Background and Origin

This page is deliberately placed at the back of the rulebook. It gives context, but no longer directs the game explanation itself.

The modern source opens with a clear cultural frame:

That explains why this documentation uses the name matjok as its main term, even when the source itself sometimes writes mah-jong, mah-jongh, or mah-tjok.

Both sources carry a traditional origin story about:

That story has value as cultural context, but not as a rules source. That is why in this new version it remains only as background.

The source also mentions historical descriptions of:

That material history belongs to the culture of the game, but changes nothing about the rules.

Alongside the main rules, older words sometimes continue to live on in playing sessions. In the current source set, not all of them are worked out equally well.

That is why these words do not appear in the core chapters on hand structure and turn flow, but only in the places where session agreements, settlement, or game context are explained.

Soei does not belong to point counting or to the payout of a hand. It is a contribution by the players to the organization of the playing session, intended to cover part of the cost of food and drink.

That means soei belongs in substance to the game night or session, not to the game rules of an individual round.

This new version therefore separates: