
:''This article discusses the four-player game of Chinese origin. For the two-player tile-matching game, see Mahjong solitaire.'' Mahjong (Chinese language:麻将 or 麻雀; pinyin: ''májiàng''; Wade-Giles: ''ma-chiang''; other common English spellings include mahjongg, majiang, and hyphenated forms such as mah-jong or mah-jongg) is a gambling game for four players that originated in China. The Chinese word 麻将 literally means "hemp general". In Cantonese an alternate writing, 麻雀, is more common (the same kanji are used in Japanese language). In Cantonese this literally means "sparrow" and is pronounced ma4 jeuk3, while in Japanese it means "hemp sparrow", and is pronounced ''mā-jan''. In English, in addition to Mahjong, the name of the game is variously written as ''Mah Jong'', ''Mahjongg'', ''Majong'' or simply "M-J"; there are other, less common variations as well. The spelling "''Mah-Jongg''" was trademarked by Joseph Park Babcock in 1920. The closest Western analogue is probably the card game gin rummy. Both games involve selecting or discarding units (tiles in one case, cards in the other) to score points by forming groups or runs of similar units. The game pieces (tile-based game) and scoring rules used in the game are slightly different depending on regional variations. The game play in general is very similar in all versions, as players compete to build sets including the highest point value. The object of the game is to build suits (usually of threes) from either 13 or 16 tiles. The first person to achieve this goal is said to have won the game. The winning tile completes the set of either 14 or 17 tiles. == Origins and History == Mahjong is thought to have evolved from existing Chinese card and domino games sometime around 1850. Some historians believe it was based on a card game called Ma Diao (馬吊) in the early Ming dynasty. There is still a healthy debate about to whom the creation of the game should be attributed. One theory is that Chinese army officers serving during the Tai Ping Rebellion created the game to pass the time. Another theory is that a noble living in the Shanghai area created the game between 1870 and 1875. By 1895, an American anthropologist named Stewart Culin 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 language and Japanese language. An important English book was Joseph Park Babcock's 1920 simplified ''Rules of Mah-Jongg'' that was simply known as the "red book". Although this was the version Babcock had introduced to America, many of Babcock's simplifications are not used nowadays. Babcock's book would introduce many similar English language rulebooks, with a large number (including those of the National Mah Jongg League, the governing body of American Mahjong) making the patently false claim that Mahjong had originated in ancient China in order to bring an air of mystique into the game. Ironically, many of these patently false claims about Mahjong's ancient origins are used today in much the same way for Mahjong solitaire, a much newer game. The game was a sensation in America when it was imported from China in the 1920s, with the same mahjong game taking on a number of trademarked names, such as ''Pung Chow'' or the ''Game of Thousand Intelligences''. Part of Mahjong nights in America were to decorate rooms in Chinese style and dress like Chinese (see Bill Bryson's ''Made in America'', Chapter 16). Several hit songs were also recorded during the mahjong fad, most notably ''Since Ma is Playing Mah Jong''. American mahjong, which was mainly played by women during the time, grew from this craze, and in the 1930s, after many revisions of the rules (including some that were considered fundamentals in other variants, such as the notion of a standard hand) led to the formation of the National Mah Jongg League in 1937, along with the first American mahjong rulebook, ''Maajh: The American Version of the Ancient Chinese Game''. Despite it being Chinese in origin and accepted by players of all racial backgrounds when first introduced by Babcock, American Mahjong is considered a Jewish game, as many American mahjong players are of Jewish descent, and the NMJL was founded by Jewish players and considered a Jewish organization. Today, the popularity and demographic of players of Mahjong differs greatly from country to country. In America, most players of American mahjong are women. In Japan, there has been a much greater emphasis on gambling before other legal public gamblings were devised and the gender of the players is much less divided. There are also many governing bodies of Mahjong, many of them hosting exhibition games and tournaments. In Japan, video arcades have introduced Mahjong arcade machines that can be connected to others over the internet, as well as video games that allow a victorious player to view pictures of women in varying stages of undress. == Main Variations == There are not one, but many variations of mahjong. In many places, players observe one version, and are either often unaware of other variations, or claim that other variations are incorrect. Although many variations today differ only by scoring, there are several main variations of Mahjong. * Chinese Classical Mahjong is the oldest variety of Mahjong, and was the version introduced to America in the 1920s under various names. * Hong Kong Mahjong is the most common form of Mahjong, differing in minor scoring details with the Chinese Classical variety. * Japanese Mahjong is a standardized form of Mahjong in Japan, found prevalently in video games. In addition to scoring changes, the rules of ''riichi'' and ''dora'' are unique highlights of Japanese Mahjong. * Western Classical Mahjong is a descendant of the version of Mahjong introduced by Babcock to America in the 1920s. The evolution of Mahjong in America led to American Mahjong. Today, this term largely refers to the Wright-Patterson rules, used in the US 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 that has the greatest divergence from traditional Mahjong, with the introduction of Joker tiles, the Charleston, as well as melds of five or more tiles, and eschewing the Chow and the notion of a standard hand. Because of this divergence, the NMJL and AMJA variations (which differ from each other by minor scoring differences) is commonly referred to as Mahjongg (with two Gs, possibly hyphenated). Purists of Mahjong claim that the divergence from standard Mahjong makes American Mahjong not a "true Mahjong", and thus should be considered a separate game in and of itself. Various attempts have been made to standardize the rules of Mahjong for international competition, but they have largely failed. However, the various attempts had a common thread that the rules were to be based largely on the traditional rules, with the ''riichi'' rule from Japanese Mahjong, while completely eschewing the concepts of American Mahjong altogether. == Equipment == [[Image:MahjongTiles.JPG|thumb|right|Mahjong is a game that is generally played with a set of Mahjong tiles. Many common sets have 144 tiles.]] Mahjong can be played either with a set of Mahjong tiles, or less commonly, a set of Mahjong playing cards (sometimes called ''Mhing''). Playing cards are often used when travelling as it reduces space and is lighter than their tile counterparts, but are of a lower quality in return. In this article, "tile" will be used to denote both playing cards and tiles. Many Mahjong sets will also include a set of chips or bone tiles for scoring, as well as indicators denoting the dealer and the wind of the round. Some sets may also include racks to hold tiles or chips (although in many sets the tiles are generally sufficiently thick so that they can stand on their own), with one of them being different to denote the dealer's rack. Computer implementations of Mahjong are also available: these allow you to play against computer opponents, or against human opponents over the internet. ==Setting up the board== The following sequence is for setting up a standard Hong Kong (or Singapore) game. Casual or beginning players may wish to proceed directly to gameplay. ===Prevailing Wind and Game Wind=== To determine the ''Player Game Wind'' (門風 or 自風), each player throws three dice (two in some variants) and the player with the highest total is chosen as the ''dealer'' (also called the ''banker''). The dealer's Wind is now East, the player to the right of the dealer has South wind, the next player to the right has West and the fourth player has North. Game Wind changes after every round, unless the dealer wins. In some variations, the longer the dealer remains as the dealer, the higher the value of each hand. The ''Prevailing Wind'' (場風) is always set to East when starting. It changes after the Game Wind has rotated around the board, that is, after each player has lost as the dealer. 