兩年前，我們笑大陸的網絡審查軟件（哎，明明是審查，不要說「過濾」啦）「綠壩」連 Hello Kitty 都打成色情圖像，也有論者指控綠壩「老翻」了外國軟件。現在維基解密將綠壩的技術曝光，才發現這軟件原來多少也有自行製作的部份。雖然只是將現成的技術炒埋一碟，但也算有紋有路。我無耐性睇晒成份文件，不知它要判定圖像是否色情的有關運算是於 client 還是 server 上進行，不過驟眼看來，若要 do the computations on the fly from server side 的話，計算量都幾大，恐怕用家會感覺到明顯的時滯。
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2011年1月28日星期五
客家六虎牌例
The suffocated、王小發合著
（亦見英文版）
前言
六虎牌是一種客家紙牌遊戲。它比麻雀更富明代馬弔的特色，也是現今依然流行的中國牌戲之中，唯一既保留馬弔四門，又承襲了明代牌戲「看虎」的特色者。然而六虎牌在某些方面又很有西方牌戲的感覺，例如有些牌面印有撲克牌的黑桃、紅心及方塊圖案，而牌例中更有一項令人聯想起「合約橋牌」(contract bridge) 的叫牌程序，為中國牌戲之中所僅見。
雖然十九世紀已有關於六虎牌的記載，但直至近代，它只有口耳相傳的規則。執筆時，詳細描述六虎牌玩法的文章，印刷媒體只有 Smith and Senst (1996)，而網上就只有 Sung (1996) 及 McLeod (2000)。連麻雀這種有例書（史上首部麻雀譜乃於 1914 年發行）的遊戲也發展成現今近廿種地方玩法，沒有例書的六虎牌，分裂成多種俗例也不出奇。
本文第二作者曾研習客家六虎牌，其家族有幾名資深玩家，他們認識一些出入於（不合法）抽水牌局的街坊。文章的第一作者為業餘中國牌藝研究者，儘管他不鼓勵賭博（遑論不合法的），但認為賭坊所行牌例富代表性。本文是兩位作者記錄及整理這些賭坊牌例所得。它與上述三篇牌例均各有出入，有心者不妨自行比較。所謂各處鄉村各處例，儘管我們認為此處所載牌例有重大參考價值，卻無意以任何一方之例為尊。
六虎和打天九一樣，都是每局分多個回合，而每回合由各人輪流出牌或墊牌，基本流程不難掌握。各項規條，除非涉及一個十分關鍵，稱為「老歲牌」的概念，否則均屬常見類型。每局六虎牌可以有三或四名玩家，以下先說明四人局的規則，三人局的情形，將在文末補充。
牌式
一副六虎牌共三十八隻，見下圖。牌張承繼了明代馬弔的分類，分拾、貫、索、綫四門，每門九隻，數字從一到九，見圖中四橫行，惟「一拾」稱為「百子」，而「一綫」稱為「毛公」。綫字門實為「錢」字門之訛，但在六虎牌的流傳過程當中，這個錯誤變得普及起來。圖右的兩隻單牌，為「鹿花」與「雲綫」。鹿花於清末又稱為「梨花」，現今客家人不辨鹿花與雲綫的本字，多以為兩隻牌的第一個字都是「麗」字，或將兩隻牌唸成「喱花」與「喱綫」。
打六虎牌不用「鹿花」，只用其餘三十七隻。根據 C.T. Dobree 所著的 Gambling Games in Malaya (1955)，一副六虎牌可以用來玩多種遊戲，鹿花也許在這些遊戲中有用。
基本流程
每局六虎牌，可分四個階段：
派牌
每局由頭家派牌，每次牌面向下，派一隻，分十二輪派發。派牌順序為：
六虎牌的雲綫加上四門中最小的牌（百子、一貫、一索、毛公），合稱「五虎下山」。派牌後，若有玩家擁有五虎下山，他有權立即宣告勝利。嚴格來說，要宣告自動勝出，必須搶在頭家叫牌之前，不過在街坊牌局之中，若頭家太快開始叫牌，就算想宣告勝利的玩家反應得較慢，一般人也會通融。
手持五虎下山的玩家不一定要立即宣告勝利。他也可以放棄權利，以求在鬥牌階段謀取更大利益，可是於鬥牌時，五虎下山並非合法牌組（但百子、一貫、一索及毛公四隻牌可以組成合法牌組「各一」，見下文），本身亦不構成自動勝出的條件。
叫牌
六虎牌例規定，每局都要有獨一玩家「做牌」。每局先由頭家以叫出「做」或者「唔做」來表示是否做牌（習慣上，若頭家做牌，他會直接出牌，毋須刻意叫「做」），若不做牌，則轉問二家，然後三家。如果有人願意做牌，就可以開始鬥牌，否則流局，並如前述，由下家接任頭家，重新派牌。
如果做牌者是二家或三家的話，以下會簡稱他為「特權玩家」。特權玩家有兩項權責。第一，他有權繞過牌例中有關先手者出牌的部份限制；第二，若他不能勝出該牌局，則必須包賠。頭家做牌並無額外權責，只是剝奪了下家做牌的權利，不算特權玩家。
六虎牌的夢家及叫牌制度，很容易令人聯想起西方的合約橋牌，然而夢家之設於清乾隆年間已有，應該並非舶來品。叫牌制度則來歷不明，類似制度亦不見於其他傳統中國牌戲。
鬥牌
六虎牌的鬥牌方式有如天九，首輪由頭家任先手（注意：並非做牌者任首輪先手），之後每輪由上一輪的勝者任先手。先手出牌以後，下家就按坐次，輪流擊出或墊足與上手同樣多隻牌張。擊牌必須用與上手同類但更高級的牌型，即香港俚語所謂「格食格」。墊牌必須牌面向下，毋須構成任何牌型。墊了或輸了的牌可隨意混放在檯中央，勝出所用的牌則須排列在自己面前。玩家可查看任何牌面向上（即無論勝負，只要並非墊出）的牌。
每回合先手可打出以下三種牌型：
1) 單牌：若先手要出單隻牌，會有特殊規限，這點以後才說明。凡上家出單隻牌，下家只能用同門而較大的牌打，所以「拾」不能打「索」，反之亦然。同門單牌則以數字比大小，亦即九為大、八次之，如此類推。一拾（百子）、一綫（毛公）與雲綫是例外，它們既不能打別的牌，亦不會被打敗，猶如打天九的「至尊」。
2) 各：一副三隻或四隻同數字的牌，猶如香港人玩撲克牌的所謂「三條」或「四條」。例如
3) 順：同門連牌，與撲克牌的同花順 (straight flush) 相若，但三至九隻均可。跟單隻牌的各門不相統轄不同，比較順子的大小，先算門，後算數字。門以拾 > 貫 > 索 > 綫的次序分高下，數字則照字面比大小。如前述，打擊順子時所出張數必須與先手相同。百子與毛公當單牌用時的特殊地位，此處不適用。例：
舉例：頭家先手出二拾二貫二索，二家持六拾、五拾、四拾、四貫、四索、四綫、八綫、七綫、五綫；那問二家可否……
老歲牌
六虎牌的規則，會隨牌局變化而賦予某些牌張「老歲牌」（亦稱老人牌）的地位。開始時，九拾、九貫、九索、九綫、一拾、一綫及雲綫都是老歲牌。留意一副六虎牌中只有八隻帶有紅印，當中只有八拾不屬老歲牌。
開局後，任何「理論上無敵的單牌」亦成為老歲牌。例如我手持九綫、七綫，而其他人於上一輪已打了八綫。由於八綫已出，九綫又在我手中，故此再無其他人擁有能敵七綫的單牌。因此七綫也成為老歲牌。
要留意，一隻牌是否無敵，並非只從玩家手上的牌及已露面的牌來判斷。如果上例之中，八綫是墊出而非打出，但我從各人的出牌歷史，可以推理出它必然已給墊了，那我手上的七綫也算老歲牌。
先手出牌限制與特權玩家
先手打出的單隻牌，可分九個子類別，按先後順序為
打出各或順的時候，毋須理會牌組成員是否老歲牌。例如首回合頭家中有九、八、七、四貫，而別人手持五貫，所以九、八、七貫是老歲牌，而四貫不是。如果頭家要出單牌的話，他不能出單隻九貫、八貫或七貫，原因是四貫未出，然而他可以出九八七貫順。
下家擊牌或墊牌，毋須遵從上述限制。
特權玩家的特權，在於他擔任先手時，可以提早出任何單隻的老歲牌，從而繞過一部份的先手出牌限制。例如二家做牌，手持
勝出條件
玩家以有 n 隻牌的牌型勝出一個回合，就稱為贏了 n 隻牌，或「n 糊」（「糊」字原應作「湖」，語出清代「十湖牌」，但本字基本上已失傳，在大陸及台灣多改作「胡」，在香港則改成「糊」），例如用四條各五勝出這回合，就是贏了四隻牌或四糊。六虎牌不像天九般將每回合各玩家所出的牌疊起來，所以糊數不稱為戙數。
香港的客家人宣告勝出六虎牌局，跟打麻雀一樣，都是說「食糊」。在每回合剛開始之時，玩家只要滿足兩項條件，就可宣佈食糊：
舉例：玩家甲早前已贏一糊，現手持二拾、 六貫、九綫、八綫及一副「三條」的「各七」，乙先手出各五，丙墊牌，甲可以出各七贏三糊，取得先手，用前後取得的四糊並手中的九綫、八綫兩隻老歲牌宣告食六糊。
任何玩家取得六糊，也可以暫不宣告勝利，繼續牌局，以求贏更多糊，但下次要宣告勝利之時，仍須取得先手，期間亦要冒着被別人食糊的風險。
若各玩家耗盡手上的牌，仍無人食糊，則算和局，互無輸贏。
結算
若玩家憑五虎下山自動勝出，算贏 8 糊，而輸家只須賠分數給贏家。然而，若贏家憑鬥牌勝出，而且他於各回合取勝所用的牌張（包括最後一回合手持的老歲牌）之中，有任何一隻的牌面數字（百子、毛公及雲綫均當作一）與做夢者的牌面數字相同，則各輸家亦須賠分數給夢家。夢家的糊數，以 5 糊為底，每隻與夢家底牌相同數字的食糊用牌，均額外加 1 糊。
糊數的作用類似打麻雀的翻數（「翻」今多誤寫為「番」）。若勝者食 n 糊，每位輸家須各賠 2n-6 分給贏家，即 6 糊 1 分，7 糊 2 分，8 糊 4 分，如此類推，但 12 糊再雙倍，即輸家各賠 2×212-6 = 128 分。也有地方以 5 糊起糊（即輸家各賠 2n-5 分）。
輸家賠給夢家的分數，亦以同樣方法計算，只是以夢家糊數代替贏家糊數。
若特權玩家輸了牌局，須包賠另一名輸家的分數給贏家及夢家。舉例：
三人牌局
沒有夢家，去掉鹿花及雲綫，只用三十六隻牌，其餘與四人局相同。由於三人局不用雲綫，因此亦沒有憑「五虎下山」勝出的規則。
爭議
六虎牌例於執行上偶有爭議，常見的有兩方面。第一是「可以做而唔做」，亦即是玩家有實力做牌，叫牌時卻不做。客家牌玩家往往鄙視這種做法，有些牌例甚至會實行禁令。然而到底怎樣強的牌才算有實力，又沒有白紙黑字的標準。
舉例說，有些玩家認為，只要頭家開牌時手上不重疊的「各」、「順」及老歲牌張數目最少有六隻，就算他所持的只是像
另一項爭議，是何謂老歲牌。以本牌例來說，只要邏輯上可推理出某隻單牌為無敵，它已有資格成為老歲牌。然而推理過程有深有淺，如果推理太過複雜，其他玩家未必明白，因而質疑牌張的老歲牌資格。打牌本為樂趣，引至爭吵就不好，這也是玩家需要小心之處。
鳴謝
本文第一作者感謝 pagat.com 網主 Mr John McLeod 的協助，以及他與作者的魚雁往返。
參考
相關網頁
（亦見英文版）
前言
六虎牌是一種客家紙牌遊戲。它比麻雀更富明代馬弔的特色，也是現今依然流行的中國牌戲之中，唯一既保留馬弔四門，又承襲了明代牌戲「看虎」的特色者。然而六虎牌在某些方面又很有西方牌戲的感覺，例如有些牌面印有撲克牌的黑桃、紅心及方塊圖案，而牌例中更有一項令人聯想起「合約橋牌」(contract bridge) 的叫牌程序，為中國牌戲之中所僅見。
雖然十九世紀已有關於六虎牌的記載，但直至近代，它只有口耳相傳的規則。執筆時，詳細描述六虎牌玩法的文章，印刷媒體只有 Smith and Senst (1996)，而網上就只有 Sung (1996) 及 McLeod (2000)。連麻雀這種有例書（史上首部麻雀譜乃於 1914 年發行）的遊戲也發展成現今近廿種地方玩法，沒有例書的六虎牌，分裂成多種俗例也不出奇。
本文第二作者曾研習客家六虎牌，其家族有幾名資深玩家，他們認識一些出入於（不合法）抽水牌局的街坊。文章的第一作者為業餘中國牌藝研究者，儘管他不鼓勵賭博（遑論不合法的），但認為賭坊所行牌例富代表性。本文是兩位作者記錄及整理這些賭坊牌例所得。它與上述三篇牌例均各有出入，有心者不妨自行比較。所謂各處鄉村各處例，儘管我們認為此處所載牌例有重大參考價值，卻無意以任何一方之例為尊。
