Mahjong Tiles: Every Tile Named, Meanings & Hands
Here is this page in sixty seconds: every tile in a standard mahjong set, shown with its Unicode glyph, English name and common nickname — the three numbered suits, the four wind tiles, the three dragons, the four flower and four season bonus tiles, and the joker an American set carries eight copies of. You will also find a table of how many tiles each major style uses, what a pung, chow, kong and pair actually are with a tile example each, and a short note on what to look for before buying a set.
Quick facts
- Players
- 4 (the standard seat count across mahjong styles; this page is a tile reference, not a turn-by-turn rules guide)
- Play time
- Reference only — no fixed play time; a full session of a mahjong variant runs 90+ minutes, see the linked rules hubs
- Equipment
- A mahjong set in the style you are identifying (136, 144 or 152 tiles depending on style — see the table below), A flat surface to sort tiles into suits, honours and bonus tiles
This page catalogues every tile you’ll find in a standard mahjong set — the mahjong tiles themselves, rendered as Unicode glyphs rather than photographs or copied artwork — with each one’s English name and the nickname players actually use at the table. If you want the turn-by-turn rules instead of the tile catalogue, see the main mahjong hub for Hong Kong-style play or the American mahjong hub for the NMJL card-and-Charleston game; this page is what those two link back to whenever they mention a specific tile.
Mahjong tiles meaning: the three suits
Every suit tile belongs to one of three families, each numbered one through nine with four identical copies of every number — 36 tiles per suit, 108 suit tiles in total. The glyph is the tile; the nickname is what you’ll hear called out across the table.
Characters (“cracks”)
| Tile | English name | Nickname |
|---|---|---|
| One of Characters | 1 Crak | |
| Two of Characters | 2 Crak | |
| Three of Characters | 3 Crak | |
| Four of Characters | 4 Crak | |
| Five of Characters | 5 Crak | |
| Six of Characters | 6 Crak | |
| Seven of Characters | 7 Crak | |
| Eight of Characters | 8 Crak | |
| Nine of Characters | 9 Crak |
Bamboos (“bams” or “sticks”)
| Tile | English name | Nickname |
|---|---|---|
| One of Bamboos | 1 Bam (traditionally drawn as a bird, not a stick) | |
| Two of Bamboos | 2 Bam | |
| Three of Bamboos | 3 Bam | |
| Four of Bamboos | 4 Bam | |
| Five of Bamboos | 5 Bam | |
| Six of Bamboos | 6 Bam | |
| Seven of Bamboos | 7 Bam | |
| Eight of Bamboos | 8 Bam | |
| Nine of Bamboos | 9 Bam |
Circles (“dots”)
| Tile | English name | Nickname |
|---|---|---|
| One of Circles | 1 Dot | |
| Two of Circles | 2 Dot | |
| Three of Circles | 3 Dot | |
| Four of Circles | 4 Dot | |
| Five of Circles | 5 Dot | |
| Six of Circles | 6 Dot | |
| Seven of Circles | 7 Dot | |
| Eight of Circles | 8 Dot | |
| Nine of Circles | 9 Dot |
Winds, dragons, flowers and seasons
The remaining 36 tiles in a 144-tile set are honours and bonus tiles — they never carry a suit number, and the bonus tiles never join a meld at all.
Winds (16 tiles)
| Tile | English name | Nickname |
|---|---|---|
| East Wind | “E” tile | |
| South Wind | “S” tile | |
| West Wind | “W” tile | |
| North Wind | “N” tile |
Dragons (12 tiles)
| Tile | English name | Nickname |
|---|---|---|
| Red Dragon | Red, or Chun | |
| Green Dragon | Green, or Hatsu | |
| White Dragon | Soap (the blank face looks like a bar of soap) |
Flowers (4 tiles)
| Tile | English name | Nickname |
|---|---|---|
| Plum (flower) | Flower 1 | |
| Orchid (flower) | Flower 2 | |
| Bamboo (flower) | Flower 3 | |
| Chrysanthemum (flower) | Flower 4 |
Seasons (4 tiles)
| Tile | English name | Nickname |
|---|---|---|
| Season — Spring | Season 1 | |
| Season — Summer | Season 2 | |
| Season — Autumn | Season 3 | |
| Season — Winter | Season 4 |
Jokers (American sets only)
| Tile | English name | Nickname |
|---|---|---|
| Joker | The Joker |
Unicode defines a single joker glyph. A physical American set carries eight identical joker tiles, not one — the single glyph above stands in for all eight. Jokers do not exist in Hong Kong, Taiwanese or Riichi sets.
