The Book of Mah jong: An Illustrated Guide

by Amy Lo

Master the exhilarating game of Mahjong with this introductory guide.

Originally played with cards, and then piece carved from ivory or bamboo, the Chinese game of Mahjong or "Mah Jongg" is well over a thousand years old. Said to have originated in the court of the Emperor of Wu, for centuries Mahjong remained a diversion exclusively for the royal class of China. Mahjong has been called "the game of a hundred intelligences." When played by experts it can be fast and subtle—even difficult to follow. Author Amy Lo, with the help and consultation of many master Mahjong players of different forms of the game, comes The Book of Mah Jong .

This complete, easy-to-follow instructional mahjong handbook includes over 150 full-color photographs and illustrations to introduce players to this captivating game. This is the first Mahjong book to fully cover the Cantonese or "old rules" game. It also includes all of the most popular variations, such as the Shanghai game, the 16-tile or Taiwanese game and the 12-tile game. Included are the rules, tactics, techniques, strategy and the rituals only the most experienced players know.

This Mahjong book The Book of Mah Jong is the perfect guide for all skill levels to learn Mahjong—from Mahjong beginners to pros.

Genres: Nonfiction, Reference

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, but no mention of the National Game rules

[Jbussen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I just started playing Mahjong so naturally I wanted to do my diligence. This is a definitions of & rule book for different countries (Taiwan), regions (Cantonese-Shanghai), & various styles of playing, scoring, & tile composition. I am playing American Mahjong and this book, did not have American style. For myself, I don't want the rules. I want a strategy! This books strategy guide was simplistic, obvious, intuitive, and added nothing to a basic understanding of Mahjong. Keep like suits? Pay attention to discards? Really; no Shit, huh... that would never had occurred to me, hey I got one to add, play a winning hand. Some hands have names like FRIENDS (spelled from the tiles), BURIED TREASUE, GATES of HEAVEN, 4 LARGE BLESSINGS, I will name mine SARCASM! In the American version there are set hands and I'd like to know probabilities, or maybe keep a couple dragons and two winds at first and then... Or maybe the probabilities for collecting one suit until a hand forms... How to "see" the field... Or maybe etc. What I don't need is a rulebook as everywhere you go there will be different rules. The general rules are fairly self evident. The strategies are not.

[Gerrie]

This book is maybe 20% more detailed than the pamphlet that comes with your tile set. It features an explanation of the tiles, rules (for multiple versions), scoring, and some other things.

It was the depressingly short strategy chapter for me. I want to learn how to stomp on people's necks, dang it. I also would have loved a chapter for ideas and rules to make the game more complex for advanced players, such as flipping over discarded tiles.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Have some insight but they don't play this type of mahjong here.

[Flissy · Rating 2 out of 5]

FYI our mahjong set just arrived yesterday! Unfortunately, this book was not as helpful as I had hoped. We have decided to focus on the Chinese Official Rules of Mahjong, and this book explains Cantonese and Shanghai variations (as well as some other Chinese Variations). In addition, this book is in need of serious editing. Whole paragraphs are repeated twice, and the illustrations do not match up with the text. Not very helpful. Tom Sloper's book The Red Dragon and the West Wind is much more clearly written. Still, reading this one rounded out my knowledge of the game, so it's not all bad.

[Alvin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know how to play, just not how to score--this book will tell you how, and it's a short read. But I have no Chinese friends here to play with :(