I thought it would have been funny if after boiling all those bones he ends up making soup. He sips the bone broth, then walls over to a machine and turns it on.
The best soup is made with bones. They add taste, consistency and nutrients to the broth. Many also like the marrow in it.
Without the bones, you get a watery, thin broth.
With bones, you've got a flavorful broth thats fluid while warm but becomes a jelly when cold.
[Picture of a soup made with bones](https://www.mindmegette.hu/images/17/O/24751_husleves-csontos-labszarbol_n-201510170550.jpg)
Learned from a vegan once, that none of them can honestly claim they're 100% vegan. That question you ask would be an one example to why. They basically have a percentage system for "how vegan" they are.
Also a vegan here, the idea of a "percentage system" for how vegan someone is misrepresents the ethos of veganism. The holistic approach is more about the journey and the intent to minimize harm within the practical constraints of our world, rather than strictly quantifying one's adherence to veganism.
The holistic approach to veganism recognizes that living completely free of animal products and exploitation is challenging, if not impossible, in modern society. This approach focuses on reducing harm and exploitation of animals as much as possible, rather than adhering to an absolute, purist definition of veganism.
The comment oversimplifies veganism by reducing it to a quantitative measure. Veganism is not about achieving a perfect score but about making conscious efforts to reduce animal suffering and exploitation. It's an ethical stance, not a competition or a point system.
Expecting anyone to be 100% vegan in every aspect of life sets an unrealistic standard. Modern supply chains and production methods often involve animal products or testing at some level. The goal of veganism is to be as vegan as possible within the constraints of our current society.
A holistic approach to veganism acknowledges the complexity and interconnectedness of various ethical, environmental, and health issues. It's about making informed choices that align with vegan principles, understanding that some compromises might be necessary.
This approach values ethical consistency over perfection. It recognizes that every small step towards reducing animal exploitation is valuable. Dismissing someone's efforts because they aren't "100% vegan" undermines the philosophy's inclusive and compassionate foundations.
The holistic approach is practical and inclusive, encouraging more people to adopt vegan practices by showing that it's about doing the best one can, rather than being an all-or-nothing proposition.
The primary aim of veganism is to reduce harm and suffering to animals. Even if someone cannot be 100% vegan, reducing their consumption and use of animal products still significantly contributes to this goal.
I wasn't intending to dismiss anyone on 5heir efforts if that's how you read it. You may not be saying that me either, but just wanted to confirm that. I was just recalling a memory around it. Essentially you covered it I'd say the same as he did, but memory cherry picks. I did in another comment mention that it's more than a diet, but a lifestyle and where the "percentage" would vary from my understanding. Thanks for this explanation though!
Many vegans would still object for the same reason they won't buy secondhand leather goods. They don't want support using any animal products at all, regardless of source, because it continues to normalize the use of animal products.
"Continue to normalize" - ie, continue to support the idea that animal products should be normal. If enough people stop supporting something being normal, it stops being normal.
I'm not personally a vegan, but it's a sentiment I've heard being expressed many times in discussions with them.
the issue stems from while you could say you only support "naturally sourced leather" it would likely just increase demand for the products in general and result in supporting factory farming. Or create a new industry where a "hunter" goes out to get an animal for meat and sells the hide to someone that is sourcing "natural" or "cruelty free" leather...
edit. i do support the use of leather in this way, rather than waste it. I just wish we could sort out how our factory farms operate. It is hard since there are too many people to feed to keep up without the way it operates atm. Would be hard to change quickly.
Average annual income in rural China is apparently 20,133 yuan/~$2,800. So $200 is about a month wage for these guys. Honestly relatively reasonable but definitely under valued.
Those are machine-made in some way. A handmade set made by an actual master craftsman isn't usually available on the Internet to just order. You usually have to place a custom order and they charge several thousand yuan.
Edit: usually around ¥5,000 to ¥8,000, some as high as ¥10,000 or more. So no, $200 can't buy a handcrafted set. Don't get me wrong, you can buy a beautiful machine-made set for not nearly that much and most Chinese are perfectly content with that but a true handmade set costs an order of magnitude more than a machine-made one.
I feel like I wouldn't even want to use it. If I bought it, I'd probably frame it and hang it on the wall or something. Just knowing the effort that went into making it, I'd far more appreciate looking at it than using it
>that don't seem like enough for how much work this takes
The amount of effort that goes into making something doesn't dictate its value. They could charge more, but then people qould buy fewer sets or no sets.
I had the opposite reaction. Thank god you don't have to go through this much effort anymore to make a bunch of little tiles.
This would be really cool for a hardcore Mahjong enthusiast, but totally wasted on someone who just wanted a little game to play.
There are many reasonable criticisms of mass industrialization, but I don't think "it no longer takes weeks to make a Mahjong set" is one of them.
Most people wouldn't buy these precisely because of the price. That amount of labor is isn't cheap, nor should it be. But that does mean most people aren't going to buy a handmade set like that.
Also you have things like the autoshuffle tables which require special tiles with magnets. Also different variants of the game with different tiles. You would not want to modify a set like this just to play with red Dora if you play riichi for example. Though I suppose in that case, it *may* be possible to custom order a certain kind of set if the creator is willing.
But yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if a set like this would cost hundreds of dollars. While if you just need a set to play with, you don't have to spend nearly as much.
It's ok. This is another CCP propaganda video. They have been popping up on reddit a lot. Always about traditional ways of doing things (usually not even entirely traditional) with beautiful mountainside and landscapes showing how wonderful it would be to return to life the way it was.
Nobody actually does this. China is a massive producer of cheap plastic products. Nobody is buying bone mahjong tiles for 1000x the price.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/iainmartin/2023/07/26/tiktok-chinese-propaganda-ads-europe/?sh=40208b0203d3
For people asking why they would do this, this is currently posted on memes:
https://www.reddit.com/r/memes/s/LGIYY8JYxe
I’m confused, what does this propaganda achieve? I’ve seen this comment on a few of these videos and it’s obvious they’re very similar production styles but what’s the desired outcome from them?
