The Character Suit

On all tiles in the "crak" or "character" suit there is a Chinese Character which translates to "10 thousand" in Chinese. Generally this is a word that is used to mean "a great deal, or many". As you can see from this little sample of tiles there are many interpretations. From what I can see in my little "Learn Chinese" book, the difference in the character seems to be partly "artist privilege" and the different styles in which the Chinese write plus the use of old and new styles .   There is evidence that both the simple and more complicated characters were being used in the 1920's so there is no truth to the rumor that the more complicated character came after the revolution. Please visit "THE BOOk" for in depth explanations.

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this page last updated on    06/11/06