Mahjong: House Rules from Across the Asian Diaspora

(Hardback)

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Description

Mahjong is one of the first English language books to break down classic Chinese Mahjong.

Readers learn game setup, rules, common hands, strategy, and scoring through beautiful illustrations and photography, but the book also showcases mahjong culture, past and present, through essays and vignettes on the history, design elements, and communities that have been built around mahjong and how to build your own.

A bonus essay breaks down the mahjong hands in the pivotal scene from the 2018 hit filmCrazy Rich Asians, and the authors own family history and anecdotes are sprinkled throughout to tell a story of diaspora through mahjong (one thats full of common shared experiences with the clacking of tiles as its soundtrack).

With Mahjong as your guide, date your inherited or thrifted sets, identify the version you learned to play, refresh your memory of the rules or learn them for the first time, and start to write your own house rules just dont forget the snacks.

Reviews

"I grew up around relatives playing mahjong, but never quite got the hang of it. Thanks to Nicole and her book, Mahjong, though, I've had a reintroduction. Now it's become a way for me to embrace my cultural identity--and also a fun excuse to hang with friends, eat snacks, and catch up on all the gossip. There's something so satisfying about shouting 'pung!' and slapping those thocky tiles on the table."--Domee Shi, Old Style Chinese mahjong player and director of Turning Red, Bao

"I grew up watching my nainai (paternal grandma) and her friends play mahjong into the early hours of the morning. In my family, mahjong is also an intergenerational social activity, where kids help spot the most strategic tiles to fill a good hand, yelling "pong" or "chi!" Nicole Wong's Mahjong is a modern how-to guide featuring stunning photos by Andria Lo. With articles about the history of the game and stories of diverse regional styles, the book is full of interesting factoids, as well as clear how-to pages-and even a guide on how to host a mahjong party. Mahjong is a welcome addition to bookshelves and coffee (and mahjong) tables for people of all backgrounds."--Momo Chang, former Hyphen magazine senior contributing editor

"Joyful, informative, and beautifully designed, Mahjong is the book version of a fabulous expert auntie sitting next to you and patiently guiding you through a game.Blending mahjong how-tos, family and game history, and warmly humorous tidbits (e.g. how to trash talk at the mahjong table like a pro), Nicole Wong has created a moving celebration of gathering, connection, and creativity across the Asian diaspora."--Mimi Lok, Hong Kong rules mahjong player and award-winning author of Last of Her Name

"Like a friendly cousin, Nicole Wong is the perfect guide to walk you through the intricate rules and innumerable variations of how to play mahjong--with patience, humor and zero judgment. In this gorgeously photographed and illustrated volume interspersed with anecdotes about the author's family, Wong offers step-by-step instructions that will help those just getting started as well as experienced players who learned from their elders but never had anything written down. Far more than an instruction book, Mahjong provides a cultural history and documents a precious yet often intangible inheritance for those of us in the diaspora."--Grace Loh Prasad, author of The Translator's Daughter

"Mahjong gives eye-opening historical context that made me realize that this "traditional" Chinese family game I grew up with actually only took off in China only after it first made its mark overseas in the West in the early part of the 20th century. Much like General Tso's Chicken, mahjongg is a hybrid intermingling of east and west traditions, with regional and idiosyncratic variations. The book also finally gave me much needed rigor to the various scoring systems that had been jumbled in my head from the word-of-mouth learnings from my grandma and classmates at Beijing University. I'm excited that Mahjong might create enough experienced players for me to get a regular table going too."--Jennifer 8. Lee, Producer, The Search for General Tso and Author, The Fortune Cookie Chronicles

"Nicole's book is a must-have for anyone looking to learn the game with confidence and build meaningful connections through play. Mahjong is truly remarkable--it gave me a way to connect with my elders, even though we don't speak the same dialect."--Meijie (Mei) Liao, Sichuan rules mahjong player, and founder and recipe developer @daywithmei

Author Bio

Nicole Wong is a writer and audio producer based in Oakland, California. She started The Mahjong Project in 2019 part instructional guide, part oral history project, to document her familys house rules and place themin the broader history and diaspora of the game itself.