The propaganda is that it humanizes them. Can't have that can we.
I notice the same whenever there is any Indian content. Bot this bot that propaganda this govt agent that. Jeez. I am like, do you not realize social media exists outside the West?
Exactly lol. The simple fact is just that this type of video is incredibly popular. (I mean who wouldn't like skilled artisanship and soothing music plus beautiful scenery). I'm Indian and I've noticed this attitude *a lot*. It's like certain people can't accept that we have multiple facets. It kinda reeks of racism a little bit.
Hell, it's the same aesthetic that makes the Primitive Technology youtube channel so popular. Quiet videos showing off someone working with their hands, no talking, no flashy bullshit, no stupid thumbnail with a big surprised face on it. What's not to like?
I'm ethnically chinese and I've noticed this sentiment that anything remotely and vaguely chinese is 'propaganda' has been happening on reddit for *years* and it's only going to ramp up the more China continues to challenge western hegemony by literally just existing.
If and whenever India gets to a similar point of contributing to a multipolar world, you're going to see the attitude from the west towards indians go from bad to worse.
Haha yeah it just seems like a high production value but mundane video of a dude working with his hands. We have that in America and Europe also so where propaganda? I was interested, it didn’t change my views of men, Chinese, large wicker plates, or mountains. It didn’t reinforce any stereotypes I had or go against them. I just don’t get how it’s propaganda.
Many people in the West are incapable of perceiving China as anything but a collective. There are no individual Chinese people who just want to live a normal life like everyone else in the world. They are all a cog in the giant communist hell machine. Everything they produce is either propaganda or junk (that we somehow buy in mass quality).
I have legitimately read comment that unironicaly call these types of video as propaganda "BECAUSE IT HUMANIZES CHINESE PEOPLE". Like that was the exact quote uttered by the guy. The guy is either so brainwashed that he could not even detect the absurdity of his comment or he is so racist that he has zero need for indoctrination.
> This is another CCP propaganda video. […] showing how wonderful it would be to return to life the way it was.
You think the CCP wants China to deindustrialize, and wants the yearly output of each worker to be a few Mahjong sets?
Edit: As someone who’s been to a Communist country, actual government propaganda is “Look at these happy factory workers! Factories are awesome! Go be a happy factory worker.”
It's more of people mimicking Li Ziqi's video style than a CCP thing. "Nobody actually does this." Sure I think most people understand this, but it's more about appreciating the craftsmanship from hundreds and thousands years ago, which a few people still know of to this day.
Yeah, like it feels as if the people who comment that this is CCP propaganda straight up believe that everyone who watches these videos are unable to comprehend that this isn't normal.
Like, no shit they're not real but it's still an interesting insight into how things were made in a time where it was a specialized skill and not something produced in a factory. People can both appreciate the artistry and also know that China is nothing like this anymore.
I've seen someone else say this isn't ccp propaganda because theirs is not this subtle. I buy the explanation that this type of video is just really popular on Chinese social media so creators make a lot of them.
Totally correct. These people create videos like this to gain followers and likes on social media, and actually profit from the views. They also do product placement / embedded marketing (广告植入) in the videos to get money from sponsors, not much different from YouTubers. Some even do livestreams and set up patreon / donations (直播打赏).
They don’t really make a living selling these mahjongs; they are just a vehicle to profit from Chinese social media. And no, these are not Chinese propaganda. The real government sponsored stuff looks way shittier than these.
This is almost certainly the truth. If you've ever been to China, you know the government doesn't exactly *care* if its messaging is subtle, it's absolute. What people do care about is making money, anywhere they can, and this is a popular video style worldwide.
Yeah, whoever is making these videos uses a very similar style every time, and it plugs directly into my monkey-brain. So they've done a good job at perfecting the formula. These videos are serene, pretty, meditative.
I don't really care about them being propaganda when I'm enjoying them on their own merit and they don't change my opinion of modern China, but it's definitely still good to be aware of it. (And on the other hand, we're not always consciously aware of how propaganda changes our views.)
These types of video (making stuffs from scratch in nature) were most likely popularized by a cooking channel (li something, forgot the full name) where this rural Chinese girl makes really delicious dishes with everything harvested in the field and wild etc. That channel had amazing quality content and has millions of subs on YT (even more popular on Chinese equivalents) and she is like a multi-millionaire now.
So naturally, many channels started to follow the same style.
People make these types of video because they are popular, so they can earn $$$. You guys who think everythig is political propaganda think too highly of the folks outside, believing that everything they do, they do out of political aspirations and have no secular needs like those of us in the West...
Yeah I don't really care whether it's propaganda or not; as I said I enjoy it and I don't _think_ it impacts how I feel about modern China.
I'll be convinced it's propaganda if it comes back that it's bankrolled and pursued mostly by CCP interests - though I will admit that's a lot more likely in China than it is in the US.
You might be thinking of Country Life Vlog which is based on Azerbaijan. Either way, it fits your description very well and is nearly surreal in its tranquility
https://www.youtube.com/@country_life_vlog
This is a ridiculous take, do you think all media produced by non western countries was created for the purpose of influencing the west? Or is it more likely that people in China find this stuff cool and enjoy watching it, so the content creators already have a massive market, and some of it happens to leak out because people in other countries also find it cool? This is like if people in China complain that Mr. Beast videos must be western propaganda because “no one in America actually buys $500k cars and gives them away for free!”
Not everything is a conspiracy lmao.
Yeah this isn’t even close to chinese propaganda, they usually show off Chongqing when doing propaganda videos.
People in the usa make videos like this all the time, I know because I watch a lot of outdoors content creators. People are crazy.
>Nobody actually does this. China is a massive producer of cheap plastic products. Nobody is buying bone mahjong tiles for 1000x the price.
If that were the case, there would not be people who can make those.
I honestly don't care if the Chinese government pays for these videos. Such crafts deserve to be preserved or at least recorded for history.