How the tile set breaks down
The diagram below groups the standard mahjong tile set by its Unicode codepoint range rather than by suit — useful if you are matching physical tiles against the glyphs above, since the ranges run in one unbroken block.
How many tiles does each style use?
Every style shares the same core glyphs above; styles differ in which bonus tiles they keep and whether they add jokers. Here is how many tiles end up in a complete set for each, with a link to this site’s hub for the styles that have one built.
| Style | Tile count | Variant hub |
|---|---|---|
| Hong Kong (Cantonese) | 144 | Mahjong rules hub |
| American (NMJL) | 152 | American mahjong rules hub |
| Riichi (Japanese) | 136 | Riichi mahjong rules hub |
| Taiwanese | 144 | Taiwanese mahjong rules hub |
Pung, chow, kong and pair: the mahjong hands you’re building
Every mahjong hand, in every style above, is built from the same four building blocks. Here’s what each one is, with one concrete tile example.
- Pung — three identical tiles, for example three Red Dragons: . Claimable from any player’s discard, or built from tiles already in your hand.
- Chow — three consecutive numbers in a single suit, for example Three, Four and Five of Bamboos: . Only claimable from the discard of the player to your left; honour and bonus tiles can never form one.
- Kong — four identical tiles, for example four South Winds: . Completing a kong earns you a replacement tile from the wall, since a four-tile set would otherwise leave your hand one tile short.
- Pair — two identical tiles, for example two White Dragons: . Every winning 14-tile hand needs exactly one pair, alongside four melds of pungs, chows or kongs in any combination.
Buying a mahjong set
See the mahjong sets buyer’s guide for specific picks across American, Chinese and Riichi sets, with price bands and what to look for in each. In short: confirm the tile count matches the style you intend to play (144 for Hong Kong or Taiwanese, 152 for American, 136 for Riichi), check whether it ships with racks, a tray, or a wind indicator you’ll actually use, and look for engraved or embossed faces rather than printed stickers, since stickers wear off with shuffling. Budget sets in resin or bamboo-look plastic are perfectly playable; the price jump for bone-and-bamboo or carved sets buys weight and feel, not different tiles.
Frequently asked questions
How many tiles are in a mahjong set?
A standard Chinese set has 136 base tiles: three numbered suits (108 tiles) plus the winds and dragons (28 tiles). Add four flowers and four seasons and a Hong Kong or Taiwanese set reaches 144. American sets add eight jokers on top of that same 144, for 152 tiles total. Riichi sets skip the bonus tiles and stay at 136.
What do the mahjong tiles mean?
Suit tiles are just numbers in bamboo, dots or characters, with no symbolism beyond scoring. The honour and bonus tiles carry meaning: dragons are traditionally read as virtues, winds mark compass directions and seats, and flowers and seasons symbolize the four seasons and scholarly refinement, mostly worth a small bonus score today.
What are the flower and season tiles for?
Flower and season tiles are bonus tiles: they never join a meld and never count toward your four-sets-plus-a-pair hand. Draw one, set it face up, then immediately draw a replacement tile from the wall. In most rule sets, each flower or season you hold simply adds a small bonus to your final score.
What do the dragon tiles represent?
There are three dragons: red, green and white. Their characters mean centre, prosper and blank, and the white tile is often left plain, hence its nickname soap. Several traditions also map the three onto Confucian virtues, but the mappings differ by source. In play, a pung or kong of any dragon scores, and all three together score heavily.
What's the difference between American and Chinese mahjong tiles?
The suits, winds, dragons, flowers and seasons are identical in both, 144 tiles either way. American sets add eight joker tiles, for 152 total, and are played against a yearly National Mah Jongg League hand card rather than built freely. American play also drops the chow, the run of three consecutive numbers in one suit.
How do you read the character (crack) tiles?
Character tiles, nicknamed cracks, show a Chinese numeral one through nine stacked above the character for wan, the suit's traditional unit of ten thousand. The numeral tells you the rank; the character underneath just marks the suit, the same way every bamboo tile shows a stick shape. You don't need to read Chinese to play, just match the numeral.