View source for Mahjong

{{short description|Tile-based game}}
{{About|the four-player tile-based game|the tile-matching solitaire game|Mahjong solitaire|other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2014}}

{{Infobox game
| image = File:Mahjong game.jpg
| caption = 
| italic title = no
| name = Mahjong
| subject_name = Mahjong
| genre = {{ubl|[[Mind sport]]|[[Tile-based game]]|[[Abstract strategy game]]}}
| players = 3–4
| setup_time = 1–5 minutes
| playing_time = Dependent on variation or rules
| random_chance = Moderate
| skills = Tactics, observation, memory, adaptive strategies
}}
{{infobox Chinese
| pic = Mahjong (Chinese characters).svg
| piccap = "Mahjong" in Traditional (top) and Simplified (bottom) Chinese characters
| picupright = 0.4
| t = 麻將
| s = 麻将
| gan = ma4-chiong4
| p = májiàng
| w = ma<sup>2</sup>-chiang<sup>4</sup>
| mi = {{IPAc-cmn|m|a|2|.|j|iang|4}}
| h = ma jiong3
| wuu = mo ziang
| j = maa4 zoeng3
| y = màah jeung
| altname = Original/Southern Name
| t2 = 麻雀
| s2 = 麻雀
| l2 = little sparrows
| j2 = maa4-zoek3
| y2 = màh-jeuk
| ci2 = {{IPAc-yue|m|aa|4|.|z|oek|3}}
| h2 = ma4-jiok3
| poj2 = Moâ-chhiok
| buc2 = Mà-chiók
| hhbuc2 = Má-chio̤h
| kanji = 麻雀
| kana = マージャン
| romaji = mājan
| hanja = 麻雀
| hangul = 마작
| rr = majak
| mr = majak
| vie = mạt chược
| khm = ម៉ាចុង
| tha = ไพ่นกกระจอก
| rtgs = phai nok krachok
| p2 = má què
}}

'''Mahjong'''<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Mah-jongg|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mah-jongg|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=19 January 2020|website=Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary|publisher=Merriam-Webster}}</ref> (<small>English pronunciation:</small> {{IPAc-en|m|ɑː|'|dʒ|ɒ|ŋ}} {{respell|mah|JONG}}; also spelled mah jongg, mah-jongg, and mahjongg) is a [[tile-based game]] that was developed in the 19th century in [[China]] and has spread throughout the world since the early 20th century. It is played by four players (with some three-player variations found in parts of China, [[Japan]], [[South Korea]], [[Vietnam]], and [[Southeast Asia]]). The game and its regional variants are widely played throughout the [[Sinosphere]] in [[East Asia|East]] and Southeast Asia and have also become popular in [[Western countries]]. The game has also been adapted into a widespread form of online entertainment.<ref>{{cite web|title=Mahjong Around the World|url=http://worldmahjong.com/about-mahjong/mahjong-around-the-world/|publisher=World Series of Mahjong|access-date=25 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180616042121/http://worldmahjong.com/about-mahjong/mahjong-around-the-world/|archive-date=16 June 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Vickroy|first1=Donna|title=Growing interest in ancient Chinese game|url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/daily-southtown/news/ct-sta-mahjong-interest-st-0326-20150325-story.html|work=Daily Southtown}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Glasser|first=AJ|title=Mad Respect for Mahjong on This Week's List of Fastest-Growing Games by DAU|url=http://www.adweek.com/digital/mad-respect-for-mahjong-on-this-weeks-list-of-fastest-growing-games-by-dau/|work=Adweek|date=20 July 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=WITH VIDEO: 'Mahjong!' Ancient game enjoys continued popularity|url=http://thecourier.com/life-news/2016/06/23/mahjong/|work=The Courier|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180724064051/http://thecourier.com/life-news/2016/06/23/mahjong/|archive-date=24 July 2018}}</ref> Similar to the Western card game [[rummy]], mahjong is a [[game of skill]], strategy, and luck. To distinguish it from [[mahjong solitaire]], it is sometimes referred to as mahjong rummy.

The game is played with a set of 144 [[Mahjong tiles|tiles]] based on [[Chinese characters]] and [[Chinese culture|symbols]], although many regional variations may omit some tiles or add unique ones. In most variations, each player begins by receiving 13 tiles. In turn, players draw and discard tiles until they complete a legal hand using the 14th drawn tile to form four [[#Melds|melds]] (or sets) and a pair (eye). A player can also win with a small class of special hands. While many variations of mahjong exist, most variations have some basic rules in common including how a piece is drawn and discarded, the use of suits (numbered tiles) and honors (winds and dragons), the basic kinds of melds allowed, how to deal the tiles and the order of play. Beyond these basic common rules, numerous regional variations exist which may have notably different criteria for legal melds and winning hands, radically different scoring systems and even elaborate extra rules. A group of players may introduce their own [[house rule]]s which can notably change the feel of play.

== Etymology ==
The game was originally called {{lang|zh|麻雀}} ({{zh|j=maa<sup>4</sup>zoek<sup>3–2</sup>|hp=máquè}}){{mdash}}meaning [[Old World sparrow|sparrow]]{{mdash}}which is still used in several [[Sinitic languages|Chinese languages]], mostly in the south, such as [[Cantonese]] and [[Hokkien]]. It is said that the clacking of tiles during shuffling resembles the chattering of sparrows. It has also been suggested that the name came from an evolution of an earlier card game called [[Madiao]] from which mahjong tiles were adapted.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The complete book of Mah-Jongg|last=Millington|first=A. D.|date=1977|publisher=A. Barker|isbn=0213166224|location=London|oclc=3069655}}</ref> In Chinese, {{zh|t=麻雀戰|s=麻雀战|p=máquè zhàn|out=t|labels=no}} denotes a form of guerilla warfare tactics colloquially called 'sparrow warfare (tactics)'. Other languages, such as [[Sichuanese dialects|Sichuanese]], [[Shanghainese]] and [[Standard Mandarin]], now call the game {{lang|zh|麻將|}} ({{zh|hp=májiàng|labels=no}}), which is a [[Nasal consonant|nasal]] [[erhua]] form of the original name. Its name is similar in other languages, except in [[Thai language|Thai]], where it is called {{lang|th|ไพ่นกกระจอก}} ({{transliteration|th|phai nok krachok}}), a [[calque]] meaning "sparrow cards".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gambling, the State and Society in Siam, C.1880–1945 |date=2007 |doi=10.25501/SOAS.00028815 |url=https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/28815/1/10672983.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200531043856/https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/28815/1/10672983.pdf |archive-date=31 May 2020 |url-status=live |last1=Warren |first1=James Alastair }}</ref>

== Old Hong Kong mahjong rules ==
{{Unreferenced section|date=December 2022}}
[[File:Mahjong Tiles.jpg|thumb|A full set of Mahjong tiles]]

There are many highly varied versions of mahjong both in rules and tiles used. "Old Hong Kong mahjong" uses the same basic features and rules as the majority of the different variations of the game.<ref name="sloper2007">{{cite book |last1=Sloper |first1=Tom |title=The Red Dragon & the West Wind |date=2007 |publisher=HarperCollins |location=New York |isbn=978-0061233944 |page=16}}</ref> This form of mahjong uses all of the tiles of the most commonly available sets, includes no exotic complex rules, and has a relatively small set of scoring sets/hands with a simple scoring system. For these reasons Hong Kong mahjong is a suitable variation for the introduction of game rules and play and is the focus of this article.

=== Game equipment ===
{{Main|Mahjong tiles}}

Old Hong Kong mahjong is played with a standard set of 144 mahjong tiles (though cards may be used). Sets often include counters (to keep score), dice (to decide how to deal), and a marker to show who the dealer is and which round is being played. Some sets include racks to hold the tiles, especially if they are larger or smaller than standard tiles or have an odd shape. Mahjong sets originating from the [[United States]], [[Japan]] or Southeast Asia will likely have extra tiles or specialized markings.

The tiles are split into three categories: suited, honors, and bonus tiles.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:right"
|+ Mahjong tile count per set
|-
! colspan=2 | Set
! Count
|-
! rowspan=3 | Suited
! Dots
| 36
|-
! Bamboo
| 36
|-
! Characters
| 36
|-
! rowspan=2 | Honors
! Winds
| 16
|-
! Dragons
| 12
|-
! rowspan=2 | Bonus
! Flowers
| 4
|-
! Seasons
| 4
|-
! style="text-align:right" colspan=2 | Total
| '''144'''
|}

==== Suited tiles ====
Suited tiles are divided into three suits and each are numbered from 1 to 9. The suits are bamboos, dots, and characters. There are four identical copies of each suited tile totaling 108 tiles.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!colspan=2 rowspan=2|
!colspan=9|Numbers
|-
!1
!2
!3
!4
!5
!6
!7
!8
!9
|-
!rowspan=3|Suits
!Dots
筒
|[[File:MJt1-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJt2-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJt3-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJt4-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJt5-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJt6-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJt7-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJt8-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJt9-.svg|50px]]
|-
!Bamboo
索
|[[File:MJs1-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJs2-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJs3-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJs4-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJs5-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJs6-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJs7-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJs8-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJs9-.svg|50px]]
|-
!Characters
萬
|[[File:MJw1-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJw2-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJw3-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJw4-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJw5-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJw6-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJw7-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJw8-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJw9-.svg|50px]]
|}
The bamboo suit is also known as "sticks", "strings" or "bams" suit; the first tile usually has a bird (traditionally, a peacock or sparrow) instead of a single bamboo. The dots suit is also known as the "wheels", "circles", "coins", "stones", "marbles" or "balls" suit. The characters suit is also known as the "myriads", "cracks" or "numbers" suit since the top characters are numbers in the Chinese writing system, and the bottom characters (in [[traditional Chinese characters]]) are the Chinese character for "ten thousand".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://files.righto.com/chart.html |title=Mah Jongg Tiles and Names |author=Shirriff, Ken |publisher=righto.com |access-date=24 August 2018}}</ref>

