Traversing the Mahjong Multiverse
Mahjong is gaining popularity in the US, with luxury sets and media representations emerging. Nicole Wong highlights the cultural divide between Asian communities and new players who view the game as a trend. The release of an American mahjong set inspired by an Asian American film raises questions about cultural appropriation and representation.
- ▪Mahjong is experiencing a mainstream moment in the US, with luxury designer sets and a Hallmark movie featuring the game.
- ▪Nicole Wong discusses the divide between Asian diasporic communities and those who have recently embraced mahjong as a lifestyle trend.
- ▪A new American mahjong set inspired by the film Everything Everywhere All At Once has been criticized for not being playable for many traditional versions of the game.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
Mahjong, the Chinese tile game, is having a mainstream moment in the US. Online, you may have already seen ads for luxury designer sets; pricey instructor-training courses; and the new Hallmark movie, All’s Fair in Love & Mahjong, featuring a mostly non-Asian cast. Nicole Wong, author of Mahjong: House Rules from Across the Asian Diaspora and creator of The Mahjong Project, examines the growing divide between Asian diasporic communities—for whom mahjong is a cultural inheritance—and those who have newly embraced the game as a lifestyle trend, a demographic that skews largely white and female.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Longreads.
