University of Szeged, Konfucius Institute - Ahol tudás és szándék találkozik
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CI NEWS ARCHIVES
2015
Getting to know Mahjong
Mahjong (麻将) also known as Chinese domino originates from China. The game was only played at the court of the emperor until the fall of the Imperial House. After that it became widespread throughout the country, and then it was very popular both in Europe and in the US as well. Mahjong is a four player game which is very often related to Rummy. Mahjong is not only a free time activity in China, but it is also used as a method to examine the employee’s, fiancé’s and partner’s skills and smartness.
By favor of SZTE Confucius Institute, the guests can learn more about the basics of the game and will be able to acquire more and more tricks. As a matter of course, not only those are welcomed who already got familiar with this Chinese game, but also, those who take the very first steps.
Wednesday afternoon dozens of guests came to the Institute’s classroom to play mahjong. Most of them have not played mahjong yet, but there were also some already familiar with the rules.
The game master, colleague of SZTE Confucius Institute, called Géza draw attention to the fact that the real mahjong has nothing to do with the one played on the computer.
It is sufficient to have four players and to know the rules of the game. The rules sound very difficult for the first time. Even for second and third time, too! However, while playing the game it is much easier to learn the rules, the new comers could also enjoy the game after the second round. Moreover, while walking around in the classroom, Géza could also help a lot and he was very helpful in answering all the questions.
Among the players, there were not only new comers but also old players as well. Orsi and Ágoston told us that they had already bought a mahjong set and also they had infected their friends too. Moreover, they have great mahjong fights at home.
At another table, two university students were struggling with the rules and fighting with the opponents. Anett’s major is Germany Studies, and Ibolya is a student of Medicine Studies. The reason why they come to the event is that they want to learn the language. They said they are interested about the country and its traditions. Even if they are at the very beginning of Chinese language learning, but they enjoy the Chines classes organized by Confucius Institute. As they said everybody is very kind and helpful. At the beginning they also had difficulties with the rules, however, they could get the run of it and could pick up the stones happily.
Mahjong Night is organized once in a fortnight by SZTE Confucius Institute. Up-to-date information about time and venue are available on the Institute’s Facebook webpage.
The rules of the game are available from here above: http://www.jatektan.hu/jatektan/__2010/0093/mahszab.pdf
