Mahjong means "sparrow" and is a game for four players that originated in China. Mahjong involves skill, strategy, and calculation, as well as a certain degree of chance. Depending on the variation which is played, luck can be anything from a minor to a dominant factor in success. In Asia, mahjong is also popularly played as a gambling game.

In the game, you are given either thirteen or sixteen tiles for a hand. (depending on the variation being played) When your turn comes, you draw a tile and discard one. Your goal is to make four melds and a pair, or "head". (note that a winning hand contains fourteen tiles. you win by drawing a tile that completes your hand, or off of someone else's discard)

Mahjong in China One of the myths of the origin of Mahjong suggests that Confucius, the great Chinese philosopher, had developed the game in about 500 BC. This assertion is likely to be apocryphal. According to this myth, the appearance of the game in the various Chinese states coincided with Confucius' travels at the time he was teaching his new doctrines.

The three dragon (Cardinal) tiles also agree with the three Cardinal virtues bequeathed by Confucius: Benevolence, Sincerity and Piety.

Mahjong in the Western world The game was a sensation in America when it was imported from China in the 1920s, as the same Mahjong game took on a number of trademarked names, such as Pung Chow or the Game of Thousand Intelligences. Part of Mahjong nights in America was to decorate rooms in Chinese style and dress like Chinese. Several hit songs were also recorded during the mahjong fad, most notably "Since Ma is Playing Mah Jong" by Eddie Cantor.