Mahjong

For other uses, see Mahjong (disambiguation).

Mahjong
A game of mahjong being played in Hangzhou, China
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	麻將
Simplified Chinese	麻将
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Má jiàng Wu Romanization mu ciang (麻雀兒/麻將) Gan Romanization ma4 chiong4 Hakka Romanization ma jiong3 Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization ma4 jeung3 Jyutping maa4 zoeng3
Alternative Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	麻雀
Simplified Chinese	麻雀
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Má què Wu Romanization mu ciah Gan Romanization ma4 chhiok6 Hakka Romanization ma4 jiok3 Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization ma4 jeuk3 Jyutping maa4 zoek3 Southern Min Hokkien POJ Moâ-chhiok
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese	mạt chược
Korean name
Hangul	마작
Hanja	麻雀
Transcriptions Revised Romanization majak McCune–Reischauer machak
Japanese name
Kanji	麻雀
Kana	マージャン
Transcriptions Romanization mājan

Mahjong

Players	4
Setup time	2–10 minutes
Playing time	Dependent on variation and/or house/tournament rules
Chance	Yes
Age range	4 years and older
Skills	Tactics, observation, memory

Mahjong (Chinese: 麻將; pinyin: má jiàng) is a game that originated in China, commonly played by four players (with some three-player variations found in Korea and Japan). The four player table version should not be confused with the popular western single player (tile matching) computer game (Mahjong solitaire) which is a recent invention and completely different to the table game). Mahjong is a game of skill, strategy and calculation and involves a certain degree of chance. In Asia, mahjong is also popularly played as a gambling game (though it may just as easily be played recreationally).

The game is played with a set of 152 tiles based on Chinese characters and symbols, although some regional variations use a different number of tiles. In most variations, each player begins by receiving thirteen tiles. In turn players draw and discard tiles until they complete a legal hand using the fourteenth drawn tile to form four groups (melds) and a pair (head). There are fairly standard rules about how a piece is drawn, stolen from another player (melded), the use of basic (numbered tiles) and honours (winds and dragons), the kinds of melds, and the order of dealing and play. However there are many regional variations in the rules; in addition, the scoring system, the minimum hand necessary to win varies significantly based on the local rules being used.

Name

The game was called 麻雀 (pinyin: má què), meaning sparrow in Chinese, which is still the name most commonly used in some southern Chinese dialects such as Cantonese and Min Nan, as well as in Japanese. However, most Mandarin-speaking Chinese now call the game má jiàng (麻將). In Northern Wu Chinese (Shanghainese and its relatives), it is pronounced as 麻將 [mu tsiaŋ], but in actuality, 麻將 is the diminutive form of 麻雀, written as 麻雀兒 [mu tsiaʔ ŋ], due to an erhua event. It is through the Wu Chinese pronunciation of 麻雀兒 that the diminutive form of 麻雀 in Northern Wu dialect became known as 麻將 in both Mandarin and Wu.

History

Mahjong in China

One of the myths of the origin of mahjong suggests that Confucius, the Chinese philosopher, developed the game in about 500 BC.The three dragon (cardinal) tiles also agree with the three cardinal virtues bequeathed by Confucius. Hóng Zhōng (紅中 , red middle), Fā Cái (發財 , prosperity), and Bái Ban (白板 , white board) represent benevolence, sincerity, and filial piety, respectively.

The myth also claims that Confucius was fond of birds, which would explain the name "mahjong" (maque 麻雀 = sparrow).

Many historians believe it was based on a Chinese card game called Mǎdiào (馬吊) (also known as Ma Tiae, hanging horse; or Yèzí [葉子], leaf) in the early Ming dynasty. This game was played with 40 paper cards similar in appearance to the cards used in the game Ya Pei. These 40 cards are numbered 1 to 9 in four different suits, along with four extra flower cards. This is quite similar to the numbering of mahjong tiles today, although mahjong only has three suits and, in effect, uses four packs of Ya Pei cards.

There is still some debate about who created the game. One theory is that Chinese army officers serving during the Taiping Rebellion created the game to pass the time. Another theory is that a nobleman living in the Shanghai area created the game between 1870 and 1875. Others believe that two brothers from Níngpō created mahjong around 1850, from the earlier game of Mǎdiào.

This game was banned by the government of People's Republic of China when it took power in 1949. The new Communist government forbade any gambling activities, which were regarded as symbols of capitalist corruption. After the Cultural Revolution, the game was revived, without gambling elements (see below), and the prohibition was revoked in 1985. Today, it is a favorite pastime in China and other Chinese-speaking communities.

Mahjong in the Western world

Students in the United States learning how to play mahjong

In 1895, Stewart Culin, an American anthropologist, wrote a paper in which mahjong was mentioned. This is the first known written account of mahjong in any language other than Chinese. By 1910, there were written accounts in many languages, including French and Japanese.

The game was imported to the United States in the 1920s. The first mahjong sets sold in the U.S. were sold by Abercrombie & Fitch starting in 1920. It became a success in New York, and the owner of the company, Ezra Fitch, sent emissaries to Chinese villages to buy every set of mahjong they could find. Abercrombie & Fitch sold a total of 12,000 sets.

Also in 1920, Joseph Park Babcock published his book Rules of Mah-Jongg, also known as the "red book". This was the earliest version of mahjong known in America. Babcock had learned mahjong while living in China. Babcock's rules simplified the game to make it easier for Americans to take up, and his version was common through the mahjong fad of the 1920s. Later, when the 1920s fad died out, many of Babcock's simplifications were abandoned.

