Mahjong is a gambling game that has been around for many generations and is still being played up to the present time. It is a game made up of tiles or playing cards with up to four players allowed to participate in the game. Every player is entitled to either thirteen or sixteen tiles or cards and this number should be maintained all throughout the game to avoid disqualification. And because it involves all kinds of skills such as strategy, calculation, and a touch of luck many people from all over the world enjoy the game and would even place various amounts as pot money to make the game more exciting. To be able to get a clear idea of how Mahjong came to be, this article focuses on the history of Mahjong.
There are several myths that talk about the beginnings of Mahjong, one of which suggests that Confucius developed the game back in 500 BC. According to the myth, the appearance of the Mahjong game in many of China’s states coincided or was related to Confucius’ travels during the time he was teaching his doctrines to the people. Even the three dragon tiles that make up a part of the Mahjong playing tiles were inspired by the virtues taught and upheld by Confucius. The red, green, and white tiles under the Honor suits represent benevolence, sincerity, and filial piety. We can also see this in the meaning of Mahjong, which is “sparrow” when translated into English, as Confucius was very fond of birds. But because of lack of evidence, the belief that Confucius was the inventor of the game was dismissed.
On the other hand, many of today’s historians thought the origin of Mahjong was based on another Chinese card game called Madidao back in the early Ming dynasty. This game had 40 paper cards that were similar in appearance to the cards being used in another game called Ya Pei. The similarities are seen on the suits of the cards, which are numbered 1 to 9 in four different suits with extra four flower cards. But many still believe that Mahjong was created in different ways. Some suggest it was developed by Chinese army officers to pass the time while others believe it to be created by a nobleman residing in Shanghai between 1870 and 1875. There was a time though when Mahjong was banned by the government of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. The government forbade any form of gambling as they were regarded as symbols of capitalist corruption.
Mahjong was then brought back during the Cultural Revolution but without the gambling elements. Today, it has become a favorite pastime for old and young people of China and in other countries all over the world