Chinese archaic

Cross-comparison

corroborated — two or more independent sources agree on the facts that define this variant

• [1] listed as 'Chinese Archaic (1890 rules per Wilkinson)', matching the chart's date and attribution
• [2] Sloperama's early-forms table compares 1903 (Li), 1915 (Mauger), 1920s standard, 1920s 'New Method', Japanese Classical and HKOS against eight rule hallmarks; Chinese Archaic itself is not a column in that table
• [3] the collector behind this node: Sir William Henry Wilkinson, British sinologist and Consul-General in China and Korea from 1880 to 1918. His packs were procured during 1889-90 from Guangzhou, Shantou and Fuzhou in the south, Ningbo and Shanghai on the coast, Beijing in the north, Jiujiang and Yichang in mid-China and Chongqing in the far west. The collection is now in the British Museum
• [4] CONFIRMS THE DATE FROM ARTEFACTS: the characters 中發 appear on a box of precursor má qiǎo TILES collected by Wilkinson in 1889, donated to the British Museum as part of the Schreiber Collection. So Wilkinson's 1889-90 material is not only cards — tiles survive and are datable. It also cites an unpublished Wilkinson memorandum of 1925

Reading it

The chart's 'c. 1890, Wilkinson' is now supported by three sources and, better, by surviving objects. Wilkinson collected across nine Chinese cities in 1889-90, and a box of precursor má qiǎo tiles he collected in 1889 is in the British Museum's Schreiber Collection with 中發 on it. The date is therefore artefactual rather than merely asserted.

One caution about what the node contains. Wilkinson's best-known documentation is of money-suited CARDS — khanhoo and kunpai — rather than of a tile-mahjong ruleset, and he adapted khanhoo for Western players in 1891. Tiles and cards both survive from his collecting, so the node is not misplaced, but a reader should not assume a written 1890 ruleset for tile mahjong lies behind it. What lies behind it is a collection and a scholar's notes.

Sources

1. Sloper, Tom. "FAQ 2b: Identifying a Mah-Jongg Variant." Sloperama. cross-check checked 2026-09-18

   Tile counts, hand sizes, flower handling and scoring for roughly 50 named variants. Primary source for most leaf nodes in this chart.

   https://www.sloperama.com/mjfaq/mjfaq02b.html

   Also cited on: Chinese pre-classical, Chinese classical, Shanghai / Hong Kong new style, Hong Kong old style, Modern HKOS, Taiwanese style and 43 more · bibliography #1

2. Sloper, Tom. "Comparative Analysis of Early Mah-Jongg Forms." Sloperama. canonical checked 2026-09-18

   Chinese Archaic, Late Qing and Pre-Classical rule comparisons.

   https://www.sloperama.com/mahjongg/analysis.html

   Also cited on: Late Qing style, Chinese pre-classical, Hong Kong old style, Japanese classical / arushiiaru · bibliography #4

3. Wikipedia. "William Henry Wilkinson." cross-check checked 2026-09-19

   The collector behind the Chinese archaic node: British sinologist and Consul-General in China and Korea from 1880 to 1918, whose 1889-90 collection from nine Chinese cities is now in the British Museum.

   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Henry_Wilkinson

   Only cited here · bibliography #76

4. Stanwick, Michael. "Má qiǎo / má què terms 1780-1920." themahjongtileset.co.uk. cross-check checked 2026-09-19

   Tile-set scholarship tracing the game's names before 1920, including Wilkinson's 1889 collection of precursor má qiǎo tiles now in the British Museum's Schreiber Collection, and his unpublished 1925 memorandum.

   https://www.themahjongtileset.co.uk/pre-1920-names/

   Only cited here · bibliography #78

5. Sloper, Tom. "The Mah-Jongg Family Tree." Sloperama. supporting

   Illustrated tree; source for the Matiao / Khanhoo / dominoes root structure.

   https://www.sloperama.com/mjfaq/tree.htm

   Also cited on: Proto-mahjong · bibliography #2