 crazy interactive therapy
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| crazy interactive therapy
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| menu mah jongg How to Play: |
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| Play
therapy is often used instead of "play
diagnosis". The term was used, along with children's
toys (play-houses, pets, dolls, etc) to help the
diagnostician to try to determine the cause of disturbed
behaviour in a child. Treatment therapists then used a
type of systematic desensitization or relearning therapy
to change the disturbing behaviour, either systematically
or in less formal social settings. However the same
processes can be used with any other pre-verbal,
non-verbal, or verbally-impaired persons, such as
slow-learners, brain-injured or drug-affected persons.
Mature adults usually need much "group
permission" before indulging in the relaxed
spontaneity of play therapy, so a very skilled group
worker is needed to deal with such guarded individuals. Mahjong (Traditional Chinese:
??, Simplified Chinese: ??, pinyin: Májiàng; Cantonese:
Màhjeung; or Chinese: ??; pinyin: Máquè; Cantonese:
Màhjeuk; other common English spellings include
mahjongg, majiang, and hyphenated forms such as mah-jong
or mah-jongg) is a game for four players that originated
in China. It is a game of skill, strategy, intelligence,
calculation and luck. Depending on the variation which is
played, luck can be anything from a minor to a dominant
factor in success. In Asia, mahjong is popular as a
gambling or computer game. |
By
1895, Stewart Culin, an American anthropologist,
wrote a paper in which Mahjong was mentioned. This is the
first known written account of Mahjong in any language
other than Chinese. By 1910, there were written accounts
in many languages including French and Japanese. An
important English read was Joseph Park Babcock's Rules of
Mah-Jongg, which, simplified in 1920, was simply known as
the "red book". Although this was the earliest
version of Mahjong that had been introduced to America,
many of Babcock's simplifications were abandoned when the
1920s fad died out. The game was a sensation in America when it was imported from China in the 1920s, as the same Mahjong game took on a number of trademarked names, such as Pung Chow or the Game of Thousand Intelligences. Part of Mahjong nights in America were to decorate rooms in Chinese style and dress like Chinese.[3] Several hit songs were also recorded during the mahjong fad, most notably "Since Ma is Playing Mah Jong" by Eddie Cantor.[4] American mahjong, which was mainly played by women during the time, grew from this craze. By the 1930s, many revisions of the rules developed that were substantially different from Babcock's classical version (including some that were considered fundamentals in other variants, such as the notion of a standard hand). Standardization came with the formation of the National Mah Jongg League in 1937, along with the first American mahjong rulebook, Maajh: The American Version of the Ancient Chinese Game. While mahjong was accepted by U.S. players of all racial backgrounds during the Babcock era, many consider the modern American version a Jewish game,[5] as many American mahjong players are of Jewish descent. (Also, the NMJL was founded by Jewish players and considered a Jewish organization.) In addition, players usually use the American game as a family-friendly social activity, not as gambling. British author Alan D. Millington revived the Chinese Classical game of the 1920s with his book, The Complete Book of Mah-jongg (1977). This handbook includes a formal rules set for the game. Many players in Western countries consider Millington's work authoritative. Current development Today, the popularity and demographic of players of Mahjong differs greatly from country to country. There are also many governing bodies, which often host exhibition games and tournaments. In Japan, there is a traditional emphasis on gambling and the typical player is male. Many devotees there believe the game is losing popularity and have taken efforts to revive it. In addition, Japanese video arcades have introduced Mahjong arcade machines that can be connected to others over the internet, as well as video games that allow a victorious player to view pictures of women in varying stages of undress. Mahjong culture is still deeply ingrained in the Chinese community: Sam Hui wrote Cantopop songs, using mahjong as their themes. Chinese movies have always included scenes of mahjong games. Gambling movies have been filmed time and again in Hong Kong, and a recent sub-genre is the mahjong movie. Trivia * The suits of the tiles are money-based. In ancient China, the copper coins had a square hole in the center. People passed a rope through the holes to tie coins into strings. These strings are usually in groups of 100 coins called diao (? or variant ?) or 1000 coins called guan (?). Mahjong's connection to the ancient Chinese currency system is consistent with its alleged derivation from the game named ma diao (??). * In the mahjong suits, the coppers represent the coins; the ropes are actually strings of 100 coins; and the character myriad |
represents
10,000 coins or 100 strings. When a hand received the
maximium allowed winning of a round, it is called man
guan (??, lit. full string of coin.) * When three players ditches the West tile, the fourth player will usually avoid discarding another West the following turn. That is caused by a superstition which when all the players discard a West("?") together, all players will die("??") or be cursed with bad luck (see Tetraphobia). Also, during the West Prevailing Wind Round, players will also avoid ditching the One Circle during the first move because One Circle in chinese sounds like together. * Mahjong appears frequently in Hong Kong's movies and TV drama, since it is considered part of Chinese daily life. For example, two Cantonese comedies, Fat Choi Spirit and Kung Fu Mahjong, parody the game's popularity. * Nintendo made mahjong sets before it made video games. They are still sold today in Japan. * The artists of the Constructivism (art) movement in the Soviet Union in the 1920's were fascinated by the game of Mahjong. * Two Japanese anime series, AKAGI and Legendary Gambler Tetsuya, are stories about great mahjong players. The former was released on DVD with English subtitles. * In the 9th volume of the manga series Saiyuki, four of the main characters play mahjong as a symbolic analogy for 'playing to lose'. Mahjong in Western Popular Culture * A Mahjong game is described in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie, ending with the very unusual event of a player getting a complete winning hand on the initial draw. This success makes the character unduly talkative, which leads to significant plot developments. * British superspy James Bond plays a dangerous game of mahjong in Zero Minus Ten, a suspense novel by Raymond Benson. * In the 1940 film Charlie Chan's Murder Cruise, the title character remarks, "In China, mahjong very simple; in America very complex - like modern life." * The "Red Dragon" character that translates to "center" appears on the super-hero suit worn by The Greatest American Hero. The HongKong TV station TVB renamed the show "The Flying Red Centre Hero" [?????]. (ABC, 1981-83). * The "center" or "Red Dragon" tile is a major plot point in the same titled Thomas Harris novel and its two film adaptations, Manhunter and Red Dragon. * A mahjong game is prominent in Amy Tan's novel The Joy Luck Club and its 1993 film adaptation. * Graham Edwards' Stone trilogy features mahjong prominently. Much of the books' imagery focuses around the mahjong symbols, and one character owns a set of mahjong tiles, on which she paints throughout the trilogy. * Prominent American composer and modern Jazz Saxophonist Wayne Shorter was inspired by the game in creating a unique song structure for his tune aptly titled "Mahjong", from his album 'JuJu', released in 1964 on Blue Note records. * In the first game of the Simon the Sorcerer series four wizards play a game of mahjong at the village tavern. * Mahjong is at the center of the novel "Dim Sum Dead", a Madeline Bean Culinary Mystery as written by Jerrilyn Farmer. From
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