Mahjong, Mah-Jongg, or Ma Que (麻雀), is a tile-based game that combines elements of skill, luck, strategy and collaboration amongst its players. There are several variations and rulesets throughout the world.  Most renditions of Mahjong run 136-144 tiles in a set and conventionally seats four players or more. Due to its widespread and cross-cultural popularity, Mahjong rules are highly contested and ambiguous. 

The origins of Mahjong are further disputed. Mahjong was initially documented in China within the mid to late 1800s. There are claims crediting the invention of Mahjong to Chinese philosopher Confucius, noting attributions of his acclaimed musings and the symbols depicted on the game tiles. In the early 20th century, the game mirgrated to the United States and was highly popularized within different cultural groups and across socio-econmic class structures.

The Mahjong set acquired by the Chinese Cultural Centre is different than a modern set, dating it back to around the early 1920s. The instructions booklet that was donated alongside it was printed in the USA in October 1923 (10th edition).

麻雀是一種牌類遊戲。遊戲考驗了玩家的技巧、運氣、策略和協作能力。世界各地有多種麻將的玩法和規則，但一組麻將大多數包含136-144張牌，通常需要四名或更多玩家去進行遊戲。由於其廣泛性和跨越文化界限的流行性，麻將規則具有高度爭議性和模糊性。

麻將的起源至今仍有爭議。麻將最初是在1800年代中後期出現於中國的記錄中。有人則認為麻將的發明歸功於中國哲學家孔子，並指出了他廣受好評的思想和遊戲牌上所描繪的符號的關聯。在20世紀初，該遊戲流傳到美國，在不同文化群體和社會經濟階層中亦非常流行。

本中心收藏的麻將套裝與現代的麻將套裝並不相同，原始套裝可追溯至1920年代初。隨附贈與的說明書則是於1923年10月在美國印刷（第 10 版）。