Mahjong was established in China in the middle of the 19th century, and spread overseas in the 20th century. It can be said that this is the game with the shortest history among those generally called traditional games.
Mahjong game
Games are not something you can do right away. The game is played in various ways in the masses, the rules are changed, and one game is formed by natural selection. Also, once a game has been established, it does not remain on the spot, but changes with the times, while interacting with other surrounding games. In other words, it is a game that is really easy to change.
Mahjong history story
There is the following description in the section of Empress who loves mahjong "Seimei Shosho and Emperor Kokin."
"Empress Kokin loved mahjong so much that he and his princes and court officials were playing every day. Keio always had two lords nearby. When playing games with court officials, He always stood behind the court bureaucracy and handed their hands to the empress. Going forward and remarking Keiga's remarks, by the end of the game, if the Empress had won, the game was over, but if the bureaucrats were a bit better, beat (beat the head on the floor). He apologized and returned all his winnings. When the bureaucrats lost more, he offered to a bureaucrat (Minister of Finance), a chief of bureaucracy. It was about two inches long, and it was so detailed that I doubted it was made by the demon There was. "
It is not certain when this anecdote will be, but if the age when Nishi Tadashi was very prosperous, it would have been after 1870 (50 years old), which coincided with the time when Mahjong was established and spread.
Interesting in the anecdote, Ikasama already exists. The middle-aged white child, which was always on the Empress's tiles, would have been desperately loaded by court officials. The lord who stands behind them is passing through the empress. This seems to have been through their listening tiles, which prevents bureaucrats from getting sick. The bureaucrats cannot make any choices, such as not being raised on purpose, and the empress is obliged to pay (the Mahjong at that time was raised three times, regardless of self-imaging). I can imagine it was Mahjong. However, even if you lose, you will be following ten times because you are returning ten times.
Well, the tile used by Nishi Taiko was gorgeous. The tile was later lost in the chaos, such as the destruction of Qing, but one interesting episode remains.
In the late Qing dynasty, various warlords emerged in China. One of the most prominent was the Northern Warlords led by Zhang Sakulin. This was a resistance to the Japanese Kanto army trying to advance into Manchuria, so Japan's special agencies were constantly looking for movement. Meanwhile, there is a report to the Chiefs of Staff of the Army Infantry Corps, Captain Shigezo Sonoda, who inspected the luggage being transported to Zhang Sakulin.
"A box to bring to Zhang Suklin, there was a lock to quickly spy on, and it was difficult to open it. When you open it with caution about bombs or poisonous gas, you will find a small piece that can print various characters. There is no word about sparrows on bamboo, but it is a truly sparrow. There are characters such as Tohoku Tohoku, etc. There are pipes with crests with flowers in full bloom. Ivory, the ivory surface is scattered with rubies, saffairs, diamonds, etc. 토토 For example, the word "middle" is ruby, the east, west, south and north are suffixed with a diamond in the center of the white surface. The emblem is incomparable.
It is not clear whether this tile is the Empress Dowager Cixi used tiles. However, it is unlikely that many such tiles have been produced, so there is a good possibility. Later, Zhang Shulin was killed by blasting the train on board (this is known as the plot of the Kanto Army), and the mahjong tiles were completely lost.
