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Duncan, E. (1843). Destroying Chinese war junks. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Destroying_Chinese_war_junks,_by_E._Duncan_(1843).jpg
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Ethnography Presentation
My research topic investigates the relationship between the gameplay of Mahjong and its role in people’s social life. In my research and observation, I narrowed my research question to how the change in Mahjong reflects the change in the social behaviors or mindset of college students, especially students at UNC. To minimize the influence of cultural heritage, I conducted two parallel observations from different cultural backgrounds.
From scholarly sources, I got to know how people played and viewed Mahjong in the Mid 1900s in China and US. As Mahjong was invented and spread quickly across China during the late Qing dynasty, the reputation of Mahjong was negative. The impression of Mahjong often has a link with depravity and indulgence. Many scholars argue that this negative view toward Mahjong is caused by the downturn of the Qing dynasty. Mahjong at that time represents the luxurious lifestyle of corrupt government officials. The negative view of Mahjong didn’t end in the republican era, as mainstream nationalism’s ideas advocate that leisure time ought to be taken up by meaningful activities.
While on the other side of the world, the popularity of the Mahjong rollercoaster within a few decades. Mahjong experienced the “Mahjong fad” under the expanding export from Shanghai to the US in the 1920s, and the cravings for leisure from the white female population in the 1920s. Then there was a falling trend of Mahjong under Asian exclusion in the US, and the domestic fear of Chinese cultural encroachment at that time. From the source above, it is obvious that across nations and cultural backgrounds, the view toward a certain leisure activity is strongly bonded with the “mainstream view” and follows the guidance of social justice. It is reasonable to conclude that people at that time prioritize the “judgment from the public” higher than individual entertainment.
To investigate how students at UNC play Mahjong, I first visited the Mahjong club at UNC. During the club meeting, there are many details worth discussing. Firstly, most club members were not introduced to the game by certain trends or cultural heritage. Most of the member was drawn to this game by a video game called Richie. Secondly, the presenter of the club meeting is well prepared. He discussed how to play the “five-block theory” with examples and practices. The discussion among club members highlights their passion for the game mechanism. It is fact that playing Mahjong is a kind of niche hobby for general students at UNC. This reflects that contemporary students have much emphasis on self-preference rather than following mainstream entertainment.
In the following observation, I observed how Mahjong has been incorporated into friend meetups for Chinese international students. As I interviewed the 12 members of the meetup, 10 of them said Mahjong is their preferred party game over games like a variety of poker and “Werewolf Kill”. The reason for the love of the game is not cultural backgrounds, but its role in providing conservation windows for friends and strangers.
Above all, we have gathered the fact that from the late 1800s to the mid-1900s, most people in China and US have opinions influenced by social justice, and mainstream trends. On the other hand, contemporary students at UNC are attracted to the game merely by its mechanism and positive effect on bridging communications. Therefore, this change may reflect a higher emphasis on self-value and critical thinking of contemporary college students compared with the general public in the mid-1900s.
Explication of research
Preface
Being an iconic model of oriental board games, Mahjong has played an important role in people’s social life. Since Mahjong has been invented in the mid- or late-1800s in Shanghai, the view toward this game has been continuously shifting under the influence of various historical contexts. As it was portrayed in Joy Luck Club, a novel written by Amy Tan, Mahjong represents the unity between mothers and daughters. While in To Live by Hua Yu, Mahjong is the tool to show the spoiled lifestyle of Fu Gui, the main character of the book.
Though Mahjong was invented in China, it was widely spread across the globe and even reached a “Mahjong fad” during the 1920s in the US. The diversity of its players made this study favorable to exclude confounding variables such as cultural identity, social backgrounds, political situations, etc. In this study, I conducted two parallel studies from different identity groups, combined with two scholarly sources. From the observation, we tend to investigate how the changes in the players’ views toward Mahjong reflect changes in the social behaviors or mindset of contemporary college students at UNC. In this study, we assume that the education level of students at UNC can be approximately the same, and we expect that the college students at UNC show more developed skills of reasoning and critical thinking.