==== Honors tiles ====
There are two different sets of honors tiles: winds and dragons. The winds are east, south, west, and north, beginning with east. The dragons are red, green, and white. The white dragon has a blue or black frame on the face of the piece or in some sets is entirely blank. These tiles have no numerical sequence like the suited tiles (for example the bamboo pieces number 1 to 9). Like the suited tiles, there are four identical copies of each honors tile, for a total of 28 honors tiles.
<div style="width:100%">
{| class="wikitable" style="display:inline-block;border:none;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0"
|+ Winds
!East
東
!South
南
!West
西
!North
北
|-
|[[File:MJf1-.svg|50px]] ||[[File:MJf2-.svg|50px]]||[[File:MJf3-.svg|50px]] ||[[File:MJf4-.svg|50px]]
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="display:inline-block;border:none;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0"
|+ Dragons
!Red
中
!Green
發
!White
白
|-
|[[File:MJd1-.svg|50px]] ||[[File:MJd2-.svg|50px]]||[[File:MJd3-.svg|50px]]
|}</div>

==== Bonus tiles ====
There are two sets of bonus tiles: flowers and seasons. The flower and season tiles play a unique role in the mechanics of the game. When drawn, the bonus tile is not added into a player's hand but are instead set aside and kept near the player's other tiles for scoring purposes should they win the hand, and an extra tile is drawn in replacement of the bonus tile.

In addition, unlike the suited and honors tiles, there is only one of each bonus tile, so there are a total of four flower and four season tiles in the set. The tiles have a different artistic rendering of a specific type of flower or season.
<div style="width:100%">
{| class="wikitable" style="display:inline-block;border:none;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0"
|+ Flowers
! No !! Image !! Name !! Character !! Direction
|-
| 1
| [[File:MJh5-.svg|50px]] || [[Prunus mume|Plum blossom]]
! style="font-size:200%;" | {{zh|t=梅|labels=no}}
| East
|-
| 2
| [[File:MJh6-.svg|50px]] || [[Orchid]]
! style="font-size:200%;" | {{zh|t=蘭|labels=no}}
| South
|-
| 3
| [[File:MJh7-.svg|50px]] || [[Chrysanthemum]]
! style="font-size:200%;" | {{zh|t=菊|labels=no}}
| West
|-
| 4
| [[File:MJh8-.svg|50px]] || [[Bamboo]]
! style="font-size:200%;" | {{zh|t=竹|labels=no}}
| North
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="display:inline-block;border:none;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0"
|+ Seasons
! No !! Image !! Name !! Character !! Direction
|-
| 1
| [[File:MJh1-.svg|50px]] || Spring
! style="font-size:200%;" | {{zh|t=春|labels=no}}
| East
|-
| 2
| [[File:MJh2-.svg|50px]] || Summer
! style="font-size:200%;" | {{zh|t=夏|labels=no}}
| South
|-
| 3
| [[File:MJh3-.svg|50px]] || Autumn
! style="font-size:200%;" | {{zh|t=秋|labels=no}}
| West
|-
| 4
| [[File:MJh4-.svg|50px]] || Winter
! style="font-size:200%;" | {{zh|t=冬|labels=no}}
| North
|}</div>
It is not necessary to know the names or the Chinese characters of each bonus tile, only the number, as this is associated with a specific direction, and the player receives bonus points when the bonus tile matches the seat direction. There is no relation between the bonus tile "bamboo" flower and the bamboo suit of suited tiles (e.g. 4 bamboo). In traditional Chinese culture, the [[Four Gentlemen]] are the plum (winter), orchid (spring), bamboo (summer), and chrysanthemum (autumn) which are regarded as the representative plants of those seasons, but people regard it as plum blossom (spring), orchid (summer), chrysanthemum (autumn) and bamboo (winter) now.

=== Choosing table positions and first dealer ===
[[File:Chinese dice.jpg|thumb|Chinese dice]]
Before the game can begin, players need to be assigned one of the wind positions at the table – those being (in counterclockwise order) East, South, West, and North. East will also be the first dealer. Play proceeds in this counterclockwise order.

There are a variety of ways to determine positions. For example, one way is to have each player roll dice and assign East to the player that rolls the highest, South to the second-highest, and so on. Another way is to shuffle the 4 wind tiles face down and have each player choose one, determining their position.

=== Hands, rounds, and matches ===
[[File:Mahjong wind indicator.jpg|thumb|right|Cubic dealer and prevailing wind marker]]
A match consists of four rounds, each representing a "prevailing wind", starting with East. Once the first round is completed, a second round begins with South as the prevailing wind, and so on. Wind position is significant in that it affects the scoring of the game. A mahjong set with winds in play will usually include a separate prevailing wind marker (typically a die marked with the wind characters in a holder).

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 do not physically move their chairs). This continues until all four players have been East (dealer). A marker is used to mark which player is East and often the round number. (In sets with racks, a rack may be marked differently to denote the dealer.)

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 same seating positions and prevailing wind as in the previous hand. This means that a match may potentially have no limit to the number of hands played (though some players will set a limit of three consecutive hands allowed with the same seat positions and prevailing wind).

Example of games:

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Example of a standard 16-hand game with two extra hands played<br />(per no-winner hand (goulash) and per east winning hand)
! Round !! Hand number !! Prevailing wind !! Player 1 !! Player 2 !! Player 3 !! Player 4 !! Comment
|-
! rowspan=4 style="font-size:150%;" | 1
| 1 || rowspan=4 |East || East (dealer) || South || West || North ||
|-
| 2 || North || East (dealer)|| South || West ||
|-
| 3 || West || North || East (dealer)|| South ||
|-
| 4 || South || West || North || East (dealer) ||
|-
! rowspan=5 style="font-size:150%;" | 2
| 5 || rowspan=5 | South || East (dealer) || South || West || North ||
|-
| 6 || North || East (dealer)|| South || West ||
|-
| 7 || West || North || East (dealer)|| South || No one wins (goulash)
|-
| Extra hand || West || North || East (dealer)|| South || Repeat of seat positions
|-
| 8 || South || West || North || East (dealer) ||
|-
! rowspan=4 style="font-size:150%;" | 3
| 9 || rowspan=4 | West || East (dealer) || South || West || North ||
|-
| 10 || North || East (dealer)|| South || West ||
|-
| 11 || West || North || East (dealer)|| South ||
|-
| 12 || South || West || North || East (dealer) ||
|-
! rowspan=5 style="font-size:150%;" | 4
| 13 || rowspan=5 | North || East (dealer) || South || West || North ||
|-
| 14 || North || East (dealer)|| South || West || East wins hand
|-
| Extra hand || North || East (dealer)|| South || West || Repeat of seat positions
|-
| 15 || West || North || East (dealer)|| South ||
|-
| 16 || South || West || North || East (dealer) ||
|}

=== Dealing tiles ===

====Shuffling tiles====

All tiles are placed face down on the table and are shuffled. By convention all players should participate in shuffling using both hands moving the pieces around the table rigorously and loudly for a lengthy period. Tiles may get flipped up during this process and players should flip them facing down as soon as possible to avoid identifying the location of the revealed tiles.

====Stacking tiles====
[[File:Mahjong table.svg|thumb|right|upright=2|Walls with slight diagonal offset and player positions marked with cardinal directions, including the dealer (E), along with counting order|200px]]

Each player then stacks a row of 18 tiles, two tiles high in front of them (for a total of 36 tiles). Players then push each side of their stack together to form a square wall.

Regular players usually place their stacks in a slightly diagonal position (about 20 to 30 degrees counter-clockwise); the right end of their stack is pushed slightly further in to the centre of the table to meet almost the middle of the stack of the player on the right. This creates a smaller square wall the length of about half of each stack, with walls extended away from each corner of the square. The diagonally positioned stacks and a smaller square creates a bigger space for players' tiles and also makes an ergonomic position for drawing tiles from the stack.

====Drawing tiles====
[[File:Stackoffour.png|thumb|Stack of four mahjong tiles whilst dealing from the wall|200px]]
The dealer throws three dice in the square wall and sums up the total. Counting counter-clockwise so that the dealer is 1 (or 5, 9, 13, 17), so that south (player to the right) is 2 (or 6, 10, 14, 18), etc., a player's quarter of the wall is chosen. Some house rules may use only two dice but have double throws to increase randomness. In the case of double throws, the player of the chosen wall makes the second throw.

Using the same total on the dice (or the total of the two throws), the player whose wall is chosen then counts the stacks of tiles from right to left. (For double throws, the count may extend to the left side player's stack.) This determines the location where the 'deck' of tiles is cut. Starting from the left of the stacks counted, the dealer draws four tiles for their hand. Proceeding in counter-clockwise order, players take turns drawing blocks of four tiles (so that the stacks decrease clockwise) until each player (including the dealer) has 12 tiles. Each player then draws one last tile (top first, then bottom, then next stack etc. to make a 13-tile hand. The tile to be drawn is always the topmost tile left of the cut.

[[File:Mahjong 13th piece draw.svg|thumb|right<!-- Left disrupts the ordered list below. -->|While drawing the 13th piece to complete the initial hand, the dealer (E) will typically also draw a 14th piece (both highlighted in blue) to initiate the game.]]
Dealing does not have to be strictly this way and may be done quite differently based on house rules. Tiles may flip over when being dealt and players should agree in advance on how to deal with the problem. Solutions include having the person who flipped the tile penalized points, shuffling the turned over piece back into the wall somehow, allowing the player to whom the tiles were dealt to take the piece or not (meaning the dealer must take it as their 14th piece), or other house rules.

