Mahjong is a fun social game full of advantages in enhancing brain power and preventing dementia. It is a game for building relationships and bonding, teaching people not to do things harming others and themselves but to compete fairly and honorably. Mahjong is now internationally popular. While the U.S. and China are in competition, it is beneficial for politicians to understand the Chinese mahjong game, which will likely lead to an understanding of hegemony vs. anti-hegemony behavior. They may be similar but vastly different in consequences. (For example, military exercise with allies near another country's front door vs military exercise alone at one's front door to show defense capability.) Abandoning hegemony and engaging in fair competition is like playing mahjong, win or lose, a fun experience. The author is dedicating this paper to promoting a mahjong spirit in U.S.-China relations.
Origin and Game Significance
1. Created in 1846 in Qing Dynasty by Chen Yu-Wen, an Imperial palace servant.
2. A social and highly intellectual game based on game theory that can be mastered by illiterate and scholars alike.
3. Game rules reflect culture, mathematics, moral principles, and gambling nuisances such as luck and superstition as well as strategies.
4. Popular in China (Hong Kong, Shanghai, Taipei, all cities and rural areas), Japan (Imported by soldier Saburo Hirayama in 1924), Korea, Philippines, Singapore, and other Southeast Areas (Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, etc. ) and the U.S. (since 1920’s, introduced by Park Babcock and later evolved into a Jewish version). Can Jewish mahjong de-couple from Chinese mahjong? What for? Chinese produce high-quality sets at low cost for the world!5. Game for mental development and brain health popular in senior communities in both East and West hemispheres.
6. Jewish Mahjong as well as many other versions such as Thai mahjong are simple derivatives of the original Chinese mahjong game.
7. The same sets can be played by Americans, Chinese, Jewish and many others. The Chinese mahjong will be explained in this simple Rule Book.
The Construct of The Mahjong Game
1. A four-person game (although three people can play with less rigor) played on a square table with four chairs, each side of the table represents a direction (counter-clockwise), the East (東), South (南), West (西), and North (北）.
2. The players throwing dice to select seats, the highest number selects first. The one sitting on the East side is the first dealer holding a dealer marker showing a dice face with East (東), the East wind cycle.
3. The dealer keeps the dealership when wins, and passes on counter-clockwise to South (南) if the dealer loses, until the East wind cycle is completed.
4. Players continue to play the South wind cycle by turning the dealer marker to the South (南). Games continue until four wind cycles are completed. Four more cycles may be continued if players desire. (*Throw dice to change seating to play after North wind cycle is completed.)
The Mahjong Set
Each mahjong set consists of 144 tiles with four or eight blank spare tiles in case a few tiles missing. The box may come with dice and the dealer marker. The 144 tiles are:
A. Three suits of 1. silver dollar suit (餅, circular coin symbol) marked with 1 to 9 coin symbols, four duplicate tiles each making a total of 36, 2. Currency suit (萬, ten thousand, yuan implied) marked with 一to 九（1 to 9）萬, four tiles each making a total of 36, and 3. Bamboo bar suit (條, gold bar shape) marked 1 to 9 bars, four tiles each making a total of 36, three suits net 108 tiles.
B. Blessing words, 中（Zhong, red color, meaning achieving a goal, passing exam, etc.) four tiles, 發 （Fa, green color, meaning making fortune, receiving lots of money) four tiles each, and 白（Bai, blank or white, meaning spotless reputation, honest character, etc.) four tiles each; a total of 12 tiles.
C. Four winds, East (東), South (南), West (西), and North (北), four tiles each, total 16.
D. Four seasons and corresponding four flower plants, 春(Spring), 夏(Summer), 秋(Autumn), and 冬(Winter), and 梅, plum, 蘭, orchid, 菊, chrysanthemum, and 竹, bamboo, one tile each, a total of 8.
E, The entire set has 108+12+16+8=144 tiles, three numeral suits and the rest of words.
The Game Rules
1. Shuffle 144 tiles on the table with tile face down, each player picks randomly 34 (without seasons and flowers) or 36 tiles (playing with seasons and flowers as bonuses) in front of the person. These bonus tiles do not interfere with the game plot, just add an agreed bonus.
2. Starting the game with the first dealer sitting at the East seat: throwing a pair of dice to determine where to first pick the dealer’s first four tiles, by counting from the dealer’s seat counter-clockwise to the number shown on the dice. Then throw the dice again (or using the same dice number) to count the tiles at the selected seat position clockwise (or right to left) to the dice number to pick 4 tiles there from that number on. Dealer first then each player in turn picks four tiles, three rounds plus 1 more tile (each gets 13 tiles) then the dealer draws another (14th) tile to begin the play.
3. The win pattern is always 4x3+2 (with extra bonus tiles if any attached to this pattern), that is four sets of three sequence number in the same suit or three identical tiles set plus a pair called mahjong (or eye).
