9 articles · read in order

Mahjong Goes Global

How mahjong left China: the 1920s American craze, Joseph Park Babcock, Britain and Europe, Japan's adoption, and the communities that kept it alive.

1Mahjong Goes Global

The 1920s Mahjong Craze in America

In 1922 and 1923 mahjong swept the United States. Department stores sold out of sets, newspapers printed lessons, songs were written about it — and then the fad faded almost as fast as it arrived.

2 min read

2Mahjong Goes Global

Joseph Park Babcock and the Red Book

An American Standard Oil employee in Suzhou, Joseph Park Babcock simplified mahjong for Western players, trademarked the name "Mah-Jongg" and published the influential rule book known as the Red Book.

2 min read

3Mahjong Goes Global

Mahjong in Britain and Europe

Britain caught the mahjong bug in the 1920s, developing its own "British rules". Continental Europe followed, and since the 2000s a network of national associations has built a thriving competitive scene.

2 min read

4Mahjong Goes Global

How Mahjong Came to Japan

Mahjong reached Japan in the early twentieth century and was transformed there into riichi, a distinctive style with its own rules, professional leagues and a huge media culture.

2 min read

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The National Mah Jongg League

Founded in New York in 1937, the National Mah Jongg League standardised American play and issues the annual card that defines the winning hands. Its story is woven into American Jewish history.

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6Mahjong Goes Global

Mahjong in Hong Kong and Macau

In Hong Kong mahjong is part of the city's fabric: licensed mahjong schools with neon signs, family games at festivals, and a fast, gambling-flavoured Cantonese style that has spread worldwide.

2 min read

7Mahjong Goes Global

Mahjong in Taiwan

Taiwan plays a distinctive sixteen-tile mahjong with tai scoring, has its own "healthy mahjong" movement for older people, and produced some of the first big online mahjong platforms in Chinese.

2 min read

8Mahjong Goes Global

Mahjong in Southeast Asia

Chinese communities carried mahjong across Southeast Asia, where it developed local forms: Singaporean and Malaysian mahjong with animal tiles, Filipino sixteen-tile games and Vietnamese sets with many jokers.

2 min read

9Mahjong Goes Global

Mahjong in Jewish American Life

For generations of American Jewish women, the weekly mahjong game was a social anchor. The story of the National Mah Jongg League, card hands and "the girls" is a significant part of the game's history.

2 min read