Short for Mahjong, a tile-based game that originated in China, or a Korean surname.
From Chinese májiàng, literally meaning 'sparrow tiles,' referring to the sparrow design traditionally found on one of the suits. The game spread internationally in the early 20th century.
Mahjong was banned in China during the Cultural Revolution as a symbol of bourgeois culture, but it survived in American Jewish communities where it became a social institution, leading to the ironic situation where Chinese-Americans had to relearn their ancestral game from Jewish players.
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