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Mahjong in Hangzhou.jpg
A game of mahjong being played in Hangzhou, China
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese 麻將
Simplified Chinese 麻将
Alternative Chinese name
Traditional Chinese 麻雀
Simplified Chinese 麻雀
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese mạt chược
Korean name
Hangul 마작
Hanja 麻雀
Japanese name
Kanji 麻雀
Kana マージャン
Players 2-4
Age range 4 years and older
Setup time 2-5 minutes
Playing time Dependent on variation and/or house/tournament rules
Random chance High (Dice rolling, tile drawing)
Skill(s) required Tactics, observation, memory

Mahjong is a game that originated in China, commonly played by four players (with some three-player variations found in Korea and Japan). While the single-player tile-matching game mahjong solitaire is familiar in the West, the four-player table version is predominant in Asia. The solitaire version of the game has little in common with traditional mahjong, other than using the same tiles. Similar to the Western card game rummy, mahjong is a game of skill, strategy and calculation and involves a certain degree of chance.



The game was called 麻雀 (pinyin: má què), meaning sparrow in Chinese, which is still the name most commonly used in some southern Chinese languages such as Cantonese and Min Nan, as well as in Japanese. However, most Mandarin-speaking Chinese now call the game mah jong (麻將). In Northern Wu Chinese ( Shanghainese and its relatives), it is pronounced as 麻將 [mu tsiaŋ], but in actuality, 麻將 is the diminutive form of 麻雀, written as 麻雀兒 [mu tsiaʔ ŋ], due to an erhua event. It is through the Wu Chinese pronunciation of 麻雀兒 that the diminutive form of 麻雀 in Northern Wu became known as 麻將 in both Mandarin and Wu.



Playing Mahjong

One of the myths of the origin of mahjong suggests that Confucius, the Chinese philosopher, developed the game in about 500 BC. The three dragon (cardinal) tiles also agree with the three cardinal virtues bequeathed by Confucius. Hóng Zhōng ( 紅中 MJd1.png, red middle), Fā Cái ( 發財 MJd2.png, prosperity), and Bái Bǎn"' ( 白板 MJd3.png, white board) represent benevolence, sincerity, and filial piety, respectively.

The myth also claims that Confucius was fond of birds, which would explain the name "mahjong" (maque 麻雀 = sparrow).

Many historians believe it was based on a Chinese card game called Mǎdiào (馬吊) (also known as Ma Tiae, hanging horse; or Yèzí [葉子], leaf) in the early Ming dynasty. This game was played with 40 paper cards similar in appearance to the cards used in the game Ya Pei. These 40 cards are numbered 1 to 9 in four different suits, along with four extra flower cards. This is quite similar to the numbering of mahjong tiles today, although mahjong only has three suits and, in effect, uses four packs of Ya Pei cards.

There is still some debate about who created the game. One theory is that Chinese army officers serving during the Taiping Rebellion created the game to pass the time. Another theory is that a nobleman living in the Shanghai area created the game between 1870 and 1875. Others believe that two brothers from Níngpō created mahjong around 1850, from the earlier game of Mǎdiào.

This game was banned by the government of People's Republic of China when it took power in 1949. The new Communist government forbade any gambling activities, which were regarded as symbols of capitalist corruption. After the Cultural Revolution, the game was revived, without gambling elements, and the prohibition was revoked in 1985. Today, it is a favorite pastime in China and other Chinese-speaking communities.


Students in the United States learning how to play mahjong

In 1895, Stewart Culin, an American anthropologist, wrote a paper in which mahjong was mentioned. This is the first known written account of mahjong in any language other than Chinese. By 1910, there were written accounts in many languages, including French and Japanese.

The game was imported to the United States in the 1920s. The first mahjong sets sold in the U.S. were sold by Abercrombie & Fitch starting in 1920. It became a success in Washington, D.C., and the co-owner of the company, Ezra Fitch, sent emissaries to Chinese villages to buy every mahjong set they could find. Abercrombie & Fitch sold a total of 12,000 mahjong sets.

Also in 1920, Joseph Park Babcock published his book Rules of Mah-Jongg, also known as the "red book". This was the earliest version of mahjong known in America. Babcock had learned mahjong while living in China. His rules simplified the game to make it easier for Americans to take up, and his version was common through the mahjong fad of the 1920s. Later, when the 1920s fad died out, many of Babcock's simplifications were abandoned.

