What was the "purpose" of Ma Diao?

NAQ (never-asked question):
What was the "purpose" of Ma Diao?

I quote from page 87, The playing-Card Volume 31, number2.

$B!H(BWhen cards for wine drinking appeared, the ancient purpose [of these
cards] was lost, and the applications became all the more shallow.$B!I(B
This is in reference to Ma Diao, the 4-suited card game of the Late
Ming Period (1368-1644).

Lo$B!G(Bs translation of ma diao refers to the state before or after the
purpose of those cards was lost? The question becomes what did $B!H(Bzero
Cash$B!I(B and Half Cash$B!I(B refer to? Before or after the $B!H(Bpurpose of the
cards was lost$B!I(B?

What did suo3 ($B:w(B) look like in Pan$B!G(Bs manual? Is there a copy of that
manual in the web?

I mean do we know for sure what suo3 ($B:w(B) was intended to mean
originally?

Suo3 ($B:w(B) was given to one of the early visitors who had collected
mahjong sets in China and wrote about the game. The term was
transliterated to $B!H(Bstring of cash$B!I(B [in his own words I assumed].

I believe suo3 ($B:w(B) was the same Chinese word used by Rong, Pan and
Feng in their Late Ming games writing. But I wonder why it was
translated to $B!H(Bstring of cash$B!I(B. Was there any hint that the early
authors actually use the full expression $B!H(Bstring of cash$B!I(B in Ma Diao?
If so, how was it written in Chinese characters? Where can one locate
a manual of Pan$B!G(Bs or Feng$B!G(Bs? I would like to take a peek at it rather
than taking someone$B!G(Bs word for it.

From earlier discussion, the best information on suo3 ($B:w(B) has been
typically as follows.
$B!H(BI know nothing except what I read in dictionaries, according to which
suo3 ($B:w(B) has a wide range of meanings, the main ones being (from
CEDICT)

/to search/to demand/to ask/to exact/large rope/isolated/$B!I(B

The nearest thing to $B!H(Bstring$B!I(B is $B!H(Blarge rope$B!I(B. That is if we can
stretch it hard enough, a large rope might get thin out to fit the
little square hole.

No scholar or historian has ever related suo3 ($B:w(B) to the meaning of
[asking, demanding, searching or exacting]. Why not? Was it because
asking, demanding, searching or exacting $B!H(Bcash" or "money$B!I(B makes no
sense? Why was the $B!H(Bwide range of meanings$B!I(B ignored?

I suggest substituting the word, "cash" with the word $B!H(Banswer $B!H(B so it
becomes asking, searching, exacting or demanding some sort of an
answer. I mean like divining. Divination affected every aspect of
Chinese culture in olden time. My own wedding date was changed from a
regular Saturday week-end to a divined Monday workweek. No complain.

http://www.taopage.org/iching/iching_symbols.html

Cheers$B!D(B.al
++++++++
800 bamboo strips with recorded Chinese characters discovered in a
tomb dating back to the fourth century B.C.

http://www.flicker.com/photos/joao/2630268

++++++++
Strings and bamboo strips tied together to make pages for books in
olden day China. We know that. Bamboo symbol n mahjong could well be a
metaphor for written divination answers.
+++++++++
More Cheers!

On Jan 11, 7:45 pm, al <a... RemoveThis @ntl.sympatico.ca> wrote:
> NAQ (never-asked question):
> What was the "purpose" of Ma Diao?
>
There is more than "purpose". Cards had "applications" according to
the writing of Pan about "Leaves" [cards].

> I quote from page 87, The playing-Card Volume 31, number2. Translation by Lo...
"There are a hundred games and more, because the applications are
numerous, and changes are the fashion."

APPLICATIONS ARE NUMEROUS". WHAT APPLICATION?

By definition, application means USE, FUNCTION, PURPOSE, APPLIANCE.
>
> $B!H(BWhen cards for wine drinking appeared, the ancient purpose [of these
> cards] was lost, and the applications became all the more shallow.$B!I(B
> This is in reference to Ma Diao,[..]
>
COULD THIS MEAN MA DIAO HAD A PURPOSE AND AN APPLICATION OR A
USEFUL FUNCTION IN EARLIER TIME BEFORE PAN?

Since Pan did not say that, whatever purpose or application Ma Diao
had or if it did have were lost by the time Pan wrote his manual.
Tarot cards typically have purposeful function.

The important historical reference is the knowledge that paper cards
like Ma Diao and hundred others had purposeful applications, as
implied in Pan's writing.

> Lo$B!G(Bs translation of ma diao refers to the state before or after the
> purpose of those cards was lost?

The answer seems to be 'AFTER'.

> The question becomes what did $B!H(Bzero
> Cash$B!I(B and Half Cash$B!I(B refer to{..] Before [..] the $B!H(Bpurpose of the
> cards was lost$B!I(B?
>
Did Ma Diao have more relevance with actual symbols like TAIJI diagram
and "Grand Ultimate" , "Guest with missing teeth" and Quo in earlier
time?
Obviously, these I-Ching symbols have lost their meaning in Pan's
manual and in Lo's translation. Did the same I-Ching symbols serve
some useful purpose long ago?

> [..]
>
> [..]
>
Although...
> I believe suo3 ($B:w(B) was the same Chinese word used by Rong, Pan and
> Feng in their Late Ming games writing. But I wonder why it was
> translated to $B!H(Bstring of cash$B!I(B. Was there any hint that the early
> authors actually use [..] $B!H(Bstring of cash$B!I(B in Ma Diao?

Or was it a rope?
Still...
> If so, how was it written in Chinese characters? Where can one locate
> a manual of Pan$B!G(Bs or Feng$B!G(Bs?[..]
>
> From earlier discussion, the best information on suo3 ($B:w(B) has been
> typically as follows.
> [..] according to [dictionar]
> suo3 ($B:w(B) has a wide range of meanings, the main ones being (from
> CEDICT)
>
> / to search / to demand / o ask / to exact / large rope / isolated /
>
As I said,
> The nearest thing to $B!H(Bstring$B!I(B is $B!H(Blarge rope$B!I(B. [..] which won't fit a
> little square hole. (Not without stretching).
>
I know of...
> No scholar or historian has ever related suo3 ($B:w(B) to the meaning of
> [asking, demanding, searching or exacting].

So far I have not heard of any response to the above.
Yet...
> [..] Why was the $B!H(Bwide range of meanings$B!I(B ignored?
>
>[..]
Divination is n exercise that search, and ecact answers to thousands
of questions for tens of thousands of people through the ages.

> http://www.taopage.org/iching/iching_symbols.html
>
> Cheers$B!D(B.al
> ++++++++
> 800 bamboo strips with recorded Chinese characters discovered in a
> tomb dating back to the fourth century B.C.
>
http://www.hno.harvard.edu/gazette/2001/02.22/photos/07-chinese1-300.jpg

> [..]. Bamboo symbol in mahjong could well be a
> metaphor for written divination answers.

That would definitely be qualified as a useful function or purpose.
> +++++++++
> More Cheers!