SHiP-shape #5; Mahjong 麻将 Mystery Cache

Many of you may be familiar with various e-games based (very) loosely on the ancient Chinese game mahjong but do you know anything about the original game?

The game is somewhat similar to a game of cards but substitutes three dimensional "tiles" for the cards. The tiles may be made of ivory, wood, bakelite, or plastic. There are three suits; bamboos (bams), characters (cracks), and circles (dots), each numbered from one to nine. There are also two honor suits; winds and dragons. There are four of the former and three of the latter. Four flowers and four seasons round out the "deck".

Each game includes an initial distribution of some of the tiles, held in racks displaying the tiles (only to be seen by that player). Players take turns trading, picking, and discarding tiles with the goal of completing a hand reminiscent of the card game gin rummy... collecting pungs (set of three identical tiles), kongs (set of four identical tiles), chows (three suited tiles in sequence), and eyes (pair of identical tiles). The first to complete a sanctioned hand displays their tiles and wins. It is not unusual for the winner to collect a monetary prize from the other players, the value of which reflects the difficulty of collecting the winning hand.

One of the myths of the origin of mahjong suggests that Confucius developed the game in about 500 BC. The three dragon (cardinal) tiles also agree with the three cardinal virtues bequeathed by Confucius. Hóng Zhōng (red middle), Fā Cái (prosperity), and Bái Bǎn" (white board) represent benevolence, sincerity, and filial piety, respectively. The myth also claims that Confucius was fond of birds, which would explain the name "mahjong" (sparrow). Other historians believe it was based on a Chinese card game called Mǎdiào in the early Ming dynasty. This game was played with 40 paper cards similar in appearance to the cards used in the game Ya Pei. These 40 cards are numbered 1 to 9 in four different suits, along with four extra flower cards. This is quite similar to the numbering of mahjong tiles today, although mahjong only has three suits and, in effect, uses four packs of Ya Pei cards.

The game was banned by the government of People's Republic of China when it took power in 1949. The new Communist government forbade any gambling activities, which were regarded as symbols of capitalist corruption. After the Cultural Revolution, the game was revived, without gambling elements, and the prohibition was revoked in 1985. Today, it is a favorite pastime in China and other Chinese-speaking communities.

OK..OK.. back to the cache! Now that you have the final coordinates, go earn the smiley. What? You don't have the coords? Hmmm... look again... they're there! Hope you enjoy!