The game has taken on a number of trademarked names, such as "Pung Chow" and the "Game of Thousand Intelligences". Mahjong nights in America often involved dressing and decorating rooms in Chinese style. Several hit songs were recorded during the mahjong fad, most notably "Since Ma Is Playing Mah Jong" by Eddie Cantor.

Many variants of mahjong developed during this period. By the 1930s, many revisions of the rules developed that were substantially different from Babcock's classical version (including some that were considered fundamentals in other variants, such as the notion of a standard hand). The most common form, which eventually became "American mahjong", was most popular among Jewish women. Standardization came with the formation of the National Mah Jongg League (NMJL) in 1937, along with the first American mahjong rulebook, Maajh: The American Version of the Ancient Chinese Game.

Many consider the modern American version a remake of a Jewish game, as many American mahjong players are of Jewish descent. The NMJL was founded by Jewish players and is considered a Jewish organization. In 1986, the National Mah Jongg League conducted their first Mah Jongg Cruise Tournament, in conjunction with Mah Jongg Madness. In 2010, this large scale seagoing event hosted its 25th Silver Anniversary Cruise, with players from all over the States and Canada participating.

In recent years, a second organization has formed, the American Mah Jongg Association. The AMJA currently hosts tournaments all across North America, with their signature event being at the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey.


A playing card form was published by an official of Britain's Consular Service named William Henry Wilkinson, author of Chinese origin of playing cards, under the name Khanhoo.

Games scholar David Parlett has written that the Western card games Conquian and Rummy were derived from Mahjong. All these games involve players drawing and discarding tiles or cards to make melds.

Current development

There are many governing bodies which often host exhibition games and tournaments for modern and traditional mahjong gaming.

Mahjong, as of 2010, is the most popular table game in Japan. As of 2008, there were approximately 7.6 million Mahjong players in Japan and an estimated 8,900 Mahjong parlors did ¥300 billion in sales. Many devotees there believe the game is losing popularity and have taken efforts to revive it. There are several manga and anime (e.g. Saki and Akagi) devoted to dramatic and comic situations involving mahjong. Since the 1980s, mahjong arcade machines have been very popular in Japanese video arcades, with hundreds of titles to date, including strip versions. Newer units can connect with other arcade machines across the Internet.

Mahjong culture is still deeply ingrained in the Chinese community. Sam Hui wrote Cantopop songs using mahjong as their themes, and Hong Kong movies have often included scenes of mahjong games. Many gambling movies have been filmed in Hong Kong, and a recent sub-genre is the mahjong movie.

Prolonged playing of mahjong may trigger epileptic seizures according to a 2007 study. To date there are only 23 reported cases of mahjong-induced seizures in the English medical literature.


Type of game

Because of the solid form of the tiles, mahjong is sometimes classified as a domino game but plays similar to card games such as rummy.

Old Hong Kong mahjong

Old Hong Kong mahjong uses most of the standardised tiles, utilizes the basic features in common with most variations of the game and has a relatively simple scoring system. Other variations are detailed below and in individual pages.


A mahjong set




There are three different suits numbered 1 to 9, which are called simple tiles. They are bamboo (bams), characters (or myriads or craks), and circles (or dots).

Suit 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

There are four identical copies of each number of each suit giving 108 simples tiles (3x9x4).

Honours and bonus tiles


There are eight bonus tiles: four flowers and four seasons. Each flower and season tile is unique without three matching pieces as per simple tiles and honour tiles. These tiles are not part of a player's hand but are set to the side when drawn and an extra tile is drawn in lieu of the bonus tile.

Name Sign
East MJf1.png
South MJf2.png
West MJf3.png
North MJf4.png
Name Sign
Red MJd1.png
Green MJd2.png
White MJd3.png
Flower Sign
plum MJh5.png
orchid MJh6.png
chrysanthemum MJh7.png
bamboo MJh8.png
Season Sign
spring MJh1.png
summer MJh2.png
autumn MJh3.png
winter MJh4.png

Choosing table positions (wind positions) and first dealer


Hands, rounds, and matches

A match consists of four rounds of which each round represents a "prevailing wind" starting with East. In each round at least four hands are played with each player taking the position of dealer. In the first hand of each round player 1 (winner of the dice toss) is east and therefore dealer. In the second hand, player 2 takes the east position shifting the seat winds amongst the players counter clockwise (though players don't physically move their chairs). A marker is used to mark which player is east and often the round number. This continues until all four players have been east (dealer).