Background Information
Primarily, it is important to know how players views Mahjong in the past, especially when it was invented and peaked its popularity. In the article-The game people played: Mahjong in modern Chinese society and culture, the author Greene explained why Chinese citizens in the 1900s have negative opinions toward Mahjong during the downturn of the Qing and republican periods in China. The author points out that When Mahjong was invented, it became widely played and often represent a luxurious lifestyle. However, with the downturn of the Qing, critics believe that Mahjong reflects the depravity of society and the corruption of government officials. Therefore, with worries arising in Chinese citizens after the government signed the “Treaty of Nanking” and “Treaty of Humen”, the general public of China in the late 1800s view Mahjong as another kind of “Opium” that led to humiliating defeats of the Qing dynasty. The negative view of Mahjong didn’t end in the republican era, as mainstream nationalism’s ideas advocate that leisure time ought to be taken up by meaningful activities (Greene, 2016, p. 18).
Meanwhile on the other side of the world, the popularity of the Mahjong rollercoaster in the US within a few decades. Mahjong experienced the “Mahjong fad” under the expanding export from Shanghai to the US in the 1920s, and the cravings for leisure from the white female population in the 1920s. Then there was a falling trend of Mahjong under Asian exclusion in the US, and the domestic fear of Chinese cultural encroachment at that time (Heinz, 2021, p. 15).
From the source above, it is obvious that across nations and cultural backgrounds, the view toward a certain leisure activity is strongly bonded with the “mainstream view” and follows the guidance of social justice. It is reasonable to conclude that people at that time prioritize the “judgment from the public” higher than individual entertainment.
Observational Data and Analysis
Observation 1
I first conducted my observation at the UNC Mahjong club as a spectator. At 6 PM there are two people in the room. A Southeastern Asian student (Mathew, pseudonym) is standing in front of the podium pulling up the PowerPoint on his computer while he turned around his head and noticed me. The other student is a white male student (Gavin, pseudonym) who is stacking Mahjong pieces into piles on a green board and distributing white plastic sticks to each side of the board. As I can see the quality of the slide Mathew made and how Gavin patiently organizes the Mahjong board, I can conclude that Mathew and Gavin take the club seriously as a place for proper discussion about tactics for Mahjong rather than a casual playfield for Mahjong. I asked them how they were introduced to Mahjong and how they were inspired to create a club like this. Both said they do not have cultural heritages to play Mahjong, and they are first introduced to Mahjong by a Japanese video game called Riichi. (Later I got to know this is the official name for Japanese Mahjong and also the name for this Video game they played.) This eliminates confounding variables from cultural backgrounds. It is reasonable to say Mathew and Gavin are attracted by merely the game mechanisms. I was able to conclude that the Mahjong fad and cultural stereotypes of Mahjong in previous American history did not have a notable influence on students in UNC, since when I mentioned the Mahjong fad and its relevant history, none of the members in the club responded that they have exposed to such information. Additionally, Besides Mathew and Gavin, most of the members of the club said they were also first introduced to Mahjong through video games, and few of them were introduced to Mahjong by friends.
Before listening to the presentation, I thought the club would be a laid-back style club in that students play without much emphasis on skills, but the content of the lecture was intensive. The slide shows examples of how to play with the “five-block theory”. While Mathew was demonstrating steps to use the theory, two students, a black male student, and a white male student had the same problem with a certain move. Mathew answered the question using an online simulation tool to show how the five-block theory proved to be the most effective. This discussion highlights the passion of club members for the game mechanism. It is not the case that students are only attracted to Mahjong by its role in social life. The practice of this new technique last about forty-five minutes and finally turned into real combat.
