Updates to the Earliest Chinese References to "Ma Jiang"

Recently I have read "麻将"(ma jiang) mentioned in two novels from the
Late Qing period.

One is "Shi sheng"("Marketing Sound"), written by Ji Wen during the
period from 1905 to 1908. Twenty-five chapters of the novel was
firstly serialized in the magazine "Xiu xiang xiao shuo"("Illustrated
Stories"), founded by Li Boyuan in 1903, from the 43rd issue(March 5,
1905) to the 72nd(April 22, 1906). Then the magazine was closed down
for reason of the death of Li Boyuan. In April, 1908(March, Guangxu
33), the novel was published in book form by Shangwu Yinshuguan,
consisting of thirty-six chapters in two volumes. There appears "麻
将"(ma jiang) for three times in the book(in Chapter 26, 35 and 36).
"闲话休提，当下叫人到帐房里去，借了一副麻将牌来，调开桌子，四人上局。"[...a set of majiang pai...]
"桌上的麻将牌还摊着没收。"[....the majiang tiles on the table...]
"走进门时，只听得楼上麻将牌声清脆。"[...the majiang tiles upstairs sound clear....]

The other one is "Huan hai sheng chen lu"("A Record of Promotion and
Demotion in Officialdom"), written by Huang Shizhong. It was published
in book form by Hongkong Shibaoguan in 1909, consisting of twenty-two
chapters. "麻将"(ma jiang) appears for only one time in this book.
"但见上房内，有几个妇女还围在一张桌子上打麻将，旁边立着几个丫环递烟。"[...is playing majiang...]

By the way, I have not seen a hardcopy or photocopy of these two
books. I read only the electronic text.

The name "麻将"(ma jiang) is also mentioned in one of the earliest
Chinese mahjong manuals, "Bai zhan bai sheng ma que jing"("Hundred
Battles, Hundred Victories, Maque Bible"), written by Pingjiang Zhu
Yingyan, published by Guangnan Shuju in Shanghai in September,
1914(Mid Autumn, Minguo 3) for the 1st edition. It says the game was
also called "叉麻将"(cha ma jiang), or "打麻将"(da ma jiang) in the
North(North China, referring to Beijing, Tianjin, etc). (I have got a
copy of this book for long, but havn't got ready to introduce it in
the group yet. It's a bit hard for me to write a long article and
there seems few exciting information in the book.)

Cheers,
ithinc

On Nov 9, 5:48 pm, ithinc <ithi....RemoveThis@gmail.com> wrote:
> Recently I have read "麻将"(ma jiang) mentioned in two novels from the
> Late Qing period.
>
> One is "Shi sheng"("Marketing Sound"), written by Ji Wen during the
> period from 1905 to 1908. [..]
>
> The other one is "Huan hai sheng chen lu"("A Record of Promotion and
> Demotion in Officialdom"), written by Huang Shizhong. [..]
>
> By the way, I have not seen a hardcopy or photocopy of these two
> books. I read only the electronic text.
> [..]
>
> Cheers,
> ithinc
+++++++++++++++++
Let me repeat the key items from above.

(1) "Recently I have read "麻将"(ma jiang) mentioned in two novels from
the Late Qing period."

(2) "By the way, I have not seen a hardcopy or photocopy of these two
books. I read only the electronic text."
++++++++++++++

The quote above can be paraphrased for the terms "Cash" and "suo"
like this:
I read "Cash" and "suo" in an article on games played in the Late Ming
period.
In Lu Rong's 38-card pack, "there is one card each from 1 cash to 9
cash and there is one card each from 100 cash to 900 cash."
Similarly, in Pan Zheheng's 40-card Ma Diao pack, "Pan gives Suo
(strings) and cash and defines 1 suo as 100 cash."

Also, to paraphrase, by the way, I have not seen a hardcopy or
photocopy of Lu Rong or Pan Zheheng's book. I read only the
translation text in The Playing-Card Volume XXIX Number 3, published
recently.
++++++++++++++++++

I have been told Cash was first coined by Himly; the term did not
exist in the Ming period. But as written and translated, Cash appeared
as a term already in use in Ming.

A parallel situation is possible in the case of Ma Jiang 麻将. The
electronic version of the name of the game has been modified, re-
created or westernized.
+++++++++++++++++

Another thing, Chinese people do not name anything or any one without
some meaning attached. Parents name their babies with meaningful
words. People change names for various reasons to express their
personality or purpose in life. Games like Fighting Tiger and Heaven-
Nine have meanings in the names themselves. Regardless of its dialect
and pronunciation, a true Chinese name has meaning. That is Chinese
culture.

I was given a Western name when I came to Canada. I had no idea what
it meant. It does not even sound like my Chinese name. I chose it
because it sounded the best among the choices presented. I chose
deliberately the names for all my children. Either their first names
or middle names homonyze (sound alike) somewhat with their Chinese
names.

As a name, Ma Jiang 麻将 does not make sense. A sensible explanation is
that the name 麻将 is a derivation based on the way it sounds and not
what the name means. Since that is not the way real Chinese names come
about, a different hypothesis is that foreign influence altered the
game's name. In other words, Mahjiang 麻将 is just as meaningless as
Mahjong)g). I might even say that it is identity-theft in reverse.
++++++++++++++
Cheers...al