| Chinese Classical | Overview | Gameplay | Scoring |
|---|
| Chinese Classical, SHNS, and HKNS | |
|---|---|
| Game Length | 1-4 Rounds |
| Tiles | 136, 144 |
| Hand | 13 |
| Dead Wall | 14, 16 with Flowers, or None |
| Replenishing Dead Wall | Varies |
| Discards | Pool |
| Scoring Type | Exponential |
| Scoring System | Classical: Classical New Style: Discarder-Pays-All |
| Self-Draw Split | Classical: x1 x1 x1 New Style: x2 x2 x2 |
| Discard Split | Classical: x1 x1 x1 New Style: x4 x0 x0 |
| Dealer Bonus | Yes, Double |
| Dealer Curse | Yes, Double |
| Minimum | Classical: 0 New Style: Varies |
| Maximum | Non-East 500, East 1000 (suggested) |
| Multiple Winners on Discard | No |
| Continuous Dealer Wins | Yes |
| Payout | All Players |
| Concealed Kongs | Displayed |
Chinese Classical Mahjong was the ruleset that fueled the international Mahjong Fever in the 1920s. It is the common ancestor of all Mahjong variants played to this day. Unlike many modern variants, all 4 players score their hand.
Within China, Chinese Classical later morphed into Shanghai New Style Mahjong (SHNS) in the 1920s and Hong Kong New Style Mahjong (HKNS) in the 1950s. These later rulesets added way more Fan, bonuses for consecutive dealer wins, and payouts for wins by self-draw/discard.
History
As the legend goes, Chinese Classical was born at the beginning of the 20th century in Ningbo China. After Shanghai became one of China's leading commercial centers, the Mahjong culture followed. Chinese Classical Mahjong became extremely popular with foreigners, and was exported internationally.
Within China, the variant later became known as "Shanghai New Style". The core mechanics remained the same, but more-and-more winning conditions were added onto it. When the authorities in the Mainland and Taiwan cracked down on gambling, "New Style" development moved to Hong Kong. These styles gradually took the already complex scoring/payout system of Chinese Classical and added on more bonuses/penalties, such as for consecutive dealer wins, or for wins by self-draw/discard. These styles also increased the number of winning conditions; some rulesets had as many as 100.
In Hong Kong, the already complex New Style rulesets were further complicated by the fact that different areas played with inconsistent rulesets. New Style eventually became accessible to only the most hardcore players, and the variant became associated with gambling.
Many people yearned for "the Mahjong of their grandfather's day"; a version with no more than 25 winning conditions. So, Hong Kong "Old Style" was born as a backlash to "New Style".
- 1900s: Chinese Classical is born, allegedly in Ningbo.
- 1910s: Chinese Classical develops further and moves to Shanghai.
- 1920s: Joseph Babcock & Saburo Hirayama commercialize Chinese Classical in the USA & Japan. Mahjong fever ensues.
- 1930-60s: The game evolves into Shanghai New Style, Hong Kong New Style, Japanese Classical, Western Mahjong, and many others.
Many families in the US still play Chinese Classical, but it is no longer the dominant ruleset in any region.
Terminology
Concealed: Self-drawn tiles within the player's hand.
Exposed: Melds made in part from an opponent's discard.
Chow: A run of 3 tiles. Players say "Chow!" to make a Chow.
Pung: A set of 3 identical tiles. Players say "Pung!" to make a Pung.
Kong: A declared set of 4 identical tiles. Players say "Kong!" to make a Kong. There are three types of Kong…
- Self-Drawn: All 4 tiles were self-drawn.
- Called: The first 3 tiles were self-drawn, the 4th was called from a discard.
- Added: The first 3 tiles are an exposed Pung, the 4th was self-drawn.
Mahjong: A valid winning hand. Players say "Mahjong!" or "Hu!" to declare that they have won.
Doubles: Refers to both the winning condition and the value of the winning condition.
Doubles Table: Used to score the payout. Differs from the Fan table used in more contemporary variants.
Equipment
Tiles: A basic set of 136 tiles + 8 Flowers/Seasons.
Dice: 2 Dice.
Round Wind Indicator: The first East player of the game holds onto this.
Players & Seating
A Round of Mahjong is made up of 4 Hands. There are 1 to 4 Rounds in a Game.
Seat Winds: Each Seat at the table has a Wind associated with it…
- The Dealer is always East. East displays the dice to their right.
- If East wins the Hand, the Seat Winds do not rotate. East gets to be Dealer again.
- If Non-East wins the Hand or if it's a Draw, the Seat Winds rotate counter-clockwise. The dice are passed to the new East player.
Round Winds: Each Round also has a Wind associated with it. The Round Wind is shown on the Round Wind Indicator.
Each player starts with the same number of points. This value depends on the Fan limit.
Building the Wall & Dealing
Each player builds a wall 18 tiles long and 2 tiles deep. Walls are not stacked like contemporary variants.
- East rolls the dice, counts tiles in their wall from right to left, and makes a break in the wall. To the left of the break is the beginning of the Live Wall; to the right is the end of the Dead Wall.
- Starting with East, players draw 13 tiles starting from the beginning of the Live Wall. Players take turns grabbing 4 at a time until they have 12. Then each player takes 1 more tile. Tiles are removed from the wall clockwise, but the players take turns counterclockwise.
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