Mahjong Solitaire Mahjong tiles
Mahjong tiles: the complete set
A standard Mahjong set has 144 tiles in seven groups. Both four-player Mahjong and Mahjong Solitaire use the same set, so once you know the faces you know them for both games.
| Group | The tiles | Copies of each | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dots | 1 to 9 | 4 | 36 |
| Bamboo | 1 to 9 | 4 | 36 |
| Characters | 1 to 9 | 4 | 36 |
| Winds | East, South, West, North | 4 | 16 |
| Dragons | Red, Green, White | 4 | 12 |
| Flowers | Plum, Orchid, Chrysanthemum, Bamboo | 1 | 4 |
| Seasons | Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter | 1 | 4 |
| All tiles | 42 different faces | 144 |
The tiles shown on this page are the ones used in our game. The small number in the corner is our addition to help new players. You can turn it off in Settings.
The three suits
Dots
Numbered 1 to 9 and drawn as circles. The circles are usually said to be coins, which is why the suit is also called circles or coins. The 1 is a single large decorated circle.
Bamboo
Numbered 1 to 9 and drawn as sticks of bamboo. The sticks stand for strings of coins. The 1 breaks the pattern and shows a bird. From 2 upward, count the sticks.
Characters
Numbered with the Chinese numbers 一 to 九 on top and the character 萬 (wàn, ten thousand) underneath. So the 3 of characters reads "thirty thousand". New players find this suit the hardest because the faces are writing, not pictures. The top character is the number: one line is 1, two lines is 2, three lines is 3.
Winds and dragons
These are called the honour tiles. There are four copies of each.
Winds: East 東, South 南, West 西 and North 北. In four-player Mahjong they match the seats at the table and the round being played, which can make them worth extra points. In Mahjong Solitaire they are just four more faces to match.
Dragons: the red dragon 中 (zhōng, middle), the green dragon 發 (fā, fortune) and the white dragon, which is usually a blue frame or a blank tile. Dragons can't form runs, only sets of three or four, and they are among the most valuable tiles in the four-player game.
Flowers and seasons
There is only one of each of these eight tiles. That is why Mahjong Solitaire treats them differently: any flower matches any other flower, and any season matches any other season. In our set, flowers have a pink label and seasons a teal one, so you can spot them at a glance.
The four flowers are plum, orchid, chrysanthemum and bamboo, known in Chinese painting as the Four Gentlemen. In four-player Mahjong, a flower or season is put aside when drawn, adds bonus points, and is replaced with another tile from the wall.
Why 144?
The three suits make 108 tiles. Add 28 winds and dragons and you have 136, which is the working set for most four-player games. The eight flowers and seasons bring it to 144. Japanese Riichi sets often leave the flowers out, so they have 136. Mahjong Solitaire always uses all 144, which splits neatly into 72 pairs.
Learn them by playing
The quickest way to learn 42 faces is to match them a few hundred times. Garden is the gentlest layout for it: four small courtyards, lots of free tiles and no pressure.
Play Garden MahjongQuestions people ask
How many tiles are in a Mahjong set?
A standard set has 144 tiles: 108 suit tiles (dots, bamboo and characters, numbered 1 to 9, four of each), 16 winds, 12 dragons, 4 flowers and 4 seasons. Some sets add jokers or spare blank tiles.
What are the three suits?
Dots, bamboo and characters. Each runs from 1 to 9, with four copies of every number, so each suit has 36 tiles.
What are the honour tiles?
The four winds (East, South, West and North) and the three dragons (red, green and white). There are four of each, 28 in total.
Why is the 1 of bamboo a bird?
By tradition the 1 of bamboo shows a bird, often a sparrow or a peacock, instead of a single stick. Nobody is certain why. A common explanation links it to 麻雀 (máquè), meaning sparrow, which is what Mahjong is still called in Cantonese.
What is the white dragon?
The white dragon usually shows a blue frame and nothing else. In some sets it is a completely blank tile. It is a full honour tile even though it has no picture.