The World Mahjong Organization (

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

: "世界麻将组织") is the international governing body of

mahjong Mahjong or mah-jongg (English pronunciation: ) is a tile-based game that was developed in the 19th century in China and has spread throughout the world since the early 20th century. It is commonly played by four players (with some three-play ...

in its variation called MCR. Its headquarters is located in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, China. As of 2015, its president is Jiang Xueqi.

History

Before establishment

Mahjong originated in China and spread around the world, although with varied rule sets. In China, mahjong was identified as an illegal

gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three el ...

game and it was forbidden to develop businesses based on it, so nobody could establish a professional mahjong organization. This interfered with the development of mahjong as a sport, and it was considered simply as home entertainment until 1998. Japan accepted mahjong before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. After the war, many professional organizations were established there and a large market developed. However, mahjong had a bad image in Japan too, because it had been developed as a gambling game. For this reason, mahjong came close to being made illegal. Some mahjong players started a movement to change its image in the 1980s, and they changed the rules and established the Japan Kenko Mahjong Association in 1988. ''Kenko'' means "health" in Japanese. Their motto was "No Gambling, No Drinking, No Smoking". They organized a "Healthy Mahjong" competition in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

in 1995. With that as a start, they also promoted competitions, on a scale of a hundred competitors, around China, including

. They also put pressure on the Chinese sports authorities to recognise mahjong as a sport. In January 1998, mahjong became the 255th sport to be officially recognised by the

General Administration of Sport of China The General Administration of Sport () is the government agency responsible for sports in mainland China. It is subordinate to the State Council of the People's Republic of China. It also administers the All-China Sports Federation and Chinese Oly ...

. In September 1998, the unified rules for international competitions were established. On 23–26 October 2002, the first World Mahjong Championship was held at the Hotel Grand Palace in

Iidabashi, Tokyo is a district of Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It was in the former ward of Kōjimachi, which existed in Tokyo until 1947. Etymology Iidabashi is named after a nearby bridge called Iida Bridge (, ''Iidabashi''), itself named after an Edo-period farm ...

. It was organized by the Mahjong Museum, the Japan Mahjong Organizing Committee(JMOC) and the Ningbo Mahjong Sport Association. Originally, it was going to be held in

Ningbo Ningbo (; Ningbonese: ''gnin² poq⁷'' , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), formerly romanized as Ningpo, is a major sub-provincial city in northeast Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. It comprises 6 urban districts, 2 sate ...

, China, but it was moved because Ningbo was going to have another large event at the same time. A hundred players participated in this championship, in twenty-five teams from eight nations: China, Japan, United States,

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

, Russia, Sweden,

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

Mai Hatsune Mai Hatsune ( ja, 初音舞; pronounced ; born December 25, 1978) as known as "Dragon Lady" is a Japanese Mahjong player. She is the first world champion of Mahjong. Her real name is Fumiko Itabashi (板橋史子). She is known not only for competin ...

, the female mahjong player from Japan, won the individual championship, and Japan Mahjong Players Apprentice Selected Team B won the team championship. John O'Connor, a Japan-based American

tarento Television personalities in Japan, known as in Japanese, are celebrities who regularly appear in mass media in Japan, especially as panelists on variety shows. During the Golden Age of Hollywood, bankable stars in America were described as "tal ...

, was the runner-up.

Establishment

The WMO was established in 2006 in Beijing. Guangyuan Yu was chosen as the first president and Xuanqi Jiang was chosen as the Secretary General. At the congress on 2 November 2007 in the Foguang Hall of the Hongzhushan Hotel,

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

, China, it was decided that the world championship is to be held every two years and that

, English and

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

are the

official languages An official language is a language given supreme status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction. Typically the term "official language" does not refer to the language used by a people or country, but by its government (e.g. judiciary, ...

of the WMO.

World championship

The first world championship was held in

Chengdu Chengdu (, ; Simplified Chinese characters, simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively Romanization of Chi ...

, Sichuan on 1–5 November 2007. 148 players from 16 nations participated. Li Li from China won the individual championship, and China Shanxi Jiexiu won the team championship. The second world championship was held in

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

, Netherlands on 27–29 August 2010. The current world champion is Linghua Jiao from China and the national team championship was also won by China.World Championship Mahjong 2010 Results
/ref> For the first time, Eupropean players and countries took second and third places in both the individual and the team championships.

References

External links