六虎和打天九一樣，都是每局分多個回合，而每回合由各人輪流出牌或墊牌，基本流程不難掌握。各項規條，除非涉及一個十分關鍵，稱為「老歲牌」的概念，否則均屬常見類型。每局六虎牌可以有三或四名玩家，以下先說明四人局的規則，三人局的情形，將在文末補充。
牌式
一副六虎牌共三十八隻，見下圖。牌張承繼了明代馬弔的分類，分拾、貫、索、綫四門，每門九隻，數字從一到九，見圖中四橫行，惟「一拾」稱為「百子」，而「一綫」稱為「毛公」。綫字門實為「錢」字門之訛，但在六虎牌的流傳過程當中，這個錯誤變得普及起來。圖右的兩隻單牌，為「鹿花」與「雲綫」。鹿花於清末又稱為「梨花」，現今客家人不辨鹿花與雲綫的本字，多以為兩隻牌的第一個字都是「麗」字，或將兩隻牌唸成「喱花」與「喱綫」。
 |
| 全副三十八隻客家六虎牌 |
基本流程
每局六虎牌，可分四個階段：
- 派牌
- 叫牌
- 鬥牌
- 結算
 |
| 玩家座次，按逆時針方向為：頭、二、夢、三家 |
派牌
每局由頭家派牌，每次牌面向下，派一隻，分十二輪派發。派牌順序為：
（首輪）頭家 → 二家 → 夢 → 三家完成後做夢者只得一隻，其他人各十二隻。做夢者於整個牌局中甚麼也不用做，可以如字面所言，真的做夢去，直至局終時視乎情況，收取分數。
（餘下各輪）頭家 → 二家 → 三家
六虎牌的雲綫加上四門中最小的牌（百子、一貫、一索、毛公），合稱「五虎下山」。派牌後，若有玩家擁有五虎下山，他有權立即宣告勝利。嚴格來說，要宣告自動勝出，必須搶在頭家叫牌之前，不過在街坊牌局之中，若頭家太快開始叫牌，就算想宣告勝利的玩家反應得較慢，一般人也會通融。
手持五虎下山的玩家不一定要立即宣告勝利。他也可以放棄權利，以求在鬥牌階段謀取更大利益，可是於鬥牌時，五虎下山並非合法牌組（但百子、一貫、一索及毛公四隻牌可以組成合法牌組「各一」，見下文），本身亦不構成自動勝出的條件。
 |
| 五虎下山 |
叫牌
六虎牌例規定，每局都要有獨一玩家「做牌」。每局先由頭家以叫出「做」或者「唔做」來表示是否做牌（習慣上，若頭家做牌，他會直接出牌，毋須刻意叫「做」），若不做牌，則轉問二家，然後三家。如果有人願意做牌，就可以開始鬥牌，否則流局，並如前述，由下家接任頭家，重新派牌。
如果做牌者是二家或三家的話，以下會簡稱他為「特權玩家」。特權玩家有兩項權責。第一，他有權繞過牌例中有關先手者出牌的部份限制；第二，若他不能勝出該牌局，則必須包賠。頭家做牌並無額外權責，只是剝奪了下家做牌的權利，不算特權玩家。
六虎牌的夢家及叫牌制度，很容易令人聯想起西方的合約橋牌，然而夢家之設於清乾隆年間已有，應該並非舶來品。叫牌制度則來歷不明，類似制度亦不見於其他傳統中國牌戲。
鬥牌
六虎牌的鬥牌方式有如天九，首輪由頭家任先手（注意：並非做牌者任首輪先手），之後每輪由上一輪的勝者任先手。先手出牌以後，下家就按坐次，輪流擊出或墊足與上手同樣多隻牌張。擊牌必須用與上手同類但更高級的牌型，即香港俚語所謂「格食格」。墊牌必須牌面向下，毋須構成任何牌型。墊了或輸了的牌可隨意混放在檯中央，勝出所用的牌則須排列在自己面前。玩家可查看任何牌面向上（即無論勝負，只要並非墊出）的牌。
每回合先手可打出以下三種牌型：
1) 單牌：若先手要出單隻牌，會有特殊規限，這點以後才說明。凡上家出單隻牌，下家只能用同門而較大的牌打，所以「拾」不能打「索」，反之亦然。同門單牌則以數字比大小，亦即九為大、八次之，如此類推。一拾（百子）、一綫（毛公）與雲綫是例外，它們既不能打別的牌，亦不會被打敗，猶如打天九的「至尊」。
2) 各：一副三隻或四隻同數字的牌，猶如香港人玩撲克牌的所謂「三條」或「四條」。例如
- 三條九（九拾九貫九索 / 九拾九貫九綫 / 九拾九索九綫 / 九貫九索九綫）或
- 四條九（九拾九貫九索九綫）
- 八貫八索八綫（各八） > 四拾四貫四索（各四）；
- 八拾八貫八索八綫（各八） 不能打 四拾四貫四索（各四），原因是牌張數目不同，不過此例中，玩家可以拆牌，用三條八來打各四。
3) 順：同門連牌，與撲克牌的同花順 (straight flush) 相若，但三至九隻均可。跟單隻牌的各門不相統轄不同，比較順子的大小，先算門，後算數字。門以拾 > 貫 > 索 > 綫的次序分高下，數字則照字面比大小。如前述，打擊順子時所出張數必須與先手相同。百子與毛公當單牌用時的特殊地位，此處不適用。例：
- 九八七六貫 > 五四三二貫 > 八七六五綫 > 四三二一綫；
- 七六五四三二一拾 > 九八七六五四三索；
- 九八七拾 不能打 六五四三索，原因是牌張數目不同。
舉例：頭家先手出二拾二貫二索，二家持六拾、五拾、四拾、四貫、四索、四綫、八綫、七綫、五綫；那問二家可否……
- 墊四貫、四索、五綫。可以，墊掉兩隻四後手上再無能打各二的牌。
- 墊四索、七綫、五綫。不可以，墊完牌後手上還有四拾四貫四綫，可打頭家的各二。
老歲牌
六虎牌的規則，會隨牌局變化而賦予某些牌張「老歲牌」（亦稱老人牌）的地位。開始時，九拾、九貫、九索、九綫、一拾、一綫及雲綫都是老歲牌。留意一副六虎牌中只有八隻帶有紅印，當中只有八拾不屬老歲牌。
 |
| 八隻紅印牌；左邊七隻於開局時為老歲牌 |
要留意，一隻牌是否無敵，並非只從玩家手上的牌及已露面的牌來判斷。如果上例之中，八綫是墊出而非打出，但我從各人的出牌歷史，可以推理出它必然已給墊了，那我手上的七綫也算老歲牌。
先手出牌限制與特權玩家
先手打出的單隻牌，可分九個子類別，按先後順序為
- 拾字門非老歲牌，
- 拾字門老歲牌，
- 貫字門非老歲牌，
- 貫字門老歲牌，
- 索字門非老歲牌，
- 索字門老歲牌，
- 綫字門非老歲牌，
- 綫字門老歲牌，
- 雲綫。
打出各或順的時候，毋須理會牌組成員是否老歲牌。例如首回合頭家中有九、八、七、四貫，而別人手持五貫，所以九、八、七貫是老歲牌，而四貫不是。如果頭家要出單牌的話，他不能出單隻九貫、八貫或七貫，原因是四貫未出，然而他可以出九八七貫順。
下家擊牌或墊牌，毋須遵從上述限制。
特權玩家的特權，在於他擔任先手時，可以提早出任何單隻的老歲牌，從而繞過一部份的先手出牌限制。例如二家做牌，手持
九拾、七拾、四拾、一拾、八貫、四貫、八索、七索、六索、四索、三綫、一綫，頭家先手，出五拾，二家出七拾，三家墊牌，二家勝。之後各回合，假設對手一直都愚蠢得只識墊牌，問二家可否按以下次序出牌 ──
- 九拾 → 四拾 → 一綫 → 一拾 → 八貫 ……。可以，因為特權玩家可以提早出九拾和一綫兩隻老歲牌。
- 四拾 → 八貫 → ……。不可以，因為九拾和一拾還未出，不可以出八貫。特權只讓他提早出九拾及一拾兩隻老歲牌，並沒容許它們押後至八貫之後才出。
- 八七六索順 → 四拾 → 一拾 → 九拾 ……。可以，這本來就無違反限制。
勝出條件
玩家以有 n 隻牌的牌型勝出一個回合，就稱為贏了 n 隻牌，或「n 糊」（「糊」字原應作「湖」，語出清代「十湖牌」，但本字基本上已失傳，在大陸及台灣多改作「胡」，在香港則改成「糊」），例如用四條各五勝出這回合，就是贏了四隻牌或四糊。六虎牌不像天九般將每回合各玩家所出的牌疊起來，所以糊數不稱為戙數。
香港的客家人宣告勝出六虎牌局，跟打麻雀一樣，都是說「食糊」。在每回合剛開始之時，玩家只要滿足兩項條件，就可宣佈食糊：
- 他任先手，而且
- 他已贏取的牌數與手上未打出的老歲牌數總和，共六隻或以上。
舉例：玩家甲早前已贏一糊，現手持二拾、 六貫、九綫、八綫及一副「三條」的「各七」，乙先手出各五，丙墊牌，甲可以出各七贏三糊，取得先手，用前後取得的四糊並手中的九綫、八綫兩隻老歲牌宣告食六糊。
任何玩家取得六糊，也可以暫不宣告勝利，繼續牌局，以求贏更多糊，但下次要宣告勝利之時，仍須取得先手，期間亦要冒着被別人食糊的風險。
若各玩家耗盡手上的牌，仍無人食糊，則算和局，互無輸贏。
結算
若玩家憑五虎下山自動勝出，算贏 8 糊，而輸家只須賠分數給贏家。然而，若贏家憑鬥牌勝出，而且他於各回合取勝所用的牌張（包括最後一回合手持的老歲牌）之中，有任何一隻的牌面數字（百子、毛公及雲綫均當作一）與做夢者的牌面數字相同，則各輸家亦須賠分數給夢家。夢家的糊數，以 5 糊為底，每隻與夢家底牌相同數字的食糊用牌，均額外加 1 糊。
糊數的作用類似打麻雀的翻數（「翻」今多誤寫為「番」）。若勝者食 n 糊，每位輸家須各賠 2n-6 分給贏家，即 6 糊 1 分，7 糊 2 分，8 糊 4 分，如此類推，但 12 糊再雙倍，即輸家各賠 2×212-6 = 128 分。也有地方以 5 糊起糊（即輸家各賠 2n-5 分）。
輸家賠給夢家的分數，亦以同樣方法計算，只是以夢家糊數代替贏家糊數。
若特權玩家輸了牌局，須包賠另一名輸家的分數給贏家及夢家。舉例：
二家做牌，做夢者持一索，三家於最後一回合以三條各八打掉二家的各七取得先手，再以手持的九綫、百子、雲綫食糊。此例中，贏家食 6 糊，而做夢者有 5 糊做底，他的一索又跟贏家的百子、雲綫兩牌的牌面同數，因此另加 2 糊，共食 7 糊。本來兩輸家要各賠 1 分給贏家、賠 2 分給夢家，但二家做牌，所以包輸，故總計，頭家不用輸，二家（做牌者）輸 6 分，做夢者贏 4 分，三家（贏家）贏 2 分。
三人牌局
沒有夢家，去掉鹿花及雲綫，只用三十六隻牌，其餘與四人局相同。由於三人局不用雲綫，因此亦沒有憑「五虎下山」勝出的規則。
爭議
六虎牌例於執行上偶有爭議，常見的有兩方面。第一是「可以做而唔做」，亦即是玩家有實力做牌，叫牌時卻不做。客家牌玩家往往鄙視這種做法，有些牌例甚至會實行禁令。然而到底怎樣強的牌才算有實力，又沒有白紙黑字的標準。
舉例說，有些玩家認為，只要頭家開牌時手上不重疊的「各」、「順」及老歲牌張數目最少有六隻，就算他所持的只是像
百子、毛公、雲綫、五四三綫順及一些零碎的細單牌，也算有實力做牌。若他不做而又贏了的話，包賠的特權玩家可能會拒絕賠償，而另一位輸家也會責難頭家。然而，若該頭家將五四三綫順拆掉，而又贏了牌局，有些玩家又會覺得無問題。究竟何謂「可以做而唔做」，並無嚴謹、清晰的標準。對二或三家「可以做而唔做」的判斷，更見寬鬆及模糊，但此處不贅。
另一項爭議，是何謂老歲牌。以本牌例來說，只要邏輯上可推理出某隻單牌為無敵，它已有資格成為老歲牌。然而推理過程有深有淺，如果推理太過複雜，其他玩家未必明白，因而質疑牌張的老歲牌資格。打牌本為樂趣，引至爭吵就不好，這也是玩家需要小心之處。
鳴謝
本文第一作者感謝 pagat.com 網主 Mr John McLeod 的協助，以及他與作者的魚雁往返。
參考
- Dylan W.H. Sung (1996), Hak Ga Luk Fu Pai, reocities.com.
- John McLeod (2000), Rules of Card Games: Luk Fu (六虎), pagat.com.
- Anthony Smith and Günther Senst (1996), Liuk Fu, Cháng Pái and Other East Asian Trick-Taking Games, The Playing-Card, XXIV/4, pp.111-119.
- C.T. Dobree (1955), Gambling Games of Malaya, Caxton Press, Kuala Lumpur.
相關網頁
- 客家六虎牌（一） 、（二）、（三）、（四）；此為本網誌所載系列文章
- Money-suited Cards; Andy's Playing Cards.
