As far as I know, all my maternal-side relatives know how to play mahjong. I can't recall when I first learned to play the game. But, ever since then, I have found the game fascinating.
Yesterday, a few of us played mahjong until midnight.
Historians say that mahjong originated in China. Some myths suggest that mahjong originated from Confucius. The Cardinal tiles (Dragon tiles) Chung the Red, Fa the Green, Po the White represent Benevolence, Sincerity, and Filial piety, respectively.
Confucius is believed to be of the Kong family, which represents four similar tiles in the game. He married a lady named Che, where the term Chee came from, meaning 'to connect'-- later on evolved to the term Chow.
There are many variations of mahjong. The game is mainly played with 13 or 16 tiles, with a winning hand of 14 or 17. Mahjong can be played with a set of tiles or cards.
The hands are made up of melds either visible (called) or not.
A Pong or Pung is a set of three identical tiles.
A Kong is a set of four identical tiles.
A Chow is a meld of three suited tiles in sequence.
The Eye consists of two identical tiles (pair) is not a meld but considered as the final component to the standard hand.
Because there are so many variants of mahjong, we have yet to figure our our set of rules.
Rambling Gypsy