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. These winds are also significant as winds are often associated with a member of a Flower tile group, typically 1 with East, 2 with South, 3 with West, and 4 with North. ===Dealing tiles=== All tiles are placed face down and shuffled. Each player then stacks a row of tiles two deep in front of him, the length of the row depending on the number of tiles in use: * 136 tiles: 17 tiles for all players * 144 tiles: 18 tiles for all players * 148 tiles: 19 tiles for dealer and player opposite, 18 for rest * 152 tiles: 19 tiles for all players The dealer throws three dice and sums up the total. Counting counterclockwise so that the dealer is '1', a player's row is chosen. Starting at the right edge, 'sum' tiles are counted and shifted to the right. The dealer now takes a block of 4 tiles to the ''left'' of the divide. The player to the dealer's ''right'' takes 4 tiles to the left, and players (counterclockwise) take blocks of 4 tiles (clockwise) until all players have 12 tiles for 13-tile variations and 16 for 16-tile variations. In 13-tile variations, each player then takes one more tile to make a 13-tile hand. In practice, in order to speed up the dealing procedure, the dealer often takes one extra tile during the dealing procedure to start their turn. The board is now ready and new tiles will be taken from the ''wall'' where the dealing left off, proceeding clockwise. In some special cases discussed later, tiles are taken from the other end of the wall, commonly referred to as the ''back end'' of the wall. In some variations, a group of tiles at the back end, known as the ''dead wall'', is reserved for this purpose instead. In such variations, the dead wall may be visually separated from the main wall, but it is not required. Unless the dealer has already won (see below), the dealer then discards a tile. ''Note'': The dealing process with tiles is ritualized and complex to prevent cheating. Casual players, or players with Mahjong playing cards, may wish to simply shuffle well and deal out the tiles with less ceremony. ===Charleston=== In the American variations, it is required that before each hand begins, a ''Charleston'' is enacted. This consists of a procedure where three tiles are passed to the player on one's right, followed by three tiles passed to the player opposite, followed by three tiles passed to the left. If all players agree, a second Charleston is enacted, followed by an optional pass to the player across of one, two or three tiles. This is a distinctive feature of American-style Mahjong that may have been borrowed from card games. ==Gameplay== Each player is dealt either 13 tiles for 13-tile variations or 16 tiles for 16-tile variations. A turn consists of a player drawing a tile from the wall (or draw pile) and placing it in his hand. He then discards a tile to the table, which signals the end of his or her turn, and the player to the right plays next. It is good etiquette to announce the name of the discarded tile out loud. Many variations require that discards be placed in an orderly fashion in front of the player, and some may require that discarded tiles be placed face down. === Flower Tiles === Flower tiles, when dealt or drawn, must be immediately replaced by a tile from the dead wall, or if no dead wall exists, the back end of the wall. They are immediately ''exposed'' (placed in view on the table on front of the player's tiles). At the start of each round, where two or more players may have flower tiles, flower tiles are replaced starting with the dealer and moving to the right. Flower tiles may or may not have point value, and in some variations, possession of all the flower tiles wins the round regardless of the actual contents of the hand. In American Mahjong, however, Flower tiles are not instantly exposed and replaced, as they may be melded with other Flower tiles in the same group (in essence, they are treated as if they were another set of honor tiles) or be used as a requirement of a winning hand. Early versions of American Mahjong used Flower tiles as Joker tiles. === Joker Tiles === A feature of several variations, most notably American variations of Mahjong, is the notion of wild card or Joker tiles. They may be used as a substitute for any tile in a hand (or, in some variations, only tiles in melds). 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. ===Melds=== 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 or her 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 causes the discarding player to lose points (or pay the winner more in a game for money). Most variants (again, 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 the meld to be declared and place the meld face-up. The player must then discard a tile, and play continues to the right. Because of this, turns may be skipped in the process. * ''Pong'' or ''Pung'' (碰 pinyin ''peng'', Japanese ''pon'') - A ''pong'' or ''pung'' is a set of three identical tiles. 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 three different suits. The name ''pong'' or ''pung'' is often used rather than the correct (ie. hanyu pinyin) ''peng'', as it was the term introduced by Babcock to America in the 1920s. * ''Kong'' (槓/杠 pinyin ''gang'', Japanese ''kan'') - A ''kong'' is a set of four identical tiles. 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 ''ming gang''). If all four tiles were formed in the hand, it is said to be a ''concealed Kong'' (暗槓/暗杠, pinyin ''an gang''). It is also possible to form a 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 (say, if you wanted to instead use one tile as part of a Chow), and thus, it may be advantageous not to immediately declare a Kong. American Mahjong may also have melds of higher numbers of identical tiles. Like the ''pong'', ''kong'' is often used rather than the correct ''gang'' because it was the term introduced by Babcock to America. * ''Chow'' (吃 ''chi'', in some versions 上 ''shang'') - A ''chow'' is a meld of three suited tiles in sequence. Unlike other melds, an exposed Chow may only be declared off the discard of the player on the left. American Mahjong does not have a formal ''chow'' (that is, you cannot declare chows), 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). Again, ''chow'' is used over ''chi'' generally because it was a term introduced by Babcock. * ''Eye'' (將 ''jiang'', in some versions 眼 ''yan'', also ''Pair'') - The pair, while not a meld (and thus, cannot be declared or formed with a discard), is the final component to the standard hand. It consists of two identical tiles. It is to note that American mahjong hands may have tile constructions that are ''not melds'', such as "NEWS" (having one of each wind). As they are not melds, they cannot be formed off discards, and in some variations, cannot be constructed in part or in whole by Joker tiles. 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 (but the game may be declared an abortive draw if two or more players call a tile for the win, again depending on the variation). 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. 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 its turn. In American Mahjong, this "window of opportunity" is explicitly stated in the rules, where in other variants, it is generally viewed that when the next player's turn starts (ie. the tile leaves the wall), the opportunity has been lost. ===Ready Hands=== When a hand is one tile short of winning, the hand is said to be a ready hand. 