The game has taken on a number of trademarked names, such as "Pung Chow" and the "Game of Thousand Intelligences". Mahjong nights in America often involved dressing and decorating rooms in Chinese style. Several hit songs were also recorded during the mahjong fad, most notably "Since Ma is Playing Mah Jong" by Eddie Cantor.

Many variants of mahjong developed during this period. By the 1930s, many revisions of the rules developed that were substantially different from Babcock's classical version (including some that were considered fundamentals in other variants, such as the notion of a standard hand). The most common form, which eventually became "American mahjong", was most popular among Jewish women. Standardization came with the formation of the National Mah Jongg League (NMJL) in 1937, along with the first American mahjong rulebook, Maajh: The American Version of the Ancient Chinese Game.

While mahjong was accepted by U.S. players of all ethnic backgrounds during the Babcock era, many consider the modern American version a remake of a Jewish game, as many American mahjong players are of Jewish descent. The NMJL was founded by Jewish players and is considered a Jewish organization. In addition, players usually use the American game as a family-friendly social activity, not as gambling. In 1986, the National Mah Jongg League conducted their first Mah Jongg Cruise Tournament, in conjunction with Mah Jongg Madness. In 2010, this large scale seagoing event hosts its 25th Silver Anniversary Cruise, with players from all over the States and Canada participating.

In recent years, a second organization has formed, the American Mah Jongg Association. The AMJA currently hosts tournaments all across North America, with their signature event being at the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

British author Alan D. Millington revived the Chinese classical game of the 1920s with his book The Complete Book of Mah-jongg (1977). This handbook includes a formal rules set for the game. Many players in Western countries consider Millington's work authoritative.

Mahjong is not the first re-appearance of the Chinese game in the western world. It was also introduced in playing card form by an official of Britain's Consular Service named William Henry Wilkinson, author of "Chinese origin of playing cards," under the name of Khanhoo. This card game does not seem to have made much impression. The later success of mahjong came in part from the elegance of its mechanism as embodied in the domino-like pieces.

Current development

Today, the popularity and the characteristics of players of mahjong vary from country to country. There are also many governing bodies, which often host exhibition games and tournaments. It remains far more popular in Asia than in the West.

Mahjong, as of 2010, is the most popular table game in Japan. In Japan, there is a traditional emphasis on gambling, and the typical player is male. Many devotees there believe the game is losing popularity and have taken efforts to revive it. There are several manga and anime (e.g. Saki and Akagi) devoted to dramatic and comic situations involving mahjong. In addition, Japanese video arcades have introduced mahjong arcade machines that can be connected to others over the Internet. There are also video game versions of strip mahjong.

Mahjong culture is still deeply ingrained in the Chinese community. Sam Hui wrote Cantopop songs using mahjong as their themes, and Hong Kong movies have often included scenes of mahjong games. Many gambling movies have been filmed in Hong Kong, and a recent sub-genre is the mahjong movie.

Like other games, such as chess, Mastermind, checkers and card games, prolonged playing of mahjong may trigger epileptic seizures. The number of such cases, however, are rare. According to a 2007 study, to date there are only 23 reported cases of mahjong-induced seizures in the English medical literature.

Studies by doctors have also shown in Hong Kong that the game is beneficial for individuals suffering from dementia or cognitive memory difficulties, leading to the development of mahjong therapy.

As of 2008, there were approximately 7.6 million Mahjong players in Japan. An estimated 8,900 Mahjong parlors in Japan did ¥300 billion in sales that same year.

Type of game

Because of the solid form of the tiles, mahjong is sometimes classified as a domino game. However, it is much more similar to Western-style card games such as rummy.

Vanila Mahjong (Hong Kong format)

In an attempt to describe the equipment used, mechanics of the game and scoring this article will describe Old Hong Kong rules (old as opposed to new which are both played in Hong Kong and abroad) as the rules are easily understood by those unfamiliar with the game, it uses most of the tiles and have a very simple scoring system as well as laking the more advanced and complicated rules and scorring patterns of other variations including Shanghai and Japanese mahjong. Other variations and their differences are mentioned below and in other articles.

Equipment

Main article: Mahjong tiles

Basic equipment: chips, tiles, and dice

Hong Kong Mahjong is played with a set of mahjong tiles (though cards may be used). Sets often include counters (to keep score), dice (to decide how to deal) and a marker to show who is dealer and which round is being played. Some sets include racks to hold tiles (if they are shaped small or differently).

A set of mahjong tiles will usually differ from place to place. It usually has at least 136 tiles (most commonly 144), although sets originating from America or Japan will have more. Mahjong tiles are split into these categories: suits, honor, and flowers.

Simples

There are three different simple suits numbered 1-9. They are bamboo, circles (or dots) and characters (or myriads).

Circles or Dots Numbered 1 to 9

Characters Numbered 1 to 9

The circles, characters and bamboo are called simple tiles (they are numbered 1 to 9 and only tiles 1 and 9 are used in the bamboo suit). Of the dragons and winds (called honours) there are three kinds of each with no numerical value. Of both simples and honours there are four matching tiles for each value (i.e. there are four red dragons and there are four II dots).

Honours

There are two different honour suits. The winds of which there is north east south and west and the dragons of which there are Red, Green and White. They have no numerical sequence.

The East, South, West and North

The White, Green and Red Dragons

Bonus Tiles

There are 8 bonus tiles. Four flowers and four seasons (winter, spring, summer and autumn).

The four seasons (there is only one of each)

The four flowers (there is only one of each)

Choosing the first dealing and taking positions at the table

The dealer is chosen by various means, either by throwing dice (the highest total takes the east wind) or placing one of each wind face down and having each player randomly select one of these tiles. Each player sits down at their respective compass position at the table. East is dealer, the player to his/her left is South, across is West and to his/her right is North.