Students rearranged into two groups, one with four and one with three people. Unlike chess, which creates tension between players and pauses in conversations, Mahjong is suitable for players to quickly start continuous conversations (from the open game to the end). The group members talked about their recent classes and exams. As players take turns picking their tiles, the speaker may also change smoothly (may be due to a demand for thinking to decide to discard which tile). Overall, the players had equal opportunities to speak. From the gameplay, we can gather two pieces of information about Mahjong in students’ social life. Firstly, students at UNC are likely to embrace the mode of communication framed by the Mahjong game, since strangers from random backgrounds can quickly start conversations and form a comforting atmosphere that can be hardly achieved by other icebreaker games. Secondly, the intensity of the Mahjong game is not high enough to bridge friendships from only two to three games, as some of the members in the club did not seem as close as friends, while some of the members quite know others well.
Observation 2
I then conducted observation at a Chinese international students meet-up as a spectator.
The sunset in the parking lot in front of Whole Foods was a prelude for a good night, a gathering for twelve Chinese international students to celebrate the birthday of Joseph. Finish loading up the car trunk with food and drinks, we headed to the Link apartment. To be precise, it did not feel like a “party” at all, but a cozy meet-up for close friends.
While playing, like the UNC Mahjong club, participants start to chill and chat with each other in circulation. Notably, there are people close to Joseph, who does not know each other well. Thus, at the dinner, Joseph is the center of the conversation. Most of the time Joseph starts a conversation by asking a question and other people share their anecdotes. However, when playing Mahjong, this unbalances of engagement in conservation disappears. For instance, Ben and Joanna did not have a direct conversation throughout the dinner, though they both shared stories on the same topic. The commentary for Joanna’s move in the Mahjong game from Ben was the first interaction they had that night, and this action worked as a kickstart for their later conventions. Mahjong’s effects on promoting interactions may largely contribute to its combat system. The move for the gamer to take does not require much intellectual challenge such as Chess and GO, which provides a large window for players to start a conversation while waiting for one of the players to take action. And the variety of actions also brings up the playability of the game. Contrary to UNO cards, which does not have apparent “bad moves” and “wise decision”, Mahjong allows participants to comment on each other’s moves. Therefore, work as an ice breaker to bridge conversations.
The Mahjong session ends around two hours. And the group began to play Werewolf Kill. In this game, the gap between experienced and inexpedience players is huge, and this further leads to domination by experienced players on deciding “attack” or “hide”. James commented on this game, saying, “I did not enjoy playing the Werewolf Kill, as I often have conflicting ideas when playing the game: When I follow the lead of experienced players, I cannot feel involved in this game. But when I make decisions on my own, I will feel stressed, as it could lead to failure of my team.” As a player myself, I can reflect on James’ thought as a beginner to many common board games that involves teamwork. Though teamwork in games can strengthen relationships among team members, it brings uncomfortable pressure on inexperienced members. The involvement of the Werewolf Kill game is much less than Mahjong overall, and this may lead to the conclusion of another property of Mahjong. The balance in Mahjong was a key aspect player seeks. As there is no quick loss or quick win, beginners can feel as involved as experienced players. Additionally, players play on their own rather than for a team. Resulting in less burden when making decisions.
Conclusion
Above all, we have gathered the fact that from the late 1800s to the mid-1900s, most people in China and US have opinions influenced by social justice, and mainstream trends. On the other hand, contemporary students at UNC are attracted to the game merely by its mechanism and positive effect on bridging communications. Therefore, this change may reflect a higher emphasis on self-value and critical thinking of contemporary college students compared with the general public in the 1900s.
The two observations align with each other and support my expectation. However, there are two major limitations in this study. Firstly, the sample size of the subculture groups is relatively small. It is not sufficient to generalize the entire population, which is all students at UNC. Secondly, due to the inability to conduct observation outside of campus, this study only investigates the difference in the mindset of contemporary college students and the general public in the past. Thus we can not further conclude how the background of the times influences people’s mindsets. To improve this study, I would conduct observation/interviews with Mahjong players with different cultural backgrounds, ages, and levels of education to better generalize the contemporary view toward Mahjong.
Reference
Greene, M. (2016). The game people played: Mahjong in modern Chinese society and culture. Cross-Currents, 5(1), 1–27. https://doi.org/10.1353/ach.2016.0001.
Heinz, A. (2021b). Mahjong. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190081799.001.0001.
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