I started to write here that this is one of my very favorite Mah Jongg sets but then I had to stop myself because every one of my sets is a favorite. How lucky am I to be able to say something like that?! I must admit that this 1-Bam just knocks me out – I love it so much!

I thought the hawk carrying the globe represented China’s superiority/dominance over the rest of the world but our friend, Ray Heaton, helped me out with the correct translation: “Though the hawk ‘holding a serpent’ is often mentioned, I think this is actually a ribbon being held. This is then symbolic of military strength. A hawk being alone or standing on one leg can also mean “a hero standing alone’, as the word for hawk (Ying) sounds the same as hero. I suppose that the interpretation of the hawk above a globe could be China’s military strength in the world, or as China’s heroic struggling alone for freedom from dynastic rule. It’s interesting too that the hawks often appear to be Sparrow Hawks (Sparrow, or House Sparrow, being Ma Que, an original name for Mahjong).

Thank you, Ray!

Look at these Flowers…I love looking at these tiles showing women hard at work at their leisure activities.

Here’s a glimpse at a representation of all of the tiles in the set. It is an absolute delight to play Mah Jongg with these tiles.