Chinese Mahjong

Chinese Mahjong is to the typical Westerner, nothing more than a gaudy and noisy game that originated in China and which has managed to spread its influence further afield as well. To such people, the colour scheme used within Mahjong along with the designs, motifs and themes present on each of the tiles is an entirely arbitrarily determined item….and one that does not give rise to any sort of meaning or significance.

Symbolism

In reality, Chinese Mahjong relies heavily upon symbolism and allegory in order to convey a deeper message and truth as well as to pay homage to the various elements of the world. Symbolism of the colour of Chinese Mahjong tiles A cursory glance at the tiles used within Chinese Mahjong will mean that a general observation can be made: the colours red, green and blue appear frequently throughout the tiles. This is not a mere coincidence and the significance of each of the colours is explained as follows.

Red

Red is used to represent the element of blood within the world, which is always guaranteed to prove to be somewhat confusing, even repugnant to Westerners who automatically assume that the usage of blood in this context is meant in a violent or gory manner. In reality, the red in the Chinese Mahjong tiles pays homage to the blood that all humans have and as such then, it is used also to venerate the miracle of life.

Blue

Blue is used to represent the element of air and the sky, and just as with the colour red, the abstract symbolism associated with the colour blue is used to denote the celestial or spiritual plane with the guardian spirits, gods, various deities and angels reside. The blue is used to remind the players of how they must aspire to emulate the divine entities that watch over them and so blue is also used in this context to denote purity of heart and spirit.

Green

Green is used to represent the Earth and soil of the land, and just as with red and blue, the colour green is also used to explain and symbolise an abstract concept as well which is the abundance of produce and vegetation and the nourishment and harmony it brings with it.

Chinese Culture

Chinese culture dictates that there are several other colours that are used to represent other aspects of life that could be argued as being equally essential to the sustenance of life. So why green blue and red? This is because of the way Chinese culture perceives the essence of existence, that man resides in the middle plane, supported by the Earth for both physical support as well as sustenance, and aspires to the heavens where they will ultimately end their time in.

Indeed, it is worth noting that the tiles of Chinese Mahjong are also capable of being used for divination and fortune reading much in the same way that tea leaves or Tarot cards can be utilised in this manner. The reason that this is possible is due to the fact that each individual Mahjong tile has a significance.