Researching Chinese and Chinese American Women in Mahjong History

Do not start at American adoption

Mahjong developed in nineteenth-century China and traveled through Chinese communities, commerce, migration, and diaspora before and during American commercialization.

Choose a bounded subject

Name a city, period, family, association, workplace, tournament, or publication rather than claiming to represent Chinese women as one group.

• Seek Chinese-language and community sources.
• Record romanization and translation choices.
• Consult people with relevant expertise.

Interrogate the archive

Absence may reflect collecting bias, language barriers, immigration history, informal labor, or records kept outside major institutions—not absence of participation.