Hands, Rounds and Matches

A match consists of four rounds. In each round atleast four hands are played and each round is named after its prevailing wind. The Prevailing Wind is always set to East when starting. In the second round the prevailing wind is south etc. In each round, each player takes turns being the dealer. As dealer, this player assumes the position of the east wind. It is important not to confuse the prevailing wind with the seat wind as these are distinct. There are four rounds (with their prevailing winds) and in each round each player plays all four seat winds.

Example of Games (assuming the player who is dealer in each hand does not win the hand)

Example of a 16 hand game

Hand Number	Prevailing Wind	Player 1	Player 2	Player 3	Player 4
1	East	East (dealer)	South	West	North
2	East	North	East (dealer)	South	West
3	East	West	North	East (dealer)	South
4	East	South	West	North	East (dealer)
5	South	East (dealer)	South	West	North
6	South	North	East (dealer)	South	West
7	South	West	North	East (dealer)	South
8	South	South	West	North	East (dealer)
9	West	East (dealer)	South	West	North
10	West	North	East (dealer)	South	West
11	West	West	North	East (dealer)	South
12	West	South	West	North	East (dealer)
13	North	East (dealer)	South	West	North
14	North	North	East (dealer)	South	West
15	North	West	North	East (dealer)	South
16	North	South	West	North	East (dealer)

If the dealer wins a hand or if there is a draw (no winner), then an extra hand is played and the seating and prevailing wind remains the same. This may mean that a match would have no limit to the amount of hands played (though some players will set a limit to three consecutive hands allowed with the same seat positions and prevailing winds).

A mahjong set with Winds in play will usually include a separate Prevailing Wind marker (typically a die marked with the Wind characters in a holder) and a pointer that can be oriented towards the dealer to show Player Game Wind. In sets with racks, a rack may be marked differently to denote the dealer.

Wind position is significant in that it affects the scoring of the game.

Dealing tiles

All tiles are placed face down and shuffled vigourously (all four hands thrown in and shuffled for a lengthy amount of time). Each player then stacks a row of 18 tiles two tiles high in front of him. Players then push each side of their tiles together to form a square wall (though experienced players will form abstract shaped to keep things interesting).

The dealer throws three dice and sums up the total. Counting counterclockwise so that the dealer is 1 (or 5, 9, 13), so that east is 2 (or 6, 10, 14 etc.) etc., a player's quarter of the wall each chosen. Using the same total on the dice, the player then counts from left to right the stacks of tiles (stacks two high). Starting with the pile to the left of the stack counted to the dealer deals four tiles to himself and players (counterclockwise) take blocks of four tiles (now moving clockwise) until all players have 12 tiles. Each player then takes one last tile to make a 13-tile hand. Dealing does not have to be this formal and may be done quite differently based on house rules.

Each player now sets aside any flowers or seasons they may have drawn and takes replacement piece(s) from the wall.

The dealer takes the next piece from the wall, adds it to his hand. If this does not complete a legal hand, he then discards a piece (throwing it into the middle of the wall with no particular order in mind).

Gameplay

Each player takes a turn picking up a tile from the wall and then discarding a tile by thowing it into the centre and announcing outloud what the piece is. Play continues this way until one player has a legal hand. At this point a player will call out mahjong and reveal their hand. There are four different ways that this order of play can be interrupted which is mentioned below.

During gameplay, the number of tiles maintained by each player should always be thirteen tiles (meaning in each turn a tile must be picked up and another discarded). Not included in the count of 13 tiles are flowers set to the side and the 4th added piece of a kong (mentioned below). If a player is seen to have more or less that 13 tiles in their hand outside of their turn they are penalised.

Legal Hand

A winning hand consists of 14 tiles (the 13 tiles in the hand plus a 14th tile picked up from the wall or stolen when a player discards a tile needed to complete a hand). The first is called winning from the wall, the second is called winning by a discard.

The winning hand is made of 4 melds (a specific pattern of 3 pieces) and an eye (a pair of two identical pieces).

Most players play with a table minimum, meaning a winning hand must score a minimum amount of points (which can be seen in the scoring section). In Hong Kong Mahjong the most common point set is 3.

Melds

• Pong is a set of three identical tiles. For example:

.

In American mahjong, where it is possible to meld Flower tiles, a Pong may also refer to a meld of three of the four Flower tiles in a single group. American mahjong may also have hands requiring a knitted triplet—three tiles of identical rank but of different suits.

• Kong is a set of four identical tiles. For example:

Because all other melds contain three tiles, a Kong must be immediately exposed when explicitly declared. If the fourth tile is formed from a discard, it is said to be an exposed Kong (明槓/明杠, pinyin míng gàng). If all four tiles were formed in the hand, it is said to be a concealed Kong (暗槓/暗杠, pinyin àn gàng). In some forms of play, the outer two tiles of a concealed Kong are flipped to indicate its concealed status. It is also possible to form an exposed Kong if the player has an exposed Pung and draws the fourth tile. In any case, a player must draw an extra tile from the back end of the wall, or from the dead wall, if it exists, and discard as normal. Play then continues to the right. Once a Kong is formed, it cannot be split up, i.e., to use one tile as part of a Chow, and thus, it may be advantageous not to immediately declare a Kong.

• Chow is a meld of three suited tiles in sequence. For example:

Unlike other melds, an exposed Sheung may only be declared off the discard of the player on the left. The only exception is when the player needs that tile to form a Sheung to win. In this case, a Sheung can be declared at any opponent's turn. American mahjong does not have a formal Sheung (Sheungs cannot be declared), but some hands may require that similar sequences be constructed in the hand. Some American variations may also have the knitted sequence, where the three tiles are of three different suits. Sequences of higher length are usually not permissible, unless it forms more than one meld.