Once the first round is completed, a second round begins with the prevailing wind of "south". Player 1 deals the first hand and player two deals the second hand etc. There are four rounds which represent all four prevailing winds.

Whenever a player in the east position (dealer) wins a hand or if there is no winner (a draw or "goulash hand") an extra hand is played with the players repeating the same position as the previous hand.


Example of a 16 hand game one extra hand played per east winning
1 East East (dealer) South West North
2 East North East (dealer) South West
3 East West North East (dealer) South
4 East South West North East (dealer)
5 South East (dealer) South West North
6 South North East (dealer) South West
7 South West North East (dealer) South
8 South South West North East (dealer)
9 West East (dealer) South West North
10 West North East (dealer) South West
11 West West North East (dealer) South
12 West South West North East (dealer)
13 North East (dealer) South West North
14 North North East (dealer) South West
16 North South West North East (dealer)




Dealing tiles







Local play on the street in Lanzhou

Each player takes a turn picking up a tile from the wall and then discarding a tile by throwing it into the centre and, if desired, announcing out loud what the piece is. Play continues this way until one player has a legal winning hand and calls out mahjong while reveal their hand. There are four different ways that this order of play can be interrupted which are mentioned below.

During play, the number of tiles maintained by each player should always be thirteen tiles (meaning in each turn a tile must be picked up and another discarded). Not included in the count of thirteen tiles are flowers and seasons set to the side and the fourth added piece of a kong (mentioned below). If a player is seen to have more or less than thirteen tiles in their hand outside of their turn they are penalised.

Legal hand






9 Stone9 Stone9 Stone

3 Bamboo3 Bamboo3 Bamboo

South WindSouth WindSouth Wind

Green DragonGreen DragonGreen Dragon.



Red DragonRed DragonRed DragonRed Dragon

7 Bamboo7 Bamboo7 Bamboo7 Bamboo


  • If a player can use a discarded tile to compliment three matching tiles in their hand, they can take the piece and reveal a "kong by discard" or "melded Kong". The player reveals his three pieces face up and places the stolen discard ontop of the middle tile.



1 Bamboo2 Bamboo3 Bamboo

3 Bamboo4 Bamboo5 Bamboo

7 Bamboo8 Bamboo9 Bamboo

5 Circle6 Circle7 Circle


  • Eyes, also known as a pair, are two identical tiles which are an essential part of a legal winning hand. A piece cannot be stolen (melded) to form the eyes unless the player simultaniously completes a legal winning hand.

For example:

North WindNorth Wind

5 Circle5 Circle

5 Bamboo5 Bamboo

East WindEast Wind

White DragonWhite Dragon

Interruption of play

Flower or season


Melding another player's discard




Going mahjong


Robbing a kong

A rarely occurring and high scoring feature of Hong Kong Mahjong is a move called robbing the kong. If a player declares a kong (by melding it or adding a fourth piece to a pong to form a kong or declaring a concealed kong) and another player(s) can use that piece to complete a hand (which would only logically happen by making a chow) a player may steal that piece from that player when declaring the kong and go mahjong (win the hand).

Example winning hands


3 Bamboo3 Bamboo3 BambooWhite DragonWhite DragonWhite DragonGreen DragonGreen DragonGreen DragonRed DragonRed DragonRed DragonEast WindEast Wind

Hand formed with four pongs and the eyes (pair) of East wind. Only bamboo is used (no other simples) scoring extra points (clean hand). No chows are used (all pong/kong hand scoring extra points).

1 Circle2 Circle3 Circle4 Circle5 Circle6 Circle7 Circle7 Circle7 Circle9 Circle9 Circle9 Circle8 Circle8 Circle

A high scoring hand formed using only circles known as a pure hand. Hand is made of chows, pongs and the eyes of circles.

Most players include table variations in their games of which some non standard are included. The hands of seven different pairs, thirteen orphans and heavenly gates are examples which do not have four melds and the eyes. They are described in more detail below.