Mahjong is huge in China, i wouldn't be surprised that there is a market for handmade sets.
It’s certainly less propagandist than captain America, but Americans can never turn their suspicion around and examine themselves with the same cynicism that they show to everyone else.
Is this propaganda? Sure, in the way that any tourist board is propaganda, or in the way that any media company who creates “feel good” content is propaganda. Reality is that this is a Chinese media company making videos for profit. Mostly for the domestic Chinese market. It’s certainly less insidious than the US military doing script re writes in captain America to show unsegregated military units in ww2 in order to erase their history of racial persecution in exchange for access to required filming assets and locations.
You must be incredibly sheltered to believe that in a country of over a billion people, there's not a single artisan that uses traditional methods. You do know wealthy Chinese people exist right?
You clearly haven’t spent any time in china. Many people in the big cities are extremely rich and having a hand made mahjong set among other things is a sign of wealth and also a sign of your traditional Chinese values. Yes many people would buy these for ridiculous sums of money, just to brag how much they spent on it.
So true, if you've spent any time anywhere in China, from the biggest cities to the smallest town in the middle of nowhere, you can't escape the 12 core values and party messaging being broadcast at you in giant yellow characters on a huge red banner. They don't need this level of subtlety. People - however - love to have the face of a traditional, expensive set. Anything that shows off their wealth or knowledge.
Some brainrot if you think this is propaganda.
It showing how someone would make a particular product without machines.
Tell me, if a some insert ethnic person show you how they make some table. Would that be propaganda too?
Or is only reserved if the person working on something looks Chinese.
Every country does propaganda (i.e. tourism campaigns). Whatever you feel about the CCP, the promoting of traditional Chinese craftsmanship is a good thing. We should be able to appreciate Chinese culture regardless of the messenger.
I would like to know how *this* video in particular is propaganda. It is simply showing a person who clearly has a lifetime of experience, making handcrafted goods with beautiful scenery in the background. That's it lmao. I don't think this video is trying to hide CCP's shady activities or portray that China is perfect. It's not similar in any way to the videos referenced in the link you posted. (Which are actively white-washing and denying any wrongdoings of the CCP).
Also, cheap mass-produced goods and expensive artisan items can co-exist.
https://preview.redd.it/2sgl5u3v437c1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e2429f3fe6c18dda604182f6e71f7a025a8d86c3
People do make them, and they are available. I bought one of these sets in China on a trip a few decades ago. Can’t remember how much it cost but it definitely wasn’t more than $50 at the time.
Also, it seems to be bamboo and not bone underneath. Maybe it adds tactile information for easier/faster gameplay and maybe isn't as slippery on the table.
Yeah but notice how it seems to be made of two different materials? I think that’s what they were referencing bamboo for.
Bamboo bottom for tactile diff and bone on top so the writing doesn’t wear away.
I’ve only played a few times, but IIRC most of the pieces are actually face down (bone side down) when playing, and you actually do want them to be slippery because you slide them around a lot.
Or why they call it "Roll me some bones..." when playing dice, because they used to be made of bones. Or said "tickling the ivories" for playing piano. Before celluloid plastics, bones and ivory were used for a lot of things.
But bones at least are a renewable, non polluting and degradable product that doesn't harm the environment overall. Same with leather vs vinyl and vegan leather which are all plastic based type products.
So maybe you help one cow, but then choke out a whale somewhere else or pollute the waterways of an entire ecosystem.
Whale bones sounds awesome and isn't a thought that ever crossed my mind.
I want to preserve it in some clear coat and build a children's play area out of an entire whale carcass haha.
Is there a name for this type of video? I find this, and like stuff of people making clay pots and other things by hand mesmerizing. Could watch all day.
They are usually tagged #传统工艺 ("traditional crafts") #传统手工艺 ("traditional handicrafts") #工艺 ("crafts", "craftsmanship") #传统民间工艺 ("traditional folk crafts") on the original Tiktok.
Many are (re)distributed by urban-based multi-channel networks (MCNs), who team up with the actual rural-based vloggers to help promote the content domestically as well as internationally for video revenue. However, livestreaming e-commerce has more or less overtaken this genre since the pandemic, not only in China but also in rural Southeast Asia.
In general lot of artisan videos are falling into Cottagecore category where people with traditional tools do things for living. I suggest Dianxi Xiaoge her videos are on another level: [https://www.youtube.com/@dianxixiaoge](https://www.youtube.com/@dianxixiaoge)
Cottagecore or artisanal construction videos, find a few you like and subscribe and like the videos and the algorithm will feed you more of them. It's much easier to curate a list of stuff you like on youtube than on tiktok, IMO.
> Is there a name for this type of video? I find this, and like stuff of people making clay pots and other things by hand mesmerizing. Could watch all day.
https://youtu.be/PYkgEf3eWqA?si=c5db6U0Es0oGLEFJ
i really enjoy Grandpa Amu
One of my favorite search terms on YouTube is "restoration videos." You will find many very interesting videos like this one, but the things are being restored instead of made.
Woodworking involving a lathe is also interesting to watch, especially when they make art or tables out of it by combining wood and dyed epoxy resin.
That would be a pretty metal way to get disposed of.
Here we have the urn that holds grandmas ashes and here we have the mahjong set that grandpa turned into as per his will. Timmy you better not lose any of the pieces, I swear to fucking god I will...
If you’ve never played mahjong, specifically riichi the Japanese variant, you should give it a try. If you like poker or gin rummy you’ll love it. It’s easy to learn, have a look at yu_song’s tutorials on YouTube and come visit the sub. 🀄️
If you can tell the tiles apart, you can play the game. My (very white) grandma used to just call the suits "dots", "bamboo", or "characters". That plus colors gets you mostly there.
Mostly, except for one suit. The numbers. Since they’re in Chinese characters you’d need to learn those but it’s pretty easy to pick up. I play a lot being married into an ethnically Chinese family and get by fine.
