Edit: Thank you all for the answers!
I've been reading Mao since coming here and I saw this talking about gaming.
" Gaming. Where the peasant association is powerful, mahjong, dominoes and card games are completely banned.
The peasant association in the 14th District of Hsianghsiang burned two basketfuls of mahjong sets.
If you go to the countryside, you will find none of these games played; anyone who violates the ban is promptly and strictly punished. "
I guess my question is why would gaming be banned? I figured there is some cultural context that I'm missing because I would think especially during this time period it would be a way to bring people together during downtime.
(It should be noted that gambling was its own category)
Thank you for your time!
It's also infinitely harder to cheat at those type of games (chess/checkers) where 100% of the boardstate/gamestate is known to both players at all times. Card games and tile games + gambling opens up lots of accusations of and opportunities for cheating for financial gain, resulting in disputes and arguments. I can't imagine Mao saw any of those as acceptable necessities of otherwise 'pro-social' games.
I never did personally get the appeal of Weiqi. It was real fucking boring to me. But nonetheless it seemed a lot more honest than even doudizhu/fight the landlord. I guess specifically card games, majiang and dominoes implies this is the case