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 most amount of tiles that you can wait for is 13 (the ''thirteen terminals'', a nonstandard special hand). Some variations of Mahjong, most notably Japanese variations, allow a player to declare ''riichi'' (立直 - sometimes known as ''reach'' as it is phonetically similar). A declaration of ''riichi'' is a promise that any tile drawn by the player is immediately discarded unless it constitutes a win. A player who declares ''riichi'' and wins usually receives a point bonus for their hand, while a player who declares ''riichi'' and loses is usually penalized in some fashion. When four players declare a riichi, the game is a draw. Declaring a nonexistent riichi is penalized. ===Draws=== If only the dead wall remains and no one has won, the round is drawn (流局 ''liu ju'', Japanese ''Ryuukyoku'') or ''goulashed''. A new round begins, and depending on the variant, game wind may change. ===Abortive Draws=== In some variations, abortive draws (draws where the game is declared drawn while tiles are available) are possible. ====Japanese Mahjong==== In Japanese Mahjong, abortive draws can be declared under the following conditions: * 九種幺九倒牌 (''kyuu shu yao kyuu tou pai''): If, on a player's first turn, and with no melds declared, a player has nine different terminal or honor tiles, the player may declare the round to be drawn (but could also go for the nonstandard ''thirteen terminals'' hand as well). * 三家和 (''san ka agari''): If three players claim the same discard in order to win the round, the round is drawn. * 四風子連打 (''suu fontsu renda''): If, on the first turn without any meld declarations, all four players discard the same wind tile, the hand is drawn. * 四家立直 (''suu ka riichi''): If all four players declare ''riichi'', the round is drawn. * 四槓流れ (''suu kan nagare''): The round is drawn when the fourth kong is declared, unless all four kongs were declared by a single player. In this case, the round is drawn when another player declares a kong. ===Winning=== A player wins the round (胡, ''hu'') by creating a standard mahjong hand (in Western Classical variants, this is known as creating a ''Mahjong'', and the process of winning is called ''going Mahjong'') which consists of a certain number of melds, four for 13-tile variations and five for 16-tile variations, and a pair. Some variations may also require that winning hands be of some point value. Variations may also have special nonstandard hands that a player can make (in this sense, American Mahjong is a variant where ''only'' special hands exist). ===Turns and Rounds=== If the dealer wins the game, they will stay as the dealer. Otherwise, the player to the right becomes dealer and the player's wind becomes the Game Wind, in the sequence East-South-West-North. After the wind returns to East (ie. each player has been the dealer), a ''round'' is complete and the Prevailing Wind will change, again in the sequence East-South-West-North. A full ''game'' of mahjong ends after 4 rounds, ie. when the North Prevailing Wind round is over. == 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. Like 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 criteria is scored. The points obtained may be translated into scores for each player using some (typically exponential) function. 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. == Trivia == Little known to most players, 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 diao (弔 or variant 吊) or 1000 coins called guan (貫). Mahjong's connection to the ancient Chinese currency system is consistent with its alleged derivation from the game named ''ma diao'' (馬吊). 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 received the maximium allowed winning of a round, it is called ''man guan'' (滿貫 lit. full string of coin.) == Related articles== *AKAGI ==External links== * [http://www.jadedragonmahjong.com Jade Dragon Mahjong game multiplayer] play Chinese official, Hong kong, Taiwan 16 tile, European & American rules with help for beginners. * One can try the game (American version) on line at http://games.yahoo.com. *[http://www.sloperama.com/mjfaq.html Mahjong FAQ] of newsgroup news://rec.games.mahjong *[http://sky116688.tripod.com/mahjong/rules.html Rules of Singapore Mahjong] *[http://www.nationalmahjonggleague.org/ National Mah-Jongg League] *[http://mahjonginmame.nm.ru/ Guide to Japanese Mahjong arcade games - DOWN] *[http://www.geocities.com/gracefiles/mahjong.html How To Play Mah Jong] (Easy Guide) *[http://www.hirohurl.net/mahjong/3pmjintro.html How to Play the Japanese Three Player Mahjong Variation on the Standard 4-Player Game] *[http://www.delfosse.com/mahjong.html Japanese Mah Jong Rules] Description of game play, rules, exceptions, hands listings. *[http://www.xs4all.nl/~korntner/mahjong/nanette/nan_notes.html Nan's Mah Jong Notes] *[http://www.mahjongmuseum.com/ Jim May's Mah Jong Museum] *[http://www.wrightpattersonowc.org/mahjongg.html Wright-Patterson Officers' Wives' Club Mah Jongg website] Mahjong Chinese games Tile-based games
Needs Scoring Information As mentioned in the article, there are a lot of regional variants of Mah Jong. I don't have the slightest clue how to give a concise account of game flow without leaving one or more variants out. Describing all 20+ widely-played variants would make for a mammoth article. Any suggestions? -- user: RPG Advocate I've added the basics of Hong Kong style play and scoring, which is about as standard as it gets. Other variants should probably get their own writeups. User:Jpatokal 14:39, 10 Jan 2004 (UTC) I'm from Hong Kong and I've never heard of a 148-tile Mahjong being the standard before. User:KelvSYC 19:45, 21 Mar 2004 (UTC) : Don't know lah, Singaporeans call the 148-tile version "Hong Kong style". So what ''is'' the HK standard then? User:Jpatokal 13:39, 22 Mar 2004 (UTC) I can tell you that a Mah-Jong set (well, at least a set of tiles, I don't know about Mah-Jong sets in playing-card form) from Hong Kong only comes with 144 tiles and 4 replacement tiles, so a 148-tile game couldn't be the Hong Kong standard. As to your question, It really depends on the part of Hong Kong, the cultural/ethnic background, etc., but the majority play what is known as the "Cantonese version", so that could be the "Hong Kong style". It's a 144-tile game where hands are formed to score ''fan'' (the English equivalent would be "point" or "double"). A 3-player variation exists where the north wind tiles (and associated flower tiles) and one suit (picked arbitrarily - when I play it's usually the bamboo or character suit, depending on whether or not my opponents know Chinese numerals) is removed (leaving 98 tiles - walls are 17 long). Just curious - what rules do Singaporeans call their own style? User:KelvSYC 07:17, 28 Mar 2004 (UTC) : As I said, the Singaporeans who taught me the local style called it Hong Kong style... Anyway, I've revised the writeup to match the HK set as described in [http://www.sloperama.com/mjfaq/types.htm], please tell me what you think. User:Jpatokal 08:21, 28 Mar 2004 (UTC) == Move == I moved the article from Mah Jong to Mahjong. The later spelling is 10 times more popularg: 45,500 vs 488,000 [http://www.googlefight.com/cgi-bin/compare.pl?q1=%22Mah+Jong%22&q2=Mahjong&B1=Make+a+fight%21&compare=1&langue=us]. --User:Menchi 01:28, 21 Sep 2003 (UTC) ==Scoring table== Here's a job for someone with too much time on their hands: wikify the doubles table into something like [http://www.rag.com/~steve/mahjong/mahjong.16.tw.score.html this]. The linked page even has the Chinese names, but unfortunately, they're all graphics... User:Jpatokal 09:13, 28 Mar 2004 (UTC) == To Do == * add info about ''riichi'' * add information about ''quints'' and alternate flower tile/melding rules in American (NMJL) Mahjong (eg. it's possible to declare melds of flower tiles, but not possible to "add" to an existing meld) - I tell you, those NMJL rules are very different from more conventional rules * add more specific info about scoring (the HK and Japanese systems in particular) * perhaps split articles (as it is approaching 32K, and perhaps as a convienient way of linking MJ to other games with MJ-tiles like 10 1/2) * simplified and traditional characters...? * generic tile pictures, anyone? User:KelvSYC 06:38, 3 Apr 2004 (UTC) ===Failed FAC Nomination=== A self-nomination, but I think the content is largely adequate, and changes made during the nomination process will cement its position among Wikipedia's elite articles. User:KelvSYC 20:31, 15 Oct 2004 (UTC) *Support, though the navigation could be improved; I'm just not sure how. It's a ''lot'' of information, after all. --User:Golbez 21:15, Oct 15, 2004 (UTC) *Object. A brief scan reveals several problems, notably a lack of (or just sporadic) information on the Japanese game. I fixed the first section, but don't have time to address the other problems today, or probably for a couple of days. Also, the article is currently 53kb. User:Exploding Boy 21:48, Oct 15, 2004 (UTC) **The TOC is also overwhelming and should be cut down. User:Raul654 07:17, Oct 16, 2004 (UTC) ** I have to admit that there is not enough depth in the scoring section (and it may need to be rewritten once again), but can you give us more detail as to what these problems you refer to are? User:KelvSYC 07:06, 16 Oct 2004 (UTC) * Comment: If the length of the article is a concern, what can us Wikipedians do to improve upon it? We could split the Mahjong article into something like American Mahjong for stuff specifically relating to American mahjong (eg. quints, Charleston, scoring card, etc.) and do similar things for other major variations. User:KelvSYC 07:06, 16 Oct 2004 (UTC) **The typical (and more aesteically pleasing, and less time consuming) method is to take one of the longer sections and fork it off into its own article, and leave a 1-2 paragraph summary in its place. User:Raul654 07:20, Oct 16, 2004 (UTC) ***I've chopped off the scoring section and put that into Scoring in Mahjong. When more details are added, probably each type of scoring can have its own article. However