Calling out mahjong

In Western Classical variants, this is known as creating a mahjong, and the process of winning is called going mahjong. Calling a mahjong without having a legal hand or with the minimum points is usually penalised via points or with the player having to play the rest of the hand with his tiles shown to the other players face up.

Turns and rounds





Rhythm of play




    • individual melds
    • the composition of the entire hand
    • how the hand was won
    • bonus tiles
    • special patterns
    • and a few other special criteria.
  • Players then pay the winner (in money or when not gambling with "points") based on three factors:

Fan value (base points)

Basic fan value


Basic Elements
Item Fan value
A pong/kong of Dragons 1
A pong/kong of Seat wind or Round wind 1
All simples 1
All chows and a pair of simples 1 point more
Only pongs/kongs and any pair (pong hand) 3
Advanced Elements (less common and difficult elements to achieve)
Item Points
Three unmelded (hidden) pongs/kongs 3
Three kongs 3
Seven pairs (special pattern) 4
Bonus fan
Item Points
Winning from the wall 1
Robbing the Kong 1
Item Points
No flowers or seasons tiles in hand 1
Having Own flower (seat flower) 1
Having Own season (seat season) 1
All four flowers 4 points extra
All four seasons 4 points extra




Base Payment
Points Base Payment
3 1
4 1
5 2
6 2
7 2
8 4
9 4
10 8
11 8
12+ 16


Player Base Payment
Player Base Payment
West 2 (base payment) = -2
Player Base Payment


Limit hands



Some groups also play with the "great flowers" rule. If a player picks up all 4 flowers and all 4 seasons during his/her hand, s/he instantly wins the hand and receives the maximum points from all of the players. This is exceptionally rare.

Limit Hands (winner receives agreed maximum payment from each player)
Item Explanation
Hidden Pong Hand Four concealed pongs
Kong Hand Player has four kongs
Pearl Dragon Three circle pongs/kongs and a pair of circles (eye) with a pong/kong of the white dragon (no chows).
Great Dragons Three pongs of all three dragons
Great Winds Four pongs of all four winds

Examples of high scoring hands

All pong hand

MJs1.pngMJs1.pngMJs1.png - MJt4.pngMJt4.pngMJt4.png - MJs6.pngMJs6.pngMJs6.png - MJd3.pngMJd3.pngMJd3.png - MJt9.png MJt9.png

Clean hand

MJw1.pngMJw2.pngMJw3.png - MJw1.pngMJw2.pngMJw3.png - MJw4.pngMJw5.pngMJw6.png - MJw7.pngMJw8.pngMJw9.png - MJd1.png MJd1.png

Pure hand

MJs2.pngMJs3.png MJs4.png - MJs2.pngMJs3.pngMJs4.png - MJs5.pngMJs6.png MJs7.png - MJs7.pngMJs8.pngMJs9.png - MJs6.png MJs6.png

Pure honour hand

MJf1.pngMJf1.pngMJf1.png - MJd1.pngMJd1.pngMJd1.png - MJd3.pngMJd3.pngMJd3.png - MJf2.pngMJf2.pngMJf2.png - MJd2.png MJd2.png

Thirteen orphans

MJf1.pngMJf2.pngMJf3.png MJf4.png MJd1.pngMJd2.png MJd3.pngMJs1.pngMJs9.png MJw1.pngMJw9.pngMJt1.png MJt9.png - MJt9.png




