A standard Chinese Mahjong core set has 34 different tile faces: nine Characters, nine Bamboo, nine Dots, four Winds, and three Dragons. Four copies of every face make 136 tiles. Many physical sets add eight unique Flowers and Seasons, producing 144 tiles, but bonus-tile use depends on the rules.
Every numbered suit can make sequences. Winds and Dragons cannot; they are valuable as matching groups under the selected scoring rules.
Nine numbered faces. The Chinese numeral sits above or beside 万, the character for ten-thousand.
Nine numbered faces made from sticks of bamboo. One Bamboo is often drawn as a bird rather than a single stick.
Nine numbered faces shown as circular coins or dots. Count the circles when the number is unfamiliar.
East, South, West, and North are honor tiles. They can form pairs, Pongs, or Kongs, but never a sequence.
Red, Green, and White Dragons are honors. White may be blank or shown with a blue frame, depending on the set.
The circular marks directly reveal ranks one through nine, making Dots the easiest suit to recognize at first.
Count the sticks, but remember the illustrated bird is One Bamboo and belongs beside Two and Three Bamboo.
Learn the numerals 一二三四五六七八九. The lower 万 marks the Character suit rather than another rank.
The quickest path is visual recognition, not perfect pronunciation. Tile labels can remain visible during immahjong practice while the symbols become familiar.
| Rank | Chinese numeral | English label |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 一 | One of Characters |
| 2 | 二 | Two of Characters |
| 3 | 三 | Three of Characters |
| 4 | 四 | Four of Characters |
| 5 | 五 | Five of Characters |
| 6 | 六 | Six of Characters |
| 7 | 七 | Seven of Characters |
| 8 | 八 | Eight of Characters |
| 9 | 九 | Nine of Characters |
| Tile | Mark | Common role |
|---|---|---|
| East / South / West / North | 東 南 西 北 | Pairs, Pongs, Kongs, seat and prevailing Wind scoring. |
| Red Dragon | 中 | Matching honor group; often translated as “center.” |
| Green Dragon | 發 | Matching honor group; set artwork varies. |
| White Dragon | Blank or frame | Matching honor group; do not confuse it with a spare tile. |
2–3–4 Bamboo is a Chi. 8–9–1 is not, and tiles from different suits cannot be mixed into one sequence.
Three Red Dragons form a Pong; four form a Kong. The same rule applies to numbered tiles and Winds.
Use visible names while learning, then hide labels when the faces no longer interrupt the flow of play.
Product behavior is checked against the current immahjong Beta. Independent references below support the broader game and rules context.
The common core has 34 distinct faces: 9 Characters, 9 Bamboo, 9 Dots, 4 Winds, and 3 Dragons. Four physical copies of each face make 136 tiles.
Many sets add four Flower and four Season bonus tiles. Those eight tiles are unique rather than four identical copies. Whether they are used, replaced, and scored depends on the ruleset.
Many traditional sets depict One Bamboo as a bird—often a sparrow or peacock—rather than one bamboo stick. It still belongs to the Bamboo suit and has rank one.
A blank face or blue-framed rectangle commonly represents the White Dragon. Spare blank tiles can also be included with physical sets, so check that the tile matches the set's three Dragon designs.
No. Chi uses three consecutive numbered tiles from one suit. Winds and Dragons are honors; they form pairs, Pongs, and Kongs instead.
The interactive library can speak every English label, then the guided hand shows how the tiles work together.