Each player now sets aside any flowers or seasons they may have drawn and takes turns to draw replacement tiles from the wall in the counter-clockwise direction from the dealer (the way this is done varies but can be as simple as first come first serve). In some rules, if a player gets any flowers or seasons tiles in the replacement draw, the players must wait for the next turn to draw replacement tiles.

====Game play starts====
The dealer draws a piece from the wall in clockwise direction, adding it to their hand. Typically, this draw is performed during the initial deal to speed up play. If this does not complete a legal hand, the dealer then discards a piece (throwing it into the middle of the wall with no particular order in mind).

=== Rules ===
[[File:Lanzhou-019.JPG|right|thumb|Local play on the street in [[Lanzhou]] ]]

Each player in turn, in counter-clockwise direction, draws a tile from the wall. When drawing, continue around the wall taking one piece from the wall (from where you last left off after dealing the tiles), top first, if that is taken, then the bottom one moving in the same direction the tiles were dealt (counter clockwise). The player then discard a tile (either the tile just drawn, or a tile in the hand) to maintain a hand of 13. The discarded tile is thrown into the centre and, if desired, the player announces out loud what the piece is. The other players have an opportunity to seize the discarded tile if they can make a meld with it; if no one takes it, the turn continues to the next player. Play continues this way until one player has a legal winning hand and calls out the win (each region does this call differently—no Asian version uses the word "mahjong" to signal a win) while revealing their hand. Playing in English, players will usually shout out Mahjong!

There are four different ways that regular order of play can be interrupted:
#A bonus tile (flower or season) is drawn
#A meld (pung, kong, or chow) is made from a seized discard (only from the most recent discard)
#Going mahjong (declaring a winning hand)
#Robbing a kong

During play, each player's hand should always be 13 tiles (meaning in each turn a tile must be picked up and another discarded). The count of 13 tiles do not include any bonus tiles (flowers and seasons), which are set to the side, nor does it include the fourth added piece of a kong. If a player is seen to have fewer or more than 13 tiles in their hand outside of their turn they are penalised.

==== Legal hand ====
A winning hand consists of 14 tiles. Since players always have 13 tiles in their hand during play, they must win by either drawing a piece from the wall that completes a 14-tile hand ("winning from the wall") or claiming a discard from another player which completes a 14-tile hand ("winning by discard"). The winning hand is made of four ''melds'' (a specific pattern of three pieces) and the ''eyes'' (a pair of identical pieces). The exceptions to this rule are the special hands listed below.

Most players play with a table minimum, meaning a winning hand must score a minimum number of points (which can be seen in the scoring section). In Hong Kong mahjong the most common point set is three, but can be higher or lower depending on house rules.

==== Melds ====
'''Melds''' are groups of tiles within the player's hand, consisting of either a pung (three identical tiles), a kong (four identical tiles), a chow (three tiles of the same suit in numerical sequence), or eyes (two identical tiles needed in a winning hand). Melds may be formed by drawing a tile from the wall, or by seizing another player's discard. There are rules governing which player has priority for a discard, and whether the meld should be exposed (displayed to all players) or remain concealed, depending on the manner in which the meld is formed.

{{unordered list
| A '''pung''' is a set of three identical tiles. For example:
{{wikitable
|-
|[[File:MJt9-.svg|25px]] || [[File:MJt9-.svg|25px]] || [[File:MJt9-.svg|25px]]
|-
|[[File:MJs3-.svg|25px]] || [[File:MJs3-.svg|25px]] || [[File:MJs3-.svg|25px]]
|-
|[[File:MJf2-.svg|25px]] || [[File:MJf2-.svg|25px]] || [[File:MJf2-.svg|25px]]
|-
|[[File:MJd2-.svg|25px]] || [[File:MJd2-.svg|25px]] || [[File:MJd2-.svg|25px]]
}}

A pung may be formed with any suited or honors tile. Bonus tiles (flowers or seasons) cannot be used to form a pung because they are set aside and there are not three identical bonus tiles in the set. The tiles must be identical (not of different suits). A pung may either be concealed (formed by drawing tiles) or exposed (formed by seizing another player's discard).

| A '''kong''' is a complete set of four identical tiles. For example:
{{wikitable
|-
|[[File:MJd1-.svg|25px]] || [[File:MJd1-.svg|25px]] || [[File:MJd1-.svg|25px]] || [[File:MJd1-.svg|25px]]
|-
|[[File:MJs7-.svg|25px]] || [[File:MJs7-.svg|25px]] || [[File:MJs7-.svg|25px]] || [[File:MJs7-.svg|25px]]
}}

Consider a kong the same as a pung with an additional tile to make a complete set of four. There are three ways to form a kong.
# ''Concealed kong'' – If a player holds three matching tiles (concealed pung) and upon drawing a tile completes a set of four they may declare a kong. They do so by revealing the meld and placing two pieces in the middle face up and two pieces on the ends face down.
# ''Exposed kong'' – If a player can use a discarded tile to complete three matching tiles (concealed pung) in their hand, they can take the piece and reveal an "exposed kong" or "melded kong". The player reveals their three pieces face up and places the stolen discard on top of the middle tile, or face down next to the three other face up pieces.
# ''Exposed kong from exposed pung'' – If a player already has a melded pung and then later in the game draws the fourth piece from the wall, they may announce (then or later in the game) a kong by placing the fourth tile on top of the middle piece of the melded pung, or all four tiles placed face up in a row. If a pung has been melded a player cannot steal the fourth piece if another player discards it – it must be drawn.

Whenever a kong is formed, that player must draw an extra tile from the end of the wall and then discard a tile. The fourth piece of a kong is not considered one of the 13 tiles a player must always have in their hand. A kong may not be formed from bonus tiles (flowers/seasons), since the set does not include four identical tiles. Kongs are worth collecting to score more points and deprive opponents of the opportunity to obtain specific tiles.

| A '''chow''' is a meld of three suited tiles in sequence. For example:
{{wikitable
|-
|[[File:MJs1-.svg|25px]] || [[File:MJs2-.svg|25px]] || [[File:MJs3-.svg|25px]]
|-
|[[File:MJs3-.svg|25px]] || [[File:MJs4-.svg|25px]] || [[File:MJs5-.svg|25px]]
|-
|[[File:MJs7-.svg|25px]] || [[File:MJs8-.svg|25px]] || [[File:MJs9-.svg|25px]]
|-
|[[File:MJt5-.svg|25px]] || [[File:MJt6-.svg|25px]] || [[File:MJt7-.svg|25px]]
}}

The meld must be in absolute numerical sequence and all in the same suit. Players cannot skip numbers or meld from the 8 or 9 to 1 or 2. Honors tiles cannot be used to make chows because they have no numerical value, and bonus tiles (flowers and seasons) also cannot be used to make a chow.

A player can steal a discard to form a chow only from the player whose turn was immediately before theirs; however, a player forming a chow from a seized piece has the lowest priority for that tile. Any other player who needs that tile to make a pung, make a kong, or to win may seize that piece instead. Like the pung, the chow is either concealed (formed by drawing tiles) or exposed (formed by seizing the prior player's discard).

| The '''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 a pair of eyes unless the player simultaneously completes a legal winning hand.<ref>Lo, Amy (2001). ''The Book of Mahjong: An Illustrated Guide''. North Clarendon, Vermont: [[Tuttle Publishing|Tuttle]], p. 6. {{ISBN|978-0-8048-3302-8}}.</ref>

For example:
{{wikitable
|-
|[[File:MJf4-.svg|25px]] || [[File:MJf4-.svg|25px]]
|-
|[[File:MJt5-.svg|25px]] || [[File:MJt5-.svg|25px]]
|-
|[[File:MJs5-.svg|25px]] || [[File:MJs5-.svg|25px]]
|-
|[[File:MJf1-.svg|25px]] || [[File:MJf1-.svg|25px]]
|-
|[[File:MJd3-.svg|25px]] || [[File:MJd3-.svg|25px]]
}}
}}

==== Interruption of play ====
The regular counter-clockwise order of turns may be interrupted for four events:

===== 1. Flower or season =====
Whenever a player draws a flower or season, it is announced and then placed to the side (it is not considered a part of the 13-tile hand, but in the event that player wins, they may earn bonus points for them) and the last tile of the wall is drawn as a replacement tile so that the player has the 14 pieces needed before their discard. This may happen successively in a player's turn, each one needs to be set aside and a new tile taken from the wall.

===== 2. Melding by seizing a tile from another player's discard =====
When a player discards a tile, other players may seize the tile to complete a meld. Seizing tiles has both advantages (quickly forming a winning hand and scoring extra points) and disadvantages (being forced to reveal part of one's hand to other players and not being able to change the meld once declared).

When a meld (pung, kong, or chow) is declared through seizing a discard, the player must state the type of meld to be declared and expose the meld by placing the three (or four) tiles face up. The player must then discard a tile, and play continues to the right of that player (this can disrupt the turn order). If the player who melds a discard is not directly after the discarder (in order of play), one or two players will essentially miss their turn as play continues counter-clockwise from the player who declared the meld.

If multiple players call for a discarded tile, priority for the discard depends on the declared action of the player stealing the discard.

# Highest priority goes to the player who needs the discarded tile to win the hand. This can be done when any player discards a tile. If multiple players can win using the discard tile, then the player with the most faan value wins. If that is equal, then the player closest to the player who discarded in turn order takes the tile and wins the hand.
# Next priority goes to the player who declares a pung or kong using the discard. A player who calls for a pung or kong may take the discard from any other player. Only one player can be in this position because there are only four of any tile in a mahjong set.
# If no one calls out a winning hand by using the discard, nor a pung/kong, then the player to the right of the player who discarded (the next player in order) can take the tile, if they wish and can, to form a chow using the discard. Players may only call for a chow from the discard of the player immediately prior to them unless the tile is the final one required to win the hand.

