This ancient game originated from China approximately 2,000 years ago and is believed to have originated from Emperor Wu. In the early days, it was played only by Chinese aristocrats. Today, the game is enjoyed by all walks of life, throughout Asia and the world.
Also known as mahjong, mah-jongg, ma-diao, mah-cheuck, baak-ling, and pung-chow, the game requires four players and is played like jim rummy. Instead of cards, tiles are used. The aim is to discard and claim tiles using sequences or suits. Just like with cards, a majiang player's set of tiles is called a "hand" and the game goes around in a circle so that each player gets a turn to organize their tiles into a winning hand.
Today, there are so many different ways playing Majiang from the conventional Chinese, Taiwanese, HongKong / Cantonese, European/Netherland and the USA/Jewish styles. For competition rules, contact your local Majiang league such as the American National Mahjong League.
The first Majiang World Champion is Mai Hatsune from Japan. She is 23 years old. Second place went to American John O'Connor who is 22 years old and third was Yuuichi Ikeya also from Japan. Held at the Grand Palace Hotel in Tokyo, it was attended by over one hundred competitors from eight countries.
Two WLE Ma Jiang nights were held in May. Our first night we set up tables and chairs outside in the courtyard in front of the residence. We started by holding a brief lesson on how to play. A local Beijing expert showed the tricks and explained the many different ways of playing. He also demonstrated the most common methods of cheating so we could catch out the more competitive students.
We played until the early hours - many students refusing to leave the tables until they got that last illusive victory. Many students chose to pair up with their Language Exchange Partner to learn more about this game through speaking mandarin.
This night was so successful that we put together a World Link team and headed off to take on some more experienced players in the East of Beijing, where we were taught a lesson in Beijing Hua and soon realized that our skills in Ma Jiang were not up to their standards.
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April / May 2003
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