| Mahjong | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| A game of mahjong being played in Hangzhou, China | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 麻將 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 麻将 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Alternative Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 麻雀 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 麻雀 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Vietnamese name | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vietnamese | mạt chược | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Korean name | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hangul | 마작 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hanja | 麻雀 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Japanese name | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kanji | 麻雀 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kana | マージャン | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Players | 2-4 |
|---|---|
| Age range | 4 years and older |
| Setup time | 2-5 minutes |
| Playing time | Dependent on variation and/or house/tournament rules |
| Random chance | Yes |
| Skill(s) required | Tactics, observation, memory |
Mahjong, sometimes spelled Mah Jongg, 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 from the table game. Similar to the Western card game rummy, 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 136 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.
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.
One of the myths of the origin of mahjong suggests that Confucius,[1] 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.[2] 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.[3] 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.[4] Today, it is a favorite pastime in China and other Chinese-speaking communities.
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.[5] The first mahjong sets sold in the U.S. were sold by Abercrombie & Fitch starting in 1920.[6] It became a success in New York, and the (co.) 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.[6]
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.[7] Several hit songs were also recorded during the mahjong fad, most notably "Since Ma is Playing Mah Jong" by Eddie Cantor.[8]
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.[9] 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,[10] 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.
In addition, games scholar David Parlett has written that the Western card games Conquian and Rummy were derived from Mahjong.[11] All these games involve players drawing and discarding tiles or cards to make melds.
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.[12] As of 2008, there were approximately 7.6 million Mahjong players in Japan and an estimated 8,900 Mahjong parlors did ¥300 billion in sales.[13] 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.[14] 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,[15][16] 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.[17]
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.
In an attempt to describe the mechanics, equipment and scoring of the game, this article will first mention Old Hong Kong rules, that is, old as opposed to new which are both played in Hong Kong and abroad, as the rules are easily understood. It uses most of the tiles and has a simple scoring system as well as lacking the more advanced and complicated rules and scoring patterns used in some variations. The features of some variations of mahjong are described in the section of Variations and in other articles.
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.
There are three different suits numbered 1 to 9, which are called simple tiles. They are bamboo, characters (or myriads), and circles (or dots).
Bamboos numbered 1 to 9.
Characters numbered 1 to 9.
Circles or Dots numbered 1 to 9.
In some variations only tiles 1 and 9 are used in the bamboo suit. There are four matching tiles for each value (e.g. there are four Dots tiles with the number 2).
There are two different honor suits: the winds and the dragons. The winds are east, south, west and north, and the dragons are Red, Green and White. They have no numerical sequence and there are four tiles of each honor (e.g. four Red Dragon tiles).
The East, South, West and North
The Red, Green and White Dragons
There are eight bonus tiles: four flowers and four seasons. The flowers are plum, orchid, chrysanthemum and bamboo, and the seasons are spring, summer, autumn and winter.
The four flowers (there is only one of each)
The four seasons (there is only one of each)
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 position at the table, which is of the reversed map: East is dealer, the right of the dealer is South, across is West and the left is North. The order becomes counterclockwise.
A match consists of four rounds. In each round at least 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)
| 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.
All tiles are placed face down on the table and are shuffled. By convention all players should participate in shuffling using both hands moving the pieces around the table, loudly, for a lengthy period. There is no fixed rule on how to deal or how to treat tiles which flip over during shuffle, though possible solutions include turning back over the pieces at the moment they are seen, turning over all revealed pieces at intervals or doing so at the end of the shuffling and forming of the wall.
Each player then stacks a row of 18 tiles two tiles high in front of him (for a total of 36 tiles). Players then push each side of their tiles together to form a square wall.
The dealer throws three dice and sums up the total. Counting counterclockwise so that the dealer is 1 (or 5, 9, 13, 17), so that south is 2 (or 6, 10, 14, 18), etc., a player's quarter of the wall is chosen. Using the same total on the dice, the player then counts the stacks of tiles from right to left. Starting from the left of the stacks counted, the dealer takes four tiles to himself, and players in counterclockwise order take blocks of four tiles until all players have 12 tiles, so that the stacks decrease clockwise. 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).
