| Mainland Mahjong | Overview | Gameplay | Scoring |
|---|
| Mainland Mahjong | |
|---|---|
| Game Length | Varies |
| Tiles | 136, 144 |
| Hand | 13 |
| Dead Wall | Varies |
| Replenishing Dead Wall | Varies |
| Discards | Varies |
| Scoring Type | Varies |
| Scoring System | Varies |
| Self-Draw Split | Varies |
| Discard Split | Varies |
| Dealer Bonus | x2 |
| Dealer Curse | x2 |
| Minimum | Varies |
| Maximum | Varies |
| Multiple Winners on Discard | No |
| Continuous Dealer Wins | Yes |
| Payout | Varies |
| Concealed Kongs | Displayed |
Today there are over a 100 variants of Mainland Mahjong with wildly differing rulesets and mechanics. But as late as 1990, regional Mahjong variants within Mainland China shared many rules and mechanics. Two particular mechanics that deviate from other variants are "Joys" and "Treasure Tiles". These pages aim to be a resource for this era and these mechanics.
Note: Although Guangdong is a Mainland province, Guangdong New Style has more in common with the variants that were coming out of Hong Kong (and Taiwan post-1990s). Guangdong Style never uses Joys or Treasure Tiles, almost always allows Multiple Winners on a Discard, and almost always uses a Discarder-Pays-All payout system.
History
Mahjong was invented in Mainland China.
The variant now known as Chinese Classical was allegedly invented in Ningbo in the 1900s. Overtime a bunch of new patterns were added on, these variants are often referred to as Shanghai New Style.
In 1949 the Chinese Cultural Revolution occurred. This resulted in the suppression of Mahjong and the confiscation of Mahjong materials. As a result, it's difficult to piece together Mainland Mahjong development from 1950 to the late-70s. Based on Mainland Mahjong texts from the 1980s, we can assume "New Style" variants were being played.
Meanwhile, Mahjong restrictions were loosened in Hong Kong in 1950. "New Style" variants were played at first, but in the 1970s an "Old Style" variant became extremely popular.
In the late-70s restrictions on Mahjong were loosened on the Mainland. By the 1980s "Mahjong Fever" swept the Mainland. Each region played its own flavor of Mahjong, but these variants shared similarities. Most regions played with the now popular "Old Style" rules, but many variants also had a "New Style" variant. The biggest quirk these regions shared were a mechanic known as "Joys". Many variants also used "Treasure" or "Joker" tiles.
In the 1990s the regional variants began deviating more and more. Sichuan/Chengdu added "Bloody" rules. Some dropped the "Joys", some kept them, and some got rid of Honors altogether. Some built on "Old Style" and some built on an additive "New Style".
In 1998 Chinese Official MCR was released. This largely halted "New Style" development, though competitive Guangdong Mahjong continued to be played and developed in Taiwan. Many of the simplified "Old Style" variants continued to evolve, and many are the dominate forms of Mahjong played on the Mainland to this day.
Terminology
Given the diversity of languages within the Mainland (Mandarin, Cantonese, Min) the terminology varies.
This section will be fleshed out later, but know these two terms…
Joys (Xi, 喜): A declared set of 3 to 4 tiles. Like Added Kongs, these special sets can be added onto.
Treasure Tile (): Also known as Wilds or Jokers.
Equipment
Tiles: A basic set of 136 tiles. Many variants use 8 Flower tiles. A minority use 4 to 8 "Animal" tiles.
Dice: 2 Dice if playing without Flowers. 3 Dice if playing with Flowers.
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 ideally 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.
- At the end of a Hand the Seat Winds rotate counter-clockwise. The dice are passed to the new East player.
At the beginning of a Game there are several ways to assign players to Seat Winds. Two examples…
- Everyone rolls a dice. Highest value is East, next is South, next is West, and lowest is North.
- 1 of each Wind tile are set aside face down and mixed around. Each player picks a tile.
Round Winds: Each Round also had a Wind associated with it. The Round Wind is shown on the Round Wind Indicator. After each player has been dealer once the Round Wind rotates. The Round Wind order goes East, South, West, North, and then back to East.
Each player starts with the same number of points. This value depends on the point limit.
Building the Wall & Dealing
Each player builds a wall 17 tiles long and 2 tiles high.
If the group is playing with Flowers, each player instead builds a wall 18 tiles long and 2 tiles high.
- East rolls the dice, counts stacks 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 (2 stacks) until they have 12. Then each player takes 1 more tile. Tiles are removed from the wall clockwise, but the players take turns counterclockwise.
Note: Some rulesets don't build a Dead Wall.
- The last 14 tiles (7 stacks) form the Dead Wall or the Kong Box. If playing with Flowers, some groups make the Dead Wall 16 tiles long.
Next: Mainland Mahjong Gameplay
Back: Home