• Eye also known as a pair, while not a meld (and thus cannot be declared or formed with a discard, except if completing the pair completes the hand), is the final component to the standard hand. It consists of any two identical tiles. For example, this hand

Interruption of play

Flower

Whenver a player picks up a flower it is announced, placed to the side (it is not considered a part of the hand but a bonus point for the winning hand) and a replacement tile is picked up from the wall (from the "end" of the wall) so that a player has the 14 pieces needed before he/she discards. This may happen twice or more times in a row in a players turn.

Going Mahjong

If at any point in the game a player can use another players discard to complete a legal hand (and with the agreed minimum points) they yell out Mahjong and take the piece and reveal their hand. This ends the hand and scoring commences. If two or three players need the piece to win (rare) there are two ways to resolve the issue depending on agreed upon table rules. Either the players compete to see who would have a better hand in terms of scoring or simply the player closest to the discarder in order of turn wins the game.

Melding (or stealing) another players discard

When a player discards a tile, any other player may "call" or "bid" for it in order to complete a meld (a certain set of tiles) in his own hand. The disadvantage of doing this is that the player must now expose the completed meld to the other players, giving them an idea of what type of hand he or she is creating. This also creates an element of strategy as, in many variations, discarding a tile that allows another player to win the game requires the discarding player to lose points, or pay the winner more, in a game for money.

Most variants, with the notable exception of American mahjong, allow three types of melds. When a meld is declared through a discard, the player must state the type of meld to be declared and place the meld face up. (As for the Japanese variant, callings to make melds are different from the actual names of the types of melds, favoring the original Chinese names over the Japanese translation.) The player must then discard a tile, and play continues to the right. Because of this, turns may be skipped in the process.

When two or more players call for a discarded tile, a player taking the tile to win the hand has precedence over all others, followed by Pong or Kong declarations, and lastly, Chows. In American mahjong, where it may be possible for two players needing the same tile for melds, the meld of a higher number of identical tiles takes precedence. If two or more players call for a meld of the same precedence (or to win), the player closest to the right wins out. In particular, if a call to win overrides a call to form a kong, such a move is called "robbing the Kong", and may give a scoring bonus. The game may be declared an abortive draw if two or more players call a tile for the win though, again depending on the variation.

There is generally an informal convention as to the amount of time allowed to make a call for a discarded tile before the next player takes their turn. In American mahjong, this "window of opportunity" is explicitly stated in the rules; whereas in other variants, it is generally considered that when the next player's turn starts, i.e., the tile leaves the wall, the opportunity has been lost.

Robbing a Kong

A rare but commonly used feature of the game is called robbing the kong. If a player declares a kong (by melding it or adding a fourth piece to a pong to form a kong or delcaring a concealed kong) and another player(s) can use that piece to complete a hand (which would only logically happen by making a chow) a player may steal that piece from that player when delcaring the kong and go mahjong (win the hand). This scores a lot of points.

Example winning hands

Examples of winning hands (split into melds and pair for clarity):

• - - - -

Hand formed with pongs and an eye (pair) of East wind. Only bamboo is used (no other simples) scoring extra points (clean hand). No chows are used (all pong/kong hand scoring extra points).

• - - - -

Hang formed using only circles (pure hand of only one suit worth extra points). Hand is made of chows, pongs and an eye of circles.

In Western Classical variants, this is known as creating a mahjong, and the process of winning is called going mahjong.

Variations may have special nonstandard hands that a player can make of which some are more common than others. A hand of 7 different pairs scores a specific agreed upon points and is an example of a hand which does not have 4 melds and an eye and which also must be hidden until the player wins. The other two most common patterns are thirteen orphans and the heavenly gates (which can be seen in the scoring section).

A winning hand must not only consist of four melds and an eye (or special patterns) but also score the agreed upon table minimum.

Turns and rounds

If the dealer wins the game, he will remain the dealer and an extra hand is played in addition to the minimum 16 hands in a match. The same occurs if there is no winner. The dealer position is significant in that he/she owes or is owed double their score. Extra points are also scored if their hand is composed of pieces that match their seat wind and or prevailing wind. Flowers are also scored as bonus points to the winner depending on their seat position.

Scoring

Main article: Scoring in mahjong

Scoring in mahjong involves points, with a monetary value for points agreed upon by players. Although in many variations scoreless hands are possible, many require that hands be of some point value in order to win the round.

While the basic gameplay is more or less the same throughout mahjong, the greatest divergence between variations lies in the scoring systems. Like the gameplay, there is a generalized system of scoring, based on the method of winning and the winning hand, from which Chinese and Japanese (among notable systems) base their roots. American mahjong generally has greatly divergent scoring rules, as well as greatly divergent gameplay rules.

Because of the large differences between the various systems of scoring (especially for Chinese variants), groups of players will often agree on particular scoring rules before a game. As with gameplay, many attempts have been made to create an international standard of scoring, but most are not widely accepted.

Points (terminology of which differs from variation to variation) are obtained by matching the winning hand and the winning condition with a specific set of criteria, with different criteria scoring different values. Some of these criteria may be subsets of other criteria (for example, having a meld of one Dragon versus having a meld of all of them), and in these cases, only the most general criterion is scored. The points obtained may be translated into scores for each player using some (typically exponential) functions. When gambling with mahjong, these scores are typically directly translated into sums of money. Some criteria may be also in terms of both points and score.

