HomeMahjong, also spelled mah-jong or mah-jongg is a game of Chinese origin. Dating to over two thousand years ago, Mahjong is said to have originated in the court of the King of Wu. This was roughly the time that Confucius existed, which was some five hundred years before the Christian era.5 Within this court, there lived a beauty in seclusion. To keep herself from utter boredom, she invented a game of her own. She began to carve domino-shaped pieces of ivory and bamboo. When she was finished, she invited three of her maids to play her newly invented game. Each person was to receive 34 tiles in which they would each create a wall with. The exact rules that were applied are unknown but the lowest score is said to have been 22 points and the highest 389,928 points.
For centuries, mahjong remained exclusive of the royal class. It was against the law for commoners to play. The penalty for commoners who dared to play mahjong was decapitation. However, around 500 A.D., the penalty was lifted, which enabled everyone who desired to play mahjong to do so.6
Lifting the ban on the commoner’s right to play mahjong enabled the game to spread to various countries around the world, including England and Australia. Its invasion into the United States did not occur until 1920. Joseph P. Babcock, an American resident of Shanghai, was the person responsible for introducing mahjong to the United States. He coined and copyrighted the term "mah-jongg," along with a simplified set of rules which he put together. To promote the game in the U.S., Babcock also gave English translations to the tiles and added index letters and numbers familiar to card players. Babcock was also responsible for the first few mahjong sets ever to be imported into the U.S.7
By 1923, mahjong’s popularity was growing at a tremendously rapid rate. Mahjong sets were being shipped into the U.S. by the thousands and stood sixth in value in the list of exports from Shanghai. Standing at a total value of $1,505,000 (1923), mahjong sets were only surpassed by exports of silks, laces, skins, eggs and tea.8 The popularity was so immense that one American factory had on file unfilled orders for thousands of mahjong sets. In one of New York’s largest sporting goods store, a man was sent to China with a bag of gold and instructions to buy every set of mahjong he could get his hands on. Most peculiar of all, perhaps, was that the Department of Commerce reported that large quantities of bone were being exported from Kansas City and Chicago to China in order to turn out more sets of mahjong.9
By the late 1920’s the popularity of mahjong seemed to taper off. Its popularity faded away almost as quickly as it came, leaving importers with an estimated two million dollars of unsalable mahjong sets.10 For many, mahjong was just another fad in America’s long list of leisure fads. However, for a group of enthusiasts, this game became a permanent part of their lives, for they continued to play the game in hopes of rejuvenating the craze.
The depression of the 1930’s sparked the revival of many table games, card games and board games. Among them was no other than mahjong. Experts speculated that the resurgence of certain games came about because many were bored with movies, concerts and radio. People desired the mental agility that games of the past had to offer.11 If a mental challenge was what people wanted, mahjong was definitely the game, for it was often called the "game of a hundred intelligences" simply because it required much concentration.12 Although the game never reached its initial popularity, mahjong was revived after 1935. Once again, the game was among the many leisure activities that America engaged in. In fact, to this very day, mahjong is still being played. There are many national tournaments being played around the country.