there seems to be an imbalance of information in Mahjong which is currently 27kb. I'm not sure which other section in the main article to chop off. —User:Goh wz 01:32, 17 Oct 2004 (UTC) ****The article length and TOC are fine now. User:Raul654 20:27, Oct 17, 2004 (UTC) *Support. Some day I intend to learn Mahjong and actually understand it... As others have stated, in the future if this article continues to expand (and there's certainly plenty of room for it to do so) it'll need to be split up into different articles. Right now, the length is just fine. User:Zerbey 13:52, 18 Oct 2004 (UTC) *I think it could still use a bit of tweaking in some awkward areas, but I withdraw my objection. User:Exploding Boy 18:31, Oct 18, 2004 (UTC) * Object. This is a decent article, but it needs references. See Wikipedia:Cite your sources. Consider this as my support when references have been added. User:Jeronimo 11:33, 19 Oct 2004 (UTC) *Rewrite, refine and revise. More attractive photos, perchance drawn CGs, are highly appreciated (To be honest, the photos are in poor quality =( ). I think there's an outstanding featured article, Go (board game), to follow. --06:24, 6 Jun 2005 (UTC) ==Terminology and further developments== I'm thinking about 2 things: 1. terminology. It has got to a point that due to the different names from the different rulesets, as well as the inheritant language problem, even basic terms could have a lot of synonyms. Should we agree on a set of terms to use on all Mahjong pages? It would seem less confusing to me. 2. further developments. The whole set of articles have gone to a point that it is a bit, stranded at this position. Maybe to tabulate and compare the scoring of different mahjogg varients?--User:Xf95 20:56, 14 Apr 2005 (UTC) :Instead of cramming everything on one page, it would be better to have a separate page on each ruleset. Then on the main article, only point out the unique differences from all other rules. For example, Cantonese mahjong does not use the wildcard at all. That can be pointed out in as a summary. Then each separate rule article can go in details for any reader who really wants to learn about certain set of rules. User:Kowloonese 23:25, Apr 14, 2005 (UTC) Most rulesets differ by only scoring details (mainly what criteria scores what), and perhaps the definition of what can be constituted a pair (some variations allow the 1 Bamboo to be paired with the 1 Circle, for instance). Scoring, however, is covered under Scoring in Mahjong, and that article needs a new write (for one thing, I still need to clear up that points and score thing). Also recall that this article failed one FAC nomination, so we might need to make significant changes. The only thing that I can think of that we can add to the article is adding more on American (NMJL/AMJA) rules (which are barely covered) and Western Classical (ie. Wright-Patterson) rules, and perhaps add the Babcock scoring system that seems to be on every Wikipedia (with a Mahjong article) but this one. I agree with Kowloonese's thoughts on a basic level, but the basic rules are mainly the same. The only variations that I've seen using Joker tiles are NMJL/AMJA rules, which are a bit tough (and the strategy is another monster altogether), and perhaps should be relegated to an article specifically devoted to American Mahjong. Before we do that, someone will have to obtain the American and Western Classical rulesets from their governing bodies (and those are not free), and for American Mahjong, a scoring card. The terminology used in Mahjong remain consistent - we know what the tiles are called, most of the scoring combinations, etc. What kinds of terminology consistencies are you referring to anyways? User:KelvSYC 01:36, 15 Apr 2005 (UTC) I might misslead the point on the use of the word inconsistantencies. In fact, the problem arises when I try to translate the article on Japanese Mahjong Scoring Rule, and found myself stuck to using the Japanese terminology, not the English or Cantonese ones. For example, Even I know the accepted "universal" form of ''han'' in the Japanese variety is called ''faan'' in chinese and simplified to fan in international usage, I could not restraint myself from using ''han'' altogether in the same article. Although using fan could (hopefully) make the article universally understandable, the term was always ''han'' in their usage. I am on the way of thinking that if every ruleset in Wiki was written with different terms for the same thing, it would make the casual non-player quite confused. Or if the way out is to make an article to place all the mahjong terms of all naming conventions? So every article could be written in its own native terms, but by linking to such a library article, hopefully the problem shall diminish. --User:Xf95 02:57, 15 Apr 2005 (UTC) What I tried to do in Scoring in Mahjong (when it was once part of the main article) was develop some standard English terminology. This can be used to create a spiringboard of sorts in order to translate a specific variation's term to a standard term. User:KelvSYC 21:51, 15 Apr 2005 (UTC) Perhaps scoring in Mahjong is not exactly the method to do so, and I insist that it should be limited to scoring only. I suggest that an article or even a list shall be created for the list of common ...yaku(that I cannot find a word which can be as concise and to the point other than it), as well as a list of the common terminiology.--User:Xf95 06:41, 16 Apr 2005 (UTC) Keep in mind that, by wiki convention, English terms should be used whenever possible, and the local terms should be included. That's why, for example, ''pung'' is considered a noun and not a verb - the English terminology (as introduced by Babcock) considers it as such. I still agree, however, that a variation's specific name for a common term should be included in the article (see Mahjong tiles, where we use ''Dragon tiles'' rather than the Chinese ''sanyuanpai'' or the Japanese ''sangenpai''). Lists of terminology and scoring criteria should be largely unnecessary. User:KelvSYC 00:57, 17 Apr 2005 (UTC) Well, most non-American varieties of playing did include a number of hands that are quite standard. Repeating them in all (common) variaties of Mahjong does not make more sense than making an article listing out all of them. --User:Xf95 04:01, 17 Apr 2005 (UTC) :I agree to that. I don't have a problem with it. I can see Scoring in Mahjong having the basic definitions and having each individual scoring page refer to it. I can certainly see something along the lines of: ''kokushimusou'' - the Thirteen Terminals hand (insert link to section on thirteen terminals in Scoring in Mahjong in that line). User:KelvSYC 03:47, 18 Apr 2005 (UTC) ::Might be Hands of Mahjong would fit that purpose? ::Keep everything separated instead of making that into another jumble of different nouns and ideas ::*I found out something in other sources. It turns out that the Japanese Scoring is not the only one using a Basic Score ^ doubles. Maybe I woul rework the relavant article, or it might be another reason to separate scoring, hands and rules into 2 articles plus a list. --User:Xf95 09:16, 18 Apr 2005 (UTC) ::::The rules introduced by Babcock to America are based on the same point-and-double system. The major non-point-and-double systems AFAIK are the Cantonese systems (plain old points) and the American system (which is a completely different beast altogether). User:KelvSYC 13:37, 18 Apr 2005 (UTC) It seems like you want to split Scoring in Mahjong into two articles: one for the generalities of how to score and the other for the most common scoring criteria and special hands. It seems like a "big mess" is being split into two "smaller messes". Why is Scoring in Mahjong, in your opinion, too jumbled? User:KelvSYC 13:37, 18 Apr 2005 (UTC) Won't it be a lot better when an ''interwinding'' mess is splitted into 2 ''interconnected'' mess? It would remain to be a mess, though. --User:Xf95 18:56, 18 Apr 2005 (UTC) == Mahjong and movies == If my memory serves me, there was a Mahjong movie starred by Andy Lau and Gigi Leung few years ago. Another coming-soon one would be the Mahjong Kungfu starred by the "landlady" in Kungfu Hustle. Would anyone write about the influence of Mahjong on movie-making industry? --User:Mcy jerry 06:34, 6 Jun 2005 (UTC)
Mahjong is a four-player tile-based game of Chinese origin. Chinese games Tile-based games
See other meanings of words starting from letter:
Words begining with Mahjong:
Mahjong
Mahjong
Mahjong
Mahjongg
Mahjongg
Mahjongg
MahJongg_Solitaire
Mahjongg_solitaire
Mahjongg_tiles
Mahjong_Solitaire
Mahjong_solitaire
Mahjong_solitaire
Mahjong_tiles
Mahjong_tiles
Mahjong