  • Chinese classical mahjong is the oldest variety of mahjong and was the version introduced to America in the 1920s under various names. It has a small, loyal following in the West, although few play it in Asia.
  • Guobiao Majiang a rule of Mahjong founded by All-China Sports Federation in July 1998.
  • Hong Kong mahjong or Cantonese mahjong is possibly the most common form of mahjong, differing in minor scoring details from the Chinese Classical variety. It does not allow multiple players to win from a single discard.
  • Sichuan mahjong is a growing variety, particularly in southern China, disallowing chi melds, and using only the suited tiles. It can be played very quickly.
  • Shenyang mahjong using 13 hands in a game, and Shenyang mahjong has a really fast speed on playing, which is matching the personality of North-east people in China. Also in Shenyang mahjong, the player must to have Bamboos, Characters, Circles and number one or nine in his hand. In addition, the players have to Pong before they Chow, so there is no chance to win even if some players win at the first time they have their hands in hand.
  • Japanese mahjong is a standardized form of mahjong in Japan and is also found prevalently in video games. In addition to scoring changes, the rules of rīchi (ready hand) and dora (bonus tiles) are unique highlights of this variant. Besides, there is a variation called sanma (三麻) based on this sort, which is modified for playing with three players, and its main differences from the standard one are that chī (Chow) is disallowed and the simple tiles (numbers two through eight) of one suit (usually characters) are removed. Some rules replace some of number 5 tiles with red tiles so that they can eventually get more value.
  • Western classical mahjong is a descendant of the version of mahjong introduced by Babcock to America in the 1920s. Today, this term largely refers to the " Wright-Patterson" rules, used in the U.S. military, and other similar American-made variants that are closer to the Babcock rules.
  • American mahjong is a form of mahjong standardized by the National Mah Jongg League and the American Mah-Jongg Association. It uses joker tiles, the Charleston, plus melds of five or more tiles, and eschews the Chow and the notion of a standard hand. Purists claim that this makes American mahjong a separate game. In addition, the NMJL and AMJA variations, which differ by minor scoring differences, are commonly referred to as mahjongg or mah-jongg (with two Gs, often hyphenated).
  • Singaporean/Malaysian mahjong is a variant similar to the Cantonese mahjong played in Malaysia. Unique elements of Singaporean/Malaysian mahjong are the four animal tiles (cat, mouse, cockerel, and centipede) as well as certain alternatives in the scoring rules, which allow payouts midway through the game if certain conditions (such as a kang) are met.
  • South African mahjong is a variant of Cantonese mahjong. It is very similar in terms of game play and follows most of the rules and regulations of Cantonese mahjong. However there are some minor differences in scoring, e.g. the limit on the maximum points a hand can be rewarded is 3 or 4 fan depending on the house rules. A chicken hand (gai wu) is normally considered a value hand. Depending on the house rules flowers may also be used to boost scoring.
  • Fujian mahjong, with a Dàidì joker 帶弟百搭.
  • Shanxi mahjong, or Lisi (Raise Four; zh:太原立四麻将), the players must win with the first four blocks drawn which are placed separately in front of other. These four blocks cannot be touched until the player has a ready hand.
  • Vietnamese mạt chược, with 16 different kinds of jokers for a total of 160 tiles. Modern variant include more jokers for a total of 176 tiles.
  • Thai mahjong, includes the older Vietnamese tiles with another eight for a total of 168 tiles.
  • Filipino mahjong, with the Window Joker.
  • Korean mahjong is unique in many ways and is an excellent version for three players. One suit is omitted completely (usually the Bamboo set or 2-8 of bamboo) as well as the seasons. The scoring is simpler and the play is faster. No melded chows are allowed and concealed hands are common. Riichi (much like its Japanese cousin) is an integral part of the game as well. Korean Rules
  • Mahjong solitaire involves stacking the Mahjong tiles in various configurations and then through an act of elimination the discovery of tile pairs and the removal of those pairs from the stack. The computer game was originally created by Brodie Lockard in 1981 on the PLATO system. Microsoft Corporation released a computerized Mahjong solitaire game called " Mahjong Titans" originally bundled with Windows Vista and later also with Windows 7. Previously Activision in 1986 released a computerized Mahjong solitaire game for the Amiga, Macintosh and Apple IIgs computers and also the Sega Master System entitled Shanghai.
  • Three player mahjong (or three-ka) is a simplified three-person mahjong that involves hands of 13 tiles (with a total of 84 tiles on the table) and may use jokers depending on the variation. Any rule set can be adapted for three players, however this is far more common and accepted in Japan, Korea, Malaysia and the Philippines. It usually eliminates one suit entirely or tiles 2-8 in one suit leaving only the terminals. It needs fewer people to start a game and the turnaround time of a game is short—hence, it is considered a fast game. In some versions there is a jackpot for winning in which whoever accumulates a point of 10 is considered to hit the jackpot or whoever scores three hidden hands first. The Malaysian and Korean versions drop one wind and may include a seat dragon. Korean Japanese three player variant.