- 传统客家牌——六胡（拾、贯、索、钱叫法来历）；HakkaOnline.com
- 客家紙牌是這樣玩的(非常基礎篇)；情牽老圍
- 客家民俗风情[一]客家纸牌；baidu.com
Rules of Luk Fu, a Hakka card game
By The Suffocated and Wong Siu Fat
(see also the Chinese version)
Introduction
Luk Fu[1] (六虎 or "Six Tigers") is a trick-taking card game that is played predominantly by today's Hakka Chinese. It resembles the ancient game Ma Tiu more closely than Mahjong does, and is the only contemporary Chinese card game that retains all four suits of Ma Tiu as well as some features of another ancient game Khanhoo[2]. Yet Luk Fu has also some western touches. Some cards of a Luk Fu deck feature the spade, heart and diamond symbols that are seen in French and English playing cards, and the game has a calling phase that is reminiscent of (albeit much simpler than) the bidding phase in contract bridge.
Although there are mentions of Luk Fu in some 19th century literature, Luk Fu had only oral rules until recently. At the time of writing, Smith and Senst (1996) is the only printed article that describes Luk Fu in detail. On the internet, Sung (1996) and McLeod (2000) are the only detailed accounts. Even a game like Mahjong, that had written rules early in its history, has evolved into some twenty variants today. If Luk Fu has also fragmented into a large number of variants, it should be no surprise to anyone.
The second author of this article is a Luk Fu player. Some of his relatives are veteran players and they have acquaintances with some other people who play Luk Fu at raked home games. The first author is an amateur researcher in Chinese card and dominoe games. While he disapproves most forms of gambling (not to say the illegal ones), he views the rules for gambling as representative. This article is the result of documenting and sorting out these rules. There are differences between the rules described here and those written in the above-mentioned articles. The interested readers may make a comparison. While we think the rules we study here are valuable references, we have no intention to promote any set of rules as the unique standard.
Each game of Luk Fu has either three or four players. We will first explain the rules for a four-player game and state the modifications needed for a three-player game at the end of the article.
The deck
A complete set of Luk Fu has 38 cards (see the figure below), of which 36 are divided into four suits, Sip (拾 "Ten"), Gon (貫 "Myriads"), Sok (索 "Strings") and Chen (綫 "Coins"), which are inherited from Ma Tiu (where the suit "Myriads" is called 萬, though). Each suit has nine cards; they are numbered from 1 to 9, except that 1 Sip is called Bak Chi (百子, which literally means "Hundred Sons", but the name was actually derived from 百萬 "A Hundred Myriad" in Ma Tiu) and 1 Chen is called Mau Gung (毛公 "Mr Mau", a professional gambler in the Warring States Period). The chinese character 綫 (which literally means threads) for the suit Chen is actually a typo. It should read 錢. The typo, however, is so widespread that it is present in virtually all modern Luk Fu packs.
The two extra cards of the deck are Luk Fa (鹿花 "Stagflower") and Yuen Chen (雲綫, which probably means "Yunnan coin"), where the former was also called Lei Fa (梨花) in Qing Dynasty. Most Hakka people nowadays do not recognize the characters 鹿 and 雲 printed on the two cards. They mistake both characters as 麗 ("Beautiful") and read the names of the two cards as respectively Li Fa and Li Chen (we will adopt these mistaken but popular names in the sequel).
Only 37 cards are used in the game of Luk Fu. The extra card Li Fa is always removed. According to C.T. Dobree (1955), one can play other games with a deck of Luk Fu. Perhaps Li Fa is useful in some of these games.
Basic game play
Each hand of Luk Fu is divided into four phases:
Dealing
The cards are first shuffled and then dealt one at a time to the players in twelve rounds. The order of deal is as follows:
The meld consisting of Li Chen and the four lowest-valued cards, i.e. 1 Sip (Bak Chi), 1 Gon, 1 Sok and 1 Chen (Mau Gung), is called Ng Fu Ha San (五虎下山 "Five Tigers Emerge from the Mountain"). Throughout the dealing phase, the holder of this meld has the right to claim immediate victory. Strictly speaking, if he wants to declare victory, he must do so before the dealer enters into the next (i.e. calling) phase. However, in casual games, people usually do not observe this rule strictly and one is often allowed to claim victory if the dealer enters into the next phase too quickly.
The holder of Ng Fu Ha San may opt not to claim victory immediately. He can give up this right in order to seek greater benefits later in this hand. However, during the actual play, Ng Fu Ha San is not a valid combination of cards (although 1 Sip, 1 Gon, 1 Sok and 1 Chen make four of a kind, which is a valid meld; more about this below), and it per se no longer offers its holder the right to claim victory.
Calling
Each hand of Luk Fu requires a unique player to express his will to play it. The dealer will first call out Jor (做 "Play") or Ng Jor (唔做 "Not Play"). If he does not want to play, it is then player 2's call and so on. If none of them wants to play this hand, the hand will end immediately. Player 2 will succeed as the dealer and a new hand begins.
If the player who calls the hand is player 2 or player 3, we will call him a "privileged player" hereafter. The priviliged player has the privilege to bypass a certain restriction on leading a card, but this privilige comes at a price: if he loses the hand, he is responsible for the loss of another loser. If the dealer calls the hand, he is not regarded as privileged and he has no additional responsibility. His decision to play only deprives the other players of the oppotunities to become privileged.
Play of the hand
Each hand is comprised of multiple rounds. The dealer ── not the player who called the hand ── plays the opening lead, and the winner of each round leads the next. After a leader plays his meld (which may be one or more cards), the play follows anticlockwise and subsequent players may attack or surrender. To beat a meld, one must play a superior meld of the same type and the same size. To surrender a round, one must discard the same number of cards face-down without any need to form a meld. The winner of each round shall place his winning cards face-up in front of himself. Beaten or surrendered cards remain face-up or face-down and they are heaped at the center of the table. The players can examine any (winning or losing) card that has been played face-up.
The leader of each round can play one of the following three types of melds:
1) Single card. There is a restriction on what single card one can lead. This will be explained in next few sections. If one plays a single card, the next player can beat him only by playing a higher-ranked card from the same suit. Therefore a Sip card cannot beat a Sok card and vice versa. Single cards of the same suit are ranked by their numerical values, i.e. 9 is the highest and 1 is the lowest. The only exceptions are 1 Sip (Bak Chi), 1 Chen (Mau Gung) and Li Chen (the extra card). They beat no single cards but they are also unbeatable. Therefore, when played as a single card, each of them can take a trick only if it is the lead (so that other players are forced to surrender/discard).
2) Gok (各): three of a kind or four of a kind, analogous to a group (a.k.a. set) in rummy. Both
Examples:
To illustrate, suppose the dealer leads triple twos. Player 2 has the following cards in his hand:
Aged cards
As a hand of Luk Fu proceeds, more and more cards will gain the status of Lau Sui Pai (老歲牌 "aged cards", a.k.a. 老人牌). At the beginning of a hand, seven cards are considered aged: 9 Sip, 9 Gon, 9 Sok, 9 Chen, 1 Sip, 1 Chen and Li Chen. Note that only eight cards in a deck of Luk Fu have red imprints. Among them, 8 Sip is the only one that is not aged right at the beginning.
In the play of the hand, whenever a single card becomes "practically unbeatable", it is also considered as aged. For example, suppose a player has 9 Chen and 7 Chen in his hand, and someone has played 8 Chen face-up earlier. As no opponent now possesses any single card that can defeat 7 Chen, the 7 Chen card becomes aged.
Note that, to judge whether a card is practically unbeatable, one does not only reason by using those cards that have been played face-up. If, in the above example, 8 Chen was played face-down, but the player can assert through a logical argument that someone must have played it out earlier, then 7 Chen is still considered as aged.
Privileged player and restriction on the lead
As leads, single cards can be classified, in descending order of priorities, into nine categories:
When one plays a group or a run, whether the constituent cards are aged is irrelevant. For instance, suppose in the first round the dealer has 9, 8, 7 and 4 Soks at hand and 5 Sok is held by another player. Then 9, 8, 7 Soks are aged, but 4 Sok is not. If the dealer wants to lead a single card, he can play neither of 9, 8 and 7 Soks because the non-aged 4 Sok is still in his hand. However, he can lead the {9,8,7} Sok run.
The above restriction applies to the lead only. Subsequent attacks or surrenders are not bound by this restriction.
The privileged player is allowed to bypass part of the restriction by leading an aged card before exhausting higher-priority single cards in his hand. For example, suppose player 2 is the privileged player and he is dealt
Winning requirements
Since one may play, in many Chinese card games, one or more cards in each round, the meaning of a "trick" is somewhat different from its usual meanings in western card games. When a Luk Fu player wins a round of the game by playing some n cards, he is said to have won n tricks, or in Chinese, n Fu's (湖 "Lakes" or 虎 "Tigers")[3]. For example, a player who wins this round by playing quad fives is considered to have taken four tricks.
In Hong Kong, when a Hakka player wants to declares victory, he usually calls out Sid Fu (食糊[4] "Eat Purée"), like he does in a Mahjong game. A Luk Fu player can declare victory only at the beginning of each round, and only if he meets the following requirements:
Example. Player A has taken 1 trick previously and he has 2 Sip, 6 Gon, 9 Chen, 8 Chen and triple sevens left in his hand. Player B leads triple fives, player C surrenders and player A wins 3 more tricks by playing triple sevens . Now player A becomes the leader. As he has already taken 4 tricks in total and has 2 aged cards (9 Chen and 8 Chen) in his hand, he can declare victory now, with 6 tricks won.
After acquiring enough tricks, a player may opt not to declare victory and continue playing the hand, so as to win more tricks. However, next time, before he declares victory, he still has to become a leader, and the other players may win the hand before he can do that.
If all cards have been played and no one gets enough tricks, the game is drawn.
Scoring
If a player wins by producing Ng Fu Ha San before the actual play of the hand, he gets 8 tricks and the losers only need to pay him the appropriate amounts of points. However, if the winner actually played the hand, and the numerical value of the dreamer's card (Li Chen = 1) matches the numerical value of any of the winner's trick-taking cards (i.e. the cards that the winner won tricks with, or the aged cards left in his hand), the losers also need to pay the dreamer certain amounts of points. In this case, the dreamer is always granted 5 tricks and every match of numerical values is counted as an additional trick.
The number of tricks, like the number of Faans (翻) in mahjong, is an exponent in scoring. If the winner has won n tricks, every loser has to pay him 2n-6 points, i.e. 1 point for 6 tricks, 2 points for 7 tricks, 4 points for 8 tricks, and so on. But 12 tricks give an extra double, i.e. they amount to 2×212-6 = 128 points instead. In some places, the number of tricks is subtracted first by 5 instead of 6 in the exponent (i.e. 2n-5 instead of 2n-6 is used in the above calculations).
The income of the dreamer is computed in the same way, except that the n in the exponent is the number of tricks won by the dreamer instead of the winner.
If the privileged player loses the hand, he is responsible for the loss of another loser. Example:
Three-player game
The rules for a three-player game are essentially identical to those for a four-player game, except that there is no dreamer and the extra card Li Chen is also removed (so that only the 36 cards from the four suits are used). As a result, the rules for Ng Fu Ha San do not apply here.
Controversies
Luk Fu players may disagree on how to play the game. In particular, there are two common controversies. The first one arises from the evasion of calling the hand when one receives a strong hand. Luk Fu players often despise people who behave this way, or even forbid the others from evading the call. Yet the definition of a "strong hand" is not written in black and white.
For example, some players may think that, when some non-overlapping groups, runs and aged cards can be spotted in six or more of the dealer's cards, even if the hand contains something like
Another common controversy is about the definition of aged cards. For example, according to the rules we describe here, whenever one can assert through a logical argument that a certain single card is unbeatable, the card should be regarded as aged. In practice, however, the logical reasoning may be sophisticated at times. Hence those players who do not understand the argument will question the card's status. The reader should avoid making complicated arguments if he/she only wants to play a casual game for fun.
Acknowledgment
The first author wishes to thank Mr John McLeod of pagat.com for his very helpful discussions.
References
Related webpages
Notes
[1] When transcribing Chinese terms, one often-met problem is to decide on an appropriate romanisation scheme. Unfortunately, most of such schemes are unintelligible to non-Chinese readers. In this article, except for a few terms that have widely accepted transcriptions (e.g. 麻雀 → Mahjong), we will adopt the Hong Kong Government Cantonese Romanisation, because most words it transcribes into can be read like ordinary English. Note, however, that we will transcribe the Hakka pronunciations of those Luk Fu jargon terms, not the cantonese ones.
[2] Ma Tiu (馬弔, a.k.a. Ma Diao or Madiao), Khanhoo (看虎 or "Watching Tigers") and Che Cheung (扯章 or "Pulling Tricks") were the three most popular card games in Ming Dynasty. They are all trick-taking games that are played with the same set of cards. The Khanhoo here is not the one that Sir W.H. Wilkinson introduced into Europe in early 1890's. The two Khanhoo's have some common melds, but Wilkinson's Khanhoo is a draw-and-discard game.
[3] Obviously, one does not win a tiger or a lake, and the meanings of these terms shall not be taken literally. These terms actually originate from the names of ancient Chinese games, which usually contain one of the three rhyming characters 虎 ("Tiger"), 和 ("Harmony") and 湖 ("Lake").
[4] The jargon terms 和 and 湖 are also used in declaring victory. In a Chinese card or dominoe game, when a player wins a hand, he may call out 和了 ("和-ed") or 湖了 ("湖-ed"). The former, however, is confusing because it also means "the hand is drawn". This is perhaps the reason why, during the 18th and 19th centuries, the uses of 湖 had become widespread. Nonetheless, in late 19th century, fewer and fewer people knew the correct character for the jargon term 湖. Most people in mainland China started to write 胡 (a collective name for the foreign races in the west/north to China) instead. The people of Hong Kong, in contrast, took 糊 ("Purée") as the jargon term and call winning a hand "Eat Purée" (食糊) to make things interesting. In a Mahjong match, when the hand of a player is just one tile short of winning, the player is even said to 叫糊 ("Order a Purée").