:''This article discusses the four-player game of Chinese origin. For the two-player tile-matching game, see Mahjong solitaire.'' Mahjong (Chinese language:麻将 or 麻雀; pinyin: ''májiàng''; Wade-Giles: ''ma-chiang''; other common English spellings include mahjongg, majiang, and hyphenated forms such as mah-jong or mah-jongg) is a gambling game for four players that originated in China. The Chinese word 麻将 literally means "hemp general". In Cantonese an alternate writing, 麻雀, is more common (the same kanji are used in Japanese language). In Cantonese this literally means "sparrow" and is pronounced ma4 jeuk3, while in Japanese it means "hemp sparrow", and is pronounced ''mā-jan''. In English, in addition to Mahjong, the name of the game is variously written as ''Mah Jong'', ''Mahjongg'', ''Majong'' or simply "M-J"; there are other, less common variations as well. The spelling "''Mah-Jongg''" was trademarked by Joseph Park Babcock in 1920. The closest Western analogue is probably the card game gin rummy. Both games involve selecting or discarding units (tiles in one case, cards in the other) to score points by forming groups or runs of similar units. The game pieces (tile-based game) and scoring rules used in the game are slightly different depending on regional variations. The game play in general is very similar in all versions, as players compete to build sets including the highest point value. The object of the game is to build suits (usually of threes) from either 13 or 16 tiles. The first person to achieve this goal is said to have won the game. The winning tile completes the set of either 14 or 17 tiles. == Origins and History == Mahjong is thought to have evolved from existing Chinese card and domino games sometime around 1850. Some historians believe it was based on a card game called Ma Diao (馬吊) in the early Ming dynasty. There is still a healthy debate about to whom the creation of the game should be attributed. One theory is that Chinese army officers serving during the Tai Ping Rebellion created the game to pass the time. Another theory is that a noble living in the Shanghai area created the game between 1870 and 1875. By 1895, an American anthropologist named Stewart Culin 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 language and Japanese language. An important English book was Joseph Park Babcock's 1920 simplified ''Rules of Mah-Jongg'' that was simply known as the "red book". Although this was the version Babcock had introduced to America, many of Babcock's simplifications are not used nowadays. Babcock's book would introduce many similar English language rulebooks, with a large number (including those of the National Mah Jongg League, the governing body of American Mahjong) making the patently false claim that Mahjong had originated in ancient China in order to bring an air of mystique into the game. Ironically, many of these patently false claims about Mahjong's ancient origins are used today in much the same way for Mahjong solitaire, a much newer game. The game was a sensation in America when it was imported from China in the 1920s, with the same mahjong game taking on a number of trademarked names, such as ''Pung Chow'' or the ''Game of Thousand Intelligences''. Part of Mahjong nights in America were to decorate rooms in Chinese style and dress like Chinese (see Bill Bryson's ''Made in America'', Chapter 16). Several hit songs were also recorded during the mahjong fad, most notably ''Since Ma is Playing Mah Jong''. American mahjong, which was mainly played by women during the time, grew from this craze, and in the 1930s, after many revisions of the rules (including some that were considered fundamentals in other variants, such as the notion of a standard hand) led to the formation of the National Mah Jongg League in 1937, along with the first American mahjong rulebook, ''Maajh: The American Version of the Ancient Chinese Game''. Despite it being Chinese in origin and accepted by players of all racial backgrounds when first introduced by Babcock, American Mahjong is considered a Jewish game, as many American mahjong players are of Jewish descent, and the NMJL was founded by Jewish players and considered a Jewish organization. Today, the popularity and demographic of players of Mahjong differs greatly from country to country. In America, most players of American mahjong are women. In Japan, there has been a much greater emphasis on gambling before other legal public gamblings were devised and the gender of the players is much less divided. There are also many governing bodies of Mahjong, many of them hosting exhibition games and tournaments. In Japan, video arcades have introduced Mahjong arcade machines that can be connected to others over the internet, as well as video games that allow a victorious player to view pictures of women in varying stages of undress. == Main Variations == There are not one, but many variations of mahjong. In many places, players observe one version, and are either often unaware of other variations, or claim that other variations are incorrect. Although many variations today differ only by scoring, there are several main variations of Mahjong. * Chinese Classical Mahjong is the oldest variety of Mahjong, and was the version introduced to America in the 1920s under various names. * Hong Kong Mahjong is the most common form of Mahjong, differing in minor scoring details with the Chinese Classical variety. * Japanese Mahjong is a standardized form of Mahjong in Japan, found prevalently in video games. In addition to scoring changes, the rules of ''riichi'' and ''dora'' are unique highlights of Japanese Mahjong. * Western Classical Mahjong is a descendant of the version of Mahjong introduced by Babcock to America in the 1920s. The evolution of Mahjong in America led to American Mahjong. Today, this term largely refers to the Wright-Patterson rules, used in the US 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 that has the greatest divergence from traditional Mahjong, with the introduction of Joker tiles, the Charleston, as well as melds of five or more tiles, and eschewing the Chow and the notion of a standard hand. Because of this divergence, the NMJL and AMJA variations (which differ from each other by minor scoring differences) is commonly referred to as Mahjongg (with two Gs, possibly hyphenated). Purists of Mahjong claim that the divergence from standard Mahjong makes American Mahjong not a "true Mahjong", and thus should be considered a separate game in and of itself. Various attempts have been made to standardize the rules of Mahjong for international competition, but they have largely failed. However, the various attempts had a common thread that the rules were to be based largely on the traditional rules, with the ''riichi'' rule from Japanese Mahjong, while completely eschewing the concepts of American Mahjong altogether. == Equipment == [[Image:MahjongTiles.JPG|thumb|right|Mahjong is a game that is generally played with a set of Mahjong tiles. Many common sets have 144 tiles.]] Mahjong can be played either with a set of Mahjong tiles, or less commonly, a set of Mahjong playing cards (sometimes called ''Mhing''). Playing cards are often used when travelling as it reduces space and is lighter than their tile counterparts, but are of a lower quality in return. In this article, "tile" will be used to denote both playing cards and tiles. Many Mahjong sets will also include a set of chips or bone tiles for scoring, as well as indicators denoting the dealer and the wind of the round. Some sets may also include racks to hold tiles or chips (although in many sets the tiles are generally sufficiently thick so that they can stand on their own), with one of them being different to denote the dealer's rack. Computer implementations of Mahjong are also available: these allow you to play against computer opponents, or against human opponents over the internet. ==Setting up the board== The following sequence is for setting up a standard Hong Kong (or Singapore) game. Casual or beginning players may wish to proceed directly to gameplay. ===Prevailing Wind and Game Wind=== To determine the ''Player Game Wind'' (門風 or 自風), each player throws three dice (two in some variants) and the player with the highest total is chosen as the ''dealer'' (also called the ''banker''). The dealer's Wind is now East, the player to the right of the dealer has South wind, the next player to the right has West and the fourth player has North. Game Wind changes after every round, unless the dealer wins. In some variations, the longer the dealer remains as the dealer, the higher the value of each hand. The ''Prevailing Wind'' (場風) is always set to East when starting. It changes after the Game Wind has rotated around the board, that is, after each player has lost as the dealer. 