HISTORY of MAHJONG 

In the years AD, there were many games that were similar to Mahjong and it has still not been officially stated how they came to be. The most popular theory is that the first game of this series was created by Confucius, a Chinese philosopher. Years later, two brothers from Ningpo had formally given the game its name, Mahjong. This game is made up of distinct tiles that were not made of just ceramics, which are used today. Back then, tiles were made up of bamboo, ivory and bone. Because of Mahjong's uniqueness, it is rumored that this game was first played near Shanghai around the 1880s. Ever since this game was officially founded, it had spread like wildfire and was popular worldwide. First, Mahjong was played within Asia and then started migrating to Europe and North America. It is believed that a man named Joseph Babcock began shipping this game to the United States around the 1920's and set his own set of Mahjong rules called, The Official American Rules. While Mahjong was thriving in America, it was banned in China due to the Communist Revolution. About 45 years later, civilians of China were finally able to play Mahjong. This game is enjoyable and is recognized by the art on the tiles as well as the symbolism that is behind the game.