How to Make a Trick and Win the Game
There are four ways of making a trick:
1. When you draw the first thirteen cards, you can sort out a sequence of three in the same suit or three identical tiles as sets, called hidden tricks.
2. When you draw a tile at your turn and match two tiles in your hand to make a sequence or identical triplet set, also called a hidden trick.
3. If the player sitting before you (play sequence is counterclockwise) discards a tile that you can take to make a sequence trick with two matching tiles in your hand, called an open trick by 吃（eat). It must be placed in an open manner in front of you to show to everyone.
4. When any player discards a tile that you can grab to match two identical tiles in your hand, called an open trick by 碰 (grab from any one). It also must be placed in an open manner in front to show to other players.
5. If grab and eat occurred at the same time, grab has preference over eat and so does grab with bonus (grab one with three matching identical tiles) over eat.
6. When you have four tricks and a pair of Majong, you can declare 胡 (win) which has the highest preference over grab or eat. When more than one player declares a win at the same time (fighting over the discarded tile), the nearest next player to the one firing the discarded tile (放炮) wins.
7. The game must end when the draw tiles were down to the last 7 pieces, then the game is a draw and the dealer stays on to the next game.
How to Count the Winning Tricks (算番）
1. Players decide what are countable as 一番（one unit of win or equivalent in dollar but going up in binary scale, that is 1,2,4,8,16,32 corresponding to 1,2,3,4.5 6 番) and what combination of tricks equal to how many 番(fan). There is no absolute rule, but in general players will accept a set of rules based on empirical practice.
2. The following trick or pattern of tricks are given the value of 一番； 自摸, self-draw to win, 平胡，entire collection having no 1, 9 or blessing or wind word， 將番， pair of 2, 5 or 8 as Ma Jong, 缺五，no 5 in entire set, 斷么，no 1, 9 or words, 一般高，identical twin sequence， 三元， anyone of blessing word trick (identical three of 中， 發 or 白）, 風牌， three identical wind of the wind cycle or your seat position wind, 無花，no season or flower tile, 獨聽， win on a single tile with no other way to win, 老少， having 123 and 789 sequence in the same suit or 111 and 999 identical set of the same suit, 缺一門， only has two suits, missing one suit and no words, 門前清， no eat or grab, thus no open tricks, 彩龍， 3 suits of 123, 456 and 789, 海底撈月， win on last draw tile, 河底撈魚， after last draw card fire cannon, make someone win, 搶杠，getting 4th identical tile and causing someone to win, 兩杠， two sets of four identical tiles, 杠上花，make open or close 4 identical tiles then draw to win（or to lose, 杠上炮， negative for firing person), 聽五， win on waiting for 5 to match 4 and 6 to make a sequence, 清四碰，open or close 4 sets of 4 identical tiles, 四歸一, 4 identical tiles made one set of 3 identical tiles and one sequence.
3. 二番 (two units): 四歸二，4 identical tiles making 2 sequences and a pair of mahjong, 混帶幺， all sequence or identical sets and mahjong are made of 1 or 9, 一組花, getting all seasons or flowers, 半求人，4 sets of sequences and/or identical tiles all made by eat or grab, 對對胡， win by making 4 sets of 3 identical tiles and a pair of mahjong.
4. 三番 (3 units): 全求人, all made by eat or grab, if one who fired the winning tile with no compelling reason (ready to win is compelling), must pay for all other players’ loss, 清一色, all pieces in one suit, 全么, all pieces are either 1 or 9, 七對，win by seven pairs.
5. 四番 (4 units): 清對對胡, all four identical sets and mahjong in one suit, 將對, seven pairs all 2, 5, or 8.
6. 五番 (5 units)： 龍七對 （雙龍抱), six pairs in two sequences of six plus mahjong, 清七對， all seven pairs in the same suit, 清么九, all in 1 or 9 of one suit.
7. 六番 (6 units) : 天胡, the dealer win by the initial draw of the14th tile, 地胡, the win by very first draw, 青龍七對， seven pairs in a straight seven sequence.
8. The following situation adds 一番，搶杠，fight over a piece to win while someone declared grab, 根加一，have four identical tiles in your hand when win adds 一番.
The above rules are all subject to pre-game negotiation, because people may be used to slightly different ways of counting. Since the probability theorems behind these rules are difficult to prove, the players must agree to a set of rules (ignoring some others) to enjoy the game. Similarly, in international trade relations and foreign affairs, it is difficult to have a perfect set of rules to guide the interactions and to satisfy the 200 world members. Therefore, it is best to keep a dialogue open for negotiation rather than impose a rigid set of rules. Let’s hope that the U.S. and China will act like mahjong players (the purpose is to have a fun game). They negotiate and play rather than de-couple and blame which will hurt each other with no game to play!
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