A Ming-Inspired Mahjong Table

This piece evokes a personal narrative on family heritage and tradition. Inspired by childhood memories of playing Hong Kong mahjong at family gatherings, this table transforms a piece of furniture regarded as cheap, foldable, and solely functional into a robust, dignified family heirloom.
Based on the multi-functional game tables of the Ming Dynasty, this mahjong table will also be used for dining, drinking tea, and holding “bai san,” a Cantonese tradition involving an ancestral display and ceremony.
The form of traditional Ming tables consists of a leg and stretcher system, brackets, skirting, and a top. This piece adapts this model by expanding the skirting to include drawers which are characteristic of Mahjong tables.
The table is constructed using interlocking Chinese joinery created with machinery rather than hand saws.
Mahjong is a game full of cultural imagery; for example, players’ seats are assigned a “wind,” designated by a cardinal direction. Thus, the brackets represent wind in a style reminiscent of Chinese art.