There are variations that feature specific use of tiles. Some three player versions remove the North Wind and one Chinese provincial version has no honours. Korean mahjong removes the bamboo suit or at least its numbers 2–8 so that terminals can be used. Japanese mahjong rarely uses flowers or seasons. The seasons are removed in Korean mahjong, while Singapore/Malaysian mahjong has a third set of bonus tiles called animals and even a fourth called vehicles. Joker tiles are used in some versions. Some variations use counting sticks while others use chips, and some use pencils and paper for score keeping.


Japanese and Korean mahjong have some special rules. A player cannot win by a discard if that player had already discarded that piece, where players' discards are kept in neat rows in front of them. Players may declare ready, meaning that they need one tile to win, cannot change their hand and win extra points if they win. Some rules may replace some of the number 5 tiles with red tiles, as they can earn more points. Korean mahjong does not allow melded (stolen) chows. Taiwanese mahjong adds three tiles to a hand requiring a 5th set to be formed, making a clean hand or all pong hand very difficult to procure. American mahjong has distinctive game mechanics and the article on American mahjong details these. Some differences include many special patterns, a different scoring system and the use of jokers and 5 of a kind.



While the basic rules are more or less the same throughout mahjong, the greatest divergence between variations lies in the scoring systems. Like the rules, there is a generalized system of scoring, based on the method of winning and the winning hand, from which Chinese and Japanese base their roots. American mahjong generally has greatly divergent scoring rules, as well as greatly divergent general rules.




In classical mahjong all players score points. Points are given for sets and hand composition and winning bonuses, doubled and redoubled for basic patterns. Sometimes a loser may score more points than a winner. Japanese mahjong has a complex scoring system with several stages of scoring, rules and exceptions, evening out scores and bonus points at the end of a match. Korean mahjong has a simple scoring system where only winner scores without any form of doubling.


In Old Hong Kong Mahjong:

  • Only the winner scores points.
    • individual melds,
    • the composition of the entire hand,
    • how the hand was won,
    • bonus tiles,
    • special patterns,
    • and a few other special criteria.
  • If a player goes mahjong with a legal and minimum hand, his/her hand is scored by adding his/her points and bonus points together.
  • The payment received from each player depends on three factors:
    • the point value of the hand,
    • if the player was the dealer or not.

Optional scoring





Some players accept wildcards (Chinese: 混，hunr) when playing Mahjong. The wildcards are decided at the beginning of the game. The wildcard can be the next tile after spreading tiles to all players or separately decided by a dice toss. Wildcards are not allowed to be discarded and can replace any tiles in Chows. Wildcards can't replace any tiles in Pongs and Kongs. For example, if a character 4 taken out, then character 4 and the next number 5 can be used as wildcards in this round (When the tile showed, the tiles of the same pattern left only 3, so the next tile in the suit will be used as wildcards as well, adding to 7 wildcards for 4 players). Also, if a tile numbered 9 is chosen, then the number 9 and 1 are wildcards. Also, if the chosen tile is not in the simples, the wildcards are decided in rules:

Wilcard tile chosen Another wildcard
East South
South West
West North
North East
Red Dragon Green Dragon
Green Dragon White Dragon
White Dragon Red Dragon

The bonus tiles are not available for wildcards.


Mahjong Variations
Variation Hong Kong HK New Classical Japanese Korean Taiwan Malaysia/Singapore Three player mahjong J/K American
Flowers Yes Yes Yes Optional Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Seasons Yes Yes Yes Uncommon Yes Yes Yes Uncommon Yes
Bamboo Yes Yes Yes Yes No or only terminals Yes Yes No or only Terminals Yes
Animals No No No No No No Yes No Yes
Jokers No No No No No No Yes No Yes
Scoring Base Faan Faan Multipliers Multipliers Simple Simple Simple Simple American
Scoring Winner Winner All Winner Winner Winner Winner Winner Winner
East Doubles Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Yes
Sacred Discard No No No Yes Yes No No Yes No
Melded Chows Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Yes
Riichi No No No Yes Yes Yes No Yes No
Minimum Points (in variations units) 3f 5f 3f 1y 2p 7/10t 2u 3+ Varies


Many variations have specific hands, some of which are common while some are optional depending on regions and players. One example is the Pure Green hand made of chows or pongs using 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 of bamboo and green dragon.