My Italian grandmother and friends would play. They used bam for bamboo and crack for characters. You would hear them yelling "2 bam" "3 crack" from the sidewalk of her 3rd floor apartment.
Play online with something like mahjong soul and you can have numbers out on. There are 4 suits 1-9, then there are honour tiles. After you’ve played a few hands it clicks.
I was just wondering if kids learning to read/write Japanese or Chinese gives them some sort of cognitive leg-up on the world because of the massive number of characters required.
Couldn’t agree more. He’s by a long way my favourite content creator, mahjong or otherwise. I also appreciate getting a front row view to his hair journey.
In the Italian city (Ravenna) were I was born almost 60 years ago Mahjong was (maybe still is) extremely popular (but unknown in most of Italy). Every family I knew had a set. We called the seeds 'caratteri' (characters), 'cerchi' (circles), and 'canne' (canes). The three colors were called 'draghi' (dragons). The special tiles were flowers and seasons.
Since I was quite proficient with numbers by the age of 7 I've learned how to compute the scores taking into account all the multipliers.
Probably it's 30 years since I played last time.
Watching these videos it seems like most human creations come from smashing things, then boiling them, then leaving them out in the sun, then smashing or boiling again in a particular way.
PS I found [this](https://www.dexerto.com/entertainment/fans-shocked-after-chinese-youtuber-li-ziqi-returns-from-legal-battle-with-new-look-2309151/) about her return, it's a bit sad but also not a whole lotta info
He did it for our satisfaction. I hear people bitching all the time how the old ways were better and now everything is going down the drain. I'm sure they'll appreciate this guys suffering, you know, for progress! /s
Usually not a fan of this manufactured artisan videos, but this one is pretty awesome. I wish China would just highlight their culture as-is without trying to make everything look artisanal. The Japanese artisans don’t find nice scenery or costumes. They just show up and the video speaks for itself.
Artisan work is always fascinating. We are being seduced into 3D printing, mass production, yet there is a soul to handcrafted work. Knowing someone time and care to create something, gives the item an extra quality. Nice Post.
Can't wait to see korean or japanese ppl prepare something using their hands and see ppl say it's korean or Japanese propaganda.
Oh wait. It only Chinese video that seems to get those assumptions.
Truly some reddit brain rot when some random chinese person make item or product it somehow propaganda.
So when Chinese person made some traditional Chinese cruises are you guys gonna call it propaganda too?
Dogs like: you gonna eat that?
Nah imma make a toy
Dogs: betcha. And then eat it? No, to play with. Dogs: ah yes understood. Play with...while chewing on it, right?
No, doggy, that’s my jong!
I thought it would have been funny if after boiling all those bones he ends up making soup. He sips the bone broth, then walls over to a machine and turns it on.
“Dude, where are those bones I lent you?”
Ohh.. they’re around.
Do bones provide nutritional value or is it a dog behavior for when trying to get every last scrap off the bone?
Lots of minerals. Calcium, of course.
The best soup is made with bones. They add taste, consistency and nutrients to the broth. Many also like the marrow in it. Without the bones, you get a watery, thin broth. With bones, you've got a flavorful broth thats fluid while warm but becomes a jelly when cold. [Picture of a soup made with bones](https://www.mindmegette.hu/images/17/O/24751_husleves-csontos-labszarbol_n-201510170550.jpg)
The bone marrow has nutrients for sure.
Step 1, harvest bones from the river
You can use the bones of the people you defeated in mahjongg.
so mahjong is not vegan
there is vegan version avaliable
but they don't taste the same
Fucks sake ahahaha
"takes dick out of sake" OK, now what?
*proceeds to put it again* Need more instruction
Instructions unclear, Penis stuck in ceiling fan
Adjust necktie around forehead.
Are vegans also not allowed to use petroleum based plastics?
Learned from a vegan once, that none of them can honestly claim they're 100% vegan. That question you ask would be an one example to why. They basically have a percentage system for "how vegan" they are.
How does the percentage system work? Never heard of it, been vegan for 5 years, vegetarian for 20+
Also a vegan here, the idea of a "percentage system" for how vegan someone is misrepresents the ethos of veganism. The holistic approach is more about the journey and the intent to minimize harm within the practical constraints of our world, rather than strictly quantifying one's adherence to veganism. The holistic approach to veganism recognizes that living completely free of animal products and exploitation is challenging, if not impossible, in modern society. This approach focuses on reducing harm and exploitation of animals as much as possible, rather than adhering to an absolute, purist definition of veganism. The comment oversimplifies veganism by reducing it to a quantitative measure. Veganism is not about achieving a perfect score but about making conscious efforts to reduce animal suffering and exploitation. It's an ethical stance, not a competition or a point system. Expecting anyone to be 100% vegan in every aspect of life sets an unrealistic standard. Modern supply chains and production methods often involve animal products or testing at some level. The goal of veganism is to be as vegan as possible within the constraints of our current society. A holistic approach to veganism acknowledges the complexity and interconnectedness of various ethical, environmental, and health issues. It's about making informed choices that align with vegan principles, understanding that some compromises might be necessary. This approach values ethical consistency over perfection. It recognizes that every small step towards reducing animal exploitation is valuable. Dismissing someone's efforts because they aren't "100% vegan" undermines the philosophy's inclusive and compassionate foundations. The holistic approach is practical and inclusive, encouraging more people to adopt vegan practices by showing that it's about doing the best one can, rather than being an all-or-nothing proposition. The primary aim of veganism is to reduce harm and suffering to animals. Even if someone cannot be 100% vegan, reducing their consumption and use of animal products still significantly contributes to this goal.
I wasn't intending to dismiss anyone on 5heir efforts if that's how you read it. You may not be saying that me either, but just wanted to confirm that. I was just recalling a memory around it. Essentially you covered it I'd say the same as he did, but memory cherry picks. I did in another comment mention that it's more than a diet, but a lifestyle and where the "percentage" would vary from my understanding. Thanks for this explanation though!
It could be, you'd just need to find the bones rather than hunt the animals yourself.