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. These winds are also significant as winds are often associated with a member of a Flower tile group, typically 1 with East, 2 with South, 3 with West, and 4 with North. ===Dealing tiles=== All tiles are placed face down and shuffled. Each player then stacks a row of tiles two deep in front of him, the length of the row depending on the number of tiles in use: * 136 tiles: 17 tiles for all players * 144 tiles: 18 tiles for all players * 148 tiles: 19 tiles for dealer and player opposite, 18 for rest * 152 tiles: 19 tiles for all players The dealer throws three dice and sums up the total. Counting counterclockwise so that the dealer is '1', a player's row is chosen. Starting at the right edge, 'sum' tiles are counted and shifted to the right. The dealer now takes a block of 4 tiles to the ''left'' of the divide. The player to the dealer's ''right'' takes 4 tiles to the left, and players (counterclockwise) take blocks of 4 tiles (clockwise) until all players have 12 tiles for 13-tile variations and 16 for 16-tile variations. In 13-tile variations, each player then takes one more tile to make a 13-tile hand. In practice, in order to speed up the dealing procedure, the dealer often takes one extra tile during the dealing procedure to start their turn. The board is now ready and new tiles will be taken from the ''wall'' where the dealing left off, proceeding clockwise. In some special cases discussed later, tiles are taken from the other end of the wall, commonly referred to as the ''back end'' of the wall. In some variations, a group of tiles at the back end, known as the ''dead wall'', is reserved for this purpose instead. In such variations, the dead wall may be visually separated from the main wall, but it is not required. Unless the dealer has already won (see below), the dealer then discards a tile. ''Note'': The dealing process with tiles is ritualized and complex to prevent cheating. Casual players, or players with Mahjong playing cards, may wish to simply shuffle well and deal out the tiles with less ceremony. ===Charleston=== In the American variations, it is required that before each hand begins, a ''Charleston'' is enacted. This consists of a procedure where three tiles are passed to the player on one's right, followed by three tiles passed to the player opposite, followed by three tiles passed to the left. If all players agree, a second Charleston is enacted, followed by an optional pass to the player across of one, two or three tiles. This is a distinctive feature of American-style Mahjong that may have been borrowed from card games. ==Gameplay== Each player is dealt either 13 tiles for 13-tile variations or 16 tiles for 16-tile variations. A turn consists of a player drawing a tile from the wall (or draw pile) and placing it in his hand. He then discards a tile to the table, which signals the end of his or her turn, and the player to the right plays next. It is good etiquette to announce the name of the discarded tile out loud. Many variations require that discards be placed in an orderly fashion in front of the player, and some may require that discarded tiles be placed face down. === Flower Tiles === Flower tiles, when dealt or drawn, must be immediately replaced by a tile from the dead wall, or if no dead wall exists, the back end of the wall. They are immediately ''exposed'' (placed in view on the table on front of the player's tiles). At the start of each round, where two or more players may have flower tiles, flower tiles are replaced starting with the dealer and moving to the right. Flower tiles may or may not have point value, and in some variations, possession of all the flower tiles wins the round regardless of the actual contents of the hand. In American Mahjong, however, Flower tiles are not instantly exposed and replaced, as they may be melded with other Flower tiles in the same group (in essence, they are treated as if they were another set of honor tiles) or be used as a requirement of a winning hand. Early versions of American Mahjong used Flower tiles as Joker tiles. === Joker Tiles === A feature of several variations, most notably American variations of Mahjong, is the notion of wild card or Joker tiles. They may be used as a substitute for any tile in a hand (or, in some variations, only tiles in melds). 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. ===Melds=== 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 or her 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 causes the discarding player to lose points (or pay the winner more in a game for money). Most variants (again, 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 the meld to be declared and place the meld face-up. The player must then discard a tile, and play continues to the right. Because of this, turns may be skipped in the process. * ''Pong'' or ''Pung'' (碰 pinyin ''peng'', Japanese ''pon'') - A ''pong'' or ''pung'' is a set of three identical tiles. 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 three different suits. The name ''pong'' or ''pung'' is often used rather than the correct (ie. hanyu pinyin) ''peng'', as it was the term introduced by Babcock to America in the 1920s. * ''Kong'' (槓/杠 pinyin ''gang'', Japanese ''kan'') - A ''kong'' is a set of four identical tiles. 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 ''ming gang''). If all four tiles were formed in the hand, it is said to be a ''concealed Kong'' (暗槓/暗杠, pinyin ''an gang''). It is also possible to form a 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 (say, if you wanted to instead use one tile as part of a Chow), and thus, it may be advantageous not to immediately declare a Kong. American Mahjong may also have melds of higher numbers of identical tiles. Like the ''pong'', ''kong'' is often used rather than the correct ''gang'' because it was the term introduced by Babcock to America. * ''Chow'' (吃 ''chi'', in some versions 上 ''shang'') - A ''chow'' is a meld of three suited tiles in sequence. Unlike other melds, an exposed Chow may only be declared off the discard of the player on the left. American Mahjong does not have a formal ''chow'' (that is, you cannot declare chows), 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). Again, ''chow'' is used over ''chi'' generally because it was a term introduced by Babcock. * ''Eye'' (將 ''jiang'', in some versions 眼 ''yan'', also ''Pair'') - The pair, while not a meld (and thus, cannot be declared or formed with a discard), is the final component to the standard hand. It consists of two identical tiles. It is to note that American mahjong hands may have tile constructions that are ''not melds'', such as "NEWS" (having one of each wind). As they are not melds, they cannot be formed off discards, and in some variations, cannot be constructed in part or in whole by Joker tiles. 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 (but the game may be declared an abortive draw if two or more players call a tile for the win, again depending on the variation). 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. 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 its turn. In American Mahjong, this "window of opportunity" is explicitly stated in the rules, where in other variants, it is generally viewed that when the next player's turn starts (ie. the tile leaves the wall), the opportunity has been lost. ===Ready Hands=== When a hand is one tile short of winning, the hand is said to be a ready hand. 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 most amount of tiles that you can wait for is 13 (the ''thirteen terminals'', a nonstandard special hand). Some variations of Mahjong, most notably Japanese variations, allow a player to declare ''riichi'' (立直 - sometimes known as ''reach'' as it is phonetically similar). A declaration of ''riichi'' is a promise that any tile drawn by the player is immediately discarded unless it constitutes a win. A player who declares ''riichi'' and wins usually receives a point bonus for their hand, while a player who declares ''riichi'' and loses is usually penalized in some fashion. When four players declare a riichi, the game is a draw. Declaring a nonexistent riichi is penalized. ===Draws=== If only the dead wall remains and no one has won, the round is drawn (流局 ''liu ju'', Japanese ''Ryuukyoku'') or ''goulashed''. A new round begins, and depending on the variant, game wind may change. ===Abortive Draws=== In some variations, abortive draws (draws where the game is declared drawn while tiles are available) are possible. ====Japanese Mahjong==== In Japanese Mahjong, abortive draws can be declared under the following conditions: * 九種幺九倒牌 (''kyuu shu yao kyuu tou pai''): If, on a player's first turn, and with no melds declared, a player has nine different terminal or honor tiles, the player may declare the round to be drawn (but could also go for the nonstandard ''thirteen