Each player takes a turn picking up a tile from the wall and then discarding a tile by throwing it into the centre and, if desired, announcing out loud 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 play, 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 thirteen tiles are flowers and seasons set to the side and the fourth added piece of a kong (mentioned below). If a player is seen to have more or less than thirteen tiles in their hand outside of their turn they are penalised.
A winning hand consists of fourteen tiles (the thirteen tiles in the hand plus the additional 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 four melds (a specific pattern of three pieces) and the eyes (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 three.
.
You can form a pong with any tile (except flowers as they are bonus tiles set to the side when drawn from the wall). The tiles must be identical (you cannot mix suits).
Consider a Kong the same as a Pong/ Pung with an additional tile to make a set of four. There are three ways to form a Kong. At any point during a players turn, if they have all four matching tiles in their hand, they may declare the Kong. They do so by revealing the meld and placing two pieces in the middle face up and two pieces on the ends face down. This is called a concealed or hidden kong. It is worth noting as having several concealed pongs and/or kongs are worth points. If another player discards a tile and a player has the other three matching tiles in their hand, they may take it and create a melded (stolen) Kong. The player does this by placing the three tiles down and the fourth tile on top of the middle one. The final way to make a Kong is if a pong/ pung has already been melded and the player draws the fourth from the wall. They may add the fourth piece on top of the middle tile in the melded pong/ pung. If a pong/ pung has been melded a player cannot steal the fourth piece if another player discards it.
In any case, whenever a Kong is formed, the player must draw an extra tile from the end of the wall and then discard a tile. Kongs count extra for scoring purposes.
The meld must be in absolute numerical sequence. There is no skipping of numbers, nor does 9 loop around to 1. The sequence must be in the same suit. Honours, flowers and seasons cannot be used to make chows. A player can steal a discard to form a chow from the player prior to them in order if no one else needs the tile to make pongs/ pungs or kongs. When stealing a discard, winning precedes merely making melds.
Whenever a player draws a flower or season, it is announced and then placed to the side (it is not considered as a part of the hand but can earn a bonus point for the winning hand) and the last tile of the wall is drawn as a replacement tile so that the player has the fourteen pieces needed before their discard. This may happen twice or more times in a row in a player's turn.
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.
When a meld (Pong, Kong or Chow) 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.) 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.
If at any point in the game a player can use another player's discard to complete a legal hand (and with the agreed minimum points), they yell out Mahjong (Chinese: 糊; Japanese: ロン), take the piece and reveal their hand, with the way of calling it out depending on variations. This ends the hand, and scoring commences. If two or three players need the piece to win, there are two ways to resolve the issue depending on agreed 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.
A rarely occurring and high scoring feature of Hong Kong Mahjong is a move 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 declaring 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 declaring the kong and go mahjong (win the hand).
Below are examples of winning hands, which are split into melds and a pair for clarity. A winning hand must consist of four melds and a pair (with special patterns available), and must score the agreed table minimum as well.
– – – –
Hand formed with pongs and the eyes (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).
– – – –
Hand formed using only circles (pure hand of only one suit worth extra points). Hand is made of chows, pongs and the eyes 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 of which some are more common than others. The hands of seven different pairs and thirteen orphans are examples which do not have four melds and the eyes. For thirteen orphans, see the section of Limit hands.
If the dealer wins the game, s/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 s/he 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 and seasons are also scored as bonus points to the winner depending on their seat position.
Scoring in Hong Kong mahjong is a relatively easy process.
1) Only the winner scores points.
2) Winning hands are scored by totaling the point value of each element in the hand.
Point is distinct from the actual payment received from each player (as will be seen in a moment).
3) The winner receives points (also known as faan among some players) for:
4) In order to win, a player needs to have at least the minimum points agreed in advance (often 3).
5) Bonus points are separate from the minimum points a player needs to win.
6) If a player goes mahjong with a legal and minimum hand, his/her hand is scored by adding his/her points and bonus points together.
7) The payment received from each player depends on three factors:
a) the point value of the hand,
b) if the player won from a discard or from the wall, and
c) if the player was the dealer or not.
There are a series of "limit hands" (players agree in advance on a limit for scoring); for example, 64 points (which is the highest base points doubled twice).
Table rules dictate if these special hands are allowed and which ones.
In some cases it is expected that the hand is achieved without melding any sets (stealing tiles) except when winning and or that it must be won from the wall.