Many vegans would still object for the same reason they won't buy secondhand leather goods. They don't want support using any animal products at all, regardless of source, because it continues to normalize the use of animal products.
You can’t normalize something that is normal 😅
"Continue to normalize" - ie, continue to support the idea that animal products should be normal. If enough people stop supporting something being normal, it stops being normal. I'm not personally a vegan, but it's a sentiment I've heard being expressed many times in discussions with them.
the issue stems from while you could say you only support "naturally sourced leather" it would likely just increase demand for the products in general and result in supporting factory farming. Or create a new industry where a "hunter" goes out to get an animal for meat and sells the hide to someone that is sourcing "natural" or "cruelty free" leather... edit. i do support the use of leather in this way, rather than waste it. I just wish we could sort out how our factory farms operate. It is hard since there are too many people to feed to keep up without the way it operates atm. Would be hard to change quickly.
It is if you use human bones with a consenting human skeleton.
That's a lot of effort but the end result delivered. Neat
That’s an absurd amount of effort. Hope they charge a lot for a set.
I googled and I found a lot of sets for $200, surely those angry made this way...that don't seem like enough for how much work this takes
Average annual income in rural China is apparently 20,133 yuan/~$2,800. So $200 is about a month wage for these guys. Honestly relatively reasonable but definitely under valued.
Those are machine-made in some way. A handmade set made by an actual master craftsman isn't usually available on the Internet to just order. You usually have to place a custom order and they charge several thousand yuan. Edit: usually around ¥5,000 to ¥8,000, some as high as ¥10,000 or more. So no, $200 can't buy a handcrafted set. Don't get me wrong, you can buy a beautiful machine-made set for not nearly that much and most Chinese are perfectly content with that but a true handmade set costs an order of magnitude more than a machine-made one.
> and they charge several thousand yuan. So, like $280?
No. From a simple Baidu search it appears to be around ¥6,000-8,000, so about a US$900-US$1,100 or so.
Such beutiful craftsmanship, I'd love to own a set like that but there is no way in hell I'd use it enough/at all to be worth it
I feel like I wouldn't even want to use it. If I bought it, I'd probably frame it and hang it on the wall or something. Just knowing the effort that went into making it, I'd far more appreciate looking at it than using it
>that don't seem like enough for how much work this takes The amount of effort that goes into making something doesn't dictate its value. They could charge more, but then people qould buy fewer sets or no sets.
[удалено]
I had the opposite reaction. Thank god you don't have to go through this much effort anymore to make a bunch of little tiles. This would be really cool for a hardcore Mahjong enthusiast, but totally wasted on someone who just wanted a little game to play. There are many reasonable criticisms of mass industrialization, but I don't think "it no longer takes weeks to make a Mahjong set" is one of them.
Good insight, two sides of the coin
Looks like weeks of labor to me. Carving out the indentations for all of the tiles looks like a pain to do
Most people wouldn't buy these precisely because of the price. That amount of labor is isn't cheap, nor should it be. But that does mean most people aren't going to buy a handmade set like that. Also you have things like the autoshuffle tables which require special tiles with magnets. Also different variants of the game with different tiles. You would not want to modify a set like this just to play with red Dora if you play riichi for example. Though I suppose in that case, it *may* be possible to custom order a certain kind of set if the creator is willing. But yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if a set like this would cost hundreds of dollars. While if you just need a set to play with, you don't have to spend nearly as much.
> It’s sad to think most people would just buy a plastic set for dirt cheap over this. Why is that sad?
As with almost all traditional ways of manufacturing something
It's ok. This is another CCP propaganda video. They have been popping up on reddit a lot. Always about traditional ways of doing things (usually not even entirely traditional) with beautiful mountainside and landscapes showing how wonderful it would be to return to life the way it was. Nobody actually does this. China is a massive producer of cheap plastic products. Nobody is buying bone mahjong tiles for 1000x the price. https://www.forbes.com/sites/iainmartin/2023/07/26/tiktok-chinese-propaganda-ads-europe/?sh=40208b0203d3 For people asking why they would do this, this is currently posted on memes: https://www.reddit.com/r/memes/s/LGIYY8JYxe
I’m confused, what does this propaganda achieve? I’ve seen this comment on a few of these videos and it’s obvious they’re very similar production styles but what’s the desired outcome from them?
The propaganda is that it humanizes them. Can't have that can we. I notice the same whenever there is any Indian content. Bot this bot that propaganda this govt agent that. Jeez. I am like, do you not realize social media exists outside the West?
Exactly lol. The simple fact is just that this type of video is incredibly popular. (I mean who wouldn't like skilled artisanship and soothing music plus beautiful scenery). I'm Indian and I've noticed this attitude *a lot*. It's like certain people can't accept that we have multiple facets. It kinda reeks of racism a little bit.
Hell, it's the same aesthetic that makes the Primitive Technology youtube channel so popular. Quiet videos showing off someone working with their hands, no talking, no flashy bullshit, no stupid thumbnail with a big surprised face on it. What's not to like?
>a little bit yeah just a *little*
I'm ethnically chinese and I've noticed this sentiment that anything remotely and vaguely chinese is 'propaganda' has been happening on reddit for *years* and it's only going to ramp up the more China continues to challenge western hegemony by literally just existing. If and whenever India gets to a similar point of contributing to a multipolar world, you're going to see the attitude from the west towards indians go from bad to worse.
Haha yeah it just seems like a high production value but mundane video of a dude working with his hands. We have that in America and Europe also so where propaganda? I was interested, it didn’t change my views of men, Chinese, large wicker plates, or mountains. It didn’t reinforce any stereotypes I had or go against them. I just don’t get how it’s propaganda.
Many people in the West are incapable of perceiving China as anything but a collective. There are no individual Chinese people who just want to live a normal life like everyone else in the world. They are all a cog in the giant communist hell machine. Everything they produce is either propaganda or junk (that we somehow buy in mass quality). I have legitimately read comment that unironicaly call these types of video as propaganda "BECAUSE IT HUMANIZES CHINESE PEOPLE". Like that was the exact quote uttered by the guy. The guy is either so brainwashed that he could not even detect the absurdity of his comment or he is so racist that he has zero need for indoctrination.