(see also the Chinese version)
Introduction
Luk Fu[1] (六虎 or "Six Tigers") is a trick-taking card game that is played predominantly by today's Hakka Chinese. It resembles the ancient game Ma Tiu more closely than Mahjong does, and is the only contemporary Chinese card game that retains all four suits of Ma Tiu as well as some features of another ancient game Khanhoo[2]. Yet Luk Fu has also some western touches. Some cards of a Luk Fu deck feature the spade, heart and diamond symbols that are seen in French and English playing cards, and the game has a calling phase that is reminiscent of (albeit much simpler than) the bidding phase in contract bridge.
Although there are mentions of Luk Fu in some 19th century literature, Luk Fu had only oral rules until recently. At the time of writing, Smith and Senst (1996) is the only printed article that describes Luk Fu in detail. On the internet, Sung (1996) and McLeod (2000) are the only detailed accounts. Even a game like Mahjong, that had written rules early in its history, has evolved into some twenty variants today. If Luk Fu has also fragmented into a large number of variants, it should be no surprise to anyone.
The second author of this article is a Luk Fu player. Some of his relatives are veteran players and they have acquaintances with some other people who play Luk Fu at raked home games. The first author is an amateur researcher in Chinese card and dominoe games. While he disapproves most forms of gambling (not to say the illegal ones), he views the rules for gambling as representative. This article is the result of documenting and sorting out these rules. There are differences between the rules described here and those written in the above-mentioned articles. The interested readers may make a comparison. While we think the rules we study here are valuable references, we have no intention to promote any set of rules as the unique standard.
Each game of Luk Fu has either three or four players. We will first explain the rules for a four-player game and state the modifications needed for a three-player game at the end of the article.
The deck
A complete set of Luk Fu has 38 cards (see the figure below), of which 36 are divided into four suits, Sip (拾 "Ten"), Gon (貫 "Myriads"), Sok (索 "Strings") and Chen (綫 "Coins"), which are inherited from Ma Tiu (where the suit "Myriads" is called 萬, though). Each suit has nine cards; they are numbered from 1 to 9, except that 1 Sip is called Bak Chi (百子, which literally means "Hundred Sons", but the name was actually derived from 百萬 "A Hundred Myriad" in Ma Tiu) and 1 Chen is called Mau Gung (毛公 "Mr Mau", a professional gambler in the Warring States Period). The chinese character 綫 (which literally means threads) for the suit Chen is actually a typo. It should read 錢. The typo, however, is so widespread that it is present in virtually all modern Luk Fu packs.
The two extra cards of the deck are Luk Fa (鹿花 "Stagflower") and Yuen Chen (雲綫, which probably means "Yunnan coin"), where the former was also called Lei Fa (梨花) in Qing Dynasty. Most Hakka people nowadays do not recognize the characters 鹿 and 雲 printed on the two cards. They mistake both characters as 麗 ("Beautiful") and read the names of the two cards as respectively Li Fa and Li Chen (we will adopt these mistaken but popular names in the sequel).
|
| A complete deck of Luk Fu. From left to right ── |
| 1st row: 1 Sip to 9 Sip, |
| 2nd row: 1 Gon to 9 Gon, |
| 3rd row: 1 Sok to 9 Sok, |
| 4th row: 1 Chen to 9 Chen. |
| The rightmost two extra cards are Li Fa (left) and Li Chen (right). |
Basic game play
Each hand of Luk Fu is divided into four phases:
- Dealing.
- Calling.
- Play of the hand.
- Scoring.
- the dealer, or Tiu Ga (頭家 "player 1"),
- Ngi Ga (二家 "player 2"),
- Mung Ga (夢家 "dreamer") / Chuk Mung (捉夢 "dream catcher") and
- Sam Ga (三家 "player 3" ) / Mui Ga (尾家 "the last player"),
 |
| The four players |
Dealing
The cards are first shuffled and then dealt one at a time to the players in twelve rounds. The order of deal is as follows:
（1st round）dealer → player 2 → dreamer →player 3;After the deal, the dreamer should have received one card and every other player twelve. The dreamer is only a bystander throughout the play. He can literally go dreaming and update his score only at the end of the hand.
（other 11 rounds）dealer → player 2 →player 3.
The meld consisting of Li Chen and the four lowest-valued cards, i.e. 1 Sip (Bak Chi), 1 Gon, 1 Sok and 1 Chen (Mau Gung), is called Ng Fu Ha San (五虎下山 "Five Tigers Emerge from the Mountain"). Throughout the dealing phase, the holder of this meld has the right to claim immediate victory. Strictly speaking, if he wants to declare victory, he must do so before the dealer enters into the next (i.e. calling) phase. However, in casual games, people usually do not observe this rule strictly and one is often allowed to claim victory if the dealer enters into the next phase too quickly.
The holder of Ng Fu Ha San may opt not to claim victory immediately. He can give up this right in order to seek greater benefits later in this hand. However, during the actual play, Ng Fu Ha San is not a valid combination of cards (although 1 Sip, 1 Gon, 1 Sok and 1 Chen make four of a kind, which is a valid meld; more about this below), and it per se no longer offers its holder the right to claim victory.
|
| Ng Fu Ha San |
Calling
Each hand of Luk Fu requires a unique player to express his will to play it. The dealer will first call out Jor (做 "Play") or Ng Jor (唔做 "Not Play"). If he does not want to play, it is then player 2's call and so on. If none of them wants to play this hand, the hand will end immediately. Player 2 will succeed as the dealer and a new hand begins.
If the player who calls the hand is player 2 or player 3, we will call him a "privileged player" hereafter. The priviliged player has the privilege to bypass a certain restriction on leading a card, but this privilige comes at a price: if he loses the hand, he is responsible for the loss of another loser. If the dealer calls the hand, he is not regarded as privileged and he has no additional responsibility. His decision to play only deprives the other players of the oppotunities to become privileged.
Play of the hand
Each hand is comprised of multiple rounds. The dealer ── not the player who called the hand ── plays the opening lead, and the winner of each round leads the next. After a leader plays his meld (which may be one or more cards), the play follows anticlockwise and subsequent players may attack or surrender. To beat a meld, one must play a superior meld of the same type and the same size. To surrender a round, one must discard the same number of cards face-down without any need to form a meld. The winner of each round shall place his winning cards face-up in front of himself. Beaten or surrendered cards remain face-up or face-down and they are heaped at the center of the table. The players can examine any (winning or losing) card that has been played face-up.
The leader of each round can play one of the following three types of melds:
1) Single card. There is a restriction on what single card one can lead. This will be explained in next few sections. If one plays a single card, the next player can beat him only by playing a higher-ranked card from the same suit. Therefore a Sip card cannot beat a Sok card and vice versa. Single cards of the same suit are ranked by their numerical values, i.e. 9 is the highest and 1 is the lowest. The only exceptions are 1 Sip (Bak Chi), 1 Chen (Mau Gung) and Li Chen (the extra card). They beat no single cards but they are also unbeatable. Therefore, when played as a single card, each of them can take a trick only if it is the lead (so that other players are forced to surrender/discard).
2) Gok (各): three of a kind or four of a kind, analogous to a group (a.k.a. set) in rummy. Both
- triple nines, i.e. {9 Sip, 9 Gon, 9 Sok}, {9 Sip, 9 Gon, 9 Chen}, {9 Sip, 9 Sok, 9 Chen} or {9 Gon, 9 Sok, 9 Chen}, and
- quad(ruple) nines, i.e. {9 Sip, 9 Gon, 9 Sok, 9 Chen}
- triple eights > triple fours, but
- quad eights does not beat triple fours, because a quadlet does not compare to a triplet; however, one can play any triple eights to beat the triple fours in this case, leaving the remaining 8 in his hand.
Examples:
- {9,8,7,6} Gon > {5,4,3,2} Gon > {8,7,6,5} Chen > {4,3,2,1} Chen;
- {7,6,5,4,3,2,1} Sip > {9,8,7,6,5,4,3} Sok;
- {9,8,7} Sip and {6,5,4,3} Sok do not compare, because the two runs have different lengths.
To illustrate, suppose the dealer leads triple twos. Player 2 has the following cards in his hand:
6 Sip, 5 Sip, 4 Sip, 4 Gon, 4 Sok, 4 Chen, 8 Chen, 7 Chen and 5 Chen,and suppose for some reason he has decided against taking triple twos by triple fours. We ask if he can surrender the following cards:
- 4 Gon, 4 Sok and 5 Chen. Yes, because after discarding two fours, he no longer possesses cards that can beat triple twos.
- 4 Sok, 7 Chen and 5 Chen. No, because afterwards, he still possesses triple fours that is superior to triple twos.
Aged cards
As a hand of Luk Fu proceeds, more and more cards will gain the status of Lau Sui Pai (老歲牌 "aged cards", a.k.a. 老人牌). At the beginning of a hand, seven cards are considered aged: 9 Sip, 9 Gon, 9 Sok, 9 Chen, 1 Sip, 1 Chen and Li Chen. Note that only eight cards in a deck of Luk Fu have red imprints. Among them, 8 Sip is the only one that is not aged right at the beginning.
|
| The eight cards with red imprints; the leftmost seven are already aged at the beginning. |
Note that, to judge whether a card is practically unbeatable, one does not only reason by using those cards that have been played face-up. If, in the above example, 8 Chen was played face-down, but the player can assert through a logical argument that someone must have played it out earlier, then 7 Chen is still considered as aged.
Privileged player and restriction on the lead
As leads, single cards can be classified, in descending order of priorities, into nine categories:
- non-aged Sip,
- aged Sip,
- non-aged Gon,
- aged Gon,
- non-aged Sok,
- aged Sok,
- non-aged Chen,
- aged Chen,
- Li Chen.
When one plays a group or a run, whether the constituent cards are aged is irrelevant. For instance, suppose in the first round the dealer has 9, 8, 7 and 4 Soks at hand and 5 Sok is held by another player. Then 9, 8, 7 Soks are aged, but 4 Sok is not. If the dealer wants to lead a single card, he can play neither of 9, 8 and 7 Soks because the non-aged 4 Sok is still in his hand. However, he can lead the {9,8,7} Sok run.
The above restriction applies to the lead only. Subsequent attacks or surrenders are not bound by this restriction.
The privileged player is allowed to bypass part of the restriction by leading an aged card before exhausting higher-priority single cards in his hand. For example, suppose player 2 is the privileged player and he is dealt
9 Sip, 7 Sip, 4 Sip, 1 Sip, 8 Gon, 4 Gon, 8 Sok, 7 Sok, 6 Sok, 4 Sok, 3 Chen, 1 Chen.The dealer leads by playing 5 Sip, player 2 beats him using 7 Sip and player 3 surrenders. Now player 2 leads. Suppose in subsequent rounds, his opponents are so stupid that they only keep surrendering. We ask if player 2 can keep leading the following melds in the following orders:
- 9 Sip → 4 Sip → 1 Chen → 1 Sip → 8 Gon ... . Yes, because as a privileged player, he is allowed to advance the leading of the two aged cards 9 Sip and 1 Chen before other single cards.
- 4 Sip → 8 Gon → ... . No, 8 Gon cannot be played because aged cards 9 Sip and 1 Sip have not been played yet. The privilege only allows player 2 to advance the play of aged single cards, not to defer playing them.
- {8,7,6} Sok → 4 Sip → 1 Sip → 9 Sip ... . Yes, this does not violate the restriction in the first place.
Winning requirements
Since one may play, in many Chinese card games, one or more cards in each round, the meaning of a "trick" is somewhat different from its usual meanings in western card games. When a Luk Fu player wins a round of the game by playing some n cards, he is said to have won n tricks, or in Chinese, n Fu's (湖 "Lakes" or 虎 "Tigers")[3]. For example, a player who wins this round by playing quad fives is considered to have taken four tricks.
In Hong Kong, when a Hakka player wants to declares victory, he usually calls out Sid Fu (食糊[4] "Eat Purée"), like he does in a Mahjong game. A Luk Fu player can declare victory only at the beginning of each round, and only if he meets the following requirements:
- he is the leader, and
- the number of tricks he has won so far plus the number of aged cards in his hand is at least six.
Example. Player A has taken 1 trick previously and he has 2 Sip, 6 Gon, 9 Chen, 8 Chen and triple sevens left in his hand. Player B leads triple fives, player C surrenders and player A wins 3 more tricks by playing triple sevens . Now player A becomes the leader. As he has already taken 4 tricks in total and has 2 aged cards (9 Chen and 8 Chen) in his hand, he can declare victory now, with 6 tricks won.
After acquiring enough tricks, a player may opt not to declare victory and continue playing the hand, so as to win more tricks. However, next time, before he declares victory, he still has to become a leader, and the other players may win the hand before he can do that.
If all cards have been played and no one gets enough tricks, the game is drawn.
Scoring
If a player wins by producing Ng Fu Ha San before the actual play of the hand, he gets 8 tricks and the losers only need to pay him the appropriate amounts of points. However, if the winner actually played the hand, and the numerical value of the dreamer's card (Li Chen = 1) matches the numerical value of any of the winner's trick-taking cards (i.e. the cards that the winner won tricks with, or the aged cards left in his hand), the losers also need to pay the dreamer certain amounts of points. In this case, the dreamer is always granted 5 tricks and every match of numerical values is counted as an additional trick.
The number of tricks, like the number of Faans (翻) in mahjong, is an exponent in scoring. If the winner has won n tricks, every loser has to pay him 2n-6 points, i.e. 1 point for 6 tricks, 2 points for 7 tricks, 4 points for 8 tricks, and so on. But 12 tricks give an extra double, i.e. they amount to 2×212-6 = 128 points instead. In some places, the number of tricks is subtracted first by 5 instead of 6 in the exponent (i.e. 2n-5 instead of 2n-6 is used in the above calculations).