===== 3. Winning a hand =====
The act of winning a hand interrupts play to assess the validity of the hand won. Upon confirmation, the player is awarded the hand's value per the specific game's rule and points are settled.

======From a discard======
If at any point in the game a player can use another player's discard to complete a legal hand (and with the agreed minimum points), they declare a win and reveal their winning hand. This ends the hand, and scoring commences. If more than one player can use a discard to win the hand, there are multiple ways to handle the situation based on agreed table rules: The players might count the points they would win with the discard and the winner is the one with the higher score, the winner might simply be the player closest to the discarder in order of turn, or multiple players may be granted the win simultaneously.

======From the wall======
Alternatively, a player may also win by drawing a tile that completes a legal hand. This is called "winning from the wall". In Hong Kong mahjong, winning from the wall doubles the number of base points each loser must pay.

======False win======
Technically, the declaration for winning a hand may be done at any time. However, the player must have a complete and legal hand. Otherwise, the player is penalized. The penalty depends on table rules. The player may forfeit points to the other players. Another potential penalty is the player who called out the false win must play the rest of the hand with their tiles face up on the table so other players can see them (open hand). Some methods apply the penalty at the end of the entire game. Again, the table rules dictate the enforcement of the penalty.

===== 4. 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 adding a fourth piece to a melded pung but another player can use that piece to complete a hand, the completing player takes priority to win the hand and may steal that piece from the player who intended to declare the kong and wins the hand. Their winning hand will usually either form a chow with that piece or a special limit hand.

==== Examples of winning hands ====
Below are two examples of winning hands. A winning hand must consist of four melds (pungs, kongs, or chows) and a pair (eyes) and must also score the agreed table minimum.

{{unordered list
| [[File:MJs3-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJs3-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJs3-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJd3-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJd3-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJd3-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJd2-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJd2-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJd2-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJd1-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJd1-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJd1-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJf1-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJf1-.svg|25px]]

This hand is formed with four pungs and the eyes (pair) of east wind. Only bamboo is used (no other suited tiles), scoring extra points (clean hand). No chows are used (an all pung/kong hand scores extra points).

| [[File:MJt1-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJt2-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJt3-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJt4-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJt5-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJt6-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJt7-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJt7-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJt7-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJt9-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJt9-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJt9-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJt8-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJt8-.svg|25px]]

A high-scoring hand formed using only circles, known as a pure hand. The hand is made of chows, pungs, 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'' and ''13 orphans'' are examples which do not have four melds and the eyes. They are described in more detail below.

==== Repeated hands ====

If the dealer wins the hand, they will remain the dealer and an extra hand is played in addition to the minimum 16 hands in a match.

An extra hand is also played if there is no winner by the time all the accessible tiles in the wall have been drawn. When there is no winner it is known as a [[goulash]] hand. Depending on table rules, the winner of the next game may take an agreed number of points from each player, carrying over the points from the non-winning hand to the winning one. If there are two or three goulash hands in a row then the winner would collect a considerable number of points from each player on top of their scoring hand. Because extra hands may be played every time a dealer wins or if there is a goulash hand, a match of 16 hands can easily become a match of 20 or even much more.

As table rules add a large amount of flexibility for players, they can choose to disregard the rule of extra hands and pass on the dealership regardless of who wins or if it results in a goulash hand. This puts a maximum estimated limit on the game duration and provides some amount of predictability.

====Rhythm of play====
Players may agree on table rules if the pace of the game is brisk or leisurely. For brisk games players may agree that a couple seconds after a discard are allowed for a "window of opportunity" before the next player picks up from the wall. Usually it is agreed once the next player has waited the duration of the "window of opportunity" and draws a tile from the wall, the previous discard is lost and cannot be claimed.

=== Scoring ===
{{Main|Hong Kong mahjong scoring rules}}

Old Hong Kong scoring is relatively simple. There is only one winner (or if there is a draw the hand is replayed). The winner must have a legal hand that meets the minimum ''faan'' points agreed to in advance (not including any bonus points). Only the winner scores, and the other players pay the winner various sums. After each hand ends, the winner counts their ''faan'' points.
* ''Faan'' points depend on:
** The composition of the entire hand
** How the hand was won
** Bonus tiles
** Special patterns
** A few other special criteria.
* In order to win, a player needs to have at least the minimum ''faan'' value agreed in advance (often 3). Bonus tiles and a few other elements are not included in the minimum ''faan'' value a player needs to form a legal winning hand. For example, in a three ''faan'' minimum game, if a player has two ''faan'' points and one bonus point, the player has not met the proper requirements to win and will need to gain another ''faan'' point before calling a win. Though the bonus points cannot be included in the minimum points needed to win, they are included in the overall score after a player wins.
* The other players do not score their hand. Once the winner has added their points (''faan'' points plus bonus points), the points must be converted into base points (the chart is below). These base points represent how much the opponents pay to the winner
* Players then pay the winner (in money or when not gambling with "chips or points") based on three factors:
** The base points (''faan'' points and bonus points converted into a payment unit)
** If the player won from the wall (doubles the points)
** If the player was the dealer (doubles the points).

==== Concealed vs. revealed meld and hand ====

A concealed meld is one that contains no tiles stolen from another player's discard. A concealed hand is one made up of only concealed melds. Many variations distinguish between a concealed hand (winning from the wall) and a semi concealed hand (the last tile is a stolen discard). In most mahjong variations having a concealed hand can be valuable in scoring. Hong Kong mahjong does not especially reward concealed melds/hands except for a few cases: limit hands or half-limit hands (thirteen orphans, heavenly gates, four concealed pungs) as well as a complete hand (seven pairs) and with several melds (three concealed pungs).

{|class=wikitable style="font-size:85%;"
|+Meld summary
|-
! rowspan=2 | Meld Type !! rowspan=2 | Quantity !! colspan=3 | Eligible tiles !! colspan=2 | Allowed to be completed by ...
|-
! Suited !! Honors !! Bonus !! Drawing !! Seizing a discard
|-
! style="font-size:125%;" | Pung
| style="text-align:center;" | 3<br />(identical set) || [[File:Yes check.svg|15px|Yes]]&nbsp;Yes || [[File:Yes check.svg|15px|Yes]]&nbsp;Yes || [[File:X mark.svg|15px|No]]&nbsp;No || Concealed || Exposed
|-
! rowspan=2 style="font-size:125%;" | Kong
| rowspan=2 style="text-align:center;" | 4<br />(identical set) || rowspan=2 | [[File:Yes check.svg|15px|Yes]]&nbsp;Yes || rowspan=2 | [[File:Yes check.svg|15px|Yes]]&nbsp;Yes || rowspan=2 | [[File:X mark.svg|15px|No]]&nbsp;No || Concealed (add to concealed pung) || rowspan=2 | Exposed (add to concealed pung)
|-
| Exposed from exposed (add to exposed pung)
|-
! style="font-size:125%;" | Chow
| style="text-align:center;" | 3<br />(consecutive within suit) || [[File:Yes check.svg|15px|Yes]]&nbsp;Yes || [[File:X mark.svg|15px|No]]&nbsp;No || [[File:X mark.svg|15px|No]]&nbsp;No || Concealed || Exposed (only from preceding player)
|-
! style="font-size:125%;" | Eyes
| style="text-align:center;" | 2<br />(identical set) || [[File:Yes check.svg|15px|Yes]]&nbsp;Yes || [[File:Yes check.svg|15px|Yes]]&nbsp;Yes || [[File:X mark.svg|15px|No]]&nbsp;No || For the win, if hand has sufficient value || Only permitted to complete a winning hand
|}

==== ''Faan'' value ====

===== Basic ''faan'' value =====
A winning hand must include an agreed minimum amount of ''faan'' value (often 3). Some examples of scoring include:

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Sample ''faan'' scoring
! Type !! Item !! ''Faan'' value
|-
! rowspan=6 | Basic
| A pung/kong of dragons || 1
|-
| A pung/kong of seat wind or round wind || 1
|-
| All suited || 1
|-
| ''Common hand'': All chows and a pair of suited tiles || 1
|-
| ''All-pung (kong) hand'': Only pungs/kongs and any pair || 3
|-
| ''Clean hand'': Only one suit (bamboos, circles, or characters) with honors || 3
|-
! rowspan=6 | Advanced
| 3 concealed pungs/kongs || 3
|-
| 3 kongs || 3
|-
| 7 pairs (special pattern) || 4
|-
| ''Pure hand'': only one suit and no honors (only circles, bamboos or characters) || 7
|-
| ''Little dragons'': 2 pungs of dragons and a pair of the third dragon || 5
|-
| ''Little winds'': 3 pungs of winds and a pair of the fourth wind || 6
|}

===== Bonus ''faan'' =====
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Bonus ''faan'' by manner of winning (not counted towards the minimum ''faan'' needed)
! Item !! ''Faan'' value
|-
| Winning from the wall || 1
|-
| Robbing the kong || 1
|-
| Winning on the last tile from the wall or its subsequent discard || 1
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Bonus ''faan'' from flowers and seasons (not counted towards the minimum ''faan'' needed)
! Item !! ''Faan'' value
|-
| No flower or season tiles in hand || 1
|-
| Having own flower (seat flower)
|| 1
|-
| Having own season (seat season)
|| 1
|-
| All four flowers || 2 (plus 1 for own flower)
|-
| All four seasons || 2 (plus 1 for own season)
|-
| All eight flowers and seasons (exceedingly rare) || Automatic win with maximum payment
|}

A player only scores a bonus ''faan'' for flowers or seasons if it is their own flower or season (East=1, South=2, West=3 and North=4) or if the player has all four flowers or all four seasons (scoring 5 ''faan'' in total).

