First of all, I wish to thank you all for your kind words. I feel proud of the card :) And promise to change it according to the feedback and shall act upon it. :D
The only thing is, you are using a literal translation of \"white dragon\" which is not appropriate here. I believe that the Japanese refer to dragon tiles collectively as \"sangenpai\", and to the dragon tiles themselves as \"haku, hatsu, chun\" for white, green, red dragons respectively.
I have also read, however, that the red and green dragons may be informally referred to as \"aka\" and \"ao\" respectively, after their colors. And the \"daisangen\" yakuman graphic in at one mahjong game I have seen shows three allegorical figures in the colors you would expect. So I conclude that a literal white dragon *picture* on the tile is fitting, but not the two *Chinese characters*.
Very interesting posts. I also understand they are not dragons in the full aspect of the word.But you need to know that what we call \"dragons\" are not called \"dragons\" at all is asia. They are called \"gen\" ( \"origin\"? ), the third character in dai-san-gen.
So writing \"white dragon\" in kanji is off-purpose.
In fact, culturally, as far as I know, each of the Three Dragons represent the Universe extreme forces: the White Dragon for Heaven; the green Dragon for Earth and the Red Dragon for Man.
This is part of what I have on ancient Mahjong:
The developers of the classical Mah Jong were educated and knew well the classical Chinese philosophical and mythological tradition, particularly the Book of Changes and the Book of Surprises. The elements of the game symbolize interaction of the three extremes of the universe: Heaven, Earth and Man, expressed in many ways, not only by images graved in the tiles, but also in a way the tiles form numerically significant groups and combinations.
Thus 144 is said to be the number of the plan of Earth, and the square formed by the tiles can be seen as a symbolic representation of the universe. Heaven is manifested in the Four Seasons, Earth in the Four regions (East, South, West and North), and Man in the Four Flowers (symbolizing motion or life). The Dragons (\'San Yuan\' or \'San Chi\' in Chinese, meaning \"Extremes\" ) symbolize Heaven (White Dragon, \'Po\', meaning \"white\" or\" blank\" ), Earth (Green Dragon, \'Fa\', meaning \"prosperous\" ) and Man (Red Dragon, \'Chung\', meaning \"center\", i.e. \"between Heaven and Earth\" ).
Furthermore, the suits (\'San Lei\', \"three categories\" ) represent movements of the three extremes. The Dots (properly termed \'Tung\', meaning \"wheels\" ) represent the Wheel of Heaven, the Bamboos (originally called \'Chou\', meaning \"axes\" ) signify Axis of of the Earth, and the Characters (originally called \'Shu\', meaning \"numbers\" ) represent the changes of the life of Man.
The supposed goal of Mah Jong is to collect a harmonious combination of elements (the Chinese actually do not say \'Mah Jong\' when they have a complete hand, but \'ho\' or \'fu\', the previous meaning \"harmony, peace\" and the latter meaning \"happiness, blessing, luck\" ). Symbolically – though not strategically – the most perfect way of going out is completing the pair (thus the reward in the classical Mah Jong given for going out on the pair).
On the other hand, some Chinese authors, who still emphasize the philosophical aspects of the game, might interpret the symbolism of Mah Jong in much more earthly terms, seeing the suits as symbols of food, shelter and money and Dragons as symbols of a high governmental position, first prize of a lottery, and longevity.
As such, I will keep the dragon image, since I like the idea of primordial forces of the universe. I will use the appropiate classical signs of course, and attempt a better version of the card. :)
So expect a revision soon. And feel free to comment on the philosophical text above :)
Cheers