The income of the dreamer is computed in the same way, except that the n in the exponent is the number of tricks won by the dreamer instead of the winner.
If the privileged player loses the hand, he is responsible for the loss of another loser. Example:
Player 2 is privileged. The dreamer is dealt 1 Sok. In a certain round, player 3 wins his first three tricks by playing triple eights. By having these three tricks and also 9 Chen, 1 Sip and Li Chen in his hand, player 3 declares victory.In this example, the dealer and player 2 lose, player 3 has won 6 tricks (3 tricks on the table plus 3 aged cards in his hand) and the dreamer has won 7 tricks (the winner's 1 Sip and Li Chen have the same numerical value as the dreamer's 1 Sok). Should player 2 have won the game, each loser will pay him 1 point and the dreamer 2 points. But now that player 2 is privileged and he loses the hand, player 1 is saved, player 2 loses 6 points, player 3 wins 2 points and the dreamer wins 4 points.
Three-player game
The rules for a three-player game are essentially identical to those for a four-player game, except that there is no dreamer and the extra card Li Chen is also removed (so that only the 36 cards from the four suits are used). As a result, the rules for Ng Fu Ha San do not apply here.
Controversies
Luk Fu players may disagree on how to play the game. In particular, there are two common controversies. The first one arises from the evasion of calling the hand when one receives a strong hand. Luk Fu players often despise people who behave this way, or even forbid the others from evading the call. Yet the definition of a "strong hand" is not written in black and white.
For example, some players may think that, when some non-overlapping groups, runs and aged cards can be spotted in six or more of the dealer's cards, even if the hand contains something like
1 Sip, 1 Chen, Li Chen, {5,4,3} Chen runand some low-ranked single cards, he should not evade the call. If he evades the call but wins, the privileged loser may refuse to pay him and the other loser may condemn him as well. However, if he has broken the {5,4,3} Chen run apart during the course of play, some players may think that his victory is acceptable. So, there is no rigourous or clear criterion to judge when evasion is allowed and when it is not. For evasions by players 2 or 3, the judgment line is even looser and fuzzier, but we will not further our discussion here.
Another common controversy is about the definition of aged cards. For example, according to the rules we describe here, whenever one can assert through a logical argument that a certain single card is unbeatable, the card should be regarded as aged. In practice, however, the logical reasoning may be sophisticated at times. Hence those players who do not understand the argument will question the card's status. The reader should avoid making complicated arguments if he/she only wants to play a casual game for fun.
Acknowledgment
The first author wishes to thank Mr John McLeod of pagat.com for his very helpful discussions.
References
- Dylan W.H. Sung (1996), Hak Ga Luk Fu Pai, reocities.com.
- John McLeod (2000), Rules of Card Games: Luk Fu (六虎), pagat.com.
- Anthony Smith and Günther Senst (1996), Liuk Fu, Cháng Pái and Other East Asian Trick-Taking Games, The Playing-Card, XXIV/4, pp.111-119.
- C.T. Dobree (1955), Gambling Games of Malaya, Caxton Press, Kuala Lumpur.
Related webpages
- 客家六虎牌（一） 、（二）、（三）、（四） "The Hakka Luk Fu card game (1), (2), (3), (4)". This series of articles discusses some historical aspects of Luk Fu.
- Money-suited Cards; Andy's Playing Cards
- 传统客家牌——六胡（拾、贯、索、钱叫法来历） "Traditional Hakka playing cards ── the origin of the names Sip, Gon, Sok and Chen", HakkaOnline.com
- 客家紙牌是這樣玩的(非常基礎篇) "Hakka playing cards are played in this way (a very elementary introduction)", 情牽老圍
- 客家民俗风情[一]客家纸牌 "Hakka folk customs (1): Hakka playing cards", baidu.com
Notes
[1] When transcribing Chinese terms, one often-met problem is to decide on an appropriate romanisation scheme. Unfortunately, most of such schemes are unintelligible to non-Chinese readers. In this article, except for a few terms that have widely accepted transcriptions (e.g. 麻雀 → Mahjong), we will adopt the Hong Kong Government Cantonese Romanisation, because most words it transcribes into can be read like ordinary English. Note, however, that we will transcribe the Hakka pronunciations of those Luk Fu jargon terms, not the cantonese ones.
[2] Ma Tiu (馬弔, a.k.a. Ma Diao or Madiao), Khanhoo (看虎 or "Watching Tigers") and Che Cheung (扯章 or "Pulling Tricks") were the three most popular card games in Ming Dynasty. They are all trick-taking games that are played with the same set of cards. The Khanhoo here is not the one that Sir W.H. Wilkinson introduced into Europe in early 1890's. The two Khanhoo's have some common melds, but Wilkinson's Khanhoo is a draw-and-discard game.
[3] Obviously, one does not win a tiger or a lake, and the meanings of these terms shall not be taken literally. These terms actually originate from the names of ancient Chinese games, which usually contain one of the three rhyming characters 虎 ("Tiger"), 和 ("Harmony") and 湖 ("Lake").
[4] The jargon terms 和 and 湖 are also used in declaring victory. In a Chinese card or dominoe game, when a player wins a hand, he may call out 和了 ("和-ed") or 湖了 ("湖-ed"). The former, however, is confusing because it also means "the hand is drawn". This is perhaps the reason why, during the 18th and 19th centuries, the uses of 湖 had become widespread. Nonetheless, in late 19th century, fewer and fewer people knew the correct character for the jargon term 湖. Most people in mainland China started to write 胡 (a collective name for the foreign races in the west/north to China) instead. The people of Hong Kong, in contrast, took 糊 ("Purée") as the jargon term and call winning a hand "Eat Purée" (食糊) to make things interesting. In a Mahjong match, when the hand of a player is just one tile short of winning, the player is even said to 叫糊 ("Order a Purée").
2011年1月23日星期日
《歷史之眼》獲獎
半月前才提過《歷史之眼》是近年我最期待的漫畫，而剛剛才知道，原來在今屆日本文化廳舉辦的媒體藝術節（文化庁メディア芸術プラザ），《歷史之眼》於一眾漫畫之中脫穎而出，將獲頒大賞，而拙文提過的另外兩部漫畫《海盜戰記》與《地球防衛少年》，原來又分別獲頒去年的大賞及今年的優秀賞。
此媒體藝術節於 1998 年開辦，今年是第十四屆，歷屆大賞得主如下：
（註：2010 年度的獎項乃於 2011 年才頒發 ，餘此類推。今屆媒體藝術節將於下月初才舉行。以下括弧內為華人地區通用譯名。）
2010： ヒストリエ（歷史之眼）
2009： ヴィンランド・サガ（海盜戰記）
2008： ピアノの森（琴之森）
2007：モリのアサガオ（最後的日出/森林的牽牛花）
2006：太陽の黙示録（太陽默示錄）
2005：失踪日記
2004：夕凪の街 桜の国
2003：カジムヌガタイー風が語る沖縄戦ー
2002：セクシーボイス アンド ロボ (Sexy Voice and Robot)
2001：F氏的日常
2000：バガボンド（浪客行）
1999：アイ’ム ホーム
1998：坂本龍馬
1997：マンガ日本の古典
以上漫畫，大部份我連名字都未聽過。一些流行漫畫，例如《無限の住人》、《Monster》、《20世紀少年》、《Pluto》及《蟲師》等等也曾獲獎，不過是優秀賞而非大賞，不知此藝術節的評判是否比較曲高和寡。
此媒體藝術節於 1998 年開辦，今年是第十四屆，歷屆大賞得主如下：
（註：2010 年度的獎項乃於 2011 年才頒發 ，餘此類推。今屆媒體藝術節將於下月初才舉行。以下括弧內為華人地區通用譯名。）
2010： ヒストリエ（歷史之眼）
2009： ヴィンランド・サガ（海盜戰記）
2008： ピアノの森（琴之森）
2007：モリのアサガオ（最後的日出/森林的牽牛花）
2006：太陽の黙示録（太陽默示錄）
2005：失踪日記
2004：夕凪の街 桜の国
2003：カジムヌガタイー風が語る沖縄戦ー
2002：セクシーボイス アンド ロボ (Sexy Voice and Robot)
2001：F氏的日常
2000：バガボンド（浪客行）