==== Payment ====

The losers pay the winning player points based on several criteria and depending on whether the game is for fun or for money. How points are reckoned is agreed by players beforehand. For example, they can keep a tally, exchange chips, or pay one another with money. The ''faan'' value of a hand is converted into base points which are then used to calculate the points the losers pay the winner. The table is progressive, doubling the number of base points when reaching a certain ''faan'' point target. The following is the Old Hong Kong simplified table; for other tables, see [[Hong Kong mahjong scoring rules]].
<!-- Background colours removed from this table as they were too low contrast and hard to read. -->
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|+ Base points (Old Hong Kong Simplified)
! ''Faan'' points !!  Base points
|-
| 3 || 1
|-
| 4 || rowspan=3 | 2
|-
| 5
|-
| 6
|-
| 7 || rowspan=3 | 4
|-
| 8
|-
| 9
|-
| 10+ || 8 (limit)
|}

This table is based on play where 3 ''faan'' is the minimum needed in order to win with a legal hand. If a player has 3 ''faan'', then their hand is worth one base point. A winning hand with 9 ''faan'' is worth four base points. Losing players must give the winning player the value of these base points. The following special cases result in doubled base points:
* If the winner wins from the wall, their base points are doubled.
* If the hand was won by discard, the discarder doubles the amount they owe the winner.
* If the winner is east, all losers double the base points.
* If the east player is a losing player, they pay double the points to the winner.

If two of these criteria apply to any player, they must double and then redouble the points owed to the winner.

===== Examples =====
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Hand !! Player !! Base points
|-
| rowspan=5 style="font-size:250%" | '''1'''
| colspan=2 style="text-align:center" |West wins with 3 ''faan'' (scoring 1 base point) from the wall (doubling value)
|-
| East (dealer) || 1 (base points) ×2 (doubling for winning from wall) ×2 (doubling for being east) = –4
|-
| South || 1 (base points) ×2 (doubling for winning from wall) = –2
|-
| West || '''4''' (from east) + '''2''' (from south) + '''2''' (from north) = '''+8'''
|-
| North || 1 (base points) ×2 (doubling for winning from wall) = –2
|-
| rowspan=5 style="font-size:250%" | '''2'''
| colspan=2 style="text-align:center" |North wins with 6 ''faan'' (2 base points) on a discard from south (double penalty to South)
|-
| East (dealer) || 2 (base points) ×2 (doubling for being east) = –4
|-
| South || 2 (base points) ×2 (discarding winning piece) = –4
|-
| West || 2 (base points) = –2
|-
| North || '''4''' (from east) + '''4''' (from south) + '''2''' (from west) = '''+10'''
|-
| rowspan=5 style="font-size:250%" | '''3'''
| colspan=2 style="text-align:center" |East wins with 10 ''faan'' (8 base points) on discard from west (double penalty to West)
|-
| East (dealer) || '''16''' (from south) + '''32''' (from west) + '''16''' (from north) = '''+64'''
|-
| South || 8 (base points) ×2 (paying to east) = –16
|-
| West || 8 (base points) ×2 (paying to east) ×2 (discarding winning piece) = –32
|-
| North || 8 (base points) ×2 (paying to east) = –16
|}

Hong Kong mahjong is essentially a payment system of doubling and redoubling, where winning from the wall adds great value to the final payment and where the dealer is highly rewarded or penalised if they win or lose.

===== Limit hands =====
In Hong Kong mahjong there are a series of "limit hands". These are exceptional hands, difficult to obtain, and are very valuable in point scoring. As many table rules put a limit on the number of points a winner's hand can score, full limit hands score that maximum. Table rules dictate if these rare and special hands are allowed, which ones, and the limit for scoring. A common scoring limit is 64 points, which is the highest base points doubled twice. A winner receives the scoring limit from each player without any doubling.

Some limit hands by necessity must be completely concealed (not discards used) or semi-concealed (the only discard used is the one needed to win). This includes the 13 orphans, 4 concealed pungs, heavenly hand and earthly hand. It is usually expected that the heavenly gates hand be concealed or semi-concealed. As for the dragon limit hands and the great winds, table rules dictate whether the hand must be concealed or not. Some table rules claim that a semi-concealed hand (winning from a discard) scores a half-limit.

Some groups also play with the "great flowers" rule. If a player picks up all four flowers and all four seasons during their hand, they instantly win the hand and receive the maximum points from all of the players. This is exceptionally rare.

In all the hands that require pungs, each pung can be replaced by the corresponding kong.

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Limit Hands (Maximum number of fan agreed)
! width=10% | Hand !! width=90% | Explanation with example
|-
! 天糊 <br>Heavenly hand
| The dealer draws a winning hand at the beginning of the game.
|-
! 地糊 <br>Earthly hand
| A player completes a winning hand with the dealer's first discard (in most variants, provided the dealer does not draw a kong).
|-
! rowspan=2 | 十三么 <br>Thirteen orphans
| 1 and 9 of each suit, one of each wind, one of each dragon, and one extra piece of any of those thirteen elements
|-
| [[File:MJf1-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJf2-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJf3-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJf4-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJd1-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJd2-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJd3-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJs1-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJs9-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJw1-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJw9-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJt1-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJt9-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJt9-.svg|25px]]
|-
! rowspan=2 | 么九 <br>Terminals
| Only 1s and 9s.
|-
| [[File:MJw1-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJw1-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJw1-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJs9-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJs9-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJs9-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJs1-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJs1-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJs1-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJw9-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJw9-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJw9-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJt1-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJt1-.svg|25px]]
|-
! rowspan=2 | 綠一色 <br>Pure green hand
| All tiles are green in color, i.e. they can only comprise pungs, sequences and eye using 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 of bamboo or green dragon (not recognized in all games)
|-
| [[File:MJs2-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJs3-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJs4-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJs2-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJs3-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJs4-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJs6-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJs6-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJs6-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJs8-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJs8-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJs8-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJd2-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJd2-.svg|25px]]
|-
! rowspan=2 | 九蓮寶燈 <br>Nine Gates 
| 1112345678999 of any suit (that is, 1 to 9 plus two additional 1s and 9s); any one extra piece of the same suit suffices to win. This hand always has 4 melds (either 1 pung and 3 chows or 2 pungs and 2 chows, depending on the extra) and the eyes. In the example below, there are two pungs (111 and 999), two chows (234 and 678), and the extra 5 forms the eyes.
|-
| [[File:MJw1-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJw1-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJw1-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJw2-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJw3-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJw4-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJw5-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJw6-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJw7-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJw8-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJw9-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJw9-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJw9-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJw5-.svg|25px]]
|-
! 四暗刻 <br>Self triplets
| Four concealed pungs, plus eyes
|-
! rowspan=2 | 十八羅漢 <br>All kongs
| Four kongs, plus eyes
|-
| [[File:MJs1-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJs1-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJs1-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJs1-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJt4-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJt4-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJt4-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJt4-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJs6-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJs6-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJs6-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJs6-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJd3-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJd3-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJd3-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJd3-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJt9-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJt9-.svg|25px]]
|-
! rowspan=2 | 大四喜 <br>Great winds
| A pung of each wind, plus eyes
|-
| [[File:MJf1-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJf1-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJf1-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJf2-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJf2-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJf2-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJf3-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJf3-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJf3-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJf4-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJf4-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJf4-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJs1-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJs1-.svg|25px]]
|-
! rowspan=2 | 七對子 <br>Seven pairs
| A special winning hand that comprises any seven pairs/eyes (not recognized in all games) 
|-
| [[File:MJf1-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJf1-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJf2-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJf2-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJf3-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJf3-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJf4-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJf4-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJs1-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJs1-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJs9-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJs9-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJw5-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJw5-.svg|25px]]
|}

==== Other examples of high-scoring hands ====

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Other special high-scoring hands
! width=10% | Hand !! width=90% | Explanation with example
|-
! rowspan=2 | 對對糊 <br>All pungs / kongs
| All melds are pungs and/or kongs. (3 ''faan'')
|-
| [[File:MJs1-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJs1-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJs1-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJt4-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJt4-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJt4-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJs6-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJs6-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJs6-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJd3-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJd3-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJd3-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJt9-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJt9-.svg|25px]]
|-
! rowspan=2 | 混一色 <br>Clean hand / Mixed suit
| Hand consists of only a single suit and honors tiles. The Pearl, Jade, and Ruby Dragon limit hands (using white, green or red dragon tiles respectively) are special instances of clean hands. (3 ''faan'')
|-
| [[File:MJw1-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJw2-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJw3-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJf2-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJf2-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJf2-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJw4-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJw5-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJw6-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJw9-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJw9-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJw9-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJd1-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJd1-.svg|25px]]
|-
! rowspan=2 | 清一色 <br>Pure suit hand
| All tiles are the same suit. (7 ''faan'')
|-
| [[File:MJs1-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJs1-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJs1-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJs2-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJs3-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJs4-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJs5-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJs6-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJs7-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJs7-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJs8-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJs9-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJs6-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJs6-.svg|25px]]
|-
! rowspan=2 | 混么九 <br>Mixed terminals
| Only 1s and 9s, and honor tiles. (5 ''faan'')
|-
| [[File:MJw1-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJw1-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJw1-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJs9-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJs9-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJs9-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJs1-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJs1-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJs1-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJw9-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJw9-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJw9-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJf1-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJf1-.svg|25px]]
|-
! rowspan=2 | 小三元 <br>Little dragons
| Two pungs of dragons and a pair of the third dragon. (5 ''faan'')
|-
| [[File:MJd1-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJd1-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJd1-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJs6-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJs7-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJs8-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJd3-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJd3-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJd3-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJt8-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJt8-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJt8-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJd2-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJd2-.svg|25px]]
|-
! rowspan=2 | 小四喜 <br>Little winds
| Three pungs of winds and a pair of the fourth wind. (6 ''faan'')
|-
| [[File:MJf1-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJf1-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJf1-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJw5-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJw6-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJw7-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJf3-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJf3-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJf3-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJf4-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJf4-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJf4-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJf2-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJf2-.svg|25px]]
|-
! rowspan=2 | 字一色 <br>All honors tiles
| Only winds and dragons, no suited tiles (10 ''faan'')
|-
| [[File:MJd1-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJd1-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJd1-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJd2-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJd2-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJd2-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJf1-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJf1-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJf1-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJf3-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJf3-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJf3-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJf2-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJf2-.svg|25px]]
|-
! rowspan=2 | 大三元 <br>Great dragons
| Pungs of all three dragons. (8 ''faan'')
|-
| [[File:MJd1-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJd1-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJd1-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJd2-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJd2-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJd2-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJd3-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJd3-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJd3-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJs2-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJs3-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJs4-.svg|25px]] – [[File:MJw7-.svg|25px]] [[File:MJw7-.svg|25px]]
|-
! 槓上槓自摸 <br>Win by double kong
| Self-pick the winning tile by obtaining it in a replacement after a second consecutive kong. (9 ''faan'')
|}

