Glossary

Mahjong Tiles

A mahjong set is built from a few kinds of tile: three numbered suits, the winds and dragons that carry no number, and a handful of bonus tiles. Learn these and you can read any table.

The three suits

Three suits run one through nine, with four copies of each tile. All three descend from old Chinese money.

  • Bamboo (Bams)

    The bamboo suit, tiao or suo, runs one through nine. The sticks are strings of rope that once tied a hundred Chinese coins together through their square holes.

    The One Bamboo is traditionally drawn as a bird, usually a sparrow or peacock, a nod to the game's old name, the sparrow game.

  • Circles (Dots)

    The circle suit, tong or bing, runs one through nine. Each circle is an ancient Chinese copper coin, the round cash with a square hole.

    Also called dots, wheels, or coins; the suit that ties mahjong directly to old Chinese money.

  • Characters (Craks)

    The character suit, wan, runs one through nine. Each tile shows its number above the character for ten thousand, 萬.

    Also called craks or myriads; the only suit whose value is written rather than drawn.

The four winds

The winds name the four directions and seat the players around the table.

  • East Wind

    Dong, the east, the first and most important of the four winds.

    The dealer's seat and the prevailing wind that opens a round of play.

  • South Wind

    Nan, the south, the second wind in turn order.

    One of the four wind honor tiles, four of each in a set.

  • West Wind

    Xi, the west, the third wind in turn order.

    One of the four wind honor tiles.

  • North Wind

    Bei, the north, the fourth wind in turn order.

    One of the four wind honor tiles.

The three dragons

The dragons are the honor tiles, and they sit at the heart of many hands.

  • Red Dragon

    Zhong, the center, marked in red. The red dragon, hong zhong, carries the sense of hitting the mark, the bullseye, success.

    One of the three dragons, the honor tiles, paired with the green and white dragons.

  • Green Dragon

    Fa, a contraction of fa cai, to prosper or strike it rich.

    The green dragon, the prosperity tile among the three honor dragons.

  • White Dragon

    Bai, white. The white dragon, bai ban or white board, is often a blank tile or one framed in blue.

    The third dragon, sometimes a clean blank, the quiet member of the honor trio.

Flowers and seasons

Eight bonus tiles, set aside when drawn. The Japanese game leaves them out.

  • Flowers and Seasons

    Eight bonus tiles: the four flowers, plum, orchid, chrysanthemum, and bamboo, and the four seasons, spring, summer, autumn, and winter.

    Set aside when drawn, for a bonus and a replacement draw; absent from the Japanese game.

The suit marks here are simple schematics. Full tile artwork is on the way.

Sources

All learn guidesWhere the tiles come from