Mahjong

Mahjong (alternately spelled Mah-jongg) is a Chinese tile game with mysterious beginnings—experts suggest alternate dates for the conception of the game—but has a promising future with worldwide competitions and leagues. Mahjong has transcended cultures, finding popularity from Argentina to South Africa, and bringing people together from all walks of life to enjoy this game on the internet, in tournaments, in parks, and in Mahjong parlors.

Historians agree that Mahjong evolved from older Chinese card games that were played for money; however, there is a debate about when and how the game was developed, because there is no early documentation on the game. Mahjong resembles many other ancient Chinese games, particularly card games such as Ya Pai or gambling games, because the symbols on the Mahjong tiles represent the currency that was once used in place of cards.

Erwei Dong claims that the game was developed by Confucius around 500 b.c.e., whereas Jelte Rep writes that Mahjong was formally developed in 1846. He asserts that Chen Yu-men, an imperial servant and diplomat from Ningbo, combined different card games and introduced tiles in place of cards. During the Cultural Revolution in China beginning in 1966, Mahjong was targeted as a tradition that led to corruption because of the gambling involved; the ban was lifted in 1998. As a result of the ban, traditional rules were abandoned, and the Chinese adopted the newer rules of Hong Kong, where Mahjong had become a game for young people. In 1998 Mahjong was officially recognized as a sport and international tournament rules were created.

Mahjong may have been reintroduced to Europe instead of making a first appearance in the 1920s. According to Stewart Cullin, Mahjong was introduced to Europe in 1895 with the name of Kahnhoo by W.H. Wilkinson. However, Kahnhoo did not succeed as Mahjong did, which may have been because of its similarity to the currently popular game of Dominoes. In the 1920s, Mahjong reached its height of popularity worldwide when expatriates returned home to introduce the game, with spectacular results.

American Joseph Park Babcock introduced Mahjong to the United States in the 1920s, where it became an instant hit after he Americanized the rules and tile markings. L.L. Harr, an Englishman, returned to Great Britain to introduce the game he knew as Pe-Ling. It became immediately popular with the royal court and Mahjong clubs sprang up everywhere. Harr and Babcock were at odds over the rules of the game and a rivalry was formed: Harr went so far as to campaign [Page 372]against Babcock's interpretation of the rules. Today, there are a variety of rules that exist for playing Mahjong, though in tournaments an agreed-upon standard is always used.

Although it uses tiles instead of cards, Mahjong is similar to Western-style card games such as Rummy.

In 1923, a man from Amsterdam known by the initials J.P. wrote a letter to the editor of a Dutch paper in order to find out more about the game of Mahjong. When no one knew of it, the firm Perry & Co. of Amsterdam contacted the Dutch branch of their American company and immediately began selling the game in Amsterdam. Soon the Netherlands Mah-Jongg League was founded and the game extended to the Dutch colonies.

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