Welcome to the New Mahjong Wiki
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 | Japanese Classical | Western Mah Jong | |||||||||
| HKOS | Mainland | Nanyang | Japanese Riichi | NMJL | Wright-Pat | Pusser's Bones | BMJA | ||||
| Guangdong | Taiwanese | Chengdu | Others | Singaporean | Filipino | Malaysian | |||||
| MCR/ZJ/GMCR | HKT | ||||||||||
However, this shouldn't be taken too literally. Each variant's evolution has always been cross-cultural. Three examples…
- Many modern rulesets 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 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. "New Style" continues to split and evolve within Hong Kong. |
| 1960s | Japanese Riichi is born, halting organic evolution in Japan |
| 1970s | Even "New Style" in HK is seen as an overly complicated gambling game. HKOS, a simplified variant with Chinese Classical's winning conditions is created in backlash. |
| 1980s | The new simplified rules re-gain "New Style" winning conditions. Guangdong Style is born. Meanwhile, Sichuan (Chengdu), Taiwanese Style, and a bunch of local Mainland variants are created. |
| 1990s | Chinese Official MCR is first released. |
| 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. |
The old Mahjong Wiki is gone. The site had become extremely outdated. From the ashes we will give it new life.
Old Mahjong Wiki: Archive
2/12/2026 - Membership is restricted while we initialize this site, but feel free to apply.