Variations

Description of Variations

• Chinese classical mahjong is the oldest variety of mahjong and was the version introduced to America in the 1920s under various names. It has a small, loyal following in the West, although few play it in Asia.
• Hong Kong mahjong or Cantonese mahjong is possibly the most common form of mahjong, differing in minor scoring details from the Chinese Classical variety. It does not allow multiple players to win from a single discard.
• Sichuan mahjong is a growing variety, particularly in southern China, disallowing chi melds, and using only the suited tiles. It can be played very quickly.
• Taiwanese mahjong is the variety prevalent in Taiwan and involves hands of 16 tiles (as opposed to the 13-tile hands in other versions), features bonuses for dealers and recurring dealerships, and allows multiple players to win from a single discard.
• Japanese mahjong is a standardized form of mahjong in Japan and is also found prevalently in video games. In addition to scoring changes, the rules of rīchi (ready hand) and dora (bonus tiles) are unique highlights of this variant. Besides, there is a variation calledsanma (三麻) based on this sort, which is modified for playing by three players, and its main differences from the standard one are that chī (Chow) is disallowed and the simple tiles (numbers two through eight) of one suit (usually characters) are removed.
• Western classical mahjong is a descendant of the version of mahjong introduced by Babcock to America in the 1920s. Today, this term largely refers to the "Wright-Patterson" rules, used in the U.S. military, and other similar American-made variants that are closer to the Babcock rules.
• American mahjong is a form of mahjong standardized by the National Mah Jongg League and the American Mah-Jongg Association. It uses joker tiles, the Charleston, plus melds of five or more tiles, and eschews the Chow and the notion of a standard hand. Purists claim that this makes American mahjong a separate game. In addition, the NMJL and AMJA variations, which differ by minor scoring differences, are commonly referred to as mahjongg or mah-jongg (with two Gs, often hyphenated).
• Three player mahjong (or three-ka) is a simplified three-person mahjong that involves hands of 13 tiles (with a total of 84 tiles on the table) and may use jokers depending on the variation. Any rule set can be adapted for three players, however this is far more common and accepted in Japan, Korea, Malaysia and the Philippines. It usually eliminates one suit entirely or tiles 2-8 in one suit leaving only the terminals. It needs fewer people to start a game and the turnaround time of a game is short—hence, it is considered a fast game. In some versions there is a jackpot for winning in which whoever accumulates a point of 10 is considered to hit the jackpot or whoever scores three hidden hands first. The Malaysian and Korean versions drop one wind and may include a seat dragon. Korean Japanese three player variant.
• Singaporean/Malaysian mahjong is a variant similar to the Cantonese mahjong played in Malaysia. Unique elements of Singaporean/Malaysian mahjong are the four animal tiles (cat, mouse, cockerel, and centipede) as well as certain alternatives in the scoring rules, which allow payouts midway through the game if certain conditions (such as a kang) are met.
• Fujian mahjong, with a Dàidì joker 帶弟百搭.
• Vietnamese mạt chược, with 16 different kinds of jokers.
• Thai mahjong, includes the Vietnamese tiles with another eight for a total of 168 tiles.
• Filipino mahjong, with the Window Joker.
• Korean mahjong is unique in many ways and is an excellent version for beginners and three players. One suit is omitted completely (usually the Bamboo set) as well as the seasons. The scoring is simpler and the play is faster. No melded chows are allowed in and concealed hands are common. Riichi (much like its Japanese cousin) is an integral part of the game as well.Korean Rules
• Pussers bones is a fast-moving variant developed by sailors in the Royal Australian Navy. It uses a creative alternative vocabulary, such as Eddie, Sammy, Wally, and Normie, instead of East, South, West, andNorth.
• Mahjong Solitaire involves stacking the Mahjong tiles in various configurations and then through an act of elimination the discovery of tile pairs and the removal of those pairs from the stack. The computer game was originally created by Brodie Lockard in 1981 on the PLATO system. Microsoft Corporation released a computerized Mahjong solitaire game called "Mahjong Titans" originally bundled with Windows Vista and later also with Windows 7. Previously Activision in 1986 released a computerized Mahjong solitaire game for the Amiga, Macintosh and Apple IIgs computers and also the Sega Master System entitled Shanghai.

Selected Variations Compared

Mahjong Variations

Variation	Hong Kong	HK New	Classical	Japanese	Korean	Taiwan	Malaysia/Singapore	Three player mahjong J/K	American
Flowers	Yes	Yes	Yes	Optional	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Seasons	Yes	Yes	Yes	Uncommon	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes
Bamboo	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No or only terminals	Yes	Yes	No or only Terminals	Yes
Animals	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes
Jokers	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes
Scoring Base	Faan	Faan	Multipliers	Multipliers	Simple	Simple	Simple	Simple	American
Scoring	Winner	Winner	All	Winner	Winner	Winner	Winner	Winner	Winner
East Doubles	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Sacred Discard	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
Melded Chows	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Riichi	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No
Minimum Points (in variations units)	3f	5f	3f	1y	2p	7/10t	2u	3+	Varies

Flowers

Japanese rule sets discourage the use of flowers and seasons. Korean rules and three player mahjong in the Korean/Japanese tradition use only flowers. In Singapore and Malaysia an extra set of bonus tiles of four animals are used. The rule set includes a unique function in that players who get two specific animals get a one time immediate payout from all players. In Taiwanese mahjong, getting all eight flowers and seasons constitutes an automatic win of the hand and specific payout from all players.

Four of the flower tiles represent the four noble plants of Confucian reckoning: 🀢 plum, 🀣 orchid, 🀥 chrysanthemum, and 🀤 bamboo.

The other four flower tiles (or season tiles) represent seasons: 🀦 spring, 🀧 summer, 🀨 autumn, and 🀩winter.

The animal tiles used in Malaysia, Singapore and local variations are the animals. They represent the cat, mouse,cockerel and centipede.

