There isn't a single known inventor of mahjong; the game developed in China during the 19th century and evolved from older card and tile games rather than being created by one person.
Most historians place its origin in the late Qing dynasty (mid- to late-1800s), with strong regional roots in eastern China — especially the Yangtze Delta areas like Ningbo and Shanghai — where local gambling and family tile games gradually merged into the form we now recognise as mahjong.
Betting
Over time the rules were standardized (many rule sets appeared in the early 20th century), and mahjong spread across China and then internationally in the 1920s and 1930s. Its global popularity means the version you play may trace more to a regional tradition than to a single inventor.
Rummy
In short: mahjong is a product of cultural evolution — a family of related games converging into the modern tile game — rather than the creation of one identifiable person. The exact place and creators remain part of folklore and regional histories.
Rummy
If you want to dig deeper, look into regional histories (Ningbo, Shanghai, and the broader Jiangnan area) and early 20th-century rulebooks — they show how local variations were combined into the international forms we play today.
Most historians place its origin in the late Qing dynasty (mid- to late-1800s), with strong regional roots in eastern China — especially the Yangtze Delta areas like Ningbo and Shanghai — where local gambling and family tile games gradually merged into the form we now recognise as mahjong.
Betting
Over time the rules were standardized (many rule sets appeared in the early 20th century), and mahjong spread across China and then internationally in the 1920s and 1930s. Its global popularity means the version you play may trace more to a regional tradition than to a single inventor.
Rummy
In short: mahjong is a product of cultural evolution — a family of related games converging into the modern tile game — rather than the creation of one identifiable person. The exact place and creators remain part of folklore and regional histories.
Rummy
If you want to dig deeper, look into regional histories (Ningbo, Shanghai, and the broader Jiangnan area) and early 20th-century rulebooks — they show how local variations were combined into the international forms we play today.