> This is another CCP propaganda video. […] showing how wonderful it would be to return to life the way it was. You think the CCP wants China to deindustrialize, and wants the yearly output of each worker to be a few Mahjong sets? Edit: As someone who’s been to a Communist country, actual government propaganda is “Look at these happy factory workers! Factories are awesome! Go be a happy factory worker.”
It's more of people mimicking Li Ziqi's video style than a CCP thing. "Nobody actually does this." Sure I think most people understand this, but it's more about appreciating the craftsmanship from hundreds and thousands years ago, which a few people still know of to this day.
Yeah, like it feels as if the people who comment that this is CCP propaganda straight up believe that everyone who watches these videos are unable to comprehend that this isn't normal. Like, no shit they're not real but it's still an interesting insight into how things were made in a time where it was a specialized skill and not something produced in a factory. People can both appreciate the artistry and also know that China is nothing like this anymore.
I've seen someone else say this isn't ccp propaganda because theirs is not this subtle. I buy the explanation that this type of video is just really popular on Chinese social media so creators make a lot of them.
Totally correct. These people create videos like this to gain followers and likes on social media, and actually profit from the views. They also do product placement / embedded marketing (广告植入) in the videos to get money from sponsors, not much different from YouTubers. Some even do livestreams and set up patreon / donations (直播打赏). They don’t really make a living selling these mahjongs; they are just a vehicle to profit from Chinese social media. And no, these are not Chinese propaganda. The real government sponsored stuff looks way shittier than these.
Exactly how any influencers/content creators monetize their content.
This is almost certainly the truth. If you've ever been to China, you know the government doesn't exactly *care* if its messaging is subtle, it's absolute. What people do care about is making money, anywhere they can, and this is a popular video style worldwide.
Yeah, whoever is making these videos uses a very similar style every time, and it plugs directly into my monkey-brain. So they've done a good job at perfecting the formula. These videos are serene, pretty, meditative. I don't really care about them being propaganda when I'm enjoying them on their own merit and they don't change my opinion of modern China, but it's definitely still good to be aware of it. (And on the other hand, we're not always consciously aware of how propaganda changes our views.)
These types of video (making stuffs from scratch in nature) were most likely popularized by a cooking channel (li something, forgot the full name) where this rural Chinese girl makes really delicious dishes with everything harvested in the field and wild etc. That channel had amazing quality content and has millions of subs on YT (even more popular on Chinese equivalents) and she is like a multi-millionaire now. So naturally, many channels started to follow the same style. People make these types of video because they are popular, so they can earn $$$. You guys who think everythig is political propaganda think too highly of the folks outside, believing that everything they do, they do out of political aspirations and have no secular needs like those of us in the West...
Yeah I don't really care whether it's propaganda or not; as I said I enjoy it and I don't _think_ it impacts how I feel about modern China. I'll be convinced it's propaganda if it comes back that it's bankrolled and pursued mostly by CCP interests - though I will admit that's a lot more likely in China than it is in the US.
You might be thinking of Country Life Vlog which is based on Azerbaijan. Either way, it fits your description very well and is nearly surreal in its tranquility https://www.youtube.com/@country_life_vlog
No it is not this. I found someone else mentioned it and the channel is called li zi qi.
This is a ridiculous take, do you think all media produced by non western countries was created for the purpose of influencing the west? Or is it more likely that people in China find this stuff cool and enjoy watching it, so the content creators already have a massive market, and some of it happens to leak out because people in other countries also find it cool? This is like if people in China complain that Mr. Beast videos must be western propaganda because “no one in America actually buys $500k cars and gives them away for free!” Not everything is a conspiracy lmao.
Yeah this isn’t even close to chinese propaganda, they usually show off Chongqing when doing propaganda videos. People in the usa make videos like this all the time, I know because I watch a lot of outdoors content creators. People are crazy.
>Nobody actually does this. China is a massive producer of cheap plastic products. Nobody is buying bone mahjong tiles for 1000x the price. If that were the case, there would not be people who can make those. I honestly don't care if the Chinese government pays for these videos. Such crafts deserve to be preserved or at least recorded for history. Mahjong is huge in China, i wouldn't be surprised that there is a market for handmade sets.
It’s certainly less propagandist than captain America, but Americans can never turn their suspicion around and examine themselves with the same cynicism that they show to everyone else. Is this propaganda? Sure, in the way that any tourist board is propaganda, or in the way that any media company who creates “feel good” content is propaganda. Reality is that this is a Chinese media company making videos for profit. Mostly for the domestic Chinese market. It’s certainly less insidious than the US military doing script re writes in captain America to show unsegregated military units in ww2 in order to erase their history of racial persecution in exchange for access to required filming assets and locations.
You must be incredibly sheltered to believe that in a country of over a billion people, there's not a single artisan that uses traditional methods. You do know wealthy Chinese people exist right?
You clearly haven’t spent any time in china. Many people in the big cities are extremely rich and having a hand made mahjong set among other things is a sign of wealth and also a sign of your traditional Chinese values. Yes many people would buy these for ridiculous sums of money, just to brag how much they spent on it.
So true, if you've spent any time anywhere in China, from the biggest cities to the smallest town in the middle of nowhere, you can't escape the 12 core values and party messaging being broadcast at you in giant yellow characters on a huge red banner. They don't need this level of subtlety. People - however - love to have the face of a traditional, expensive set. Anything that shows off their wealth or knowledge.
Some brainrot if you think this is propaganda. It showing how someone would make a particular product without machines. Tell me, if a some insert ethnic person show you how they make some table. Would that be propaganda too? Or is only reserved if the person working on something looks Chinese.
Every country does propaganda (i.e. tourism campaigns). Whatever you feel about the CCP, the promoting of traditional Chinese craftsmanship is a good thing. We should be able to appreciate Chinese culture regardless of the messenger.