Amount of Tiles

All tiles are placed face down and shuffled. Each player then stacks a row of tiles two tiles high in front of him, the length of the row depending on the number of tiles in use:

• 136 tiles: 17 stacks for each player
  • Suits of dots, bamboos, and characters + winds + dragons
• 144 tiles: 18 stacks for each player
• 148 tiles: 19 stacks for dealer and player opposite, 18 for rest
• 152 tiles: 19 stacks for each player

Charleston

In the American variations, it is required that before each hand begins, a Charleston is enacted. In the first round, three tiles are passed to the player on one's right; in the next round, the tiles are passed to the player opposite, followed by three tiles passed to the left. If all players are in agreement, a second Charleston is performed; however, any player may decide to stop passing after the first Charleston is complete. The Charleston is followed by an optional pass to the player across of one, two, or three tiles. The Charleston, a distinctive feature of American mahjong, may have been borrowed from card games such as Hearts.

Jokers

A feature of several variations of mahjong, most notably American variations, is the notion of some number of 🀪 Joker tiles. They may be used as a wild card: a substitute for any tile in a hand, or, in some variations, only tiles in melds. Another variation is that the Joker tile may not be used for melding. Depending on the variation, a player may replace a Joker tile that is part of an exposed meld belonging to any player with the tile it represents.

Rules governing discarding Joker tiles also exist; some variations permit the Joker tile to take on the identity of any tile, and others only permit the Joker tile to take on the identity of the previously discarded tile (or the absence of a tile, if it is the first discard).

Joker tiles may or may not have an impact on scoring, depending on the variation. Some special hands may require the use of Joker tiles (for example, to represent a "fifth tile" of a certain suited or honor tile).

In American mahjong, it is illegal to pass Jokers during the Charleston.

Ready hands

When a hand is one tile short of winning (for example: , waiting for:, , or , as can be eyes), the hand is said to be a ready hand (Traditional Chinese: 聽牌; Simplified Chinese: 听牌; Japanese: tenpai [聴牌]), or more figuratively, "on the pot". The player holding a ready hand is said to be waitingfor certain tiles. It is common to be waiting for two or three tiles, and some variations award points for a hand that is waiting for one tile. In 13-tile mahjong, the largest number of tiles for which a player can wait is 13 (thethirteen wonders, or thirteen orphans, a nonstandard special hand). Ready hands must be declared in some variations of mahjong, while other variations prohibit the same.

Some variations of mahjong, most notably Japanese and Korean ones, allow a player to declare rīchi (立直; sometimes known asreach, as it is phonetically similar). A declaration of rīchi is a promise that any tile drawn by the player is immediately discarded unless it constitutes a win. Standard requirements for rīchi are that the hand be closed or have no melds declared (other than a concealed kong) and that players already have points for declaration of rīchi. A player who declaresrīchi and wins usually receives a point bonus for their hand directly, and a player who won with rīchi also has the advantage to open the inner dora (ドラ, from "dra"gon) which leads to higher possibilities to match such a card, thus has more chance to grant additional bonus. However, a player who declares rīchi and loses is usually penalized in some fashion. Declaring a nonexistent rīchi is also penalized in some way.

In some variations, a situation in which all four players declare a rīchi is an automatic drawn game, as it reduces the game down to pure luck, i.e., who gets their needed tile first.

Draws

If only the dead wall remains (or if no dead wall exists and the wall is depleted) and no one has won, the round is drawn (流局liú jú, 黃莊 huáng zhuāng, Japanese ryūkyoku), or "goulashed". A new round begins, and depending on the variant, the Game Wind may change. For example, in most playing circles in Singapore, if there is at least one Kong when the round is a draw, the following player of the dealer becomes the next dealer; otherwise, the dealer remains dealer.

Japanese mahjong has a special rule called sanchahō (三家和), which is, if three players claim the same discard in order to win, the round is drawn. One reason for this is that there are cases in which bars of 1,000 points for declaring rīchi cannot be divided by three. The rule is treated the same as "abortive draws".

Abortive draws

In Japanese mahjong, rules allow abortive draws to be declared while tiles are still available. They can be declared under the following conditions:

• 九種么九牌倒牌 (kyūshu yaochūhai tōhai): On a player's first turn when no meld has been declared yet, if a player has nine different terminal (also known as major) or honor tiles, the player may declare the round to be drawn (for example, , but could also go for the nonstandard thirteen wonders hand as well).
• 四風子連打 (sūfontsu renda): On the first turn without any meld declarations, if all four players discard the same Wind tile, the round is drawn.
• 四家立直 (sūcha rīchi): If all four players declare rīchi, the round is drawn.
• 四槓算了 (sūkan sanra): The round is drawn when the fourth Kong is declared, unless all four Kongs were declared by a single player. Still, the round is drawn when another player declares a fifth Kong.

Wild Tiles

Also known as Joker tiles. They are used in only a few variations and do not constitute a suit but rather can be substituted for any desired tile based on the particular rules of the variations.

There are many variations of mahjong. In many places, players often observe one version and are either unaware of other variations or claim that different versions are incorrect. Although many variations today differ only by scoring, there are several main varieties:

Mahjong competition rules

The top three in the World Mahjong Championship in Tokyo, October 2002. In the middle: world champion Mai Hatsune, from Japan

The first Open European Mahjong Championship, Nijmegen, the Netherlands, June 2005

The winners of the second Open European Mahjong Championship, Copenhagen, Denmark, June 2007. From left: Kohichi Oda (2), Martin Wedel Jacobsen (1), and Benjamin Boas (3)

In 1998, in the interest of dissociating illegal gambling from mahjong, the China State Sports Commission published a new set of rules, now generally referred to as Chinese Official rules or International Tournament rules (see Guobiao Majiang). The principles of the new, wholesome mahjong are: no gambling, no drinking, and no smoking. In international tournaments, players are often grouped in teams to emphasize that mahjong from now on is considered a sport.

