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How did Mahjong get its Name?

Mahjong was evolved from the card game Ma Diao, where Ma means 'horse' and Diao means 'hang or lift'. Ma Diao got it's name because it involved three players teaming up against the banker, like a horse with three hooves (three players) on the ground and lifting the fourth leg (banker).

As the game evolved, the name Ma Diao (a horse lifting a leg) became Ma Que (sparrow), because Diao (as in 'hang' or 'lift') has the same pronounciation as Diao (as in 'birds') in the local dialogue of Wu (area of Shanghai), where the game became extremely popular. As a matter of fact, the name Ma Que is still used widely in southern part of China, for example, in Canton (or Guangdong). In north China however, the name became Ma Jiang, or better known as Mahjong or Mah Jong in the West.

Copyright Yutopian Enterprises 2000

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