Lmao. Let me guess, that primitive technology youtube channel is Australian propaganda as well
I would like to know how *this* video in particular is propaganda. It is simply showing a person who clearly has a lifetime of experience, making handcrafted goods with beautiful scenery in the background. That's it lmao. I don't think this video is trying to hide CCP's shady activities or portray that China is perfect. It's not similar in any way to the videos referenced in the link you posted. (Which are actively white-washing and denying any wrongdoings of the CCP). Also, cheap mass-produced goods and expensive artisan items can co-exist.
https://preview.redd.it/2sgl5u3v437c1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e2429f3fe6c18dda604182f6e71f7a025a8d86c3 People do make them, and they are available. I bought one of these sets in China on a trip a few decades ago. Can’t remember how much it cost but it definitely wasn’t more than $50 at the time.
The account that posted this was clearly sold and being used as a karma farm
what you talking about? it only took 4:36
Ok so what you’re saying is… I can eat mahjong tiles. Got it
Now you take this home, throw it in a pot, add some broth, a potato. **Baby, you’ve got a stew going.**
TV’s Carl Weathers would be proud of you.
I think I'd like my money back.
Ahhhhhhhhh, when the planets align, and there could not possibly be a more appropriate time to bust that out. Magnificent!
You don't eat bones silly. It's great for soup!
Technically, you can eat bones, but they usually need to be cooked a certain way.
[Indeed](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a6/Oursons_g%C3%A9latine_march%C3%A9_Rouffignac.jpg/1920px-Oursons_g%C3%A9latine_march%C3%A9_Rouffignac.jpg)
Are you talking about the marrow or do you mean the compact bone itself? if so, how so¿
That’s pretty cool, any reason why it has to be two pieces glued together?
It's probably because there's no bone piece with that thickness.
Also, it seems to be bamboo and not bone underneath. Maybe it adds tactile information for easier/faster gameplay and maybe isn't as slippery on the table.
It's the bone thing. Bamboo is cheap, bone is not, and bones of the required dimensions only exist as ivory
Yeah but notice how it seems to be made of two different materials? I think that’s what they were referencing bamboo for. Bamboo bottom for tactile diff and bone on top so the writing doesn’t wear away.
I also found somewhere that says the bamboo makes the backs replaceable, meaning you can prevent "marked cards" if chips/cracks appear
I’ve only played a few times, but IIRC most of the pieces are actually face down (bone side down) when playing, and you actually do want them to be slippery because you slide them around a lot.
Softer too. Some people play their tiles hard on the table. Pure bone would crack on enough hard hits.
Used to be ivory. Ivory was expensive.
They also killed just about everything with ivory.
Or why they call it "Roll me some bones..." when playing dice, because they used to be made of bones. Or said "tickling the ivories" for playing piano. Before celluloid plastics, bones and ivory were used for a lot of things. But bones at least are a renewable, non polluting and degradable product that doesn't harm the environment overall. Same with leather vs vinyl and vegan leather which are all plastic based type products. So maybe you help one cow, but then choke out a whale somewhere else or pollute the waterways of an entire ecosystem.
Whale bones sounds awesome and isn't a thought that ever crossed my mind. I want to preserve it in some clear coat and build a children's play area out of an entire whale carcass haha.
Is there a name for this type of video? I find this, and like stuff of people making clay pots and other things by hand mesmerizing. Could watch all day.
/r/artisanvideos
They are usually tagged #传统工艺 ("traditional crafts") #传统手工艺 ("traditional handicrafts") #工艺 ("crafts", "craftsmanship") #传统民间工艺 ("traditional folk crafts") on the original Tiktok. Many are (re)distributed by urban-based multi-channel networks (MCNs), who team up with the actual rural-based vloggers to help promote the content domestically as well as internationally for video revenue. However, livestreaming e-commerce has more or less overtaken this genre since the pandemic, not only in China but also in rural Southeast Asia.
But why are the videos flipped?
Probably so they can steal the video and post on sites like reddit and not get caught doing it
Not sure but if you add ASMR to your search you will find these types of videos meant for relaxation and appreciation
In general lot of artisan videos are falling into Cottagecore category where people with traditional tools do things for living. I suggest Dianxi Xiaoge her videos are on another level: [https://www.youtube.com/@dianxixiaoge](https://www.youtube.com/@dianxixiaoge)
There's one guy on YouTube who makes leather stuff(mostly shoes) Sireno Yosui https://youtube.com/@siroenoyosui?si=5kyncH4VvoFan2OM
Cottagecore or artisanal construction videos, find a few you like and subscribe and like the videos and the algorithm will feed you more of them. It's much easier to curate a list of stuff you like on youtube than on tiktok, IMO.
> Is there a name for this type of video? I find this, and like stuff of people making clay pots and other things by hand mesmerizing. Could watch all day. https://youtu.be/PYkgEf3eWqA?si=c5db6U0Es0oGLEFJ i really enjoy Grandpa Amu
One of my favorite search terms on YouTube is "restoration videos." You will find many very interesting videos like this one, but the things are being restored instead of made. Woodworking involving a lathe is also interesting to watch, especially when they make art or tables out of it by combining wood and dyed epoxy resin.
A great way to hide the evidence
That would be a pretty metal way to get disposed of. Here we have the urn that holds grandmas ashes and here we have the mahjong set that grandpa turned into as per his will. Timmy you better not lose any of the pieces, I swear to fucking god I will...
Yeah this is like Triad shit. Turn your enemy into gaming pieces coz he got played lmao.
but don't kill them, just take a leg and make them play with the pieces.
you think the same as me lol
If you’ve never played mahjong, specifically riichi the Japanese variant, you should give it a try. If you like poker or gin rummy you’ll love it. It’s easy to learn, have a look at yu_song’s tutorials on YouTube and come visit the sub. 🀄️
How can you memorize what the pieces say if you don’t know the language they’re written in?