terminals'' hand as well). * 三家和 (''san ka agari''): If three players claim the same discard in order to win the round, the round is drawn. * 四風子連打 (''suu fontsu renda''): If, on the first turn without any meld declarations, all four players discard the same wind tile, the hand is drawn. * 四家立直 (''suu ka riichi''): If all four players declare ''riichi'', the round is drawn. * 四槓流れ (''suu kan nagare''): The round is drawn when the fourth kong is declared, unless all four kongs were declared by a single player. In this case, the round is drawn when another player declares a kong. ===Winning=== A player wins the round (胡, ''hu'') by creating a standard mahjong hand (in Western Classical variants, this is known as creating a ''Mahjong'', and the process of winning is called ''going Mahjong'') which consists of a certain number of melds, four for 13-tile variations and five for 16-tile variations, and a pair. Some variations may also require that winning hands be of some point value. Variations may also have special nonstandard hands that a player can make (in this sense, American Mahjong is a variant where ''only'' special hands exist). ===Turns and Rounds=== If the dealer wins the game, they will stay as the dealer. Otherwise, the player to the right becomes dealer and the player's wind becomes the Game Wind, in the sequence East-South-West-North. After the wind returns to East (ie. each player has been the dealer), a ''round'' is complete and the Prevailing Wind will change, again in the sequence East-South-West-North. A full ''game'' of mahjong ends after 4 rounds, ie. when the North Prevailing Wind round is over. == 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. Like 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 criteria is scored. The points obtained may be translated into scores for each player using some (typically exponential) function. 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. == Trivia == Little known to most players, 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 diao (弔 or variant 吊) or 1000 coins called guan (貫). Mahjong's connection to the ancient Chinese currency system is consistent with its alleged derivation from the game named ''ma diao'' (馬吊). 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 received the maximium allowed winning of a round, it is called ''man guan'' (滿貫 lit. full string of coin.) == Related articles== *AKAGI ==External links== * [http://www.jadedragonmahjong.com Jade Dragon Mahjong game multiplayer] play Chinese official, Hong kong, Taiwan 16 tile, European & American rules with help for beginners. * One can try the game (American version) on line at http://games.yahoo.com. *[http://www.sloperama.com/mjfaq.html Mahjong FAQ] of newsgroup news://rec.games.mahjong *[http://sky116688.tripod.com/mahjong/rules.html Rules of Singapore Mahjong] *[http://www.nationalmahjonggleague.org/ National Mah-Jongg League] *[http://mahjonginmame.nm.ru/ Guide to Japanese Mahjong arcade games - DOWN] *[http://www.geocities.com/gracefiles/mahjong.html How To Play Mah Jong] (Easy Guide) *[http://www.hirohurl.net/mahjong/3pmjintro.html How to Play the Japanese Three Player Mahjong Variation on the Standard 4-Player Game] *[http://www.delfosse.com/mahjong.html Japanese Mah Jong Rules] Description of game play, rules, exceptions, hands listings. *[http://www.xs4all.nl/~korntner/mahjong/nanette/nan_notes.html Nan's Mah Jong Notes] *[http://www.mahjongmuseum.com/ Jim May's Mah Jong Museum] *[http://www.wrightpattersonowc.org/mahjongg.html Wright-Patterson Officers' Wives' Club Mah Jongg website] Mahjong Chinese games Tile-based games
Mahjong
Needs Scoring Information As mentioned in the article, there are a lot of regional variants of Mah Jong. I don't have the slightest clue how to give a concise account of game flow without leaving one or more variants out. Describing all 20+ widely-played variants would make for a mammoth article. Any suggestions? -- user: RPG Advocate I've added the basics of Hong Kong style play and scoring, which is about as standard as it gets. Other variants should probably get their own writeups. User:Jpatokal 14:39, 10 Jan 2004 (UTC) I'm from Hong Kong and I've never heard of a 148-tile Mahjong being the standard before. User:KelvSYC 19:45, 21 Mar 2004 (UTC) : Don't know lah, Singaporeans call the 148-tile version "Hong Kong style". So what ''is'' the HK standard then? User:Jpatokal 13:39, 22 Mar 2004 (UTC) I can tell you that a Mah-Jong set (well, at least a set of tiles, I don't know about Mah-Jong sets in playing-card form) from Hong Kong only comes with 144 tiles and 4 replacement tiles, so a 148-tile game couldn't be the Hong Kong standard. As to your question, It really depends on the part of Hong Kong, the cultural/ethnic background, etc., but the majority play what is known as the "Cantonese version", so that could be the "Hong Kong style". It's a 144-tile game where hands are formed to score ''fan'' (the English equivalent would be "point" or "double"). A 3-player variation exists where the north wind tiles (and associated flower tiles) and one suit (picked arbitrarily - when I play it's usually the bamboo or character suit, depending on whether or not my opponents know Chinese numerals) is removed (leaving 98 tiles - walls are 17 long). Just curious - what rules do Singaporeans call their own style? User:KelvSYC 07:17, 28 Mar 2004 (UTC) : As I said, the Singaporeans who taught me the local style called it Hong Kong style... Anyway, I've revised the writeup to match the HK set as described in [http://www.sloperama.com/mjfaq/types.htm], please tell me what you think. User:Jpatokal 08:21, 28 Mar 2004 (UTC) == Move == I moved the article from Mah Jong to Mahjong. The later spelling is 10 times more popularg: 45,500 vs 488,000 [http://www.googlefight.com/cgi-bin/compare.pl?q1=%22Mah+Jong%22&q2=Mahjong&B1=Make+a+fight%21&compare=1&langue=us]. --User:Menchi 01:28, 21 Sep 2003 (UTC) ==Scoring table== Here's a job for someone with too much time on their hands: wikify the doubles table into something like [http://www.rag.com/~steve/mahjong/mahjong.16.tw.score.html this]. The linked page even has the Chinese names, but unfortunately, they're all graphics... User:Jpatokal 09:13, 28 Mar 2004 (UTC) == To Do == * add info about ''riichi'' * add information about ''quints'' and alternate flower tile/melding rules in American (NMJL) Mahjong (eg. it's possible to declare melds of flower tiles, but not possible to "add" to an existing meld) - I tell you, those NMJL rules are very different from more conventional rules * add more specific info about scoring (the HK and Japanese systems in particular) * perhaps split articles (as it is approaching 32K, and perhaps as a convienient way of linking MJ to other games with MJ-tiles like 10 1/2) * simplified and traditional characters...? * generic tile pictures, anyone? User:KelvSYC 06:38, 3 Apr 2004 (UTC) ===Failed FAC Nomination=== A self-nomination, but I think the content is largely adequate, and changes made during the nomination process will cement its position among Wikipedia's elite articles. User:KelvSYC 20:31, 15 Oct 2004 (UTC) *Support, though the navigation could be improved; I'm just not sure how. It's a ''lot'' of information, after all. --User:Golbez 21:15, Oct 15, 2004 (UTC) *Object. A brief scan reveals several problems, notably a lack of (or just sporadic) information on the Japanese game. I fixed the first section, but don't have time to address the other problems today, or probably for a couple of days. Also, the article is currently 53kb. User:Exploding Boy 21:48, Oct 15, 2004 (UTC) **The TOC is also overwhelming and should be cut down. User:Raul654 07:17, Oct 16, 2004 (UTC) ** I have to admit that there is not enough depth in the scoring section (and it may need to be rewritten once again), but can you give us more detail as to what these problems you refer to are? User:KelvSYC 07:06, 16 Oct 2004 (UTC) * Comment: If the length of the article is a concern, what can us Wikipedians do to improve upon it? We could split the Mahjong article into something like American Mahjong for stuff specifically relating to American mahjong (eg. quints, Charleston, scoring card, etc.) and do similar things for other major variations. User:KelvSYC 07:06, 16 Oct 2004 (UTC) **The typical (and more aesteically pleasing, and less time consuming) method is to take one of the longer sections and fork it off into its own article, and leave a 1-2 paragraph summary in its place. User:Raul654 07:20, Oct 16, 2004 (UTC) ***I've chopped off the scoring section and put that into Scoring in Mahjong. When more details are added, probably each type of scoring can have its own article. However there seems to be an imbalance of information in Mahjong which is currently 27kb. I'm not sure which other section