KEY

(Clockwise from trunk at 6:00, then from treeline down to roots)

• CHINESE CLASSICAL - the game that took the world by storm in the 1920s
  
• JAPANESE CLASSICAL - the Japanese take on the classic game
  
• RIICHI/DORA - the way it's played in Japan today
  
• KOREAN - the way mah-jongg is played in Korea
  
• WMPA - World Mahjong Players Association (http://www.wmpa.net), Korea
  
• TAIWANESE - the 16-tile game played in Taiwan
  
• FILIPINO - the 16-tile game played in the Philippines (everything is coming up flowers!)
  
• CANTONESE (HKOS) - the simpler take on the classic game
  
• NEW STYLE - uses the modern Japanese take on many hands
  
• 12-TILE - like HKOS, only one tile exists only in the player's mind
  
• OFFICIAL - the rules permitted in China today
  
• ZUNG JUNG - Alan Kwan's simpler-scoring version
  
• MMM - Mahjong Masters Millions rules (created for a tournament that never was)
  
• HUNANESE - uses only the 108 suit tiles
  
• SINGAPOREAN - uses special flower tiles that can capture each other
  
• INDONESIAN - uses a DORA-like wild tile
  
• VIETNAMESE CLASSICAL - uses a set of 160 tiles (jokers and extra flowers)
  
• VIETNAMESE MODERN - uses a set of 176 tiles (lots more jokers)
  
• BABCOCK - the game as Babcock introduced to America in 1920
  
• WHITNEY - the "American" rules described by Whitney are not precisely Babcock, not precisely Western
  
• WESTERN - the rules used in Australia and the Asian subcontinent today
  
• WRIGHT-PAT - Wright-Patterson rules (used on American military bases)
  
• NMJL - National Mah Jongg League (yearly card of hands; no chows)
  
• MHING - card game very similar to Western
  
• CANASTA & GIN RUMMY - The popularity of these two card games nearly killed mah-jongg in the 1930s
  
• TILE-MATCHING SOFTWARE - the plethora of computer games incorrectly calling themselves "mah jongg" have got the world confused as to what mah-jongg really is (1986 to present)
  
• PROTO-MAHJONG (ground level - the line of grass separating roots from trunk) - the unknown original Chen Yumen rules
  
• YEH-TZU - ancient Chinese dice game (9th century)
  
• MATIAO - ancient Chinese trick-taking card game (40-card deck) whose four suits led to the mah-jongg suits (Ming era, 1368 - 1644)
  
• KHANHOO - card game described by Culin (1924), played with Kun P’ai cards described by Wilkinson (1895), which led to the gameplay of mah-jongg
  
• DOMINOES - the form of these ancient game devices inspired the tile form of mah-jongg. Egypt's King Tutankhamen had a set of dominoes as far back as 1355 BC. They were entombed with him and today are on display in King Tutankhamen's Museum, in Cairo.

For detailed information about the variants shown as "branches" of this family tree, please see FAQ 2b.

For more information about the "roots" of mah-jongg, please see FAQ 11.

If you have suggestions for improvements or corrections to this family tree, I'd love to hear them! Please post them on the bulletin board.

© 2002, 2006 Tom Sloper. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced without written permission.