Mahjong: to protect or to crack down? (4)

Making it official

The recent collecting of signatures is not the first time mahjong fans wanted to make it a national cultural heritage. According to Xinhua Daily Telegraph in 2007, a civil organization applied to have mahjong be identified as a national intangible cultural heritage, but there was no feedback from the related government departments.

Shanghai-based Xinmin Evening News recently reported that, Liu Kuili, an official in the Department of Intangible Cultural Heritage, Ministry of Culture, said he was not in favor of including mahjong, though it was only his personal opinion.

As for whether mahjong should be included as a national cultural heritage, Xing said he is not against it. However, he pointed out that people should pay more attention to real reason behind the application. Xing said many want to be the inheritor, but some may have ulterior motives and would not lead it in the right direction.

Xing's opinion is shared by others. In a November 6 report on China Business Herald Net, reporter Shui Yihan wrote that throughout China, cities are enthusiastically submitting cultural heritage applications, but many are suspected of only looking for short-term economic benefits. "Many places and local officials take the cultural heritage list as a ticket to making money…, which often damages the culture in the end," he wrote.

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