| The Chinese game of khanhoo | |
 The Joker in an 1891 set produced by Charles Goodall of London | |
| Origin | China |
|---|---|
| Type | Matching |
| Family | Rummy |
| Players | 2-8 |
| Skills | Tactics and strategy |
| Cards | 2-4 decks of 30 cards with or without a joker |
| Play | Clockwise |
| Playing time | 20 minutes |
| Chance | Medium |
| Related games | |
| Tổ tôm | |
Khanhoo or kanhu is a non-partnership Chinese card game of the draw-and-discard structure. It was first recorded during the late Ming dynasty as a multi-trick taking game,[1] a type of game that may be as old as T'ienkiu ("Heaven and Nines"),[2] revised in its rules and published in an authorized edition by Emperor Kao Tsung in 1130 AD for the information of his subjects. Meaning "watch the pot", it is very possibly the ancestor of all rummy games.[3]
Adapted to the western taste by Sir William Henry Wilkinson, British sinologist and Consul-General in China and Korea in the mid-1890s, it belongs to the same family as Mahjong. Another related game is Kuwaho or Cuajo from the Philippines. Variants of the Qing version of the game are still played in China and Vietnam such as Tổ tôm.
- ^ Lo, Andrew (2003) 'Pan Zhiheng's 'Xu Yezi Pu' (Sequel to a Manual of Leaves)- Part 1'. The Playing-Card: Journal of the International Playing-Card Society, 31 (5). pp. 221-229.
- ^ (in Portuguese) Colección por fascículos - Juegos de Cartas, Ediciones Altaya, Barcelona (1997), in cooperation with Naipes Heraclio Fournier, Vitoria, Spain.
- ^ Sid Sackson, Card Games Around the World, pg. 7, Dover publications (1994), ISBN 0-486-28100-0