The Mahjong line: The Mahjong game company apologizes for the game designs

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A Texas-based company that makes brightly colored mahjong tile faces apologizes after critics consider its redesign of the popular Chinese game to be culturally insensitive.

The Mahjong line began selling its limited edition versions of the game (with names like “The Minimum Line”, “The Botanical Line” and “The Shameless Line”) in November for between $ 325 and $ 425.

The Cheeky Line, for example, replaces traditional Chinese symbols with bubbles, lightning, and has tiles decorated with flour bags and a Whoopie pillow.

The designs and language of the website did not sit well with many people on social media, who said that removing Chinese characters erases the cultural importance of the game.

“My culture is one of the oldest civilizations in the world. It is the product of thousands of years of tradition and history. My culture is not a cheap coloring book that can be filled and ‘made beautiful’ by privileged standards teenyboppers, “Jeremy Lee wrote in a tweet that had thousands of interactions.

The company posted an apology and updated much of the language on its website on Wednesday and removed from its information page a photo of the three women who founded the company. The company has not stopped selling any of its games.

“While our intention is to inspire and collaborate with a new generation of American mahjong players, we recognize our failure to pay proper homage to the Chinese heritage of the game. The use of words such as ‘refresh’ “It was detrimental to many and we feel deeply,” the company wrote.

“It is imperative that our fans know that we have never set out to ignore or distort the origins of this game and know that there are more conversations and steps to follow as we learn and grow. We are always open to constructive criticism and continue to engage in conversations. with those who can provide more information about the traditions and roots of the game in both Chinese and American culture. “

Why the company decided to “upgrade” the tiles

American mahjong is similar to rowing, but is played with tokens instead of cards, according to the National Mahjong League. It is a variation of the game that was created in China in the 19th century.
Kate LaGere, one of the company’s founders, decided that the “venerable game needed a respectful update” because the game’s traditional tiles “didn’t reflect the fun it had when playing with her friends” and not “they were in point to reflect your style and personality, ”according to an archived version of the company’s website.

Lee, who works for an affordable housing developer in San Francisco’s Chinatown, told CNN he was appalled by the changes.

“This is a product with hundreds of years of tradition and culture, and each piece has a meaning, and it’s just a total disregard for all of that,” he said.

Lee said his mother taught him to play mahjong when he was little.

“Every time my family gets together, we take out the chips and play,” he said. “It’s a way to keep in touch with my culture.”

Yuelin Ge, Chinese-Canadian graduate student in Toronto, ppresented an open letter to the founders of The Mahjong Line on Twitter.

“I’m more disappointed with the atrocity you did. I’m sorry, MY CULTURE was too boring for you and not fashionable enough?” she wrote.

He told CNN that they should not insult the traditional game to justify their designs.

They said, you know, ‘We’re creating this based on the fact that we were bored of the previous designs, we didn’t feel like they were, you know, exciting enough or cool enough,” he said. it completely denies the fact that the original design has been there since, honestly, there have been some variations (of the game) since the 1800s. “

Ge thought the company’s apologies were a bit sparse and said he expects them to hear criticism and give Asian people significant roles on his leadership team.

The Mahjong line continues to sell all its sets on its website.

“We stand by our products and are proud to be one of the many companies offering a wide range of tiles and accessories for the American mahjong game,” LeGere said in a statement. “That said, we take full responsibility that, in our intent to introduce new tokens, we have unwittingly recreated an experience shared by many Asian Americans of cultural erasure and are working to correct this error.”

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