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mah-jongg
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What is mah-jongg?
Mah-jongg is a game of Chinese origin played with tiles that are similar to dominoes. The tiles are engraved with Chinese symbols and characters and divided into suits and honors. The game is typically played by four people with 144 tiles.
The object of the game is to obtain sets of tiles, similar to rummy. Players begin by drawing 13 tiles, and the "east wind" takes 14 and starts play by discarding one. The winner is the first player to have a complete hand, which consists of four sets and a pair of like tiles for a total of 14 tiles.
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Where did mah-jongg originate?
Mah-jongg is a game of Chinese origin played with tiles that are similar to dominoes but engraved with Chinese symbols and characters. The game is probably of 19th-century origin, and before World War I, each Chinese province had its own style of play and dialect name for it. The name, signifying "sparrow" (maque), has been transliterated as ma tsiang, ma chiang, ma cheuk, and ma ch’iau. The name mah-jongg was coined and copyrighted by Joseph P. Babcock, an American resident of Shanghai, who is credited with introducing mah-jongg to the West after World War I.
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What are the basic pieces or tiles used in mah-jongg?
Mah-jongg tiles are similar to dominoes, but they are engraved with Chinese symbols and characters divided into suits and honors. A full set has 136 or 144 tiles, made of plastic, and includes dice and tokens for scorekeeping.
The basic mah-jongg tiles include:
- 36 Bamboos (numbered 1 to 9, 4 of each number).
- 36 Circles (numbered 1 to 9, 4 of each number).
- 36 Characters (numbered 1 to 9, 4 of each number).
- 12 Honors (4 red, 4 green, 4 white dragons).
- 16 Winds (4 each of east, south, west, and north).
- 8 Optional tiles of flowers and seasons.
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How do you win a game of mah-jongg?
Mah-jongg is a game played with tiles that have Chinese symbols and characters. The goal is to create sets of tiles, similar to rummy. A set can be a chow (a sequence of three of the same suit in numerical order), a pung (three identical tiles), or a kong (a pung plus a fourth matching tile).
To win, be the first player to complete a hand of four sets and a pair of matching tiles, totaling 14 tiles. Players begin with 13 tiles, while the "east wind" starts with 14 and discards one. Players then draw tiles, either the last discarded tile or from the "wall." The strategy involves completing a winning hand quickly, blocking opponents, and building a high-scoring hand.
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How do players take turns and build hands in mah-jongg?
In mah-jongg, typically played with four players, the goal is to create sets of tiles, like in rummy card games.
To begin, each player draws 13 tiles, except for the "east wind" player, who starts with 14 and discards one to begin the game. Players then take turns in counterclockwise order, drawing a tile and discarding one. A player can claim the last discarded tile to complete a set. The first player to form a complete hand of four sets and a pair of matching tiles wins. Sets can be a chow (sequence of three in the same suit), pung (three identical tiles), or kong (four identical tiles).
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How do mah-jongg rules and styles differ between countries?
Mah-jongg rules and styles differ across countries, with each Chinese province having its own style of play and dialect name before World War I. The name mah-jongg, signifying "sparrow", has been transliterated in various ways. Joseph P. Babcock, an American resident of Shanghai, is credited with introducing mah-jongg to the West after World War I. He wrote a modified set of rules, gave English titles to the tiles, and added index letters and numerals familiar to Western card players. In the United States, the official governing body is the National Mah Jongg League, founded in 1937.
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mah-jongg, game of Chinese origin, played with tiles, or pais, that are similar in physical description to those used in dominoes but engraved with Chinese symbols and characters and divided into suits and honours. A fad in England, the United States, and Australia in the mid-1920s, the game was revived in the United States after 1935 but never regained its initial popularity. In the United States the official governing body is the National Mah Jongg League, founded in 1937.
The game is probably of 19th-century origin. Before World War I each Chinese province had its own style of play and dialect name for it. The name, signifying “sparrow” (maque), has been variously transliterated as ma tsiang, ma chiang, ma cheuk, and ma ch’iau. The sparrow or a mythical “bird of 100 intelligences” appears on one of the tiles. The name mah-jongg was coined and copyrighted by Joseph P. Babcock, an American resident of Shanghai, who is credited with introducing mah-jongg to the West after World War I. In order to promote the game in the West, he wrote a modified set of rules, gave English titles to the tiles, and added index letters and numerals familiar to Western card players. The game as described hereafter is prevalent in the United States; other forms of the game may be found in other Western countries.
Modern mah-jongg sets are usually made of plastic instead of bone or ivory. A full set contains 136 or 144 tiles, depending on whether the flowers or seasons are used. Some sets include 20 flowers.
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The table provides the names and numbers of mah-jongg tiles.
| Mah-jongg tiles | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Bamboos, numbered 1 to 9,4 of each number | 36 tiles |
| 2. | Circles, numbered 1 to 9,4 of each number | 36 tiles |
| 3. | Characters, numbered 1 to 9, 4 of each number | 36 tiles |
| 4. | Honours, 4 red, 4 green,4 white dragons | 12 tiles |
| 5. | Winds, 4 east, 4 south,4 west, 4 north winds | 16 tiles |
| Total | 136 tiles | |
| Optional tiles: | ||
| 6. | Flowers and seasons,4 of each or 8 of either | 8 tiles |
| Total | 144 tiles | |
The bamboos are often called sticks or bams, the circles are called dots, and the characters are cracks or craks. The mah-jongg set also includes a pair of dice, a quantity of tokens or chips used for scorekeeping, and a rack used to keep the tiles upright and to keep their faces hidden from other players.
The game is usually played by four individuals. The object of play, similar to that of the rummy card games, is to obtain sets of tiles. There are three kinds of sets: chow, a run or sequence of three of the same suit in numerical order; pung, a sequence of three tiles of the same suit and rank, such as three dragons of the same colour or three identical winds; and kong, a pung plus the fourth matching tile. The winner is the first player to hold a complete hand—i.e., four sets and a pair of like tiles (a total of 14 tiles). The strategy of mah-jongg, like that of rummy, is both offensive and defensive: to complete a winning hand as quickly as possible, to block other players by not discarding tiles useful to them, and to build a high-scoring hand.
Players begin by drawing 13 tiles; “east wind” (who collects or pays double according to whether he or another player wins) takes 14 and begins play by discarding one. Thereafter, the other players in counterclockwise rotation each draw one tile, which may be the last discarded tile or a loose tile from the “wall” (comparable to stock in rummy). Any player may claim the previous discard to complete a set. (If two or more players claim the same discard, there is a detailed order of precedence.) Losing players settle with the winner and with each other according to an accepted schedule of values for the sets or combinations of sets. A concealed set held in the hand scores differently from an exposed set on the table. Under certain rules, exceptional hands—picturesquely named “the three scholars,” “four small blessings,” and so on—are scored differently.
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