== Variations ==
[[File:Mahjong.jpg|thumb|A typical four-player Hong Kong Mahjong game being played in an apartment]]
[[File:Mahjong1.theora.ogv|thumb|Video of an uncharacteristic five-player game]]
Variations may have far more complicated scoring systems, add or remove tiles, and include far more scoring elements and limit hands.

In many places, players often observe one version and are either unaware of other variations or claim that different versions are incorrect. In mainland China alone, there are over thirty variants,<ref name="Games and Culture">{{cite arXiv |last1=Wang |first1=Xianwen |last2=Mao |first2=Wenli |last3=Liu |first3=Chen |title=Games and Culture: Using Online-gaming Data to Cluster Chinese Regional Cultures |ref=Games and Culture|eprint=1310.0621 |class=cs.CY |year=2013 }}</ref> and across the world, there are over forty variations.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wang |first=Claire |date=2025-05-06 |title=Why mahjong is a global phenomenon |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/mahjong-global-history |access-date=2025-05-06 |website=[[National Geographic]] |language=en}}</ref> Many variations today differ only by scoring.
{{Further|Ponjan}}<!--- Mahjong kids version --->

===Chinese variants===
* '''Changsha mahjong''' is widely played in [[Hunan]] Province. Like Wuhan mahjong, players need to obtain special Jong consisting of only tiles of two, five or eight. Changsha mahjong forbids using winds and some special tiles, those tiles are first drawn out from the table when playing. Winners each round get a special drawing session for bonuses, usually doubling the score.
* '''Chinese classical mahjong''' is the oldest surviving 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. All players score and it is possible to score higher than the winner.
* '''Fujian mahjong''', thirteen tile hands. Certain tiles can be wild. No dragons. Winds are treated as bonuses.
* '''Harbin mahjong''', popular in northeastern China, using only 108 suit and 4 red dragon tiles. The player's hand must meet a set of few conditions (e.g. at least one chow/pung, at least one terminal or red dragon, etc.) and be declared "ready" in order to win, with points earned by discard or self-draw and a bonus tile revealed when the player wins.<ref>{{Cite web |url = http://www.mahjong-mil.org/it_detail.html?id=191 |title=Brief Introduction to Limiting Mahjong (Harbin Limiting Rules)}}</ref>
* '''[[Hong Kong mahjong scoring rules|Hong Kong mahjong]]''' or '''Cantonese mahjong''' is a more 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.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}
* '''Mahjong Official Rules''' ({{zh|s=麻将竞赛规则}}), commonly known as '''MCR''' or '''Chinese official mahjong''', is an international standard founded by All-China Sports Federation in July 1998 and governed by the [[World Mahjong Organization]]. It includes a large variety of different scoring rules in a way that emphasizes strategy and calculation ability.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Team |first=Content |date=2023-01-19 |title=Types of Mahjong |url=https://sigma.world/play/blog/types-of-mahjong/ |access-date=2024-07-01 |website=SigmaPlay |language=en-US}}</ref> Some mahjong societies have adopted it for competition play, and in some cases for all play. While not very popular in China and Asia, it is one of the most popular mahjong variants in Europe, particularly in the Netherlands, France and Italy.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://mahjong-europe.org/ranking/Country/Stats_AllPlayers.html|title=EMA active Players (in ranking lists)|publisher=European Mahjong Association|accessdate=2025-04-15}}</ref>
* '''Shenyang mahjong''', a fast-paced version with 13-tile hands. Valid winning hands must contain all 3 suits, honor or terminal tiles, and at least one open pung.
* '''{{Interlanguage link|Sichuan mahjong|lt=|zh|四川麻将|WD=}}''' is a growing variety, particularly in southern China, disallowing chow melds, and using only the suited tiles. Play continues until a loser is decided or a draw. It can be played very quickly.
* '''{{Interlanguage link|Taiyuan Lisi mahjong|lt=|zh|太原立四麻将|WD=}}''', or '''''Lisi''''' ({{Literal translation|Raise Four}}): the players must win with the first four blocks drawn which are placed separately in front of the others. These four blocks cannot be touched until the player has a ready hand.
* '''{{Interlanguage link|Tianjin mahjong|lt=|zh|天津麻将|WD=|display=1}}''' using normally seven jokers, with special scoring such as ''joker-free'', ''joker-waiting-pair'', ''catch-5'', ''dragon'', ''joker-suited-dragon''.
* '''Wenzhou mahjong''' is a uncommon regional variation primarily played in [[Wenzhou]] of [[Zhejiang]] Province. It is played without the flower and season tiles. The most distinct feature is that it is played with 16 tile hands with an additional rule of determining a [[Wild card (cards)|wild card]] tile (Caishen {{Literal translation|God of fortune}}) which can substitute as another tiles in the winning combination at the start of every hand.
* '''Wuhan mahjong''' is growing rapidly<ref>{{Cite web |last=Keegan |first=Matthew |date=2022-11-26 |title=As China tightens its grip, Hong Kong is preserving its identity through the game of mahjong |url=https://inews.co.uk/news/world/hong-kong-hostel-mahjong-1994042 |access-date=2024-09-12 |website=inews.co.uk |language=en}}</ref> and become popular in southern China. It is different from other parts of China such that it has a tile that can be used as everything called Laizi, and the player has to have a set of special two tiles, namely two, five, eight, as prerequisite for winning. Another variation has become the new trend. Special tiles need to be discarded.
* '''Xiangyang mahjong''' is played with three players, and without winds, seasons, flowers and one suit of dots, bamboo and characters. It places special emphasis on the 5 tile giving extra points for any hand made using a 5 tile.