in the main article to chop off. —User:Goh wz 01:32, 17 Oct 2004 (UTC) ****The article length and TOC are fine now. User:Raul654 20:27, Oct 17, 2004 (UTC) *Support. Some day I intend to learn Mahjong and actually understand it... As others have stated, in the future if this article continues to expand (and there's certainly plenty of room for it to do so) it'll need to be split up into different articles. Right now, the length is just fine. User:Zerbey 13:52, 18 Oct 2004 (UTC) *I think it could still use a bit of tweaking in some awkward areas, but I withdraw my objection. User:Exploding Boy 18:31, Oct 18, 2004 (UTC) * Object. This is a decent article, but it needs references. See Wikipedia:Cite your sources. Consider this as my support when references have been added. User:Jeronimo 11:33, 19 Oct 2004 (UTC) *Rewrite, refine and revise. More attractive photos, perchance drawn CGs, are highly appreciated (To be honest, the photos are in poor quality =( ). I think there's an outstanding featured article, Go (board game), to follow. --06:24, 6 Jun 2005 (UTC) ==Terminology and further developments== I'm thinking about 2 things: 1. terminology. It has got to a point that due to the different names from the different rulesets, as well as the inheritant language problem, even basic terms could have a lot of synonyms. Should we agree on a set of terms to use on all Mahjong pages? It would seem less confusing to me. 2. further developments. The whole set of articles have gone to a point that it is a bit, stranded at this position. Maybe to tabulate and compare the scoring of different mahjogg varients?--User:Xf95 20:56, 14 Apr 2005 (UTC) :Instead of cramming everything on one page, it would be better to have a separate page on each ruleset. Then on the main article, only point out the unique differences from all other rules. For example, Cantonese mahjong does not use the wildcard at all. That can be pointed out in as a summary. Then each separate rule article can go in details for any reader who really wants to learn about certain set of rules. User:Kowloonese 23:25, Apr 14, 2005 (UTC) Most rulesets differ by only scoring details (mainly what criteria scores what), and perhaps the definition of what can be constituted a pair (some variations allow the 1 Bamboo to be paired with the 1 Circle, for instance). Scoring, however, is covered under Scoring in Mahjong, and that article needs a new write (for one thing, I still need to clear up that points and score thing). Also recall that this article failed one FAC nomination, so we might need to make significant changes. The only thing that I can think of that we can add to the article is adding more on American (NMJL/AMJA) rules (which are barely covered) and Western Classical (ie. Wright-Patterson) rules, and perhaps add the Babcock scoring system that seems to be on every Wikipedia (with a Mahjong article) but this one. I agree with Kowloonese's thoughts on a basic level, but the basic rules are mainly the same. The only variations that I've seen using Joker tiles are NMJL/AMJA rules, which are a bit tough (and the strategy is another monster altogether), and perhaps should be relegated to an article specifically devoted to American Mahjong. Before we do that, someone will have to obtain the American and Western Classical rulesets from their governing bodies (and those are not free), and for American Mahjong, a scoring card. The terminology used in Mahjong remain consistent - we know what the tiles are called, most of the scoring combinations, etc. What kinds of terminology consistencies are you referring to anyways? User:KelvSYC 01:36, 15 Apr 2005 (UTC) I might misslead the point on the use of the word inconsistantencies. In fact, the problem arises when I try to translate the article on Japanese Mahjong Scoring Rule, and found myself stuck to using the Japanese terminology, not the English or Cantonese ones. For example, Even I know the accepted "universal" form of ''han'' in the Japanese variety is called ''faan'' in chinese and simplified to fan in international usage, I could not restraint myself from using ''han'' altogether in the same article. Although using fan could (hopefully) make the article universally understandable, the term was always ''han'' in their usage. I am on the way of thinking that if every ruleset in Wiki was written with different terms for the same thing, it would make the casual non-player quite confused. Or if the way out is to make an article to place all the mahjong terms of all naming conventions? So every article could be written in its own native terms, but by linking to such a library article, hopefully the problem shall diminish. --User:Xf95 02:57, 15 Apr 2005 (UTC) What I tried to do in Scoring in Mahjong (when it was once part of the main article) was develop some standard English terminology. This can be used to create a spiringboard of sorts in order to translate a specific variation's term to a standard term. User:KelvSYC 21:51, 15 Apr 2005 (UTC) Perhaps scoring in Mahjong is not exactly the method to do so, and I insist that it should be limited to scoring only. I suggest that an article or even a list shall be created for the list of common ...yaku(that I cannot find a word which can be as concise and to the point other than it), as well as a list of the common terminiology.--User:Xf95 06:41, 16 Apr 2005 (UTC) Keep in mind that, by wiki convention, English terms should be used whenever possible, and the local terms should be included. That's why, for example, ''pung'' is considered a noun and not a verb - the English terminology (as introduced by Babcock) considers it as such. I still agree, however, that a variation's specific name for a common term should be included in the article (see Mahjong tiles, where we use ''Dragon tiles'' rather than the Chinese ''sanyuanpai'' or the Japanese ''sangenpai''). Lists of terminology and scoring criteria should be largely unnecessary. User:KelvSYC 00:57, 17 Apr 2005 (UTC) Well, most non-American varieties of playing did include a number of hands that are quite standard. Repeating them in all (common) variaties of Mahjong does not make more sense than making an article listing out all of them. --User:Xf95 04:01, 17 Apr 2005 (UTC) :I agree to that. I don't have a problem with it. I can see Scoring in Mahjong having the basic definitions and having each individual scoring page refer to it. I can certainly see something along the lines of: ''kokushimusou'' - the Thirteen Terminals hand (insert link to section on thirteen terminals in Scoring in Mahjong in that line). User:KelvSYC 03:47, 18 Apr 2005 (UTC) ::Might be Hands of Mahjong would fit that purpose? ::Keep everything separated instead of making that into another jumble of different nouns and ideas ::*I found out something in other sources. It turns out that the Japanese Scoring is not the only one using a Basic Score ^ doubles. Maybe I woul rework the relavant article, or it might be another reason to separate scoring, hands and rules into 2 articles plus a list. --User:Xf95 09:16, 18 Apr 2005 (UTC) ::::The rules introduced by Babcock to America are based on the same point-and-double system. The major non-point-and-double systems AFAIK are the Cantonese systems (plain old points) and the American system (which is a completely different beast altogether). User:KelvSYC 13:37, 18 Apr 2005 (UTC) It seems like you want to split Scoring in Mahjong into two articles: one for the generalities of how to score and the other for the most common scoring criteria and special hands. It seems like a "big mess" is being split into two "smaller messes". Why is Scoring in Mahjong, in your opinion, too jumbled? User:KelvSYC 13:37, 18 Apr 2005 (UTC) Won't it be a lot better when an ''interwinding'' mess is splitted into 2 ''interconnected'' mess? It would remain to be a mess, though. --User:Xf95 18:56, 18 Apr 2005 (UTC) == Mahjong and movies == If my memory serves me, there was a Mahjong movie starred by Andy Lau and Gigi Leung few years ago. Another coming-soon one would be the Mahjong Kungfu starred by the "landlady" in Kungfu Hustle. Would anyone write about the influence of Mahjong on movie-making industry? --User:Mcy jerry 06:34, 6 Jun 2005 (UTC)
Mahjong
Mahjong is a four-player tile-based game of Chinese origin. Chinese games Tile-based games
See other meanings of words starting from letter:
M
MA | MB | MC | MD | ME | MF | MG | MH | MI | MJ | MK | ML | MN | MO | MP | MR | MS | MT | MU | MW | MX | MY | MZ |Words begining with Mahjong:
Mahjong
Mahjong
Mahjong
Mahjongg
Mahjongg
Mahjongg
MahJongg_Solitaire
Mahjongg_solitaire
Mahjongg_tiles
Mahjong_Solitaire
Mahjong_solitaire
Mahjong_solitaire
Mahjong_tiles
Mahjong_tiles
These materials are based on Wikipedia and licensed under the GNU FDL
YouTube.com videos better site than Turbo Tax 2007
