Mahjong Tiles Explained: Suits, Honors and Special Tiles

The three number suits

Classic mahjong is played with 144 tiles split into suits. The three number suits — characters (万), bamboo (条) and dots (筒) — each run from 1 to 9 with four copies of every tile. Numbers 1 and 9 are called terminals; players often group tiles as 1-2-3, 4-5-6 or 7-8-9 sequences.

When reading a hand, a tile such as "4 bamboo" is written as s4, a "7 dot" as p7 and a "2 character" as m2. This shorthand appears throughout the game log and tutorials on this site.

Honor tiles: winds and dragons

The honor tiles are the winds — East, South, West and North — and the three dragons: Red (中), Green (发) and White (白). Each appears four times. Winds relate to the round wind and your seat wind, which can add points in many scoring systems.

A pair of dragons or a triplet of your seat wind is a quick way to secure a winning hand even without a long sequence.

Special tiles in American mahjong

American mahjong adds jokers and flowers to the 144 standard tiles. Jokers can stand in for any tile in a meld of three or more, while flowers are scoring extras drawn from the wall. The 2025/2026 National Mah Jongg League cards group these tiles into hands by section — quints, kongs, pungs and so on.

How many of each tile?

The 144-tile set breaks down as: 108 number tiles (3 suits × 9 ranks × 4 copies), 28 honor tiles (7 types × 4), and 8 flower/season tiles (4 flowers + 4 seasons). American sets add 8 jokers for a total of 152.

Knowing the counts matters for strategy: with four copies of every tile, a tile is "dead" once all four are visible, which is the basis of defense in riichi.

Terminals and the honors distinction

Tiles 1 and 9 of each suit are terminals (端牌/幺九牌), while 2-8 are simples (中张牌). Terminals and honors are grouped together as "honor-like" tiles in many scoring systems — they are the tiles worth the most in tanyao-free hands.

Simples hands (tanyao) only use 2-8 tiles, which is why they are the classic beginner target: no terminals, no honors.

The four winds and three dragons in play

The winds — East, South, West, North — map to seat and round directions; the dragons — Red (中), Green (发), White (白) — are pure scoring tiles. A triplet of dragons is worth 1 fan in riichi and is one of the fastest ways to secure a winning hand.

The white dragon is often drawn as a plain blank tile; on this site it is shown as 白 with a distinct border so it is never confused with a white back.

Red fives and dora in riichi

Riichi mahjong adds red fives (赤五) — one marked 5 in each suit — that count as 1 fan each when in your hand. Dora (宝牌) indicators drawn from the dead wall also add fan to any hand that holds the indicated tile.

Dora fan does not count toward the minimum yaku requirement, but it can push a 1-fan hand into mangan territory.