The winner receives a payment of the maximum possible payment (such as 64 points as shown above) from each player without any doubling.
They (limit hands?) are rare. They are also optional.
Some groups also play with the "great flowers" rule, in which: if a player picks up all 4 flowers and all 4 seasons during his/her hand, s/he instantly wins the hand and receives the maximum points from all players. This is exceptionally rare and is also an optional rule.
The number of points scored in a hand is translated to a base number for payment.
The base payment doubles for every increment of two or three points.
| Points | Base Payment |
|---|---|
| 3 | 1 |
| 4 | 1 |
| 5 | 2 |
| 6 | 2 |
| 7 | 2 |
| 8 | 4 |
| 9 | 4 |
| 10 | 8 |
| 11 | 8 |
| 12+ | 16 |
The base payment is doubled for the following (if two criteria apply, the base payment is doubled and then redoubled)
| Player | Base Payment |
|---|---|
| East (dealer) | 1 (base payment) x2 (doubling for winning from wall) x2 (doubling for being east) = -4 |
| South | 1 (base payment) x2 (doubling for winning from wall) = -2 |
| West | 4 (from east) + 2 (from south) 2 (from north) = +8 |
| North | 1 (base payment) x2 (doubling for winning from wall) = -2 |
| Player | Base Payment |
|---|---|
| East (dealer) | 2 (base payment) x2 (doubling for being east) = -4 |
| South | 2 (base payment) x2 (discarding winning piece) = -4 |
| West | 2 (base payment) = -2 |
| North | 4 (from east) + 4 (from south) 2 (from west) = +10 |
| Player | Base Payment |
|---|---|
| East (dealer) | 16 (from south) + 32 (from west) + 16 (from north) = +64 |
| South | 8 (base payment) x2 (paying to east) = -16 |
| West | 8 (base payment) x2 (paying to east) x2 (discarding winning piece) = -32 |
| North | 8 (base payment) x2 (paying to east) = -16 |
As one can see Hong Kong mahjong is essentially a payment system of doubling and redoubling. The higher the points, the higher the base score. East gains or suffers more from other players, winning from the wall is beneficial (though not much of a case of strategy but more luck) and throwing away the winning piece can be a big penalty.
A winning hand must include an agreed minimum amount of the following points (often 3)
| Item | Points |
|---|---|
| A pong/kong of Dragons | 1 |
| A pong/kong of Seat wind or Round wind | 1 |
| All simples | 1 |
| All chows and a pair of simples | 1 point more |
| All pongs/kongs and any pair (pong hand) | 3 |
| Only one simple suit (no mixing bamboos, circles or characters) and honours (dragons and or winds) (clean hand) | 3 |
| Item | Points |
|---|---|
| Three unmelded (stolen) pongs/kongs | 3 |
| Three kongs | 3 |
| Seven pairs (special pattern) | 4 |
| Only one suit (pure circles, pure bamboos or pure characters) | 6 |
| Little Dragons (two pongs of dragons and a pair of the 3rd dragon) | 12 |
| Little Winds (three pongs of winds and a pair of the 4th wind) | 12 |
| Item | Points |
|---|---|
| Winning from the wall | 1 |
| Robbing the Kong | 1 |
| Winning on the last tile from the wall or its subsequent discard | 1 |
| Item | Points |
|---|---|
| No flowers or seasons tiles in hand | 1 |
| Having Own flower (seat flower)
East-1 South-2 West-3 North-4 |
1 |
| Having Own season (seat season)
East-1 South-2 West-3 North-4 |
1 |
| All four flowers or all four seasons | 4 points extra |
| All 8 flowers and seasons (exceedingly rare) | Automatic win with maximum points |
Having a flower or season that is not a players seat flower or seat season scores no bonus points (unless a player achieves all four seasons or all four flowers).
| Item | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Thirteen Orphans | Player has 1 and 9 of each simple suit, one of each wind, one of each dragon and in addition one extra piece of any of those thirteen elements |
| Heavenly Gates | Player has 1112345678999 of any simple suit and one extra piece of numbers 1 to 9. This hand always has four melds and the eyes. |
| Pong Hand | Four concealed pongs and or kongs |
| Kong Hand | Player has four Kongs |
| Honours Hand | Player has all honours in the hand (winds and dragons) |
| Pearl Dragon | All circles and a pong of the white dragon |
| Ruby Dragon | All characters and a pong of the red dragon |
| Jade Dragon | All bamboo and a pong of the green dragon |
| Great Dragons | Three pongs of all three dragons |
| Great Winds | Four pongs of all four winds |
There are more variations of Mahjong than there are variations of poker. Although the basic mechanics stay the same, most variations include some particular rules, while some of them cut out a rule or two. Those variations may have far more complicated scoring systems, add or remove tiles, and include far more scoring elements and limit hands.
