I don’t know what the Chinese words say that surround the cardboard hutch tailor-made for this cute cat wearing a hat but it is all to do with bringing good luck to the mahjong participants. The interesting aspect of worshipping the lucky cat is “Who gets the good luck?!” Is it the person who worships the cat the best who receives the good luck or all of the players? I think it is the latter because they all worship the cat as the tweet says. But if they are all granted good luck by the benevolent cat no one receives an advantage so what is the point!? I don’t get it. Do you? Please comment.
The tweet:
I think you have all heard about “Lucky Cat”~Sometimes when we play #mahjong, we would bring a #cat with us and worship the cat to bring us good luck and fortune! #China
Perhaps the idea is that all the players get good luck from the humanized cutey cat but some get more than others and win! From the perspective of a cat loving outsider, it looks uncomfortable to me. I also dislike seeing cats dressed up like this.
And it cannot be a good thing for people to be so superstitious. Worshipping a cat for good luck is superstition in action. It undermines rational and decent thoughts. Superstition drives the barbaric cat and dog meat trade in China as they believe it is good for health when it has no special properties. The same applies to the killing of millions of wild animals in China’s wet markets. It leads to cruelty, the spread of disease (e.g., the Covid pandemic) and the extinction of endangered species. That is also superstition in action in China.
And superstition is the mother of animal abuse in China. It leads to all kinds of abuses because it is irrational and based on fear. So, please drop the lucky charm live cat in a hat in a cardboard box attached to the wall and try playing Mahjong better than your opponents instead.
Mahjong is said to be a game of skill, strategy, and luck. It is the luck bit that the cat is meant to improve but he/she won’t because it is superstitious nonsense.
Why were cats killed in China if they got Covid when they care worshipped to bring good luck? Some scrabbled thinking leading to animal cruelty.
Kind a cruel, considering these women have been playing for many hours. I play mahjong and looking at all the tiles. Poor kitten is trapped high in the air with no water and no food. I see 2 unopened cans taunting the kitten and no litter box.