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Mahjong Culture
Mahjong Culture refers to the traditions, history, and habits surrounding the game of Mahjong. The game is rooted in ancient Chinese tradition and has emerged as a cultural phenomenon with a rich and diverse history. From its origins in Ningbo China during the 1860s to into a modern worldwide pastime, Mahjong has grown and changed with the times and places it has suffused. Mahjong has not been limited to one social, financial, or racial group over time resulting in many subcultures and rule-sets coming together. The history, adaptations, and globalization of Mahjong converge to create a culture of community.

Basic rules
Mahjong is played with four players over four separate rounds called winds. Additionally each wind consists of four hands resulting in sixteen hands at least for each game. Each player sits in a position representing the four cardinal directions. The player whom starts the game is known as the "prevailing wind." The prevailing wind position rotates counter clockwise after each four hand wind meaning each player takes a turn starting with east being the most advantageous due to earning twice as many points but has to pay double when they lose a hand to another player. After this there are many variations to the rules but the tiles the game is played with are shuffled face down on the table and evenly distributed face down in a hollow square in the center of the board. After this dice may be used to randomly decide which player gets to take tiles first. in general the goal of the game is to "make mahjong" (Oxford). To make mahjong a player needs four matching groups of three to four and one pair but there are many exceptions in differing rule-sets (Rep).

Cultural roots
The cultural roots of Mahjong can roughly be traced back to the Chinese city of Ningbo. The game first appeared in a state close to its modern form at this time and place having evolved from several older games played in the region. Instead of being played with ceramic tiles the game pieces where less standard and hand made. The origins of the games that would become Mahjong come from the Lower Yangzi Delta region. The area was known for its development of leisure games due to the area being one of the wealthiest areas of the Ming and Qing empires (Heinz).

Negative Perceptions
From its inception mahjong has been closely tied to gambling and other aspects of leisure such as spending time with courtesans (Heinz). In the early 1910s Mahjong had become well known across various social classes in the city of Shanghai as well as among gamblers in Hong Kong, and in the Southwest area known as Chengdu. Mahjong was soon associated with gambling. This is due to the the places it was played in such as courtesan halls and tea-houses. Ultimately to the game being labeled as taboo. (Heinz). Mahjong was still played by many wealthy people after negative perceptions changed but when the game started being made for everyone there was a second shift back to the game becoming perceived as less cultured (Festa 10). in the 100 years from this transition Mahjong has become iconic and immediately recognizable but the negative perceptions of the game contributed to the wide variations in the games rules and traditions by way of privately practiced and developed versions of the game forming in relative secret..

Social Spaces
Mahjong has kept its popularity as a social pastime for people of all walks of life. The game of mahjong is often played during gatherings with friends and family but is also played in public (Festa 9). The game's origins in China and its spread to the rest of the world have made it a cultural touchstone (Wang).

Worldwide
Mahjong is greatly varied in its rules and traditions in part due to its origins but also due to the massive spread of the game in the early 1900's (Greenfield 2). Mahjong is played worldwide with many different rules and pieces yet is immediately recognizable by the distinctive play pieces. The game started as a primarily male pastime by the early 1900's the game was played by everyone who wanted to play (Heinz).