===Other variants===
* '''[[American mahjong]]''' is a derivative of mahjong, standardized and regulated by the U.S.-based National Mah Jongg League, Inc.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalmahjonggleague.org |title=National Mahjjong League |publisher=Nationalmahjonggleague.org |access-date=7 September 2012}}</ref> and the American Mah-Jongg Association.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.amja.net/|title=American Mah-Jongg Association – news, products and tournaments – Join us for our next American Mah-Jongg tournament or cruise!.|website=www.amja.net}}</ref> Unlike other forms of Mahjong, permitted "legal" hands are changed annually through a published card that must be purchased by players from one of the sponsoring organizational bodies. It uses joker tiles, the Charleston, plus melds of five or more tiles, treats bonus tiles as honors, 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 have minor scoring differences, are commonly referred to as ''mahjongg'' or ''mah-jongg'' (with 2 Gs, often hyphenated).
* '''European classical mahjong''' is a family of European variants that remained closer to Chinese classical mahjong than most modern Chinese variants, some of which are still actively played today. Most notably:
:* '''Dutch tournament rules''' (''Nederlandse Toernooi Spelregels'' or '''''NTS''''') are a ruleset formalized in 2002 that is now maintained by the Dutch Mahjong Federation. Although nowadays not as popular as MCR in the Netherlands, it is still actively played in local clubs, tournaments, and living rooms.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://mahjongbond.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/NMB-NTS-Spelregelboekje.pdf|title=Spelregelboekje NTS|publisher=Nederlandse Mahjong Bond|access-date=2025-04-15|language=nl}}</ref>
:* '''Italian official rules''' (''Regolamento Ufficiale Italiano'') are a ruleset maintained by the Italian Mahjong Federation.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.fimj.it/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/111213_Regolamento_FIMJ_A4.pdf|title=Regolamento Ufficiale Italiano|publisher=Federazione Italiana Mah-Jong|access-date=2025-04-15|language=it}}</ref>
* '''Japanese classical mahjong''' is still used in tournaments. It is closer to the Chinese classical scoring system but only the winner scores.
* '''[[Japanese mahjong]]''' is a standardized form of mahjong in Japan and South Korea. It is also found prevalently in video games, which helped make it one of the most widespread forms of mahjong worldwide, including in English-speaking countries and Europe. In addition to scoring changes, the rules of ''[[Japanese Mahjong#Rīchi|rīchi]]'' (ready hand) and ''[[Japanese mahjong scoring rules#Dora|dora]]'' (bonus tiles) are unique highlights of this variant. In addition, tile discards are specifically arranged in front of each player by discard order, to take discarded tiles into account during play. Some rules replace some number 5 tiles with red tiles so that they can eventually get more value.<!--A standard rule set for Japanese mahjong was designed in 2008 by the European Mahjong Association,<ref>[http://gamenoodle.blogspot.com/2012/09/mahjongs.html European Mahjong Association]</ref> in cooperation with the Japan Mahjong Organizing Committee, in order to organize the first European Riichi Mahjong Championship in Hanover, Germany, June 2008. Danish player Thomas Kragh was the winner.<ref>http://www.mahjongnews.com/en/index.php/ec-riichi/54-ec-2008/104-rmc2008.html {{Bare URL inline|date=March 2022}}</ref>-->
* '''Pussers bones''' is a fast-moving variant developed by sailors in the [[Royal Australian Navy]]. It uses an alternative vocabulary, such as ''Eddie'', ''Sammy'', ''Wally'', and ''Normie'', instead of ''East'', ''South'', ''West'', and ''North'' respectively.
* '''[[Singaporean mahjong]]''' and Malaysian mahjong are two similar variants with much in common with Hong Kong mahjong. Unique elements are the use of four animal bonus 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 ''kong'') are met. Melds may also be presented in a form different from most other variations.
* '''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 three or four ''faan'' 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.
* '''{{Interlanguage link|Taiwanese mahjong|lt=|zh|台湾麻将|WD=}}''' is the variety prevalent in Taiwan and involves hands of sixteen tiles (as opposed to the thirteen-tile hands in other versions), features bonuses for dealers and recurring dealerships, and allows multiple players to win from a single discard.
* '''Vietnamese mahjong''' has the same eight specialized jokers but with only eight different extra flowers for a total of 160 tiles. A modern variant triplicates or quadruplicates the jokers for a total of 176 or 184 tiles.
* '''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.
* '''Zung Jung''' is a mahjong variant designed by statistician Alan Kwan, intended for both competitive and casual play. It has a scoring system informed by statistical mathematics, and a more streamlined and simplified ruleset than traditional variants.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.zungjungmahjong.com/whats-zung-jung/|title=What's Zung Jung?|website=Zung Jung Mahjong.com|access-date=2025-04-15}}</ref> A slight modification of this ruleset was used in the [[World Series Of Mahjong]] tournament.
* '''[[Three-player mahjong]]''' (or 3-''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.<ref>[http://mahjong.wikidot.com/rules:three-player "Three-player mahjong"]. ''The Mahjong Wiki''. Retrieved 17 November 2017.{{user-generated source|date=July 2022}}</ref>
:* In '''Korean three-player mahjong''', 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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://mahjong.wikidot.com/rules:korean-overview|title=Korean Mahjong Rules – Mahjong Wiki (麻将维基)|website=mahjong.wikidot.com}}{{user-generated source|date=May 2025}}</ref>

=== Equipment ===

==== Tables ====
[[File:Open the mah-jong table (3599421021).jpg|thumb|right|Interior of an automatic mahjong table.]]
Mahjong playing surfaces are typically square and small enough to be within arm's length of all equipment. The edges are raised to prevent tiles from sliding off and the surface is covered in felt to limit wear on the tiles. Automatic dealing tables, often used for high stakes playing and tournaments, are able to shuffle tiles, build walls, and randomize dice. It is an elaborate device built into a table which uses two alternating sets of tiles. It shuffles one set of tiles while the players play on the other set. After the round is finished the tiles are dropped into the table and the standby wall raises upwards.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Chan |first=Yan Xuan |date=2023-05-26 |title=How does an Automatic Mahjong Table Works? A Deep Dive. |url=https://www.themenscave.sg/blog/how-does-an-automatic-mahjong-table-works/ |access-date=2023-06-05 |website=The Men's Cave |language=en-US}}</ref>

====Tiles====
{{Main|Mahjong tiles}}
The following chart shows the most generic set of tiles
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!colspan=2 rowspan=2|
!colspan=11|Numbers
|-
!1
!2
!3
!4
!5
!6
!7
!colspan=2|8
!colspan=2|9
|-
!rowspan=3|Suits
!Dots
|[[File:MJt1-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJt2-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJt3-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJt4-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJt5-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJt6-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJt7-.svg|50px]]
|colspan=2|[[File:MJt8-.svg|50px]]
|colspan=2|[[File:MJt9-.svg|50px]]
|-
!Bamboo
|[[File:MJs1-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJs2-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJs3-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJs4-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJs5-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJs6-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJs7-.svg|50px]]
|colspan=2|[[File:MJs8-.svg|50px]]
|colspan=2|[[File:MJs9-.svg|50px]]
|-
!Characters
|[[File:MJw1-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJw2-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJw3-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJw4-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJw5-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJw6-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJw7-.svg|50px]]
|colspan=2|[[File:MJw8-.svg|50px]]
|colspan=2|[[File:MJw9-.svg|50px]]
|-
!colspan=2 rowspan=4|Honors/Bonus
!colspan=4|Winds
!colspan=3|Dragons
!colspan=4|Bonus
|-
!East
!South
!West
!North
!Red
!Green
!White
!colspan=2|Seasons
!colspan=2|Flowers
|-
|rowspan=2|[[File:MJf1-.svg|50px]]
|rowspan=2|[[File:MJf2-.svg|50px]]
|rowspan=2|[[File:MJf3-.svg|50px]]
|rowspan=2|[[File:MJf4-.svg|50px]]
|rowspan=2|[[File:MJd1-.svg|50px]]
|rowspan=2|[[File:MJd2-.svg|50px]]
|rowspan=2|[[File:MJd3-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJh1-.svg|25px]]
|[[File:MJh2-.svg|25px]]
|[[File:MJh5-.svg|25px]]
|[[File:MJh6-.svg|25px]]
|-
|[[File:MJh3-.svg|25px]]
|[[File:MJh4-.svg|25px]]
|[[File:MJh7-.svg|25px]]
|[[File:MJh8-.svg|25px]]
|}

There are variations that feature specific use of tiles. Some three-player versions remove the North wind and one Chinese provincial version has no honors. 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 many Southeast Asian sets have more flower series.

==== Wild cards and jokers ====

Some mahjong variants accept wildcard tiles. The wildcard tiles are decided at the beginning of the game by choosing one random tile. The wild card could be the immediately following tile on the wall, after distributing tiles to all players, or it could also be separately decided by a dice throw. Wildcard tiles cannot be discarded and can only replace tiles in chows. Wildcard tiles cannot replace tiles in pungs and kongs. For example, if a character 4 is chosen, then character 4 and the next sequential tile, character 5, can be used as wild cards in this round. (When the wildcard indicator is chosen and exposed, only 3 tiles remain of the same denomination, so the next tile in the suit will also be used as a wildcard, adding to 7 wildcard tiles for 4 players.) Also, if a tile numbered 9 is the indicator, the suits circle back to 1, after 9. Thus, the number 9 and 1 are wild cards.

Also, if the chosen tile is not in the suited tiles, the wild cards are decided in rules:
[[File:Joker-vietnammj.JPG|right|thumb|Top eight are Vietnamese jokers. Bottom four are Chinese.]]
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Wild card 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 wild cards.

A feature of several variations of mahjong, most notably in American mahjong, is the notion of some number of Joker tiles. They may be used as a wild card: a substitute for any tile in a hand, or, in some variations, only tiles in melds. Another variation is that the Joker tile may ''not'' be used for melding. Depending on the variation, a player may replace a Joker tile that is part of an exposed meld belonging to any player with the tile it represents.

Rules governing discarding Joker tiles also exist; some variations permit the Joker tile to take on the identity of any tile, and others only permit the Joker tile to take on the identity of the previously discarded tile (or the absence of a tile, if it is the first discard).

Joker tiles may or may not affect 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 honor tile).

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

===== Flowers =====
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 Gentlemen|four noble plants]] of [[Confucianism|Confucian]] reckoning:
* 🀢 [[Prunus mume|plum]],
* 🀣 [[orchid]],
* 🀥 [[chrysanthemum]],
* and 🀤 [[bamboo]].

[[File:MJh5-.svg|50px|Plum]] [[File:MJh6-.svg|50px|Orchid]] [[File:MJh7-.svg|50px|Chrysanthemum]] [[File:MJh8-.svg|50px|Bamboo]]

The other 4 flower tiles (or season tiles) represent seasons:
* 🀦 [[spring (season)|spring]],
* 🀧 [[summer]],
* 🀨 [[autumn]],
* and 🀩 [[winter]].

[[File:MJh1-.svg|50px|Spring]] [[File:MJh2-.svg|50px|Summer]] [[File:MJh3-.svg|50px|Autumn]] [[File:MJh4-.svg|50px|Winter]]

These animal tiles are used in Malaysia, Singapore and local variations. They represent the [[cat]], [[mouse]], [[rooster]] and [[centipede]]. Like flower tiles, they also function as bonus tiles. However, as they have no corresponding seat position, any player who draws one of these gets a bonus point.

[[File:MJat1-.svg|50px|Cat]] [[File:MJat2-.svg|50px|Mouse]] [[File:MJat3-.svg|50px|Rooster]] [[File:MJat4-.svg|50px|Centipede]]

===== Walls =====
All tiles are placed face down and shuffled. Each player then stacks a row of tiles two tiles high in front of them, the length of the row depending on the number of tiles in use:
* 136 tiles: 17 stacks for each player
** Suits of circles, bamboos, and characters + winds + dragons
* 144 tiles: 18 stacks for each player
* 148 tiles: 19 stacks for dealer and player opposite, 18 for rest
* 152 tiles: 19 stacks for each player

====Dice, markers, and counting pieces====
[[File:Mahjong fiches.jpg|thumb|right|Mahjong counting sticks: Left are Chinese while the right are Japanese]]
Depending on the variation, two or three [[dice]] are usually used to decide what part of the wall to start dealing from. They are six-sided dice, traditionally but not necessarily Chinese dice with red one and four pips.