1999：アイ’ム ホーム
1998：坂本龍馬
1997：マンガ日本の古典
以上漫畫，大部份我連名字都未聽過。一些流行漫畫，例如《無限の住人》、《Monster》、《20世紀少年》、《Pluto》及《蟲師》等等也曾獲獎，不過是優秀賞而非大賞，不知此藝術節的評判是否比較曲高和寡。
2011年1月17日星期一
繙譯難
我與王小發君合寫的客家六虎牌例快將完稿，只剩下一些文字修飾。由於 pagat.com 的 McLeod 先生叫我完稿後通知他，所以我心想，不如索性將文章譯成英文，好方便海外讀者。誰知下筆之後，才發現大為不妙。我本身英語水準不足固然是主因，然而中國牌戲與西方牌戲之間一些根本差別，也造成很大困難。
例如在中國牌戲之中，「上/下家」是一個很基本的概念。西方牌戲當然也有上下家，但沒有「上/下家」這個詞語。我不熟悉英語牌戲術語，為求謹慎，也看了多個講牌戲的網頁，但都找不到相應詞彙。偶有形容上家的片語，諸如 the player to his left（或者 right，視乎打擊順序），或者 the player before him in turn order 等等，又顯得相當累贅。
我曾經想過用 upstrem/downstream player(s) 來形容上下家，可是根據 Google 大神的啟示， upstream player 原來在某些西方牌戲中有另外的意思。後來我又想，不如說 upwind/downwind player(s) 吧，但是這樣一來又要解釋詞語定義，二來 wind 又可能令人誤會與麻雀的門風有關，因此最後還是打消了用此語的念頭。也許可以說 preceding/succeeding players 吧，但感覺總好像在寫 Computer Science 101 裏面 linked list 的章節似的。
另一個較棘手的麻煩，就是許多西方牌戲都只容許玩家每次只出一張牌。中國牌戲卻非這樣，先手者既可以出單牌，也可以出組合。中文的話，我們可以說玩家打出一種「牌型」。這只有兩個字的詞語，英文卻對不上。最直觀的譯法是 combination，然而中國牌戲的牌型可以是單牌，因此說 combination 會有語病。如果硬要發明一個術語的話，我覺得可以跟從講天九的古籍，用「隊形/陣式」(formation) 來形容包含一隻或多隻牌的牌型，不過我始終不想創作新術語。
還有其他林林總總的術語，也很難直譯。例如「先手」是 leading player，但是英語卻沒有「後手」。另外「打牌」（這裏指打出一種牌來攻擊上家）及「墊牌」，後者可以說 surrenders/discards his cards，前者卻沒有相應術語。若說 plays his cards，很難分辨到底是「打牌」、「墊牌」還是接近「打牌」，但較中性的「出牌」。Beat 本來是牌戲中「打」這個意思的常用術語，但它是及物動詞，中文寫「打牌」的時候，卻不必說打了誰的牌。我最後迫於無奈，唯有在個別地方用 attack 來形容，也不知讀者會否明白。
除了尋找相應術語，另一類令人頭痛的問題，是音譯。有時為了方便西方讀者與華人玩家溝通，寫牌例的人都會為術語附上音譯，例如「索子」可以說 Sok (索 "Strings of Coins")。問題是，音譯的對像，可以是官話、粵語、客家話等等，而每種語言的音譯的方式又有 N 咁多種。究竟應該用那一種譯音方案來譯那一種話？更加抓爆頭的是，若譯文中提及其他中國牌戲，而這些牌戲又各有其慣用的譯法（例如馬弔多用官話譯成 Ma Diao，而天九則多用南方話譯成 Tien Gow 或 Tin Kau），各種音譯共冶一爐，都唔知點解釋。
例如在中國牌戲之中，「上/下家」是一個很基本的概念。西方牌戲當然也有上下家，但沒有「上/下家」這個詞語。我不熟悉英語牌戲術語，為求謹慎，也看了多個講牌戲的網頁，但都找不到相應詞彙。偶有形容上家的片語，諸如 the player to his left（或者 right，視乎打擊順序），或者 the player before him in turn order 等等，又顯得相當累贅。
我曾經想過用 upstrem/downstream player(s) 來形容上下家，可是根據 Google 大神的啟示， upstream player 原來在某些西方牌戲中有另外的意思。後來我又想，不如說 upwind/downwind player(s) 吧，但是這樣一來又要解釋詞語定義，二來 wind 又可能令人誤會與麻雀的門風有關，因此最後還是打消了用此語的念頭。也許可以說 preceding/succeeding players 吧，但感覺總好像在寫 Computer Science 101 裏面 linked list 的章節似的。
另一個較棘手的麻煩，就是許多西方牌戲都只容許玩家每次只出一張牌。中國牌戲卻非這樣，先手者既可以出單牌，也可以出組合。中文的話，我們可以說玩家打出一種「牌型」。這只有兩個字的詞語，英文卻對不上。最直觀的譯法是 combination，然而中國牌戲的牌型可以是單牌，因此說 combination 會有語病。如果硬要發明一個術語的話，我覺得可以跟從講天九的古籍，用「隊形/陣式」(formation) 來形容包含一隻或多隻牌的牌型，不過我始終不想創作新術語。
還有其他林林總總的術語，也很難直譯。例如「先手」是 leading player，但是英語卻沒有「後手」。另外「打牌」（這裏指打出一種牌來攻擊上家）及「墊牌」，後者可以說 surrenders/discards his cards，前者卻沒有相應術語。若說 plays his cards，很難分辨到底是「打牌」、「墊牌」還是接近「打牌」，但較中性的「出牌」。Beat 本來是牌戲中「打」這個意思的常用術語，但它是及物動詞，中文寫「打牌」的時候，卻不必說打了誰的牌。我最後迫於無奈，唯有在個別地方用 attack 來形容，也不知讀者會否明白。
除了尋找相應術語，另一類令人頭痛的問題，是音譯。有時為了方便西方讀者與華人玩家溝通，寫牌例的人都會為術語附上音譯，例如「索子」可以說 Sok (索 "Strings of Coins")。問題是，音譯的對像，可以是官話、粵語、客家話等等，而每種語言的音譯的方式又有 N 咁多種。究竟應該用那一種譯音方案來譯那一種話？更加抓爆頭的是，若譯文中提及其他中國牌戲，而這些牌戲又各有其慣用的譯法（例如馬弔多用官話譯成 Ma Diao，而天九則多用南方話譯成 Tien Gow 或 Tin Kau），各種音譯共冶一爐，都唔知點解釋。
2011年1月15日星期六
AITF 2011 吹水巨獻：歌詞
tommyjonk 於其網誌說「他們說廣東歌已死，我就是不信。且看以下十首歌曲能否打動你？」自彭羚引退之後，除了偶爾在電視或車上聽廣播之外，我已經再無聽廣東歌。tommyjonk 那麼熱情，做讀者的就不妨奉陪一次。聽完他推薦的十首歌之後，我想，若這些就是招牌貨色，香港樂壇真是大為不妙。
喜歡一首歌，就像喜歡一位女子，或者擁護某個政體，都是即使有客觀因素，也難以說服別人的事。要批評的話，又很容易得罪人。就好像現在時興的《挪威的森林》電影，觀眾反應分為兩極，但無論愛憎，他們也多是村上的粉絲。偶有博客不想得罪人，就會說原著是多年前所讀，情節已經忘得七七八八，沒有原著的包袱。然而像我等不但久未再讀原著，而且就算是現在給我讀原著，隔了一週仍是會忘得七七八八的人，就不敢大刺刺地說「我從來都唔明白村上的作品想講乜，更加睇唔入腦」。一來別人會將我打成「自己中文很差，竟然還到處誇口」那類白癡，二來，套句村上風格的說話，我是騎牆這邊，而村上的粉絲卻是站在會擲臭雞蛋那邊。君子騎在危牆之上，應小心則箇。
前些時候好像有過以下的事件。話說某君批評某填詞人（好像是周博賢）的詞寫得差，詞人有點光火，反駁說某君只懂得說不好，卻講不出不好在那裏。這件事令我很迷惑。那位詞人所說的話，我覺得很有道理，但是一般人並無音樂、文學及語言學的知識，又如何可以有系統、一針見血地批評？這就好像我們沒有從政經驗，又不是商界精英。難道因此我們就不能批評政府，要默不作聲？
因此，在聽過 tommyjonk 介紹的十首歌之後，我就花了幾分鐘的時間，非常認真地去想，為何我覺得十首歌之中，大部份都無甚看頭？
要詳述這些理由的話，大概又要寫一個系列，但是這個世界上，是無人喜歡看一系列的牢騷的。況且前面吹水已經吹了好幾段（明智警視：「金田一，你的毛病就是前置作業太長」），所以以下我就只批評填詞方面的其中一點，這可以歸納為以下命題。
為了檢驗我記憶中的好歌是否符合以上標準，我隨便抽出印像中的一些好歌，再檢查當中的「了、嗎、吧」，註解如下：
譚詠麟
幻影（林敏聰）：無
誰可改變（鄭國江）：無
愛在深秋（林敏聰）：無
暴風女神LORELEI（林振強）：無
雨絲情愁（向雪懷）：無
張國榮
Monica（黎彼得）：無
愛慕（鄭國江）：前「我已對你去盡了，心碎難補 …… 我縱已去盡了，我滿心愛慕」
不怕寂寞（潘偉源）：無
只怕不再遇上（鄭國江）：無
追（林夕）：前
側面（林夕）：前
林子祥
誰能明白我（鄭國江）：無
分分鐘需要你（鄭國江）：無
真的漢子（鄭國江）：無
男兒當自強（黃霑）：無
最愛是誰（潘源良）：前「為何離別了，卻願再相隨」
Beyond
海闊天空（黃家駒）：無
舊日的足跡（葉世榮）：無
光輝歲月（黃家駒）：無
長城（劉卓輝）：無
真的愛你（小美）：無
……但我很快發覺，每人五首歌的話，天光都未搞掂，所以求其再抽查一批就算。結果，腦海中浮出以下一批，其中全部都沒有以「了、嗎、吧」作單句或複句結尾：
波斯貓（詞：潘偉源；唱：羅文）
情義倆心堅（詞：鄧偉雄；唱：張德蘭）
似水流年（詞：鄭國江；唱：梅艷芳）
堆積情感（詞：小美；唱：鄺美雲）
真情流露（詞：因葵；唱：陳慧嫻）
分手總要在雨天（詞：陳少琪；唱：張學友）
車站（詞：林振強、潘源良；唱：夏韶聲、蘇芮）
亞熱帶少年（詞：雨言；唱：劉美君）
豈有此理（詞：某人；唱：Blue Jeans）
薩拉熱窩的羅密歐與茱麗葉（詞︰林振強；唱：鄭秀文）
仍然是最愛你（詞：張美賢；唱：彭羚）
十個救火的少年（詞︰潘源良；唱：達明一派）
不過我倒想起達明一派有這首歌：
結論：個人印象與審美標準符合。雖然個人喜好或會導至統計上的偏差，但是較早期的填詞人，似乎很少用「了、嗎、吧」來作句子結尾。林夕是唯一的例外，但在他的詞中，「了、嗎、吧」也是用在複句的中間居多。
現在再看看 tommyjonk 推薦的其中幾首歌：
開籠雀（詞：黃偉文；唱：王菀之）
刀切到手了 想痛歸心的大叫
捧到金奬了 謝辭像在喉內燒
動人對象前 寫一世示愛的字條
默然六十年 又期望誰心照
當你失聲了 先了解聲音重要
迫到這死角 便明白做人目標
此際竟開竅 應該接受哪種治療
拿來潤喉熱蜜糖 萬人面前 乾了
====================
陀飛輪（詞：黃偉文；唱：陳奕迅）
...
秒速 捉得緊了
而皮膚竟偷偷鬆了
...
銀或金 都不緊要
誰造機芯 一樣了
計劃了 照做了 得到了 時間卻太少 no~
還剩低 幾多心跳
還在數 趕不及了
昂貴是這刻 我覺悟了
在時計裏 看破一生 渺渺
====================
月球人（詞：黃偉文；唱：恭碩良）
發現嗎 就快看不見地球 太悶嗎 被困這偏遠月球
……
這裡沒有花 你種過嗎 這裡沒有家 你會開心嗎 我害怕
……
再見末世裡只看到被染污的年華 流連在月球嗎
……
如果記掛 回去好嗎 若離開更怕 回去好嗎
都是黃偉文的詞。印象中近年三大填詞人 ── 林夕、黃偉文、周博賢，前二者都用了許多助語詞（至於後者，我少聽歌，不知他有甚麼作品）。林夕用得小心，很少出現小學句式；黃偉文則很濫，也用得很突兀。這樣填的詞，例如上面的《月球人》，還算過得去（「嗎」發去聲而非上聲是其中一個原因），但其他大多都很礙耳。
當然，這只是個人意見。還望站在雞蛋那邊的朋友莫怪。
喜歡一首歌，就像喜歡一位女子，或者擁護某個政體，都是即使有客觀因素，也難以說服別人的事。要批評的話，又很容易得罪人。就好像現在時興的《挪威的森林》電影，觀眾反應分為兩極，但無論愛憎，他們也多是村上的粉絲。偶有博客不想得罪人，就會說原著是多年前所讀，情節已經忘得七七八八，沒有原著的包袱。然而像我等不但久未再讀原著，而且就算是現在給我讀原著，隔了一週仍是會忘得七七八八的人，就不敢大刺刺地說「我從來都唔明白村上的作品想講乜，更加睇唔入腦」。一來別人會將我打成「自己中文很差，竟然還到處誇口」那類白癡，二來，套句村上風格的說話，我是騎牆這邊，而村上的粉絲卻是站在會擲臭雞蛋那邊。君子騎在危牆之上，應小心則箇。
前些時候好像有過以下的事件。話說某君批評某填詞人（好像是周博賢）的詞寫得差，詞人有點光火，反駁說某君只懂得說不好，卻講不出不好在那裏。這件事令我很迷惑。那位詞人所說的話，我覺得很有道理，但是一般人並無音樂、文學及語言學的知識，又如何可以有系統、一針見血地批評？這就好像我們沒有從政經驗，又不是商界精英。難道因此我們就不能批評政府，要默不作聲？
因此，在聽過 tommyjonk 介紹的十首歌之後，我就花了幾分鐘的時間，非常認真地去想，為何我覺得十首歌之中，大部份都無甚看頭？
要詳述這些理由的話，大概又要寫一個系列，但是這個世界上，是無人喜歡看一系列的牢騷的。況且前面吹水已經吹了好幾段（明智警視：「金田一，你的毛病就是前置作業太長」），所以以下我就只批評填詞方面的其中一點，這可以歸納為以下命題。
命題：儘管不可一概而論，但好的歌詞會儘量少用「了、嗎、吧」這類助語詞，即使要用，也儘量不用在複句的末端。這其實不是一個真的命題，而是一種個人的審美標準。始終，甚麼叫好，甚麼叫差，還是有一定的主觀因素的。至於為甚麼我覺得將「了、嗎、吧」用來複句末端不好，答案好簡單：因為這樣的句式實在太似小學生作文了！
為了檢驗我記憶中的好歌是否符合以上標準，我隨便抽出印像中的一些好歌，再檢查當中的「了、嗎、吧」，註解如下：
- 無 = 歌詞中沒任何一單句以「了、嗎、吧」結尾；
- 前 = 歌詞中有句子以「了、嗎、吧」作結，但並非用在複句末端；
- 複 = 歌詞中有複句以「了、嗎、吧」作結；
譚詠麟
幻影（林敏聰）：無
誰可改變（鄭國江）：無
愛在深秋（林敏聰）：無
暴風女神LORELEI（林振強）：無
雨絲情愁（向雪懷）：無
張國榮
Monica（黎彼得）：無
愛慕（鄭國江）：前「我已對你去盡了，心碎難補 …… 我縱已去盡了，我滿心愛慕」
不怕寂寞（潘偉源）：無
只怕不再遇上（鄭國江）：無
追（林夕）：前
側面（林夕）：前
林子祥
誰能明白我（鄭國江）：無
分分鐘需要你（鄭國江）：無
真的漢子（鄭國江）：無
男兒當自強（黃霑）：無
最愛是誰（潘源良）：前「為何離別了，卻願再相隨」
Beyond
海闊天空（黃家駒）：無
舊日的足跡（葉世榮）：無
光輝歲月（黃家駒）：無
長城（劉卓輝）：無
真的愛你（小美）：無
……但我很快發覺，每人五首歌的話，天光都未搞掂，所以求其再抽查一批就算。結果，腦海中浮出以下一批，其中全部都沒有以「了、嗎、吧」作單句或複句結尾：
波斯貓（詞：潘偉源；唱：羅文）
情義倆心堅（詞：鄧偉雄；唱：張德蘭）
似水流年（詞：鄭國江；唱：梅艷芳）
堆積情感（詞：小美；唱：鄺美雲）
真情流露（詞：因葵；唱：陳慧嫻）
分手總要在雨天（詞：陳少琪；唱：張學友）
車站（詞：林振強、潘源良；唱：夏韶聲、蘇芮）
亞熱帶少年（詞：雨言；唱：劉美君）
豈有此理（詞：某人；唱：Blue Jeans）
薩拉熱窩的羅密歐與茱麗葉（詞︰林振強；唱：鄭秀文）
仍然是最愛你（詞：張美賢；唱：彭羚）
十個救火的少年（詞︰潘源良；唱：達明一派）
不過我倒想起達明一派有這首歌：
你還愛我嗎（詞︰潘源良）但「嗎」 字作複句結尾，也只出現在歌詞的第一段，而且歌名也一早令聽眾預期歌中有「嗎」字。
你還愛我嗎 我怎麼竟有點怕
現況天天在變化 情感不變嗎
……
結論：個人印象與審美標準符合。雖然個人喜好或會導至統計上的偏差，但是較早期的填詞人，似乎很少用「了、嗎、吧」來作句子結尾。林夕是唯一的例外，但在他的詞中，「了、嗎、吧」也是用在複句的中間居多。
現在再看看 tommyjonk 推薦的其中幾首歌：
開籠雀（詞：黃偉文；唱：王菀之）
刀切到手了 想痛歸心的大叫
捧到金奬了 謝辭像在喉內燒
動人對象前 寫一世示愛的字條
默然六十年 又期望誰心照
當你失聲了 先了解聲音重要
迫到這死角 便明白做人目標
此際竟開竅 應該接受哪種治療
拿來潤喉熱蜜糖 萬人面前 乾了
====================
陀飛輪（詞：黃偉文；唱：陳奕迅）
...
秒速 捉得緊了
而皮膚竟偷偷鬆了
...
