Chinese traditional tile-based game – Mahjong

Mahjong or mah-jongg (English pronunciation: /mɑːˈdʒɒŋ/ mah-JONG, Mandarin Chinese: [mǎ.tɕjâŋ]) is a tile-based game that was developed in the 19th century in China and has spread throughout the world since the early 20th century. It is commonly played by four players (with some three-player variations found in parts of China, Japan, South Korea, and Southeast Asia). The game and its regional variants are widely played throughout Eastern and South-Eastern Asia and have also become popular in Western countries. The game has also been adapted into widespread online entertainment. Similar to the Western card game rummy, Mahjong is a game of skill, strategy, and luck. To distinguish it from mahjong solitaire, it is sometimes referred to as mahjong rummy.

The game is played with a set of 144 tiles based on Chinese characters and symbols, although some regional variations may omit some tiles or add unique ones. In most variations, each player begins by receiving 13 tiles. In turn, players draw and discard tiles until they complete a legal hand using the 14th drawn tile to form four melds (or sets) and a pair (eye). A player can also win with a small class of special hands. While many variations of mahjong exist, most variations have some basic rules in common including how a piece is drawn and discarded, how a piece is robbed from another player, the use of suits (numbered tiles) and honors (winds and dragons), the basic kinds of melds allowed, how to deal the tiles and the order of play. Beyond these basic common rules, numerous regional variations exist which may have notably different criteria for legal melds and winning hands, radically different scoring systems, and even elaborate extra rules. A group of players may introduce their own house rules which can notably change the feel of the play.

Mahjong players in Hangzhou in 2006

Local play on the street in Lanzhou

A set of Mahjong tiles

In Chinese, the game was originally called 麻雀 (pinyin: máquè)—meaning sparrow—which is still used in some languages in southern China. It is said that the clacking of tiles during shuffling resembles the chattering of sparrows. It has also been suggested that the name came from an evolution of an earlier card game called Madiao from which mahjong tiles were adapted. Most Mandarin-speaking Chinese now call the game 麻將 (májiàng). Its name is similar in other languages, except in Thai, where it is called (phai nok krachok), a calque meaning “sparrow cards.”

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