havn't heard there were spare cards in the old card games. But
I have seen that in some International Playing Cards there exist one
or two spare cards. I can't recall where I have heard, that when
mahjong was made with bamboos and bones by hand, every mahjong set was
different, so if a tile was missed, it was hard to make a new one to
have the similar appearance with the original set, thus spare tiles
were needed. The spare tiles' usage is that, if you miss one tile, you
can take a spare one to the shop to engrave a new one and the new one
has a similar appearance. If you don't have a spare one, you'll have
to buy a new tile which will probably have a different appearance,
that will be an exposed tile in the game. It sounds reasonable but I
cannot prove it.
Cheers,
ithinc
ithinc
>
> > On 8 1 , 9 43 , mstanw...@aol.com wrote:
> > > As a note, I have a fairly modern, cardboard, Chinese "Liangshanpai
> > > Majiang Zhipai" deck of cards. It consists of 3 suits of money cards
> > > with figures from one of the novels plus 'edge marks' at top and
> > > bottom plus ESWN plus red flower, white flower and old thousand with
> > > the figure of wang ying on it. These three cards also have red
> > > markings on them.
> > Do you have a date and the producing area of the deck?
>
> Unfortunately no. But judging from its condition and the printing etc
> i would say no more than 20 years old - probably younger than that.
> The seller said it was a 'local' deck - whatever that means. He is
> based in Shanghai.
Hello Michael,
I've contacted my friends and am lucky to get some pictures of a deck
of "Liangshanpai Majiang Zhipai". It is said from the Northeast China
in about 80s or 90s. It's consistent with your saying. From the
figures on the cards, it seems it is just a traditional deck plus the
four winds ESWN. It's a typical northeast zhipai deck. Zuihu also uses
this type. If anyone is interested in the pictures, he can mail me.
Cheers,
ithinc
ithinc
> I've contacted my friends and am lucky to get some pictures of a deck
> of "Liangshanpai Majiang Zhipai".
I have uploaded the "Liangshanpai Majiang Zhipai" pictures here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/ithincu/kmjwzC
Another deck which is provided by a Zuihu friend: http://picasaweb.google.com/ithincu/IAsYOG
ithinc
msta...@aol.com
Hello ithinc. No, you are absolutely correct. This was 1st documented
by Babcock if I recall correctly. But these spare blank tiles were 4
in number, not 8. Further, Wilkinson's and Laufer's sets had 4 spare
tiles, with 4 most probably used in play with the zhong and fa tiles,
since they were present in these sets.
BUT, both the Himly and Glover sets also had 8 blank tiles, but they
did not have the fa tiles (nor zhong in Himly's set). Now, three
scenarios spring to my mind. I can say that; all 8 blanks were used in
play somehow; or 4 were used in play somehow and 4 were spares; or all
8 were spares.
It just seemed to me that the evidence seems to lean towards
supporting a tradition favouring 4 spare blanks - but I may be wrong
of course.
But IF this were so, then in both the Himly and Glover sets, we have 4
blank tiles that may have been used in play. I don't know what
function or group they would be in the Himly set, but in the 2 Glover
sets we have 4 zhong tiles and so with the 4 blanks a duo group could
be formed that may have been a precusor to the triad group, once the
fa was added.
Just some idle musings ^_^.
Cheers
msta...@aol.com
That's great ithinc! Thanks for nailing the geography of these cards.
I bought them because they exhibited features from different forms of
money cards - edge marks, three money suits with human figures,
Directions from maque and the three 'flower' cards each with red
markings.
In Prunner's catalogue (BTW, you can by 2nd hand copies on abebooks
and bookfinder.com - I strongly recommend this book for those
interested in Chinese cards) there is a maque card deck from the
beginning of the 20th century, and it has human figures plus some of
the cards (ESWN and zhong, fa, bai) have the *red spots* on them.
Prunner indicates that these last three could be used instead of red
flower, white flower and old thousand. So this pack is a maque deck
that could be used for other games using money cards - rather than a
money card deck that could be used for maque and other games.
Cheers
Michael
msta...@aol.com
> On 8 3 , 12 51 , ithinc <ithi...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > I've contacted my friends and am lucky to get some pictures of a deck
> > of "Liangshanpai Majiang Zhipai".
>
> I have uploaded the "Liangshanpai Majiang Zhipai" pictures here:http://picasaweb.google.com/ithincu/kmjwzC
Yep! That's my deck and identical box as well.
Cheers