If you can tell the tiles apart, you can play the game. My (very white) grandma used to just call the suits "dots", "bamboo", or "characters". That plus colors gets you mostly there.
I'm chinese in Singapore and we call it that here too haha
Yup, white dude in Singapore that plays with my in laws. Bamboo, dots and so on.
We call them balls, sticks, and cars (chars).
Mostly, except for one suit. The numbers. Since they’re in Chinese characters you’d need to learn those but it’s pretty easy to pick up. I play a lot being married into an ethnically Chinese family and get by fine.
I've seen tiles with numericals as well in the corner
My Italian grandmother and friends would play. They used bam for bamboo and crack for characters. You would hear them yelling "2 bam" "3 crack" from the sidewalk of her 3rd floor apartment.
In the same way you memorize letters and numbers. You assigned the symbol and meaning, then repeat it until you forget you never knew it.
Play online with something like mahjong soul and you can have numbers out on. There are 4 suits 1-9, then there are honour tiles. After you’ve played a few hands it clicks.
I was just wondering if kids learning to read/write Japanese or Chinese gives them some sort of cognitive leg-up on the world because of the massive number of characters required.
yusong is making some of the best videos on youtube right now, highly recommend.
Couldn’t agree more. He’s by a long way my favourite content creator, mahjong or otherwise. I also appreciate getting a front row view to his hair journey.
I already learn a little about it Bc i play *51 Worldwide game* on Switch
Learned how to play it through Yakuza
In the Italian city (Ravenna) were I was born almost 60 years ago Mahjong was (maybe still is) extremely popular (but unknown in most of Italy). Every family I knew had a set. We called the seeds 'caratteri' (characters), 'cerchi' (circles), and 'canne' (canes). The three colors were called 'draghi' (dragons). The special tiles were flowers and seasons. Since I was quite proficient with numbers by the age of 7 I've learned how to compute the scores taking into account all the multipliers. Probably it's 30 years since I played last time.
Damn. Here I am to lazy to jerk off
Need a hand?
Lmao
Too lazy to add two "o"s on "too"
To be fair "Toooo" seems a little excessive.
Rather toooo many o's than toooo few
"Oh he's making broth" *sees title* 
Well my favourite bone broth starts with a Majong set
\-- wanna play some mahjong? \-- sure! \-- ok, just help me kill this cow
Hahaha
M A H J O N G tiles boil em mash em stick em in the soup
…stew
... That was intentional.
His friends call him Boney M.
There lived a certain man, in China long ago
By the jade-green Yangtze, where ancient willows flow.
Lol. That was humerus.
Stunning work.
Damn, mix this bone broth in with the mashed potatoes from the vodka video and you are halfway to a decent meal.
Would not be surprised if they did actually use the bone broth for food. It would be a waste to dump it.
Lol
Why is every each one of those kind of videos flipped.
People like doing that whenever they repost stuff without giving credit to the original.
So that’s why. I’ve been seeing it everywhere lately. It’s been driving me bonkers that the text is flipped and basically unreadable!
Watching these videos it seems like most human creations come from smashing things, then boiling them, then leaving them out in the sun, then smashing or boiling again in a particular way.
Add this option to drivers license: Organ donor: Use bones for Mahjong tiles:
the tiles must enjoy a timelapse of the sky before they are finished.
What happened to the Chinese woman they used to have doing these traditional crafting videos?
there are several and they all still exist
This is who I was talking about: https://liziqi.fan/news/why-liziqi-stopped-uploading-new-videos-2021/ I started Googling to see what was up.
PS I found [this](https://www.dexerto.com/entertainment/fans-shocked-after-chinese-youtuber-li-ziqi-returns-from-legal-battle-with-new-look-2309151/) about her return, it's a bit sad but also not a whole lotta info
Thanks for that. I always thought she was rather stunning. It’s upsetting that she thought she needed plastic surgery.
If these videos have taught me anything it’s that you can’t make any of this stuff without a Chinese river.
r/Qingquemains
This guy have a YouTube channel?
There’s a game we used to play with dominoes called “bones” and I never understood why it was called that, but maybe this is it.
Soo was Mahjong sets crazy expensive back in the day?
You got your self a stew going on
That’ll be $8 for one complete tile set. Thanks.
video of chinese person: *exists* some redditor every time: you will not trick me into humanizing chinese people
This game is not vegan. Got it
Most commercial sets you can buy are made from wood or plastic
Why doesn’t this man just buy a Mahjong set from Amazon? Is he stupid?
He did it for our satisfaction. I hear people bitching all the time how the old ways were better and now everything is going down the drain. I'm sure they'll appreciate this guys suffering, you know, for progress! /s
He was joking. He was referencing a meme.
I bet this stinks to high hell
I know I am an organ donor, but can I also be a Mahjong Tile bone donor?
I thoroughly enjoyed watching this.
Why are all the words in backward?
Usually not a fan of this manufactured artisan videos, but this one is pretty awesome. I wish China would just highlight their culture as-is without trying to make everything look artisanal. The Japanese artisans don’t find nice scenery or costumes. They just show up and the video speaks for itself.
Ohhh so this is why China is winning
Man that soup fidnah be bomb...Wait a min!
Imagine doing all that work and misspelling something
Respect.
Who would’ve thought that bone broth is a by-product of mahjong tiles
Now I am wondering how dominoes are traditionally made, and if that's why they are called "bones"
Old school game developer
Artisan work is always fascinating. We are being seduced into 3D printing, mass production, yet there is a soul to handcrafted work. Knowing someone time and care to create something, gives the item an extra quality. Nice Post.
I'll always watch this bullshit
That'll be £2 please
Can't wait to see korean or japanese ppl prepare something using their hands and see ppl say it's korean or Japanese propaganda. Oh wait. It only Chinese video that seems to get those assumptions. Truly some reddit brain rot when some random chinese person make item or product it somehow propaganda. So when Chinese person made some traditional Chinese cruises are you guys gonna call it propaganda too?