The new rules are highly pattern-based. The rulebook contains 81 combinations, based on patterns and scoring elements popular in both classic and modern regional Chinese variants; some table practices of Japan have also been adopted. Points for flower tiles (each flower is worth one point) may not be added until the player has scored 8 points. The winner of a game receives the score from the player who discards the winning tile, plus 8 basic points from each player; in the case of zimo (self-drawn win), he receives the value of this round plus 8 points from all players.

The new rules were first used in an international tournament in Tokyo, where, in 2002, the first World Championship in Mahjong was organized by the Mahjong Museum, the Japan Mahjong Organizing Committee, and the city council of Ningbo, China. One hundred players participated, mainly from Japan and China, but also from Europe and the United States. Mai Hatsune, from Japan, became the first world champion. The following year saw the first annual China Majhong Championship, held in Hainan; the next two annual tournaments were held in Hong Kong and Beijing. Most players were Chinese, but players from other nations attended as well.

In 2005, the first Open European Mahjong Championship was held in the Netherlands, with 108 players. The competition was won by Masato Chiba from Japan. The second European championship in Copenhagen(2007) was attended by 136 players and won by Danish player Martin Wedel Jacobsen. The first Online European Mahjong Championship was held on the Mahjong Time server in 2007, with 64 players, and the winner was Juliani Leo, from the U.S., and the Best European Player was Gerda van Oorschot, from the Netherlands. The Third Open European Mahjong Championship 2009 at Baden/Vienna,Austria, was won by Japanese player Koji Idota, while runner-up Bo Lang from Switzerland became European Champion. There were 152 participants.

In 2006, the World Mahjong Organization (WMO) was founded in Beijing, China, with the cooperation of, amongst others, the Japan Mahjong Organizing Committee (JMOC) and the European Mahjong Association (EMA). This organization held its first World Championship in November 2007 in the Chinese town of Chengdu, attended by 144 participants from all over the world. It was won by Li Li, a Chinese student at Tsinghua University. The next World Championship will take place in Utrecht, the Netherlands, in Summer 2010.

Some other parties have also attempted to create international competition rules. The most noticeable one is the Zung Jung (中庸) Mahjong Scoring System, created by Hong Kong mahjong scholar Alan Kwan. Unlike the Chinese Official rules, Zung Jung is designed with simplicity as one of its design goals, and aims to be suitable for casual entertainment as well as tournament play. Zung Jung is adopted by the World Series of Mahjong event held annually in Macau. The World Series of Mahjong was last held in September 2008, in which 302 participants took part. The main event had a prize pool of US$1-million, which was won over three days of play by Alex Ho, from Hong Kong. He won US$500K from the prize pool and a mahjong necklace designed by Steela+Steelo.

Western, or American-style Mah Jongg tournaments are held in virtually every state - the largest in Las Vegas, NV twice a year, and in Atlantic City, NJ, by Mah JOngg Madness; and the annual cruise hosted by the National Mah JOngg League and Mah Jongg Madness (MJM). MJM tournaments host between 150 and 500 participants at these larger events; and there are several smaller scale, but equally successful tournaments held annually by other hosts. Prize pools are based on the number participating. Rules are based on the National Mah Jongg League standard rules.

Special Meaning and History of Tiles

The suits of the tiles are money-based. In ancient China, the copper coins had a square hole in the center; people passed a rope through the holes to tie coins into strings. These strings are usually in groups of 100 coins, called diào (弔, or variant 吊), or 1000 coins, called guàn (貫). Mahjong's connection to the ancient Chinese currency system is consistent with its alleged derivation from the game named mǎ diào (馬弔).

In the mahjong suits, the coppers represent the coins, the ropes are actually strings of 100 coins, and the character myriad represents 10,000 coins or 100 strings. When a hand receives the maximum allowed winning of a round, it is called mǎn guàn (滿貫, literally, "full string of coins".)

• Dragon tiles: 🀄 Red Dragon, 🀅 Green Dragon, and 🀆 White Dragon. The term dragon tile is a Western convention introduced by Joseph Park Babcock in his 1920 book introducing mahjong to America. Originally, these tiles are said to have something to do with the Chinese Imperial Examination. The red tile ("中"榜, zhōngbǎng) means passing the examination to clear the way to officialdom. The green tile ("發"財, fācái, literally "get rich") means wealth. The white tile (白板,báibǎn, literally "clean slate") means freedom from corruption. It usually has a blue border to distinguish from replacement tiles and prevent alterations. In the original Chinese mahjong, these pieces are called jiàn (箭), which represents archery, and the red "中" represents a hit on the target. In ancient Chinese archery, one would put a red "中" to signify that the target was hit. White "白" represents failure, and green "發" means that one will release the draw.

• Stones (alternatively wheels or circles): one through nine (🀙🀚🀛🀜🀝🀞🀟🀠🀡). Named as each tile consists of a number of circles. Each circle is said to represent can (筒, tóng) coins with a square hole in the middle.

• Bamboos: one through nine (🀐🀑🀒🀓🀔🀕🀖🀗🀘). Named as each tile consists of a number of bamboo sticks. Each stick is said to represent a string (索, sǔo) that holds a hundred coins. Note that 1 Bamboo is an exception: it has a bird sitting on a bamboo, to prevent alteration.

• Characters (alternatively numbers): one through nine (🀇🀈🀉🀊🀋🀌🀍🀎🀏). Named as each tile represents ten thousand(萬, wàn) coins, or one hundred strings of one hundred coins.

