Hi!
The other day when I was telling a friend about something from Millington's book, I realized that I didn't know whether the author is male or female (which personal pronoun should I use). After a bit of searching I discovered that the initial »A« is for Alan.
Problem solved! But does somebody have some more information on Millington ... who is/was he? It would be interesting to know his background for talking about the symbolism and evolution of mahjong.
Cheers,
--
Jesper Harder Use this information only for good; never for evil.
Do not expose to fire. Do not operate heavy equipment after reading, may cause drowsiness.
From: Jesper Harder <jesper_harder@hotmail.com>:
> does somebody have some more information onYes. I do. You may recall that we had a poster come in to the newsgroup last September and express deep skepticism about the validity of Millington's book. An outcome of that thread was that I got a whole essay about Millington, from a friend of his, Tony Gray, who has set up a mah-jongg discussion website at http://www.delphi.com/mahjongg. Here's the text that Tony sent me (I got the distinct impression that he wrote it to be shared, not just for my eyes only):
> A D MillingtonMonkseaton, a village attached to the seaside town of Whitley Bay in
Northumberland, near Newcastle in the North East of England. He was
born in 1951. He was educated at the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle
and at Balliol College, Oxford.
>
> I first knew Alan when he was fifteen. He had learned to play Mah
Jongg from his mother, a schoolteacher. We played with young friends
using Alan's bamboo set and the Babcock Rules. Gradually more friends
learned to play and we all acquired sets from various sources. By about
1968 we had formed the Monkseaton Mah Jongg Club. This grew steadily
until it had about thirty members. The members were students at first.
Later some of our parents began to play too and eventually the
membership covered all age groups. We played competitions. At Christmas
and Easter, when the student members were home, we had round robin
competitions, playing full games each day for three or four days. In
term time there was a Residents League played at weekends. I was the
competition secretary.
>
> Alan went away to Oxford, returning during the holidays. He was a
brilliant scholar, achieving a first class degree in history. He was
something of an eccentric at this time, preferring traditional dress
and encouraging a very formal lifestyle and behaviour. Alan stayed on
at Oxford where he was commissioned to write the history of a shipping
company, to celebrate its centenary. This project took longer than
expected, not least because he was writing a book on Mah Jongg at the
same time.
>
> We had become aware of different rule variations. Alan wanted to
research how these had developed, analyse the differences and determine
which he thought was the best game. To do this he used the Oxford
libraries and their contacts to read every book he could find on the
subject. He went so far as to learn to read Chinese so that he could
read Chinese literature too. I understand it has been suggested that he
made the whole thing up. This is ridiculous. He was a professional
author and spent years researching and writing the book. He did indeed
have certain preferences. There is no doubt that Alan favoured
traditional Chinese rules for very good reasons which are set out in
the book. The vast majority of his explanation of the development of
the game is based on his research. On occasion he has speculated on the
reasons for certain features, but only when based on his study of
Chinese philosophy at the time the game was being developed. Only when
he comments on some of the variant forms are his remarks
sometimes "tongue in cheek". Anyway, where Alan may have speculated in
places, I have not seen any other explanation of the development of Mah
Jongg which comes anywhere near to his work.
>
> Alan could only undertake this work because somebody was paying him
to write something else at the same time. Sadly, when the book was
published, I think I recall that Alan received only £200 for the rights
to it. As far as I am aware he has never had any further income from
the work. However, he always said he did not set out to write it for
money.
>
> The Complete Book of Mah Jongg, of which I have a signed copy of the
original hardback version, gave us a set of rules, based on sound
reason, which we hoped would become a definitive standard for the
future. Of course this never happened. Nevertheless, as Mah Jongg now
appears to be enjoying a resurgence, partly due to the possibilities
afforded by computer communications, I believe the book can still be
held up to be the most complete study of the history and development of
Mah Jongg to be written in English.
>
> Alan Millington left Oxford to become a cathedral administrator and
choral singer. I last heard that he had found a place for his highly
developed intellect in the world of computer programming. I think I
know how to find him and I will endeavour to do so.
>
> As for the Monkseaton Mah Jongg Club, I know that it is still in
existence thirty years on and Mah Jongg competitions are still played.
I have no way of knowing, but I suspect this is the oldest Mah Jongg
Club in Britain and possibly in Europe.
>
> As the popularity of the game grows, I sincerely hope that those who
have been attracted to it through computer versions will come to play
the real game sitting round a table with friends, as I did. I also hope
that Millington's book will serve as a definitive guide to those who
come to appreciate that the Traditional Chinese form of the game is
indeed the variation which demands most skill and expertise in order to
attempt to master it.
>
> Tony Gray
> September 1999
Tom Sloper <tsloper@activision.com> writes:
> Jesper Harder <jesper_harder@hotmail.com> writes:Thanks a lot, Tom. That was very interesting.
| He was something of an eccentric at this time, preferring traditional | dress and encouraging a very formal lifestyle and behaviour.
Somehow I'm not surprised by this description -- the picture fits his scholarly writing style perfectly.
| I understand it has been suggested that he made the whole thing | up. This is ridiculous. He was a professional author and spent years | researching and writing the book.
It's reassuring to know that the impression of a very well-researched book is well-founded.
| On occasion he has speculated on the reasons for certain features, but | only when based on his study of Chinese philosophy at the time the | game was being developed.
I still can't help feeling a bit skeptical of the chapter on symbolism. Maybe someone with a better knowledge about Chinese culture could comment on Millington's interpretations?
| Only when he comments on some of the variant forms are his remarks | sometimes "tongue in cheek".
:-)
I really like Millington's humour, some of his wry remarks are very
funny.
Cheers,
--
Jesper Harder Use this information only for good; never for evil.
Do not expose to fire. Do not operate heavy equipment after reading, may cause drowsiness.
Jesper Harder <jesper_harder@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:wkya51je2e.fsf@hotmail.com...
> does somebody have some more information on
> Millington ... who is/was he? It would be interesting to know his
> background for talking about the symbolism and evolution of mahjong.
I just posted a lengthy reply via DEJA.COM. Let me know if you cannot see it
via your news provider and want me to post it via this one.
Cheers
Tom
On Tue, 23 May 2000 19:08:49 -0700, "Tom Sloper" <actsearch@aol.com> wrote:
>I see both messages, this time.
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