It is said that mahjong was invented by Zheng He, and is Zheng He, the eunuch of the Three Treasures, keen to entertain? It is also true to say that the original intention is indeed for entertainment, which is related to the "birthplace" of mahjong.
Zheng He went to the West seven times, and there are different accounts, some say that it was to find the missing Emperor Jianwen for Zhu Di, some said it was to promote national prestige, and some said that it was for business and trade.
Whatever the purpose, he was a legend in the history of Chinese navigation, and he was on a grand scale, accompanied by tens of thousands of people every time he went to sea.
According to the "History of the Ming Dynasty," among the more than 200 ships, the largest ship was about 44 zhang 4 feet long and 18 zhang wide, which is equivalent to 151.18 meters in length and 61.6 meters in width.
Sailing life is relatively boring, watching the sunrise and sunset on the deck every day, and soon get tired of it. As a result, various conditions of the crew came out.
Some of them have accidents because of boredom, some have become mentally depressed because they miss their hometown, and some have become ill because of this.
Seeing this, Zheng He designed an entertainment project based on the existing environment on the ship, which had three prerequisites:
First, it should be suitable for multi-person play, which can not only contact feelings, but also monitor military intelligence;
Second, it should be simple and easy to learn, and it can be constantly updated;
Third, it can last for a long time, and it will not produce boredom, catering to the boring life at sea.
In this way, a kind of entertainment project was born with a bamboo card made of moso bamboo and engraved with various text patterns.
The red in mahjong represents the land of the Central Plains, and the red color is Chinese red, which caters to the homesickness of the crew;
In the name of business, the number of fortunes ranged from 10,000 to 90,000, which is also in line with Chinese customs and Taoist culture, nine is the largest;
The staple food on the ship is mainly flatbread, so there are one bread to nine breads;
When the wind is calm, the crew also fishes, so there are one, two, three········ Nine-of-a-kind;
The ship sailed in the direction of the wind, and there were east, south, west, and north winds;
The sailing life on the ship does not remember the date, only distinguishes the changes of the solar terms, so there are four "flower" cards in spring, summer, autumn and winter;
Fresh water is a necessary living resource on the ship, and the bucket containing fresh water is engraved with numbers, and there are one bucket to nine barrels;
The contents of the ship's number token are engraved on the whiteboard and fortune,
Such a new entertainment was born, with a total of 136 cards.
Since the purpose of entertainment was to paralyze the homesickness of the soldiers, it was named mahjong.
However, until now, this entertainment project does not need to be homesick, but the effect of paralysis is still effective, and at the poker table, there is still mental paralysis for people.
The taste of entertainment faded, and the taste of paralysis grew stronger.