銀或金 都不緊要
誰造機芯 一樣了
計劃了 照做了 得到了 時間卻太少 no~
還剩低 幾多心跳
還在數 趕不及了
昂貴是這刻 我覺悟了
在時計裏 看破一生 渺渺
====================
月球人（詞：黃偉文；唱：恭碩良）
發現嗎 就快看不見地球 太悶嗎 被困這偏遠月球
……
這裡沒有花 你種過嗎 這裡沒有家 你會開心嗎 我害怕
……
再見末世裡只看到被染污的年華 流連在月球嗎
……
如果記掛 回去好嗎 若離開更怕 回去好嗎
都是黃偉文的詞。印象中近年三大填詞人 ── 林夕、黃偉文、周博賢，前二者都用了許多助語詞（至於後者，我少聽歌，不知他有甚麼作品）。林夕用得小心，很少出現小學句式；黃偉文則很濫，也用得很突兀。這樣填的詞，例如上面的《月球人》，還算過得去（「嗎」發去聲而非上聲是其中一個原因），但其他大多都很礙耳。
當然，這只是個人意見。還望站在雞蛋那邊的朋友莫怪。
Ž
在 ESWN 看到這個：
文章有兩段，雖然只是齊澤克引述他人的說話，但實在很精警：
Good Manners in the Age of WikiLeaks看了幾段，驚嘆作者可以天南地北，無所不談，不禁問，作者是誰？看一看，哦，原來是齊澤克，難怪。
文章有兩段，雖然只是齊澤克引述他人的說話，但實在很精警：
We shouldn’t forget that power comprises not only institutions and their rules, but also legitimate (‘normal’) ways of challenging it (an independent press, NGOs etc) – as the Indian academic Saroj Giri put it, WikiLeaks ‘challenged power by challenging the normal channels of challenging power and revealing the truth’.不要問我上面這段說話為何精警，它其實有很大的詮釋空間，但下面這段，相信任何人都會明白（而且還很實用）：
In Baisers volés, Delphine Seyrig explains to her young lover the difference between politeness and tact: ‘Imagine you inadvertently enter a bathroom where a woman is standing naked under the shower. Politeness requires that you quickly close the door and say, “Pardon, Madame!”, whereas tact would be to quickly close the door and say: “Pardon, Monsieur!”’ It is only in the second case, by pretending not to have seen enough even to make out the sex of the person under the shower, that one displays true tact.
2011年1月14日星期五
慶祝立法會否決申辦亞運撥款
普天同慶！
總算有一單好消息。都係箇句，唔好講政府對開支嘅估計一時一樣，亦姑勿論政府挾持金牌運動員做人質有幾卑鄙，今次申亞唔係中共嘅主意，而係曾德成一條友嘅野心，但政府竟然咁都管唔住，任由呢個小小嘅民政局長攞香港人以億計嘅血汗錢來較飛。唔好再講乜嘢行政與立法雙方爭持不下，造成弱勢政府了。實情係連曾蔭權都要買那些紅褲仔出身的土共怕，任佢亂搞，他根本連政府內部都無法有效管治。
2011年1月11日星期二
天九入門（九）：天九賞例小結
以下是本系列第六、七兩篇所述賞例的撮要。
莊家倍數
賀牌時，各人只與賀牌者有數目來往；結牌時，各人亦只與結者有數目來往。在任何有交收的二人之間，若有人為本局莊家，則
賀牌
賞分以賀牌組合的戙數為底分。
1) 賀尊 ── 輸 2 分乘莊家倍數，即時支收。
2) 四大賀 ── 輸 4 分乘莊家倍數，即時支收。
賀牌與結牌的收支計算並無關係，兩者互不干涉。
一般結牌
天九以四戙打和，各敗者於局終時的輸贏為他所持戙數與四戙之間的差額，故手持多於四戙的敗者可以有收益（入一或入二），唯輸空戙當輸 5 分而非 4 分。此經修正後的差額，稱為「除淨後戙數」。
若結者並非以奇牌結牌，各敗者均以其除淨後戙數為基本的輸贏分數。
奇牌結牌
若結者用奇牌結牌，而對手不夠四戙，除淨後戙數還須加倍，唯此倍數並不惠及入一或入二者。
至尊或四文武：賞分以結牌組合的戙數為基本倍數。
3) 包尊 ── 雙計。
4) 四大包 ── 四倍計。
包尊或四大包不算賀牌，因此賀牌的收益計算在此處不適用。
么結與擒
5) 么結 ── 雙計。
6) 擒 ── 與么結的計法相同，但被擒者須包攬各敗者的損失。入一入二之數仍由結者負擔（此數原是結者而非敗者的損失，故被擒者毋須負責）。
七支與八支：一般輸空戙當輸 5 分，但是：
7) 七支牌 ── 雙計（亦即輸 10 分）。
8) 八支牌 ── 四倍計（亦即輸 20 分）。
9) 若七/八支牌與其他奇牌結牌方式（即 (3), (4) 或 (5)）同時出現，倍數累計。
輸家總計
10) 各輸家計算所輸分數之後，還須乘上莊家倍數。若有人被擒，他要包攬的，是各輸家所輸分數乘上各自的莊家倍數之後的總和，而非各人所輸分數總和乘上被擒者（與莊家之間）的莊家倍數。
入一或入二
11) 入一或入二之數，一律由結牌者負擔（即使有人被擒亦然）。莊家結，莊家賠 1 分（或 2 分）再乘莊家倍數；閒家結，結者只賠 1 分（或 2 分），毋須乘上莊家倍數，亦即莊家光榮撤退時，不用加倍獎賞。若結者用奇牌結，其所得的額外獎賞倍數，並不能用來倍大入一或入二者的收益。
天九入門（一）、（二）、（三）、（四）、（五）、（六）、（七）、（八）、（九）
由本人製作，支援藍牙多人對戰的天九遊戲 T9 已經悄悄上架。若各位喜愛天九，請到 Google Play 支持本人繼續開發。儘管這是個收費軟件，但只要回本，我就已經很高興了。
莊家倍數
賀牌時，各人只與賀牌者有數目來往；結牌時，各人亦只與結者有數目來往。在任何有交收的二人之間，若有人為本局莊家，則
- 莊家倍數 = 莊家於本局完結前的連續當莊次數 + 1。
- 初任 ⇒ 莊家倍數 = 2，
- 兩任 ⇒ 莊家倍數 = 3，餘此類推。
賀牌
賞分以賀牌組合的戙數為底分。
1) 賀尊 ── 輸 2 分乘莊家倍數，即時支收。
2) 四大賀 ── 輸 4 分乘莊家倍數，即時支收。
賀牌與結牌的收支計算並無關係，兩者互不干涉。
一般結牌
天九以四戙打和，各敗者於局終時的輸贏為他所持戙數與四戙之間的差額，故手持多於四戙的敗者可以有收益（入一或入二），唯輸空戙當輸 5 分而非 4 分。此經修正後的差額，稱為「除淨後戙數」。
若結者並非以奇牌結牌，各敗者均以其除淨後戙數為基本的輸贏分數。
奇牌結牌
若結者用奇牌結牌，而對手不夠四戙，除淨後戙數還須加倍，唯此倍數並不惠及入一或入二者。
至尊或四文武：賞分以結牌組合的戙數為基本倍數。
3) 包尊 ── 雙計。
4) 四大包 ── 四倍計。
包尊或四大包不算賀牌，因此賀牌的收益計算在此處不適用。
么結與擒
5) 么結 ── 雙計。
6) 擒 ── 與么結的計法相同，但被擒者須包攬各敗者的損失。入一入二之數仍由結者負擔（此數原是結者而非敗者的損失，故被擒者毋須負責）。
七支與八支：一般輸空戙當輸 5 分，但是：
7) 七支牌 ── 雙計（亦即輸 10 分）。
8) 八支牌 ── 四倍計（亦即輸 20 分）。
9) 若七/八支牌與其他奇牌結牌方式（即 (3), (4) 或 (5)）同時出現，倍數累計。
輸家總計
10) 各輸家計算所輸分數之後，還須乘上莊家倍數。若有人被擒，他要包攬的，是各輸家所輸分數乘上各自的莊家倍數之後的總和，而非各人所輸分數總和乘上被擒者（與莊家之間）的莊家倍數。
入一或入二
11) 入一或入二之數，一律由結牌者負擔（即使有人被擒亦然）。莊家結，莊家賠 1 分（或 2 分）再乘莊家倍數；閒家結，結者只賠 1 分（或 2 分），毋須乘上莊家倍數，亦即莊家光榮撤退時，不用加倍獎賞。若結者用奇牌結，其所得的額外獎賞倍數，並不能用來倍大入一或入二者的收益。
天九入門（一）、（二）、（三）、（四）、（五）、（六）、（七）、（八）、（九）
由本人製作，支援藍牙多人對戰的天九遊戲 T9 已經悄悄上架。若各位喜愛天九，請到 Google Play 支持本人繼續開發。儘管這是個收費軟件，但只要回本，我就已經很高興了。
2011年1月10日星期一
急才
昨日打書釘，讀陳雲的新結集《中文起義》，翻到一篇《廣告》，提及：
幾個月前，新年過後，於嶺南大學附近的商場午膳，見茶餐廳高懸通俗賀年對聯「生意興隆通四海，財源廣進達三江」，竟然左右對調，掛錯了方向。幸好，過了正月十五便除下了。令我想起同樣往事。多年前，時值農曆新年前後，我留駐某運輸公司，觀察並紀錄其運作。一日，與公司某管理層職員同時返扺辦公室，我發現公司門口剛剛掛上了上述對聯，但左右掉轉。該職員聽見，隨即答曰：
哈哈，美資公司吖嘛，慣咗由左至右！保存顏面之餘，他也將兩聯句換回正確位置，並非有錯不改。
2011年1月8日星期六
常識與慣例
男子遭分屍掟落街 右臂雙腿斬斷 列懷疑兇殺無可疑才怪 ……
(明報)2011年1月8日 星期六 05:05
【明報專訊】西環東蔚苑昨晚發生先分屍後擲落街的懷疑恐怖兇殺案，一名男子疑在寓所內遭人殺害，斬斷右手及雙腿後，逐一把肢體從窗口拋到街上，屍身僅餘左手，浴血倒臥大廈對開街道，途人發現報警。警方到場調查後，認定案件有可疑，列作懷疑兇殺案處理，通宵封鎖現場調查。
2011年1月6日星期四
習近平個 friend
《東南西北》的宋先生今日抽出一則維基解密密電來談。該密電的線人自稱習近平的老友，內容主要憶述習近平的性情與經歷。儘管維基解密隱去電文中部份人的名字，但仍包含許多關於該線人身份的蛛絲馬跡。例如它提及該線人的父親是 "the PRC's first Minister of Labor and a member of the first Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) Standing Committee"，《明報》就指出中共建政後首任勞動部長為李立三。
然而，宋先生檢驗資料之後，發現電文對該線人的描述，與李立三兩個兒子的簡歷不符，因此宋先生認為電文資料為偽，並說：
然而第 6 段說線人的父親為 "PRC's first Minister of Labor"，而李立三又確實是首任勞動部長，這該怎樣解釋？
第一個可能，當然是有人假冒習近平的老友。這並不出奇，香港也鎮日有人招謠撞騙，自稱人脈直通「中央」。只是我們不能忽視另一個可能，就是電文作者誤會了該線人的意思。
若該線人說的是實話，那他父親是誰？
我猜那人是易禮容。
中共早期有一個叫「中國勞動組合書記部」的工人運動機構，後改稱「中華全國總工會」，而根據湘鄉市委市政府的資料，易禮容從 1948 年 8 月起擔任該會第六屆常務執行委員兼勞動保障部長，而中國勞動部本身又於 1998 年改稱為「勞動和社會保障部」。這解釋了 "Minister of Labor" 這個誤解的來由。
易禮容於政協的首屆會期內調任政協常委會副秘書長，電文作者也可能搞錯，以為易禮容是首屆政協常委。根據網上資料，易禮容曾經與劉少奇及李立三搞工人運動，文革期間也曾經下獄，給關了六年半；百度百科指易禮容是湖南人，曾留居日本與香港，這些都與電文的描述吻合。
不過網上很難找到易禮容的家庭資料。他似乎有個兒子叫易荷生（註：現獲得新資料，見後記），但是到底他有無兒子於美國教政治科學，就不得而知。
最後，有兩點要提一下：
蒙匿名網友提供免費「人肉」服務，找出易禮容有位博士兒子叫 Dr. Xiaoxiong Yi（又後記：按中國國際人才交流基金會的新聞稿，易博士的中文名為易小熊）。根據易博士自述：
伸延閱讀
The Moral Hazards of Too Much Entertaining Transparency, ala Wikileaks; The Shanghai Scrap blog.
然而，宋先生檢驗資料之後，發現電文對該線人的描述，與李立三兩個兒子的簡歷不符，因此宋先生認為電文資料為偽，並說：
So this specific piece of information in the embassy cable about the professor being the child of the first PRC Minister of Labor is wrong. But what do you expect anyway? They actually thought Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.電文中有好幾段都含有揭露線人身份的線索，其中第 3, 4, 6, 8 段如下：
¶3. (C) ... The contact is an American citizen of Chinese descent who teaches political science at XXXXXXXXXXXX.其實單看第 8 段，已知該線人的父親並非李立三，原因是中共將劉少奇打成走資派之後，李立三亦受牽連，並於 1967 年自殺，所以絕不可能 spent most of the Cultural Revoluation years in prison。第 6 段提及線人的父親為中共首屆政協常委，也與李立三從第三屆開始才擔任政協常委的經歷不符（歷屆常委名單見此）。
¶4. (C) XXXXXXXXXXXX and Xi Jinping were both born in 1953 and grew up in similar circumstances. According to the professor, they lived with other sons and daughters of China's first-generation revolutionaries in the senior leaders' compounds in Beijing and were groomed to become China's ruling elite. The professor did not know Xi personally until they had both reached their late teens, when the professor began to hear about Xi from the professor's best friend, XXXXXXXXXXXX, who was later sent to the same village as Xi in Shaanxi province during the Cultural Revolution. (Note: According to the professor, Zhou Sanhua's father was a former editor-in-chief of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Daily.) By the time the professor and Xi had returned separately from the countryside, they had come to know each other personally, initially through Zhou Sanhua's introduction, and maintained a relationship for the next 15 years (ca. 1972 to 1987), even though their lives and careers took markedly different paths.