Japanese rule sets discourage the use of flowers and seasons. Korean rules and three player mahjong in the Korean/Japanese tradition use only flowers. In Singapore and Malaysia an extra set of bonus tiles of four animals are used. The rule set includes a unique function in that players who get two specific animals get a one time immediate payout from all players. In Taiwanese mahjong, getting all eight flowers and seasons constitutes an automatic win of the hand and specific payout from all players.

Four of the flower tiles represent the four noble plants of Confucian reckoning: plum, orchid, chrysanthemum, and bamboo.


The other four flower tiles (or season tiles) represent seasons: spring, summer, autumn, and winter.


The animal tiles used in Malaysia, Singapore and local variations are the animals. They represent the cat, mouse, cockerel and centipede.


Number of tiles


  • 136 tiles: 17 stacks for each player
    • Suits of dots, bamboos, and characters + winds + dragons
  • 144 tiles: 18 stacks for each player
  • 152 tiles: 19 stacks for each player


In the American variations it is required that, before each hand begins, a Charleston be enacted. In the first exchange, three tiles are passed to the player on one's right; in the next exchange, the tiles are passed to the player opposite, followed by three tiles passed to the left. If all players are in agreement, a second Charleston is performed; however, any player may decide to stop passing after the first Charleston is complete. The Charleston is followed by an optional pass to the player across of one, two, or three tiles. The Charleston, a distinctive feature of American mahjong, may have been borrowed from card games such as Hearts.




Joker tiles may or may not have an impact on scoring, depending on the variation. Some special hands may require the use of Joker tiles (for example, to represent a "fifth tile" of a certain suited or honour tile).

In American mahjong, it is illegal to pass Jokers during the Charleston.

Ready hands

When a hand is one tile short of winning (for example: 1 Bamboo2 Bamboo3 Bamboo1 Bamboo2 Bamboo3 Bamboo2 Bamboo3 Bamboo7 Bamboo8 Bamboo9 BambooGreen DragonGreen Dragon, waiting for: 1 Bamboo, 4 Bamboo, or Green Dragon, as 1 Bamboo can be the eyes), the hand is said to be a ready hand (Traditional Chinese: 聽牌; Simplified Chinese: 听牌; Japanese: tenpai 聴牌), or more figuratively, "on the pot". The player holding a ready hand is said to be waiting for certain tiles. It is common to be waiting for two or three tiles, and some variations award points for a hand that is waiting for one tile. In 13-tile mahjong, the largest number of tiles for which a player can wait is 13 (the thirteen wonders, or thirteen orphans, a nonstandard special hand). Ready hands must be declared in some variations of mahjong, while other variations prohibit the same.

Some variations of mahjong, most notably Japanese and Korean ones, allow a player to declare rīchi (立直, sometimes known as reach, as it is phonetically similar). A declaration of rīchi is a promise that any tile drawn by the player is immediately discarded unless it constitutes a win. Standard requirements for rīchi are that the hand be closed or have no melds declared (other than a concealed kong) and that players already have points for declaration of rīchi. A player who declares rīchi and wins usually receives a point bonus for their hand directly, and a player who won with rīchi also has the advantage to open the inner dora (ドラ, from "dra"gon) which leads to higher possibilities to match such a card, thus has more chance to grant additional bonus. However, a player who declares rīchi and loses is usually penalized in some fashion. Declaring a nonexistent rīchi is also penalized in some way.

In some variations, a situation in which all four players declare a rīchi is an automatic drawn game, as it reduces the game down to pure luck, i.e., who gets their needed tile first.



Japanese mahjong has a special rule called sanchahō (三家和), which is, if three players claim the same discard in order to win, the hand is drawn. One reason for this is that there are cases in which bars of 1,000 points for declaring rīchi cannot be divided by three. The rule is treated the same as "abortive draws".

Abortive draws

In Japanese mahjong, rules allow abortive draws to be declared while tiles are still available. They can be declared under the following conditions:

  • Kyūshu yaochūhai tōhai (九種么九牌倒牌): On a player's first turn when no meld has been declared yet, if a player has nine different terminal (also known as major) or honour tiles, the player may declare the hand to be drawn (for example, 1 Circle4 Circle5 Circle9 Circle1 Bamboo4 Bamboo6 Bamboo9 Bamboo1 CharacterEast WindWest WindRed DragonRed DragonWhite Dragon, but could also go for the nonstandard thirteen wonders hand as well).
  • Sūfontsu rentā (四風子連打): On the first turn without any meld declarations, if all four players discard the same Wind tile, the hand is drawn.
  • Sūcha rīchi (四家立直): If all four players declare rīchi, the hand is drawn.
  • Sūkan sanra (四槓算了): The hand is drawn when the fourth Kong is declared, unless all four Kongs were declared by a single player. Still, the hand is drawn when another player declares a fifth Kong.

