Mahjong (麻将) was conceived in the Qing dynasty (17th to 20th century) in China, and bears some similarities to the Western card game "Rummy". The game was originally called Maque (麻雀) or Sparrow as it was said that the clacking of tiles during shuffling resembles the chattering of sparrows.

Mahjong has evolved greatly and is played around the world, with between 136 to 152 tiles depending on variant, and is a game of skill, strategy, and luck.

Below is my curated list of popular mahjong variants, to be updated periodically. There may be errors, any comments and suggestions are welcome.

CHINESE OFFICIAL / MAHJONG COMPETITION RULES (MCR)
•  144 Tiles (Excludes 4 Animals)
•  13 Tile Hand (14 Tiles to Win)
•  Winning Conditions: Minimum 8 Point
•  Emphasis on Aggressive Play
•  Popular in China, Europe, Russia, and Canada

OLD HONG KONG / CANTONESE
•  144 Tiles (Excludes 4 Animals)
•  13 Tile Hand (14 Tiles to Win)
•  Emphasis on Aggressive Play (No Fan/Tai Limit)
•  Popular in Hong Kong and Southeast China

JAPANESE / RIICHI
•  136 Tiles (Excludes 4 Flowers, 4 Seasons, 4 Animals)
•  13 Tile Hand (14 Tiles to Win)
•  Complex Gameplay and Scoring System
•  Large Competitive Ecosystem
•  Popular in Japan, USA, Canada, Europe and Russia

AMERICAN
•  152 Tiles (Excludes 4 Animals, Includes 8 Jokers)
•  13 Tile Hand (14 Tiles to Win)
•  Inconsistent Gameplay and Scoring System (Depends on Current Year NMJL Card)
•  Popular in USA (Regulated by the National Mahjong League (NMJL) in USA)

SINGAPORE
•  148 Tiles (Includes 4 Flowers, 4 Seasons, 4 Animals)
•  13 Tile Hand (14 Tiles to Win)
•  Winning Conditions: Minimum 1 Tai (Fan) | Maximum 5 Tai
•  Advanced Gameplay and Scoring System
•  Popular in Singapore and Malaysia

FILIPINO
•  144 Tiles (Excludes 4 Animals) OR 152 Tiles (Excludes 4 Animals, Includes 8 Jokers)
•  16 Tile Hand (17 Tiles to Win)
•  Winning Conditions: 3 Melds of 5 and a Pair of Eyes
•  Winning Payouts: $0.25, $0.50, $1.00
•  Fast Gameplay and Scoring System, Dice Required
•  Popular in Philippines

THAI (TONG CARD ไพ่ตอง)
•  156 Tiles? (Includes 4 Flowers, 4 Seasons, 4 Animals, 8 Jokers)
•  13 Tile Hand (14 Tiles to Win)
•  Winning Conditions: Unknown?, House Rules Vary
•  Complex Gameplay and Scoring System, Dice Required
•  Popular in Thailand

ZUNG JUNG (ZJ) / WORLD SERIES OF MAHJONG (Edited Version)
•  136 Tiles (Excludes 4 Flowers, 4 Seasons, 4 Animals)
•  13 Tile Hand (14 Tiles to Win)
•  Simpler Gameplay and Scoring System
•  Designed by statistician Alan Kwan, the name Zung Jung comes from Confucian philosophy
•  Niche but Growing Popularity Worldwide

ORDER: ENGLISH = CHINESE/SINGAPORE = HONG KONG/CANTONESE = JAPANESE/RIICHI

•  Mahjong (Mah Jongg) = MAHJIANG (麻将) = MA ZOEK = MAJAN
•  Tile = PAI = ? = RON
•  Suit = SE (色) = ? = SHOKU
•  Numbers/Characters = WAN ZI (萬子/万子) = MAAN = CRAKS/WANZU/MANZU
•  Circles/Balls/Dots/Pins = TONG ZI (筒子) = TUNG = DOTS/PINZU
•  Bamboo/Sticks = SHUO ZI (索子) = SOK = BAMS/SOKS/SOZU

•  Winds = FENG (风) = FUNG = KAZEHAI/FONPAI
•  East = DONG (東/东) = DUNG = TON
•  South = NAN (南) = NAAM = NAN   
•  West = XI (西) = SAI = XIA/SHA  
•  North = BEI (北) = BAK = PEI
•  Three Dragons (Mahjong) = SAN YUAN (三元) = ? = SANGENPAI
•  Red Dragon = HONG ZHONG (红中) = HUNG ZUNG = CHUN 
•  Green Dragon = FA/FA CAI (發財) = FATT CHOI = HATSU
•  White Dragon = BAI BAN (白板) = BAAK BAAN = HAKU
 
•  Simples (2 to 9) = DUAN YAO PAI (断幺牌) = ? = CHUNCHANPAI
•  Terminals (1 & 10) = CHUN YAO JIU (纯幺九) = ? = ROTOHAI
•  Honors = DA PAI (大牌) = ? = JIHAI *
•  Orphans (Terminals & Honors) = YAO JIU (幺九) = ? = YAOCHUU/YAOCHUUHAI
 
•  Meld = MIAN (面) = KAU HAP (組合) / PAI (牌) = MENTSU
•  Sequence/Eat = CHI (吃) = CHOW/SOENG = SHUNTSU/CHII
•  Knock/Hit/Triplet = PONG (碰) = PUNG / HAK ZI = KOTSU/PON
•  Quad = KANG/GAN/GANG (杠) = KONG = KANTSU/KAN
•  Eyes = YAN JING = ZOENG / DEOI = ?
 
•  Flowers (Blue) = HUA PAI (花牌) = ? = HANAHAI
•  Seasons (Red) = JI PAI (季牌) = ? = KISETSUHAI
•  Waiting = TING PAI (聴牌) = ? = TENPAI
•  Win/Game = HU (胡) = WU = YAKU/YAKUMAN
•  Self-Draw Win = ZIMO/ZHI MOR (自摸) = ZIMO = TSUMO
•  Doubles (Score Calculation) = TAI = FAN/FAAN (番) = HAN (翻)
•  Dealer Repeat = DIAO ZHUANG/DIAO ZHNG (调庄) = ? = RENCHAN
•  Scrap Hand (Defensive) = CHAI PAI (拆牌) = ? = BETAORI

•  Penalty = ZHA HU = ? = CHOMBO

JAPANESE RIICHI ONLY
•  Discard Win = RON
•  No Winning From Discard If You Previously Discarded That Tile = FURITEN
•  Special Waiting Hand Bet = RIICHI
•  Bonus Scoring Tiles = DORA

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