Mahjong (game)

Mahjong (also mah-jong, mahjongg, and other variants) is a game played with tiles that originated in China during the late nineteenth century. Players take and discard tiles until one has a hand completely of a set. The winner of the hand is awarded points based on the tiles in his or her hand, and points earned during a specified number of hands are combined to determine the winner. Mahjong is often compared to the card game rummy. Mahjong translates as "the game of the sparrows" or "sparrow tiles," and shuffling the tiles is known as the twittering of the sparrows. Such rituals contribute to the game's reputation as one of aesthetics as well as mathematics.

The most high-quality tiles are beautifully painted bamboo, ivory, or bone. Many modern sets are plastic or other inexpensive materials. The images on the 136 to 144 tiles relate to the suits, honors, flowers, and jokers used in the game. Many different versions of the game exist.

Background

Tile games, such as dominoes, have been popular in China since 1120 CE, and many Chinese individuals enjoyed card games. Mahjong, which first appeared in China about 1880, used some of the same terms applied in earlier card games and likely developed from them. Mahjong was first recorded near Shanghai, in the provinces of Anhwei, Chekiang, and Kiangsu.

Mahjong remained a regional game until about 1905, when it slowly began to increase in popularity in other parts of the country. It appeared in Japan about 1907. By 1920, it had replaced chess as the most popular game in China. Players established a number of rituals for the game, such as the shuffling and the deal.

Around 1920, mahjong was being played in other parts of Asia, and American and British players soon embraced it. Joseph P. Babcock began importing tile sets to the United States in 1922. He rewrote the rules to make the game easier. As its popularity swelled, variations emerged as players sought to make the game more challenging. This led to a wide diversity of games played under the name mahjong. Americans developed the One-Double and Cleared-Hand variations, which were the most popular in 1924, but bore little resemblance to the Chinese version. These piecemeal variations frustrated players, and the game fell out of favor.

The National Mah Jongg League developed a set of official American rules by 1935. These variations were even less like the Chinese game, but catered to American tastes by correcting inconsistencies that had upset players, and mahjong's popularity surged again.

Overview

Official rules have been established for competitive play, such as the World Series of Mahjong. In most cases, the game is for four players, although some three-player variations are popular in Japan and South Korea.

Sets of 144 tiles include the flower and season tiles, while 136-tile sets do not. The optional flower and season tiles, which may be used to gain bonuses, are not used in World Series of Mahjong play.

The tiles include thirty-four designs, with four tiles of each design. These thirty-four designs include number tiles and honor tiles. Number tiles are in the bamboos, characters, and dots suits. Each suit has nine designs, which are numbered one to nine, and four tiles of each design. Honor tiles are the four winds (north, south, east, and west) and three dragons (green, red, and white). The number tiles are further distinguished as terminal tiles—numbers one and nine—and middle tiles—those from two to eight.

Before beginning, players pick their seats at the table. Four wind tiles—a north, south, east, and west—are placed facedown on the table, shuffled, and arranged in a line. One odd-number tile and one even-number tile are placed faceup, one at each end of the line. A player tosses the dice. The player indicated by the dice throws the dice. The player indicated by the second toss chooses a wind tile from the end with the even-number tile if the throw was an even number, from the other end if it was an odd number. Going in counterclockwise order, each player takes a wind tile. The player who takes the east tile takes the east seat (the starting player); the player with the south tile sits to east's right; the west tile sits opposite east; and the north tile takes the seat left of east.

The wind tile that corresponds to one's seat at the table is one's seat wind, and gains a player points. The seat wind rotates around the table as the deal passes. The dealer is the east player. A tournament consists of cycles, or four hands. The first hand is dealt by the player who drew the starting east seat. For each new hand, the player who had the south seat becomes the new east player. Each player thus serves as dealer for one hand of a cycle.

The game begins with a shuffle, breaking of the wall, and dealing the tiles. To break the wall, east tosses the dice. The thrown number is the break count, and the player indicated is the wall breaker. Breaking the wall involves counting the stacks of tiles from the right end equal to the break count and shifting them right. The left end of these tiles is the kong box, and the remaining stacks are the live wall. Players take two stacks (four tiles) from the live wall, first east, then south, west, and north. They repeat this two more times until each player has twelve tiles. East then takes the first and fifth tiles from the live wall. South, west, and north each take one tile for thirteen total.

East, with fourteen tiles, begins play by discarding a tile. In turn, each player chooses a tile from the live wall and discards a tile, placing it into the river, or the area inside the walls. Players may also claim the most recently discarded tile. Play ends when someone wins the hand or the live wall tiles have all been claimed.

A player may win in several ways. A calling hand is a nearly complete set, which is said to be calling for the tile that would complete it. A self-draw win occurs when the player completes the hand by drawing a tile from the wall. A player may claim a discarded tile for a win on discard. Players may also claim discarded tiles to form sets of three or a kong, a set of four identical tiles.

Bibliography

Cendrowski, Scott. "After Missing World Cup, Now China Is Humbled at Mahjong." Fortune, 23 July 2014, fortune.com/2014/07/24/after-missing-world-cup-now-china-is-humbled-at-mahjong/. Accessed 2 June 2017.

"Mah Jong Beginnings." Masters Traditional Games, www.mastersofgames.com/cat/table/mah-jong.htm. Accessed 2 June 2017.

"Mah Jong—History and Useful Information." The Online Guide to Traditional Games, www.tradgames.org.uk/games/Mah-Jong.htm. Accessed 1 June 2017.

"Mahjong Rules & How to Play Mahjong." Rummy.com, rummy.com/mahjong.html. Accessed 2 June 2017.

"Rules." World Series of Mahjong, worldmahjong.com/rules/rules/. Accessed 2 June 2017.

"Scoring." World Series of Mahjong, worldmahjong.com/rules/scoring/. Accessed 2 June 2017.

"6 Tips for Mahjong Beginners." Lantern Club, 9 Apr. 2017, www.lanternclub.com.au/blog/6-tips-mahjong-beginners/. Accessed 2 June 2017.

"Variations on the Game." Mah Jong Sets, www.mahjongsets.co.uk/variations-mahjong.html. Accessed 2 June 2017.