After almost 200 years, Mah-Jong still popular

IU’s Asian Culture Center opens its doors every Friday afternoon to those who love Mah-Jong. \nFor more than 10 years, people of various ages and ethnicities have been coming to the center to play the traditional Chinese game. Last Friday night was no exception. Four people sat at a circular table and concentrated on the game in front of them. \nMah-Jong, which is comparable to the card game “gin,” blends mathematics and luck, and involves a series of white tiles, colored with graphics such as dragons, bamboo, flowers and dots. Players are dealt 13 tiles each. The players draw a tile from the wall and discard another into the pile. The players announce which tile they are discarding as a form of courtesy. When a player gets a winning hand they yell “Hula!”\nJenny Yang, the Mah-Jong group’s instructor, said the game has many variations. \n“We play the Taiwan style of the game,” Yang said. “Once you learn one form, it’s easy to learn the variations.”\nThe game has a controversial past, though, and was outlawed in China with the rise of the communist government, Yang said. \n“People would still play in their houses, but pull down the blinds,” Yang said. “During that time, you could get arrested if you were caught playing.”\nAfter awhile, the ban was lifted to keep people from rioting, she said.\n“The government thought if everyone was in their houses playing Mah-Jong, no one would riot,” Yang said. \nBut there may still be some people that have negative feelings about the game. \nIU’s group does not gamble, but Yang said some people play it for money. Like other forms of gambling, Mah-Jong can be addictive, she said. \nOn a personal level, Yang disliked the game as a child because of the influence it had on her family. \n“I hated the game at a young age,” she said. “I barely saw my father because he was always out playing.” \nNow, the game has the opposite effect. When Yang’s family comes together, they enjoy playing Mah-Jong.\n“It’s not like watching TV,” Yang said. “Playing this game together facilitates conversation and brings families closer.”\nMorgan Lovit, who plays the game at the culture center, also feels a sense of home when she plays Mah-Jong. \n“I learned two forms of the game from my mom,” Lovit said.\nLovit had been looking for a place to play Mah-Jong in Bloomington, she said, and was happy to find that she could play at the Asian Culture Center. She said she picked up the Taiwan style easily, and even taught her roommate, Jenna Bourdow, how to play. \nBourdow took a liking to the game, and said that it’s easy to identify Mah-Jong with typical card games.\n“It’s just like cards,” Bourdow said, “but you are dealing with blocks.” \nYang encourages anyone who likes Mah-Jong, or wants to learn more, to sign up to play.\n“It’s a nice way to welcome the weekend,” Yang said.\nTo register for the game, which takes place at 2 p.m. every Friday, call the Asian Culture Center at 856-5361.