Mahjong : an International Manual
by Mahjong Friends
12 x 20 cm, Risoprint
56 pages + 1 poster + 1 Cheating paper
ISBN : 978-626-97804-0-2
English
Second edition of 588
September 2023
Mahjong is a board game that encapsulates the rich history and cultural traditions of East Asia. Due to the cultural and geographical isolation in the process of Mahjong’s transmission, different countries and regions have their own diverse mahjong rules (e.g. the rules in Taiwan, Hong Kong, various regions of China, Japan, Korea, Malaysia and Singapore etc.), but because all the different rules are relatively easy to interchange, people who know Mahjong - though having different language, cultural and ideological backgrounds - could sit down and play mahjong together: in this case those conflicts, nationalities, political positions, problems, ideologies, struggles - found a common ground. Mahjong thus becomes the situation/place where people meet, communicate, exchange, and make friends.
In the wish to further extend and promote this precious situation, we decided to form a collective „Mahjong Friends“ and started the project with people from different regions. We hope to use mahjong as a means to help more people understand the intricate history and delicate, tense current political situation in East Asia, as the game itself is full of political metaphors. As the first publication of Mahjong Friends, Mahjong: an International Manual introduced the basic Mahjong rules as well as the culture/stories behind the patterns of Mahjong tiles through witty descriptions and vivid illustrations, accomplished with a poster full of Mahjong archive & history, as well as a piece of tiny Mahjong cheating paper, this *very cool and deep* Mahjong Manual book aims to bring peace to the world.
12 x 20 cm, Risoprint
56 pages + 1 poster + 1 Cheating paper
ISBN : 978-626-97804-0-2
English
Second edition of 588
September 2023
Mahjong is a board game that encapsulates the rich history and cultural traditions of East Asia. Due to the cultural and geographical isolation in the process of Mahjong’s transmission, different countries and regions have their own diverse mahjong rules (e.g. the rules in Taiwan, Hong Kong, various regions of China, Japan, Korea, Malaysia and Singapore etc.), but because all the different rules are relatively easy to interchange, people who know Mahjong - though having different language, cultural and ideological backgrounds - could sit down and play mahjong together: in this case those conflicts, nationalities, political positions, problems, ideologies, struggles - found a common ground. Mahjong thus becomes the situation/place where people meet, communicate, exchange, and make friends.
In the wish to further extend and promote this precious situation, we decided to form a collective „Mahjong Friends“ and started the project with people from different regions. We hope to use mahjong as a means to help more people understand the intricate history and delicate, tense current political situation in East Asia, as the game itself is full of political metaphors. As the first publication of Mahjong Friends, Mahjong: an International Manual introduced the basic Mahjong rules as well as the culture/stories behind the patterns of Mahjong tiles through witty descriptions and vivid illustrations, accomplished with a poster full of Mahjong archive & history, as well as a piece of tiny Mahjong cheating paper, this *very cool and deep* Mahjong Manual book aims to bring peace to the world.
*The first edition of this book is realized in the occasion of coloramaworkshop Self-publishing summer school stipend.
Sponsored & printed in COLORAMA, Berlin, May 2023
Sponsored & printed in COLORAMA, Berlin, May 2023
You can find a copy in the following bookstores:
hopscotch reading room - Berlin, Germany
Raum für Illustration - Hamburg, Germany
South London Gallery bookshop - London, United Kingdom
Guanghwa bookshop - London, United Kingdom
Tender books - London, United Kingdom
Limestone books - Maastricht, Netherlands
Pansy - Amsterdam, Netherlands
Athenaeum Nieuwscentrum - Amsterdam, Netherlands
after 8 books - Paris, France
TaKao Books - Kaoshiung, Taiwan
Moom bookshop - Taipei, Taiwan
Mangasick - Taipei, Taiwan
Wildflower Bookshop - Taipei, Taiwan