¶6. (C) The professor's father was also an early revolutionary and contemporary of Mao, from a neighboring county to Mao's in Hunan province. The professor's father participated in the revolution periodically but also spent time in Japan and Hong Kong, distinguishing himself as a labor leader. In 1949, according to the professor, his father agreed to return to Beijing at Mao's insistence and became the PRC's first Minister of Labor and a member of the first Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) Standing Committee.
¶8. (C) ... The professor's father was falsely accused of supporting Liu Shaoqi and spent most of the Cultural Revolution years (1966-1976) in prison. ...
然而第 6 段說線人的父親為 "PRC's first Minister of Labor"，而李立三又確實是首任勞動部長，這該怎樣解釋？
第一個可能，當然是有人假冒習近平的老友。這並不出奇，香港也鎮日有人招謠撞騙，自稱人脈直通「中央」。只是我們不能忽視另一個可能，就是電文作者誤會了該線人的意思。
若該線人說的是實話，那他父親是誰？
我猜那人是易禮容。
中共早期有一個叫「中國勞動組合書記部」的工人運動機構，後改稱「中華全國總工會」，而根據湘鄉市委市政府的資料，易禮容從 1948 年 8 月起擔任該會第六屆常務執行委員兼勞動保障部長，而中國勞動部本身又於 1998 年改稱為「勞動和社會保障部」。這解釋了 "Minister of Labor" 這個誤解的來由。
易禮容於政協的首屆會期內調任政協常委會副秘書長，電文作者也可能搞錯，以為易禮容是首屆政協常委。根據網上資料，易禮容曾經與劉少奇及李立三搞工人運動，文革期間也曾經下獄，給關了六年半；百度百科指易禮容是湖南人，曾留居日本與香港，這些都與電文的描述吻合。
不過網上很難找到易禮容的家庭資料。他似乎有個兒子叫易荷生（註：現獲得新資料，見後記），但是到底他有無兒子於美國教政治科學，就不得而知。
最後，有兩點要提一下：
- 電文第 4 段的 "XXXXXXXXXXXX"，宋先生認為指該線人，但是若然如此，電文中其他地方大可直呼其名，無必要將該線人諱稱為 "the professor"。我認為該 XXXXXXXXXXXX 可能是另一個人。
- 宋先生指電文內容為偽，並諷刺大使館那班人，說 "they actually thought Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction"，我不同意。看以往的大使館電文（例如本博以前討論過的六四電文），我們會發現它們只是初級情報。大使館不過將搜集得到而又有趣的情報通傳回國內，讓情報機關進一步分析真偽、判斷輕重。電文包含某些消息，只表示有關方面認為該消息有可查考的價值，而不表示使館人員相信該消息必然真確。美國政府也從不相信侯賽因有大殺傷力武器，它只是指示情報機關偽造情報，誤導國民支持侵略伊拉克。
蒙匿名網友提供免費「人肉」服務，找出易禮容有位博士兒子叫 Dr. Xiaoxiong Yi（又後記：按中國國際人才交流基金會的新聞稿，易博士的中文名為易小熊）。根據易博士自述：
Dr. Xiaoxiong Yi is an associate professor of Political Science and the Director of International Programs at Marietta College, Marietta, Ohio.他在 Marietta College 的 bio. 見此。易博士的網誌有一欄，專門刊出有關其父親易禮容的文章。
伸延閱讀
The Moral Hazards of Too Much Entertaining Transparency, ala Wikileaks; The Shanghai Scrap blog.
2011年1月5日星期三
漫畫單
網上不時有人開列書單，卻較少講「n本好漫畫」之類，不知坊間是否仍存偏見。近年全球創意產業創意不足，有新意的作品愈來愈少，所以與其懷舊，不如列出仍在連載中或完結不久的有趣漫畫。
1)《歷史之眼》。電視有大河劇，漫畫也有史詩。《歷史之眼》是科幻漫畫《寄生獸》作者岩明均忽然轉型之作，是一部從主角尤米尼斯 (362 BC—316 BC) 的經歷展開的馬其頓野史。岩明均的畫功毫不可取，故事和人物描寫才是他的強項。漫畫中尤米尼斯的性格有點似《銀河英雄傳說》的楊威利（除了並不厭戰），喜歡銀英傳的朋友相信也會喜歡尤米尼斯這個角色。連載的速度有點慢，暫時只講到尤米尼斯剛成為馬其頓王腓力的秘書官，阿歷山大還未登基，不過故事情節已相當曲折而且豐富，是近年我最期待的漫畫。有一部以北歐歷史作舞台的《海盜戰記》我也喜歡，但是《海》較多講述生於冰島的北美探險家托爾芬 (born 980 AD—died after 1007 AD) 的私人恩怨，歷史味沒有《歷》那麼濃。
2)《地球防衛少年》。 這套不久前完結的漫畫講述十幾位少年，輪流駕駛巨型機械人對抗外來怪物。表面看來毫不特別，骨子裏卻非常殘酷 ── 是社會性的殘酷。原來每位駕駛員於戰鬥之前，已經註定不能退出，也不能生還，而且有時由於無法選定戰場，令戰鬥在人煙稠密的地方展開，造成嚴重傷亡。結果他們雖然在保衛地球，卻註定成為悲劇角色，還要招人怨恨。究竟他們如何看待生死、面對家人、安排身後事、完成未竟心願？
讀者如果要看《地球防衛少年》，最好先看漫畫版。動畫版是於漫畫還在連載時所拍，故事並不跟足原著，少了些殘酷，也比較膚淺。
3)《火鳳燎原》。跳出《三國演義》的框框，重新演繹三國故事，以前已經有人嘗試過。電鋸於報章上提及，由陳舜臣所寫的小說《秘本三國志》，就是一個例子，可是像《火鳳燎原》的作者陳某般，將傳統對三國的演繹顛覆得那麼徹底，就十分罕見。例如世人多說呂布有勇無謀，陳某卻藉漫畫角色之口，質疑莽夫又豈能指揮大軍百戰百勝，就顯得合情合理。初期故事以司馬懿任兩位主角之一，更是前所未見的突破。
4)《殺戮都市》。這部漫畫主要講地球人對抗外星人，大橋段本身並無新意，內容則充斥暴力與色情，可說意識不良。然而此漫畫的「好」在於藝術造詣，而非教育意義。不少日本漫畫也血腥暴力，但是場面做到如《殺》那麼流麗、具迫力及富有電影感的，不止前所未見，恐怕短期內也後無來者。今日「美學」二字常遭濫用，這本漫畫卻真的堪稱暴力美學。它對各人在極不利的環境之下，為了求存而如字面所說的「拚命」，亦描寫得很細緻，很有真實感，不過這較難言喻，要親身閱讀方可領略。
5)《爆漫》。漫畫家寫的漫畫家故事，由《死亡筆記》的黃金組合大場鶇和小畑健創作，故事與畫功絕對有保證。當中談及不少涉及漫畫製作的細節，以及漫畫出版與否或將漫畫動畫化與否的考量，外行人也會覺得有趣。
6)《CLAYMORE大劍》。《大劍》從一開始已經設定為戰鬥漫畫。論內容，它只是一個普通的復仇故事，但是印象中很少戰鬥漫畫可以寫得這麼紮實。它的故事主線，幾乎每一話也有確實進展（雖然也偶有失準），令人想追看下去。即使是那種「學藝升 level」的陳套公式，作者也運用得很好，不會有主角武功無止境地進步，或者突然成為天下第一的情況發生。事實上，《大劍》的故事一早已經設限，無論人類怎麼努力，力量上也不可能接近（遑論凌駕）故事中稱為「深淵之人」的怪物，所以《大劍》對戰鬥的描寫，較其他漫畫有說服力。然而這套漫畫吸引我的，並非戰鬥元素，而是它描寫的同袍之情或「姊妹情」。許多戰鬥漫畫裏面的戰鬥夥伴，都是「一群熱熱鬧鬧的傢伙，加一兩個很 cool 的角色」那種，但而《大劍》描述的卻是於多次戰鬥之中，一同出生入死，才累積起來的細膩情懷，剎是好看。故事用了許多話鋪排主角古妮雅與迪尼莎相識，及後來迪尼莎遇害，令古妮雅矢志復仇，更是全書我最喜愛的部份。
順帶一提，要看《大劍》 的話，還是應看漫畫版。《大劍》動畫依我看是云云動畫之中，與原漫畫落差最大的一部。它最主要敗於畫面用色太沉，但是其動作場面之悶（要記得這是戰鬥動畫！），也是罕見。
1)《歷史之眼》。電視有大河劇，漫畫也有史詩。《歷史之眼》是科幻漫畫《寄生獸》作者岩明均
2)《地球防衛少年》。 這套不久前完結的漫畫講述十幾位少年，輪流駕駛巨型機械人對抗外來怪物。表面看來毫不特別，骨子裏卻非常殘酷 ── 是社會性的殘酷。原來每位駕駛員於戰鬥之前，已經註定不能退出，也不能生還，而且有時由於無法選定戰場，令戰鬥在人煙稠密的地方展開，造成嚴重傷亡。結果他們雖然在保衛地球，卻註定成為悲劇角色，還要招人怨恨。究竟他們如何看待生死、面對家人、安排身後事、完成未竟心願？
讀者如果要看《地球防衛少年》，最好先看漫畫版。動畫版是於漫畫還在連載時所拍，故事並不跟足原著，少了些殘酷，也比較膚淺。
3)《火鳳燎原》。跳出《三國演義》的框框，重新演繹三國故事，以前已經有人嘗試過。電鋸於報章上提及，由陳舜臣所寫的小說《秘本三國志》，就是一個例子，可是像《火鳳燎原》的作者陳某般，將傳統對三國的演繹顛覆得那麼徹底，就十分罕見。例如世人多說呂布有勇無謀，陳某卻藉漫畫角色之口，質疑莽夫又豈能指揮大軍百戰百勝，就顯得合情合理。初期故事以司馬懿任兩位主角之一，更是前所未見的突破。
4)《殺戮都市》。這部漫畫主要講地球人對抗外星人，大橋段本身並無新意，內容則充斥暴力與色情，可說意識不良。然而此漫畫的「好」在於藝術造詣，而非教育意義。不少日本漫畫也血腥暴力，但是場面做到如《殺》那麼流麗、具迫力及富有電影感的，不止前所未見，恐怕短期內也後無來者。今日「美學」二字常遭濫用，這本漫畫卻真的堪稱暴力美學。它對各人在極不利的環境之下，為了求存而如字面所說的「拚命」，亦描寫得很細緻，很有真實感，不過這較難言喻，要親身閱讀方可領略。
5)《爆漫》。漫畫家寫的漫畫家故事，由《死亡筆記》的黃金組合大場鶇和小畑健創作，故事與畫功絕對有保證。當中談及不少涉及漫畫製作的細節，以及漫畫出版與否或將漫畫動畫化與否的考量，外行人也會覺得有趣。
6)《CLAYMORE大劍》。《大劍》從一開始已經設定為戰鬥漫畫。論內容，它只是一個普通的復仇故事，但是印象中很少戰鬥漫畫可以寫得這麼紮實。它的故事主線，幾乎每一話也有確實進展（雖然也偶有失準），令人想追看下去。即使是那種「學藝升 level」的陳套公式，作者也運用得很好，不會有主角武功無止境地進步，或者突然成為天下第一的情況發生。事實上，《大劍》的故事一早已經設限，無論人類怎麼努力，力量上也不可能接近（遑論凌駕）故事中稱為「深淵之人」的怪物，所以《大劍》對戰鬥的描寫，較其他漫畫有說服力。然而這套漫畫吸引我的，並非戰鬥元素，而是它描寫的同袍之情或「姊妹情」。許多戰鬥漫畫裏面的戰鬥夥伴，都是「一群熱熱鬧鬧的傢伙，加一兩個很 cool 的角色」那種，但而《大劍》描述的卻是於多次戰鬥之中，一同出生入死，才累積起來的細膩情懷，剎是好看。故事用了許多話鋪排主角古妮雅與迪尼莎相識，及後來迪尼莎遇害，令古妮雅矢志復仇，更是全書我最喜愛的部份。
順帶一提，要看《大劍》 的話，還是應看漫畫版。《大劍》動畫依我看是云云動畫之中，與原漫畫落差最大的一部。它最主要敗於畫面用色太沉，但是其動作場面之悶（要記得這是戰鬥動畫！），也是罕見。
2011年1月4日星期二
從花叢中找糞
政事包羅萬有，任何兩人的政見都不會完全相同，即使我們不認同司徒華的某些主張（例如政改），仍可以對他堅持平反六四的勇氣表示尊敬，不過就算要隱惡揚善，美化逝者也最好適可而止。
電視新聞說司徒華生前每年都會拜祭他以前所仰慕的一位黃姓的紅顏知己，於是有博客讚司徒華專一，又說黃女士很幸福云云。黃女士心裏怎麼想，只有她才曉得。我不想在花叢中找糞，毫無來由地懷疑黃女士其實為了癡纏者而煩惱，但反過來說，只因司徒華心裏一直放不低黃女士，就將此詮釋為一個可以歌頌的愛情故事，那幾位博客是否有些一廂情願？
始終是別人的私事，我還是不再插嘴好了。
電視新聞說司徒華生前每年都會拜祭他以前所仰慕的一位黃姓的紅顏知己，於是有博客讚司徒華專一，又說黃女士很幸福云云。黃女士心裏怎麼想，只有她才曉得。我不想在花叢中找糞，毫無來由地懷疑黃女士其實為了癡纏者而煩惱，但反過來說，只因司徒華心裏一直放不低黃女士，就將此詮釋為一個可以歌頌的愛情故事，那幾位博客是否有些一廂情願？
始終是別人的私事，我還是不再插嘴好了。