Mahjong: Difference between revisions

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[[File:majiang_1087.jpg|link=Lust Caution|right]]

[[File:majiang_1087.jpg|link=Lust, Caution|right]]

Mahjong (麻將) is arguably the quintessential East Asian gambling game, although it does not require money stakes. It originated in China during the last half of the 19th century, although the exact details of its creation are [[Shrouded in Myth]]. It also has numerous variants; common variants with major differences from the Chinese/Hong Kong variants are detailed in their own sections below. It is not to be confused (although it far too often is) with [[Shanghai (~~Video~~ ~~Game~~)|Shanghai]] (aka [[Mahjong Solitaire]]), which is a completely different one-player tile-matching game played with Mahjong tiles.

Mahjong (麻將) is arguably the quintessential East Asian gambling game, although it does not require money stakes. It originated in China during the last half of the 19th century, although the exact details of its creation are [[Shrouded in Myth]]. It also has numerous variants; common variants with major differences from the Chinese/Hong Kong variants are detailed in their own sections below. It is not to be confused (although it far too often is) with [[Shanghai (video game)|Shanghai]] (aka [[Mahjong Solitaire]]), which is a completely different one-player tile-matching game played with Mahjong tiles.

Mahjong is generally played on a square table, with one player seated on each side, as in contract bridge. The game is played using rectangular tiles, with four identical tiles of each type in the set, and at least 34 different tiles, for a total of at least 136 tiles.

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*** Big Three Dragons: A Pong or Kong of each dragon tile. This is hard to accomplish because (a) you must draw two of each dragon before your opponents discard the other two, and (b) if you Pong two dragons, any sensible opponent will avoid discarding the third to give you the special hand. Additional bonus points if the other 5 tiles are a pong of a wind and a pair of another wind.

*** Big Four Winds: A Pong or Kong of each wind tile. Even harder to accomplish than Big Three Dragons but for the same reasons. Additional bonus points if the pair in your hand is a dragon.

*** Kong Hand: [[Exactly What It Says On the Tin|A hand of four Kongs]] and a pair. Strategically speaking, this is probably the most difficult hand to get, partly because of the sheer luck involved in getting 4 of a kind for any tile in the first place, and mostly because this is the one type of hand that will always be outright advertised if a player is going for it, as it requires 18 tiles total. Compounding things more is that in some rules, a fifth Kong declared in a single hand automatically makes that hand drawn, requiring that all Kongs declared for this hand be done by the winner.

*** Kong Hand: [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|A hand of four Kongs]] and a pair. Strategically speaking, this is probably the most difficult hand to get, partly because of the sheer luck involved in getting 4 of a kind for any tile in the first place, and mostly because this is the one type of hand that will always be outright advertised if a player is going for it, as it requires 18 tiles total. Compounding things more is that in some rules, a fifth Kong declared in a single hand automatically makes that hand drawn, requiring that all Kongs declared for this hand be done by the winner.

* [[Obvious Rule Patch]]: The "kuitan nashi" house rule in the Japanese Riichi variant.

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== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==

* ''[[~~Ten (Anime)|~~Ten]]''

* ''[[Ten]]''

** ''[[Akagi]]'', a prequel to the above.

** ''[[Washizu Lord of Mahjong Hell]]'' as well.

* ''[[Saki (~~Manga~~)|Saki]]''

* ''[[Saki (manga)|Saki]]''

* ''[[Futaba Kun Change ~~(Manga)~~|Futaba Kun Change]]''

* ''[[Futaba-Kun Change!|Futaba Kun Change]]''

* In '''[[~~Hayate the Combat Butler (Manga)|~~Hayate the Combat Butler]]'', one of Hayate's past jobs was playing Mahjong player for those with mob debts.

* In '''[[Hayate the Combat Butler]]'', one of Hayate's past jobs was playing Mahjong player for those with mob debts.

* ''[[Miyuki ~~Chan~~ in Wonderland]]''

* ''[[Miyuki-chan in Wonderland]]''

* ''[[The Legend of Koizumi]]'', in which ''all world politics'' are secretly carried out by behind-the-scenes high-stakes mahjong games between politicians, referred to in public as "negotiations". [[The Pope]] explains that mahjong is mankind's attempt to recreate genesis.

** And all of that is before {{spoiler|the Nazis, who have colonized the moon, show up and the characters get involved in games where losing points equates to having your life force sucked out of your body and a full on loss literally killing you.}}

* ''[[Detective Conan]]'' - Kogorou loves playing it, but he's not very good; and Ran, being [[Born Lucky]], tends to win rather improbable hands.

