Ho Sau-Mei: The Last Artisan

by Linda Harris Sittig

I usually do not write about women who are still alive, but in this case, I want to make an exception because Ho Sau Mei is the last known master craftsperson in Hong Kong who creates beautiful tiles by hand.

Tiles, you might ask, what kind of tiles?

She designs beautiful tiles for Mah Jong.

Now you are probably thinking, Mah Jong, really?

A year ago, I might have had dubious interest, too. Wasn’t Mah Jong just an afternoon club for old women?

Well, the American Mah Jongg group I belong to is all women, and we meet in the afternoons for a game that is challenging, requiring focus, concentration, and careful planning. And, I might add, none of us would call ourselves ‘old’—we’re wise women, maybe, but definitely not old.

Part of what sets Mah Jong apart from many other games is the presence of unique tiles.

The History of Mah Jong

Starting back in the mid-1800s, the Chinese created the game based on skill, strategy, and chance. It quickly became a favorite, especially around Shanghai, and was popular in primarily urban areas with both the elite and the general public.

By the 1920s, the game was firmly established in China, often played by multiple generations within families. In 1923, Joseph Babcock, working for Standard Oil (the predecessor of Exxon, Mobil, and others), started importing Mah Jong sets to the United States.

Mah Jong was standardized in the U.S. through the efforts of the National Mah Jongg League, founded in 1937 in New York City. Spearheaded by Dorothy Meyerson, who elicited help from other Jewish women to establish an American standardized approach that would guarantee consistent rules to be followed, regardless of where the game was played. In America, the game is often spelled with a double G at the end, or the more contemporary practice of putting the two words together to create – mahjong.

Today, Mah Jong is played worldwide. The game includes 144 tiles featuring Chinese characters, symbols, and numbers. Players start with 12 tiles and discard and draw new ones throughout the game in the hopes of forming a winning hand. Typically, there are four players at each table.

The National Mah Jongg League publishes a Standard Hands and Rules card annually. This current year, there is the possibility of 72 winning hands. Sounds simple, right? But the complex rules make the game a real challenge to win.

And the tiles? Think of a Scrabble tile, only bigger. Imagine the mahjong tile as creamy white, with characters, symbols, and/or numbers, usually one of three colors: black, red, or green (but I have also seen blue).

About Ho-Sau Mei

Ho Sau-Mei is recognized as a master Mah Jong carver in Hong Kong and is the last female artisan still practicing there. Ho began working at her father’s shop, Kam Fat Mahjong, when she was 13, aiming to continue the family tradition of hand-carving Mah Jong tiles.

 Despite the decline of this traditional craft due to mass production, she has maintained her artistry for five decades. However, she now works at a slower pace because of reduced stamina, fading eyesight, and weaker hands.

Traditionally, the tiles Ho worked with were made from wood, ivory, or bamboo. But today, most Mah Jong tiles are made from plastic, and sets are mass-produced in mainland China.

With her precise carving and painting, a set from Ho takes 10 – 14 days to design, and she often uses Bakelite for the tiles.

If we could visit her shop in Hong Kong, it might appear to the Western eye as a small, cramped storefront on a busy street, tucked between two larger businesses.

Ho would be sitting at the entrance, on her stool, leaning over her worktable, and concentrating on the current set she is carving. Examples of her sets are stacked as high as the ceiling, and she works alone.

In China, family sets are still handed down through generations, but the sets created by Ho Sau-Mei are now regarded as works of art.

Soon, hers will be a lost art.

A strong woman with a passion for creating the beautiful.

Thank you to fellow mahjong player, Sherri Heuer, who alerted me about Ho Sau-Mei and her story.

Mea Culpa: I strive very hard to ensure the accuracy of the stories I highlight and often consult four or more sources in writing my drafts. HOWEVER, just because a story appears almost verbatim in multiple sources does not always guarantee authenticity, especially in stories about women of the past.

Last week, my husband and I traveled to Edenton, N.C., and visited the Penelope Barker House. You may remember Penelope’s name associated with the Edenton Tea Party of 1774, or more accurately, the Edenton Tea Resolves.  In my January 2025 blog post, I shared how Penelope Barker had enlisted the signatures of 51 women stating they would boycott tea and other imports from England. In every source I read, it said the women came together in person in support of their ‘tea party’.

At Penelope’s home, now a museum, the docent explained to me that yes, Penelope did secure the signatures of 51 women from Chowan County, N.C.  to boycott tea, and yes, they were the first group of women in the colonies to band together and sign their names to a paper that would go to the King. HOWEVER, the 51 women were not in the same house at the same time, all signing the resolves together. Penelope would have gone door to door, or farm to farm, so to speak, eliciting the signatures. But a political cartoonist back in 1775 did a sketch of the ladies assembled together and signing a paper. And that gave rise to the notion of a tea party.

I loved standing in Penelope’s house and imagining the sensation of courage and anxiety she had about gaining the signatures for the resolves. And, I tried to imagine the reaction of old King George when he read them! Women indeed!

Yes, women indeed.

Hats off to both Ho Sau-Mei and Penelope Barker.  

~ Linda

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I am already hard at work, researching my next Strong Woman😊