There are variations that feature specific use of tiles. Some three player versions remove the North Wind and one Chinese provincial version has no honors. Korean mahjong removes the bamboo suit or at least its numbers 2–8 so that terminals can be used. Japanese mahjong rarely uses flowers or seasons. The seasons are removed in Korean mahjong, while Singapore/Malaysian mahjong has a third set of bonus tiles called animals and even a fourth called vehicles. Joker tiles are used in some versions. Some variations use counting sticks while others use chips, and some use pencils and paper for score keeping.
Japanese and Korean mahjong have some special rules. A player cannot win by a discard if that player had already discarded that piece, where players' discards are kept in neat rows in front of them. Players may declare ready, meaning that they need one tile to win, cannot change their hand and win extra points if they win. Some rules may replace some of the number 5 tiles with red tiles, as they can earn more points. Korean mahjong does not allow melded (stolen) chows. Taiwanese mahjong adds three tiles to a hand requiring a 5th set to be formed, making a clean hand or all pong hand very difficult to procure. American mahjong has distinctive game mechanics and the article on American mahjong details these. Some differences include many special patterns, a different scoring system and the use of jokers and 5 of a kind.
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:
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 rules are more or less the same throughout mahjong, the greatest divergence between variations lies in the scoring systems. Like the rules, 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 general 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 the other rules, 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. In many variations the dealer receives no scoring bonus and does not maintain his/her turn by winning or a dead hand.
In classical mahjong all players score points. Points are given for sets and hand composition and winning bonuses, doubled and redoubled for basic patterns. Sometimes a loser may score more points than a winner. Japanese mahjong has a complex scoring system with several stages of scoring, rules and exceptions, evening out scores and bonus points at the end of a match. Korean mahjong has a simple scoring system where only winner scores without any form of doubling. Some variations give points for concealed hands, in which case no melds are made except by winning on a discard.
| 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 |
Many variations have specific hands, some of which are common while some are optional depending on regions and players. One example is the Pure Green hand made of chows or pongs using 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 of bamboo and green dragon.
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.
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:
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.
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.
When a hand is one tile short of winning (for example: , waiting for: , , or , as can be the 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 waiting for 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 (the thirteen 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 as reach, 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 declares rīchi 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.
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".
In Japanese mahjong, rules allow abortive draws to be declared while tiles are still available. They can be declared under the following conditions:
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 Mahjong 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[22] was held in the Netherlands, with 108 players. The competition was won by Masato Chiba from Japan. The second European championship[23] 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[24] 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.[25]
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.
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".)
Mahjong can be played online through websites or downloading programs in various languages for fun or for money.
Mahjong tiles were added to the Unicode Standard in April, 2008 with the release of version 5.1.
The Unicode block for mahjong tiles is U+1F000–U+1F02F. Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points.
| Mahjong Tiles[1] Unicode.org chart (PDF) |
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| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | A | B | C | D | E | F | |
| U+1F00x | 🀀 | 🀁 | 🀂 | 🀃 | 🀄 | 🀅 | 🀆 | 🀇 | 🀈 | 🀉 | 🀊 | 🀋 | 🀌 | 🀍 | 🀎 | 🀏 |
| U+1F01x | 🀐 | 🀑 | 🀒 | 🀓 | 🀔 | 🀕 | 🀖 | 🀗 | 🀘 | 🀙 | 🀚 | 🀛 | 🀜 | 🀝 | 🀞 | 🀟 |
| U+1F02x | 🀠 | 🀡 | 🀢 | 🀣 | 🀤 | 🀥 | 🀦 | 🀧 | 🀨 | 🀩 | 🀪 | 🀫 | ||||
Notes
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