* ''[[Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni]]'' has people play mah jong a few different times during the plot, and later on, a [[Gaiden Game]] was created which is basically ''[[Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni]]''+[[Recycled in Space|MAH JONG]]

* ''[[Higurashi no Naku Koro ni]]'' has people play mah jong a few different times during the plot, and later on, a [[Gaiden Game]] was created which is basically ''[[Higurashi no Naku Koro ni]]''+[[Recycled in Space|MAH JONG]]

** This "recycled into a [[Mahjong]] game" business happens to many different series (Evangelion, Gundam, Haruhi-chan, to name a few). Even the Super Mario series is not immune.

* ''[[Saiyuki]]'' - The four main characters are often seen playing Mahjong (and it's all but spelled out that they all cheat blatantly). Sanzo in particular once managed to draw the jaw-droppingly impossible Kokushi Musou (see [[Luck-Based Mission]] above). (But then, he's [[Sanzo]].) Gojyo once wisecracked that the only reason he was saving Goku's life was to make sure they had a fourth for mahjong games.

** Chin Yisou, one of the original series villains, had somewhat of a Mahjong theme.

** The occasion of Sanzo's astonishing draw was doubly symbolically loaded, in that it was concluded with a West tile (as referenced above), suggesting both the group's westward journey and its frequent consequences.

* ''[[~~XXX Holic~~]]'' - Watanuki, Yuuko, Shizuka, and {{spoiler|the spirit of a dying cherry tree}} play Mahjong together as part of a ceremony to help the spoiler pass on into the next life.

* ''[[XxxHolic]]'' - Watanuki, Yuuko, Shizuka, and {{spoiler|the spirit of a dying cherry tree}} play Mahjong together as part of a ceremony to help the spoiler pass on into the next life.

* [[Bitch in Sheep's Clothing|Kakei]] from [[Legal Drug]] is revealed in an omake to love Mahjong. Considering he's a [[Seer]], it's a wonder why anyone agrees to play with him.

* The third series of ''[[Kaiji]]'' has a two-player variant called Minefield Mahjong.

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== [[Film]] / Live Action ==

* There's a quick gag in ''[[~~Annie Hall (Film)|~~Annie Hall]]'' when Alvy is riffing on his Jewish background:

* There's a quick gag in ''[[Annie Hall]]'' when Alvy is riffing on his Jewish background:

{{quote| '''Alvy''' ''(performing standup)''''':''' I was thrown out of N.Y.U. my freshman year for cheating on my metaphysics final, you know. I looked within the soul of the boy sitting next to me. When I was thrown out, my mother, who was an emotionally high-strung woman, locked herself in the bathroom and took an overdose of Mah-Jongg tiles.}}

* ''[[Lust Caution]]'' begins with a Mahjong game, and the game is being played on several occasions throughout the film.

* ''[[Lust, Caution]]'' begins with a Mahjong game, and the game is being played on several occasions throughout the film.

== [[Literature]] ==

* The [[Discworld]] novel "[[Discworld ~~(Literature)~~/Interesting Times|Interesting Times]]" has the similar-looking Shibi Yangcong-san (a mixture of Chinese and Japanese for "Cripple Mr. Onion").

* The [[Discworld]] novel "[[Discworld/Interesting Times|Interesting Times]]" has the similar-looking Shibi Yangcong-san (a mixture of Chinese and Japanese for "Cripple Mr. Onion").

* The ''[[~~Breaking the Wall (Literature)|~~Breaking the Wall]]'' series by Jane Lindskold has an entire [[Functional Magic|magical system]] based on mahjong.

* The ''[[Breaking the Wall]]'' series by Jane Lindskold has an entire [[Functional Magic|magical system]] based on mahjong.

* ''[[~~The Joy Luck Club (Literature)|~~The Joy Luck Club]]'': Jing-Mei mentions having played mahjong with "some Jewish friends" in college, prompting Lindo to note that that game is entirely different.

* ''[[The Joy Luck Club]]'': Jing-Mei mentions having played mahjong with "some Jewish friends" in college, prompting Lindo to note that that game is entirely different.

* The [[~~Agatha Christie (Creator)|~~Agatha Christie]] novel ''[[The Murder of Roger Ackroyd]]'' features one chapter titled "An Evening at Mahjong". This particular round concludes with a Heavenly Hand (instant win after the distribution) by Dr. Sheppard.

* The [[Agatha Christie]] novel ''[[The Murder of Roger Ackroyd]]'' features one chapter titled "An Evening at Mahjong". This particular round concludes with a Heavenly Hand (instant win after the distribution) by Dr. Sheppard.

== [[Live Action TV]] ==

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== [[Western Animation]] ==

* In ''[[Kung Fu Panda]]'', Po's father mentions that his great-grandfather won his noodle shop in a game of mahjong.

* Seen a few times in ''[[~~Jackie Chan Adventures (Animation)|~~Jackie Chan Adventures]]''.

* Seen a few times in ''[[Jackie Chan Adventures]]''.

* In ''[[Chowder]]'', Truffles is a Mahjong player. Since Truffles is a classic ''[[Alter Kocker|yenta,]]'' it's probably the American game.