Editing Mahjong (section)

=== Mahjong in the West ===
[[File:28.779 SL1 s.jpg|thumb|200px|Mahjong tiles of late 19th century, a gift of [[George B. Glover|Glover]]<ref name="Glover"/> to the Long Island Historical Society in 1875]]

The first Western records about mahjong seem to correspond to the papers of British Consul General F.E.B. Harvey, around the time when he served as consul in Ningbo, during the 1860s.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-01-03|title=On the advent and spread of the game Mah-Jong|url=http://yris.yira.org/essays/2802|access-date=2022-02-23|website=The Yale Review of International Studies|language=en-US}}</ref> He mentions in his papers making the acquaintance of an English-fluent, rank-three official under the Daoguang Emperor, Chen Yumen, who taught him the game. In the same writings he details the rules he was taught by Chen.<ref>Unfortunately, Harvey’s ‘papers’ and ‘detailed’ description of the game have never been found. This story is probably forged.</ref> In 1895, British sinologist [[William Henry Wilkinson]] wrote a paper which mentioned a set of cards known in central China by the name of ''ma chioh'', literally, hemp sparrow, which he maintained was the origin of the term Mahjong. He did not explain the dialect of the originator or region specific etymology of this information.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Wilkinson, W.H.|title=Chinese Origin Of Playing Cards|journal=The American Anthropologist|year=1895|volume=viii|issue=1 |pages=61–78|doi=10.1525/aa.1895.8.1.02a00070|url=https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03572436/file/chineseorigin%20of%20playingcards-1.pdf|doi-access=free}}</ref> By 1910, there were written accounts in many languages, including [[French language|French]] and Japanese.{{Citation needed|date=April 2014}}

The game was imported to the United States in the 1920s.<ref>{{cite news |title=Recalling the Craze for a Game of Chance |first=Steven |last=Heller |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=15 March 2010 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/18/arts/artsspecial/18MAH.html?ex=1285473600&en=37c8a4976aafc929&ei=5087&WT.mc_id=AR-D-I-NYT-MOD-MOD-M143-ROS-0410-L2&WT.mc_ev=click}}</ref> The first Mahjong sets sold in the U.S. were sold by [[Abercrombie & Fitch]] starting in 1920. It became a success in [[Washington, D.C.]], and the co-owner of the company, [[Ezra Fitch]], sent emissaries to Chinese villages to buy every Mahjong set they could find. Abercrombie & Fitch sold a total of 12,000 Mahjong sets. Mahjong became a central part of cultural bonding for [[Chinese Americans]] in the 1920s and '30s in [[Chinatown, Manhattan]] and was part of community building for suburban American Jewish women in the 1940s and 50s.<ref name="StanfordHeinz">{{cite news |last1=Walters |first1=Ashley |title=From China to U.S., the game of mahjong shaped modern America, says Stanford scholar |url=https://news.stanford.edu/news/2013/july/humanities-mahjong-history-071513.html |access-date=31 March 2021 |work=Stanford Report |publisher=Stanford University |date=15 July 2013 |language=en}}</ref>

Also in 1920, [[Joseph Park Babcock]] published his book ''Rules of Mah-Jongg'', also known as the "red book".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Babcock |first=Joseph Park |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yLarGAAACAAJ |title=Babcock's Rules for Mah-jongg; the Red Book of Rules |date=1923 |publisher=Mah-jongg sales Company of America |language=en}}</ref> This was the earliest version of Mahjong known in America. Babcock had learned Mahjong while living in China. His rules simplified the game to make it easier for Americans to take up, and his version was common through the Mahjong fad of the 1920s. Later, when the 1920s fad died out, many of Babcock's simplifications were abandoned.<ref>{{Cite web |title=A 'Ton' Of Fun: How Mahjong Became A U.S. Phenomenon |url=https://the1a.org/segments/mahjong-phenomenon-america/ |access-date=2022-10-14 |website=1A |language=en}}</ref>

The game has taken on a number of trademarked names, such as "Pung Chow" and the "Game of Thousand Intelligences". Mahjong nights in America often involved dressing and decorating rooms in Chinese style.<ref>[[Bill Bryson]], ''[[Made in America (book)|Made in America]]''. Harper, 1996, ch. 16.</ref> Several hit songs were recorded during the Mahjong fad, most notably "Since Ma Is Playing Mah Jong" by [[Eddie Cantor]].<ref name=slope>{{cite web |url=http://www.sloperama.com/mjfaq/mjfaq19.html#t |title=Why are so many players of American mah-jongg Jewish? |publisher=Sloperama.com |access-date=7 September 2012}}</ref>

Many variants of Mahjong developed during this period. By the 1930s, many revisions of the rules developed that were substantially different from Babcock's classical version (including some that were considered fundamentals in other variants, such as the notion of a standard hand). Standardization came with the formation of the National Mah Jongg League (NMJL) in 1937, along with the first American Mahjong rulebook, ''Maajh: The American Version of the Ancient Chinese Game'', written by NMJL's first president and co-founder, Viola L. Cecil.<ref>Tom Sloper, ''The Red Dragon & The West Wind: The Winning Guide to Official Chinese & American Mah-Jongg'', HarperCollins, 2007.</ref> In 1999, a second organization was formed, the American Mah Jongg Association.

In the United Kingdom, British author Alan D. Millington revived the Chinese classical game of the 1920s with his book ''The Complete Book of Mah-jongg'' (1977). This handbook includes a formal rules set for the game.