In Mahjong why is EAST wind always seated to the right of NORTH wind?

In mahjong gaming– 4 players(each designated as a “wind”) around a square table “rebuilding the Great Wall of China” with 144 mahjong tiles– East wind is always seated with North wind on their left and South wind on their right (ESWN)–However on a compass rose– North (direction) is always to the right of east (direction) (ENWS)—– why is that?

One Response to “In Mahjong why is EAST wind always seated to the right of NORTH wind?”

  1. texasmjmaven says:
    June 7, 2010 at 3:59 am

    it is because Mah Jongg is a ritual Game that reflects Chinese philosophical principles, The ritual of building The Wall – which mirrors the boundaries of an ancient Chinese city, with the four sides of the Wall given the name of the four winds. the winds are named in reversed order because they do not reflect terrestrial directions but represent a celestial map, that is, the winds are shown in the directions that you would expect to see if you were looking from a heavenly perspective rather than an earthly one. You can visualize this by looking up to the sky, work out where East and West are and realise then that they are reversed.

    This is taken from one of that pages I have in my office. I sell Mah jongg sets and get asked this question from time to time.

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