Mahjong competition rules


In 1998, in the interest of dissociating illegal gambling from mahjong, the China State Sports Commission published a new set of rules, now generally referred to as Chinese Official rules or International Tournament rules (see Guobiao Majiang). The principles of the new, wholesome mahjong are no gambling, no drinking, and no smoking. In international tournaments, players are often grouped in teams to emphasize that mahjong from now on is considered a sport.



In 2005, the first Open European Mahjong Championship was held in the Netherlands, with 108 players. The competition was won by Masato Chiba from Japan. The second European championship in Copenhagen(2007) was attended by 136 players and won by Danish player Martin Wedel Jacobsen. The first Online European Mahjong Championship was held on the Mahjong Time server in 2007, with 64 players, and the winner was Juliani Leo, from the U.S., and the Best European Player was Gerda van Oorschot, from the Netherlands. The Third Open European Mahjong Championship 2009 at Baden/Vienna, Austria, was won by Japanese player Koji Idota, while runner-up Bo Lang from Switzerland became European Champion. There were 152 participants.



Special meaning and history of tiles

The suits of the tiles are money-based. In ancient China, the copper coins had a square hole in the centre; people passed a rope through the holes to tie coins into strings. These strings are usually in groups of 100 coins, called diào (弔, or variant 吊), or 1000 coins, called guàn (貫). Mahjong's connection to the ancient Chinese currency system is consistent with its alleged derivation from the game named mǎ diào (馬弔).

In the mahjong suits, the coppers represent the coins, the ropes are actually strings of 100 coins, and the character myriad represents 10,000 coins or 100 strings. When a hand receives the maximum allowed winning of a round, it is called mǎn guàn (滿貫, literally, "full string of coins".)

  • Dragon tiles: Red Dragon, Green Dragon, and White Dragon. The term dragon tile is a Western convention introduced by Joseph Park Babcock in his 1920 book introducing mahjong to America. Originally, these tiles are said to have something to do with the Chinese Imperial Examination. The red tile ("中"榜, zhōngbǎng) means passing the examination to clear the way to officialdom. The green tile ("發"財, fācái, literally "get rich") means wealth. The white tile (白板,báibǎn, literally "clean slate") means freedom from corruption. It usually has a blue border to distinguish from replacement tiles and prevent alterations. In the original Chinese mahjong, these pieces are called jiàn (箭), which represents archery, and the red "中" represents a hit on the target. In ancient Chinese archery, one would put a red "中" to signify that the target was hit. White "白" represents failure, and green "發" means that one will release the draw.
  • Stones (alternatively wheels, dots or circles): one through nine (). Named as each tile consists of a number of circles. Each circle is said to represent can (筒, tóng) coins with a square hole in the middle.

1 Stone2 Stone3 Stone4 Stone5 Stone6 Stone7 Stone8 Stone9 Stone

  • Bamboos: one through nine (). Named as each tile consists of a number of bamboo sticks. Each stick is said to represent a string (索, suǒ) that holds a hundred coins; 1 Bamboo is an exception: it has a bird sitting on a bamboo, to prevent alteration. The numbers 2, 3, 4, 6, and 8 are traditionally marked entirely green (without red) and along with the green dragons, which can be used to construct the traditional limit hand Imperial Jade.

1 Bamboo2 Bamboo3 Bamboo4 Bamboo5 Bamboo6 Bamboo7 Bamboo8 Bamboo9 Bamboo

  • Characters (alternatively numbers): one through nine (). Named as each tile represents ten thousand (萬, wàn) coins, or one hundred strings of one hundred coins.




Online gaming

Mahjong can be played online through websites or downloading programs in various languages for fun or for money.



The Unicode block for mahjong tiles is U+1F000–U+1F02F. Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points.

Mahjong Tiles chart (PDF)
1.^ As of Unicode version 6.1
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