Mahjong Online

Mahjong can be played online through websites or downloading programs in various languages for fun or for money.

Following is one such website: http://www.dpmohali.com/flashgames/letter/19/game/13/Shanghai-Mahjongg.aspx

Mahjong in Unicode

The Unicode range for mahjong is U+1F000 .. U+1F02F. Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points.

Mahjong Tiles[1][2] Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

A

B

C

D

E

F

U+1F00x

🀀

🀁

🀂

🀃

🀄

🀅

🀆

🀇

🀈

🀉

🀊

🀋

🀌

🀍

🀎

🀏

U+1F01x

🀐

🀑

🀒

🀓

🀔

🀕

🀖

🀗

🀘

🀙

🀚

🀛

🀜

🀝

🀞

🀟

U+1F02x

🀠

🀡

🀢

🀣

🀤

🀥

🀦

🀧

🀨

🀩

🀪

🀫

Notes 1.^ As of Unicode version 15.1 2.^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points

See also

• Mahjong video game
• Games played with Mahjong equipment
• Mahjong culture
• Mahjong solitaire
• Mahjong movie
• Singaporean Mahjong scoring rules
• World Mahjong Organization
• World Mahjong Championship

Further reading

Historical research

• Culin, Stewart, ‘The Game of Ma-Jong, its Origin and Significance’. In: Brooklyn Museum Quarterly, Brooklyn, NY, Vol. XI, 1924, p. 153-168. Also found at;

http://www.gamesmuseum.uwaterloo.ca/Archives/Culin/Majong1924/index.html

• Depaulis, Thierry, ‘Embarrassing Tiles: Mahjong and the Taipings’. In: The Playing-card, Vol. 35, No. 3, 2007, pp. 148 – 153.
• Ebashi, Takashi, ‘Proto Mahjong. Mahjong Tiles in the 19th Century’. In: Mahjong Museum Report, Vol. 5, No.2, Issue 9, April, 2005, pp. 14 – 17 (in Japanese).
• Lo, Andrew, ‘China’s Passion for Pai: Playing Cards, Dominoes, and Mahjong’. In: Asian Games: The Art of Contest, Colin Mackenzie and Irving Finkel, eds. Asia Society. 2004. pp. 217–231. ISBN 0-87848-099-4
• Stanwick, Michael, ‘Mahjong(g) Before Mahjong(g): Part 1’. In: The Playing-card, Vol. 32, No. 4, 2004, pp. 153–162.
• Stanwick, michael, ‘Mahjong(g) Before Mahjong(g): Part 2’. In: The Playing-card, Vol. 32, No. 5, 2004, pp. 206–215.
• Stanwick, Michael, ‘Mahjong(g), Before and After Mahjong(g): Part 1’. In: The Playing-card, Vol. 34, No. 4, 2006, pp. 259–268.
• Stanwick, Michael, ‘Mahjong(g), Before and After Mahjong(g): Part 2’. In: The Playing-card, Vol. 35, No. 1, 2006, pp. 27–39.
• Stanwick, Michael and Xu, Hongbing, 'Flowers nad Kings: A Hypothesis of their Function in Early Ma Que'. In: The Playing-card, Vol. 37, No. 1, 2008, pp. 29–40.
• Wilkinson, William H.,(1890): Published in 1901 as pp 184–194 of Catalogue of the Collection of Playing Cards Bequeathed to the Trustees of the British Museum, F. M. O’Donoghue.
• Wilkinson, William H.,(1893): Published in Culin, Games of the Orient, Tuttle, 1958. First published under the title Korean Games, with Notes on the Corresponding Games of China and Japan, University of Pennsylvania, 1895.
• Wilkinson, William H., ‘Chinese Origin of Playing Cards’, in The American Anthropologist, Volume VIII, 1895, pp. 61–78. Also found at;

http://www.gamesmuseum.uwaterloo.ca/Archives/Wilkinson/Wilkinson.html

Chinese classical

• Babcock, Joseph Park, Babcock's Rules for Mah-jongg. Mah-jongg Sales Company of America: 1923.
• Babcock, Smith, Hartman, Work, and Foster, The American Code Of Laws For Mah-Jongg. Standardization Committee: 1924.
• Millington, A.D., Complete Book of Mah Jong. Weidenfeld & Nicolson: 1993. ISBN 0-297-81340-4.

Chinese official

• Competition mahjong Official International Rulebook. Takeshobo: 2002. ISBN 4-8124-0944-6.
• Handbook for the Competitions of the Chinese MaJiang. Organizing Committee of Chinese MaJiang: 2005.
• Hatsune, Mai and Takunori Kajimoto, translation by Ryan Morris World-Class mahjong with World Champion Mai Hatsune: 2005.
• Pritchard, David B.,The New mahjong. Right Way: 2004. ISBN 0-7160-2164-1.

Others

• Lo, Amy. The Book of Mah jong: An Illustrated Guide. Tuttle Publishing: 2001. ISBN 0-8048-3302-8.
• Oxfeld, Ellen, Blood, Sweat, and Mahjong: Family and Enterprise in an Overseas Chinese Community. Cornell University Press: 1993. ISBN 0-8014-9908-9.
• Pritchard, David B.,Teach Yourself mahjong. McGraw-Hill/Contemporary: 2001. ISBN 0-658-02147-8.
• Sloper, Tom., Mah-Jongg: Game of the Orient. Self-published: n.d.
• Wright Patterson Mah Jongg Group, Mah Jongg; Wright-Patterson Rules. Wright Patterson Mah Jongg Group: 1963.

External links

• Mahjong at Curlie