The Mahjong Family Tree
There is much debate on the birth of Mahjong. To keep it simple this page starts with Chinese Classical.
The following shows a loose evolution of some notable Mahjong variants.
| Chinese Classical | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shanghai/Hong Kong New Style | Japanese Classical | Western Mah Jong | |||||||||
| HKOS | Mainland | Nanyang | Japanese Riichi | NMJL | Wright-Pat | Pusser's Bones | BMJA | ||||
| Guangdong | Taiwanese | Sichuan | Others | Singaporean | Filipino | Malaysian | |||||
| MCR/ZJ/GMCR | HKT | SBR | |||||||||
However, this shouldn't be taken too literally. Each variant's evolution has always been cross-cultural. Four examples…
- Most modern rulesets (barring Mainland Variants) use "All Pairs" and "All Green", which came from Western Mah Jong.
- Some Taiwanese rulesets use mechanics from both Hong Kong and Japanese rulesets.
- Guangdong Style was first influenced by Hong Kong, but later became influenced by Taiwanese.
- The Mainland Variants started as "New Style" Chinese Classical rulesets (with their own quirks), but later adopted the simplified HKOS scoring system.
Also, the jury is out on when the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, and Vietnam came up with their variants.
It's relatively safe to say these variants developed during the Chinese mass exodus of 1950-80s.
The million dollar question is: Did these variants develop parallel to HKOS or from HKOS?
The Mahjong Timeline
The following provides a rough timeline of when several popular or influential Mahjong variants were created.
| Time | Events |
|---|---|
| 1900s | Chinese Classical sets the base and eventually spreads worldwide due to commercialization. |
| 1920s | Starting in Shanghai, under the umbrella "New Style" more and more winning conditions are added on. |
| 1930s | Japanese Classical is born. |
| 1940s | Although the NMJL started making "official" American rule cards in 1937, they weren't strictly standardized until the 1940s. |
| 1950s | Both Taiwan and the Mainland crack down on gambling. A massive Chinese diaspora occurs. Meanwhile Hong Kong loosens its gambling restrictions. "New Style" continues to split and evolve within Hong Kong. Newly created public gambling houses start promoting a simplified style that uses Chinese Classical's winning conditions, but eliminates Fu. HKOS is born. |
| 1960s | Japanese Riichi is born, halting organic evolution in Japan. |
| 1980s | Both the PRC and Taiwan lighten restrictions. The new simplified rules re-gain "New Style" winning conditions. Guangdong Style is born. Meanwhile, Taiwanese Style, and a bunch of local Mainland variants are created. |
| 1990s | Chinese Official MCR is first released. Sichuan "Bloody" Rules explodes in popularity in Chengdu. |
| 2000s | Zung Jung is first released. |
| 2010s | Mobile Mahjong Apps spread once-regional variants worldwide. Riichi's popularity explodes internationally. |
| 2020s | Tournaments featuring MCR and Zung Jung have ceased. Riichi continues to spread. Mainland variants continue to evolve. Guangdong MCR is released. |
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