Mahjong

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the Chinese multiplayer tile game. For the tile-matching solitaire game,
see Mahjong Solitaire. For other uses, see Mahjong (disambiguation).

Mahjong

A game of Mahjong being played in Hangzhou, China

Chinese name

Traditional Chinese

Simplified Chinese

Alternative Chinese name

Traditional Chinese

Simplified Chinese

Vietnamese name

Vietnamese

mt chc

Korean name

Hangul

Hanja

Japanese name

Kanji

Kana

This article
contains Chinese text.Without
proper rendering support, you
may see question marks,
boxes, or other symbols instead
ofChinese characters.

Mahjong

Players

2-4

Age range

4 years and older

Setup time

1-5 minutes

Playing time

Dependent on variation and/or

house/tournament rules

Random

Yes

chance

Skill(s) required Tactics, observation, memory, teamwork

Mahjong, also spelled majiang, mah jongg, and numerous other variants, is a game that originated
in China. It is commonly played by 4 players (with some 3-player variations found in South
Korea and Japan). The game and its regional variants are widely played throughout Eastern and
South Eastern Asia and have a small following in Western countries. Similar to the Western card
gamerummy, Mahjong is a game of skill, strategy, and calculation and involves a degree of chance.
The game is played with a set of 144 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 13 tiles. In turn players draw and discard tiles until they complete a legal hand using the
14th drawn tile to form 4 groups (melds) and a pair (head). There are fairly standard rules about how
a piece is drawn, how a piece is stolen from another player and thus melded, the use of simples
(numbered tiles) and honors (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 and
the minimum hand necessary to win varies significantly based on the local rules being used.
Contents
[hide]

1Name

2History
o

2.1China

2.2Mahjong in the West

2.3Current development

3Old Hong Kong Mahjong

3.1Game Pieces and Accessories

3.1.1Suits tiles

3.1.2Honors tiles

3.1.3Bonus tiles

3.2Choosing table positions and first dealer

3.3Hands, rounds, and matches

3.4Dealing tiles

3.5Rules

3.5.1Legal hand

3.5.2Melds

3.5.3Interruption of play

3.5.3.1Flower or Season

3.5.3.2Melding another player's discard

3.5.3.3Going Mahjong

3.5.3.4Robbing a Kong

3.5.4Example winning hands

3.5.5Calling out Mahjong

3.5.6Turns and rounds

3.5.7Rhythm of play
3.6Scoring

3.6.1Fan value

3.6.1.1Basic fan value

3.6.1.2Bonus fan
3.6.2Payment

3.6.2.1Examples

3.6.2.2Limit hands
3.6.3Examples of high-scoring hands

4Variations
o

4.1Equipment

4.2Rules

4.3Scoring

4.4Wildcards

4.5Comparison

4.6Hands

4.7Flowers

4.8Number of tiles

4.9Charleston

4.10Jokers

4.11Ready hands

4.12Draws

4.13Abortive draws

5Competition

6Superstitions

7Unicode

8See also

9References
o

9.1Notes

9.2Further reading

9.2.1Historical research

9.2.2Chinese classic

9.2.3Chinese official
10External links