InChina,onewon鈥檛succeedbyintelligencealone.Whatdeterminessuccessisnotone鈥檚IQ,butone鈥檚EQ.PlayingmahjongbestembodiestheChineseartofconduct.ItseemsthatthegamewascreatedjustfortheChinese.
It鈥檚knownthatGoisagamefortheclever.Buteventhosewhoaregoodatweiqi(Go)mayfinddifficultyinplayingmahjong.Somesaymahjongisagameofluck,notofintellectualrivalry.ByChineselogic,isn鈥檛themostcomplicatedgametheonethatcanputthebrightestpeopleattheirwits鈥檈nd?IfusingWesternlogic,youwon鈥檛understandmahjong,northecomprehensiveartitreflects.
Thoughbotharefour-playergames,EasternmahjongandWesternbridgehavedifferentrules.Thelatterhastwosetsofpartners,whiletheformerhasoneworkingonhisownandguardingagainstallthreeothers.Tocompletetheset,onehastofigureoutwhattilesothershaveandmakeuseofthetilesothersdiscard.Thelastthingamastermindwantsistodiscardthetileanotherisdreamingof.Soquiteoften,he鈥檇ratherlosethesetthanthrowthewrongtile.
Thisembodiesaparticularwayofconduct.Atthegame,themostimportantthingisnottocalculatehowfaronecango,buttoactaccordingtothesituation.Thestrongpointsinone鈥檚personalitywillservehimwellinthegame.Forinstance,bywatchingothers鈥檈xpressions,onemayreadtheirthoughtsandguesswhattilestheyhave.Aflexiblepersonmaychangetacticsaccordinglyasthesituationchanges:tryinghisbesttowintheroundoratleastgetthebestresultpossible.Likewise,weakpointsmayleadtodisappointment.Agreedypersonoftenlosesbecauseofhisthirstforsuccess;atimidpersonoftenyieldslittledespiteextensiveefforts;anindecisivepersonoftenmissesthebestchancebecauseofhesitation.Fromthiswecanseethepastimebestrevealsthecharactersoftheplayers.Mahjongiseasytodescribe,buthardtoplay,asthegameinvolvesbothchanceandintelligence.
Chanceandintelligencearetwokeyfactorsinsocialcommunication.Chancemeansluck,whileintelligenceinvolvestalentandpersonality,ortheabilitytoperceiveandgetthingsdoneonewayoranother.Sincetheresultisdeterminedbythesetwofactors,itneverdepressestheoptimisticChinese,astheycaneasilyattributeawintotheirgoodskillsandalosstotheirpoorluck.Withsuchamindset,aloseralwaysfeelscomfortablewhentalkingabouthispastsuccess.
TheWesternbridgedemandsfairplayandcooperationoftwoallies,whiletheChinesemahjongdemandsmoreselfdefense.Butwhenonepartyisclosetovictory,theotherthreewilltemporarilyjoinhandsagainsthim.Similarexamplescanbefoundinpersonalrelationships,whichWesternersmightviewasatotalmess.ButtheChineseknowthenetworkclearly.Everyonehasthetileheneedsinthehandsofothers,whileholdingthetileothersneed.SuchintricacyalwaysdelightstheoptimisticChinese.
MahjongisreallyagamecreatedfortheChinese,topasstimewhileusingtheirintelligence.