Mah Jong

Mahjong (also called mah-jongg by the American association, Traditional Chinese: 麻將; Pinyin: májiàng) is a game for four players that originated in China. Mahjong involves skill, strategy, and calculation, as well as a certain degree of chance. more...

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Depending on the variation which is played, luck can be anything from a minor to a dominant factor in success. In Asia, mahjong is also popularly played as a gambling game. In the game, you are given either thirteen or sixteen tiles for a hand. (depending on the variation being played) When your turn comes, you draw a tile and discard one. Your goal is to make four melds (see 6.3) and a pair, or \"head\". (note that a winning hand contains fourteen tiles. you win by drawing a tile that completes your hand, or off of someone else's discard)

History

Mahjong in China

One of the myths of the origin of Mahjong suggests that Confucius, the great Chinese philosopher, had developed the game in about 500 BC. This assertion is likely to be apocryphal. According to this myth, the appearance of the game in the various Chinese states coincided with Confucius' travels at the time he was teaching his new doctrines. The three dragon (Cardinal) tiles also agree with the three Cardinal virtues bequeathed by Confucius. Zhōng (中 lit. middle) the Red, Fā (發 lit. prosperity) the Green, Bái (白 lit. white) the White represent Benevolence, Sincerity, and Filial piety respectively, again under this myth. In fact, the \"middle\" is likely a reference to 中国 (zhōngguó) — China's name in Chinese.

Also, this myth claims that Confucius was fond of birds, which would explain the name \"Mahjong\" (sparrow). However, there is no evidence of Mahjong's existence before the Taiping era in the 19th century, which eliminates Confucius as a likely inventor.

The general consensus is that the game was developed from existing Chinese card and domino games sometime around 1850. Many historians believe it was based on a Chinese card game called Mádiào (馬吊) (also known as Ma Tiae, lit. Hanging Horse; or Yèzí (葉子), lit. Leaf) in the early Ming dynasty. This game was played with 40 paper cards similar in appearance to the cards used in the game Ya Pei. These 40 cards, numbered 1 to 9 in four different suits along with four extra flower cards, are quite similar to the numbering of Mahjong tiles today.

There is still a healthy 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 noble living in the Shanghai area created the game between 1870 and 1875. Others believe that around 1850 in the city of Níngpō two brothers had created Mahjong from the earlier game of Mádiào.

Read more at Wikipedia.org