‘Mahjong, the game of Chinese origin, can be translated as clattering sparrow, flax sparrow, or hemp sparrow, as early Mahjong players equated the sound of the tiles when shuffled to the melodious noise reminiscent of numerous sparrows squabbling over scattered food crumbs, and the sound of the flax/hemp blowing in the wind.’

This is the beginning of the Introductory Notes of the book Clattering Sparrows by Marilyn Land. Mahjong players all over the world will recognize these words, said over and over again when referring to the shuffling of the tiles. But in this introduction there is more. It tells about the various believes of the origin of the play, how it it developed, all over the world, but especially in America.