The dealer marker is a round or square object that the dealer places to the side to remind players who the dealer is. The wind marker may be used which indicates the current prevailing wind. In some cases the dealer marker and the wind marker are represented by one large marker, usually a small wheel where one can swivel the outer circle to indicate the prevailing wind (which the dealer holds onto), a cube with the four winds placed onto four of the sides which can be placed in a hollow square (the dealer holds onto it), or a cylinder locked into frame which can be rolled to expose the wind on the top. Japanese mahjong, especially in a gambling environment, may optionally use four yakitori markers to indicate which players have not won a hand yet and has to pay a penalty.

There are a variety of counting pieces used in different countries. They range from Chinese or Japanese counting sticks (thin sticks with various dots on them to represent various points), [[jeton]]s, [[play money]], paper and pencil, or various apps on touchscreen devices used to calculate and keep scores.

=== Rules ===
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-pung 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 five-of-a-kind.

==== Charleston ====
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 (card game)|Hearts]].

=== Hands ===
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 pungs using 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 of bamboo and green dragon.

==== Ready hands ====
When a hand is one tile short of winning (for example: [[File:MJs1-.svg|25px|1 Bamboo]] [[File:MJs2-.svg|25px|2 Bamboo]] [[File:MJs3-.svg|25px|3 Bamboo]] [[File:MJs1-.svg|25px|1 Bamboo]] [[File:MJs2-.svg|25px|2 Bamboo]] [[File:MJs3-.svg|25px|3 Bamboo]] [[File:MJs2-.svg|25px|2 Bamboo]] [[File:MJs3-.svg|25px|3 Bamboo]] [[File:MJs7-.svg|25px|7 Bamboo]] [[File:MJs8-.svg|25px|8 Bamboo]] [[File:MJs9-.svg|25px|9 Bamboo]] [[File:MJd2-.svg|25px|Green Dragon]] [[File:MJd2-.svg|25px|Green Dragon]], waiting for: [[File:MJs1-.svg|25px|1 Bamboo]], [[File:MJs4-.svg|25px|4 Bamboo]], or [[File:MJd2-.svg|25px|Green Dragon]], as [[File:MJs1-.svg|25px|1 Bamboo]] can be the eyes), the hand is said to be a ready hand, 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 ''[[Hong Kong mahjong scoring rules#Non-standard special hands|thirteen wonders]]'', or ''13 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 {{nihongo||立直|rīchi|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 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 penalised in some fashion. Declaring a nonexistent ''rīchi'' is also penalised 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.

=== Draws ===
If only the dead wall remains (or if no dead wall exists and the wall is depleted) and no one has won, the hand is drawn. A new hand begins, and depending on the variant, the Game Wind may change. For example, in most playing circles in Singapore, if there is at least one kong when the hand is a draw, the following player of the dealer becomes the next dealer; otherwise, the dealer remains dealer.

Japanese mahjong has a special rule called sanchahō, 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:
* On a player's first turn when no meld has been declared yet, if a player has nine different terminal (also known as major<ref>{{cite web|last=Gregory |first=Peter |url=http://mahjongbritishrules.com/scoring/index.html |title=Tile Classification |publisher=Mahjongbritishrules.com |access-date=7 September 2012}}</ref>) or honor tiles, the player may declare the hand to be drawn (for example, [[File:MJt1-.svg|25px|1 Circle]] [[File:MJt4-.svg|25px|4 Circle]] [[File:MJt5-.svg|25px|5 Circle]] [[File:MJt9-.svg|25px|9 Circle]] [[File:MJs1-.svg|25px|1 Bamboo]] [[File:MJs4-.svg|25px|4 Bamboo]] [[File:MJs6-.svg|25px|6 Bamboo]] [[File:MJs9-.svg|25px|9 Bamboo]] [[File:MJw1-.svg|25px|1 Character]] [[File:MJf1-.svg|25px|East Wind]] [[File:MJf3-.svg|25px|West Wind]] [[File:MJd1-.svg|25px|Red Dragon]] [[File:MJd1-.svg|25px|Red Dragon]] [[File:MJd3-.svg|25px|White Dragon]], but could also go for the nonstandard ''[[Hong Kong mahjong scoring rules#Non-standard special hands|thirteen wonders]]'' hand as well).
* Four winds' barrier: On the first turn without any meld declarations, if all 4 players discard the same Wind tile, the hand is drawn.
* Yonin rīchi: If all four players declare ''rīchi'', the hand is drawn.
* Four kongs' abort: 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.

===Scoring===
Scoring in mahjong involves points, with a monetary value for points agreed upon by players. Although in many variations scoreless hands are possible, many require that hands be of some point value in order to win the hand.

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.

Because of the large differences between the various systems of scoring (especially for Chinese variants), groups of players will often agree on particular scoring rules before a game.

====Points====
Points (terminology of which differs from variation to variation) are obtained by matching the winning hand with different criteria scoring different values. The points obtained may be modified into scores for each player using some (typically [[exponential function|exponential]]) functions. Some criteria may be also in terms of both points and score.

In many variations the dealer receives no scoring bonus and does not maintain their turn by winning or a dead hand.

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.

Some variations give points for concealed hands, in which case no melds are made except by winning on a discard.

In Old Hong Kong mahjong:
* Only the winner scores points.
* Winning hands are scored by totaling the point value of each element in the hand. Points are distinct from the actual payment received from each player.
* The winner receives points (also known as ''faan'' among some players) for:
** Individual melds,
** The composition of the entire hand,
** How the hand was won,
** Bonus tiles,
** Special patterns,
** A few other special criteria.
* In order to win, a player needs to have at least the minimum points agreed in advance (often 3).
* Bonus points are separate from the minimum points a player needs to win.
* If a player goes mahjong with a legal and minimum hand, their hand is scored by adding their points and bonus points together.
* The payment received from each player depends on three factors:
** The point value of the hand,
** If the player won from a discard or from the wall, and
** If the player was the dealer or not.

=== Comparison ===
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Mahjong variants
! Variation !! [[Hong Kong mahjong scoring rules|Hong Kong]] !! MCR !! [[Japanese mahjong|Japanese 4 Player]] !! Japanese 3 Player !! [[Three-player mahjong|Korean 3 Player]] !! HK New
!Wuhan!! [[Scoring in mahjong#Taiwanese scoring|Taiwan]] !! [[Scoring in mahjong#American scoring|American]]!!Classical !! [[Singaporean mahjong|Singapore]] !! Malaysian 4 Player !! Malaysian 3 Player !! Vietnam !! Sichuan !! Zung Jung
|-
|Characters
|{{Tick}}
|{{Tick}}
|{{Tick}}
|{{Yellow tick}}
|{{Tick}}
|{{Tick}}
|{{Tick}}
|{{Tick}}
|{{Tick}}
|{{Tick}}
|{{Tick}}
|{{Tick}}
|{{Nay}}
|{{Tick}}
|{{Tick}}
|{{Tick}}
|-
|Circles
|{{Tick}}
|{{Tick}}
|{{Tick}}
|{{Tick}}
|{{Tick}}
|{{Tick}}
|{{Tick}}
|{{Tick}}
|{{Tick}}
|{{Tick}}
|{{Tick}}
|{{Tick}}
|{{Tick}}
|{{Tick}}
|{{Tick}}
|{{Tick}}
|-
| Bamboo || {{Tick}} || {{Tick}} || {{Tick}} || {{Tick}} || {{Yellow tick}} || {{Tick}} 
|{{Tick}}|| {{Tick}} || {{Tick}}|| {{Tick}} || {{Tick}} || {{Tick}} ||{{Nay}}
|{{Tick}}
|{{Tick}}
|{{Tick}}
|-
|Dragons
|{{Tick}}
|{{Tick}}
|{{Tick}}
|{{Tick}}
|{{Tick}}
|{{Tick}}
|{{Tick}}
|{{Tick}}
|{{Tick}}
|{{Tick}}
|{{Tick}}
|{{Tick}}
|{{Tick}}
|{{Tick}}
|{{Nay}}
|{{Tick}}
|-
|Winds
|{{Tick}}
|{{Tick}}
|{{Tick}}
|{{Tick}}
|{{Yellow tick}}
|{{Tick}}
|{{Tick}}
|{{Tick}}
|{{Tick}}
|{{Tick}}
|{{Tick}}
|{{Tick}}
|{{Tick}}
|{{Tick}}
|{{Nay}}
|{{Tick}}
|-
| Flowers || {{Tick}} || {{Tick}} || {{Nay}} || {{Nay}}
|| {{Tick}} || {{Tick}} 
|{{Nay}}|| {{Tick}} || {{Tick}}|| {{Tick}} || {{Tick}} || {{Tick}} || {{Tick}} || {{Tick}}
|{{Nay}}||Optional
|-
| Seasons || {{Tick}} || {{Tick}} || {{Nay}} || {{Nay}}
|| {{Yellow tick}} || {{Tick}} 
|{{Nay}}|| {{Tick}} || {{Tick}}|| {{Tick}} || {{Tick}} || {{Tick}} || {{Tick}} || {{Tick}}
|{{Nay}}||Optional
|-
|Four Arts and Four Noble Professions/Emperors and Empresses
|{{Nay}}
|{{Nay}}
|{{Nay}}
|{{Nay}}
|{{Nay}}
|{{Nay}}
|{{Nay}}
|{{Nay}}
|{{Nay}}
|{{Nay}}
|{{Nay}}
|{{Tick}}
|{{Nay}}
|{{Tick}}
|{{Nay}}
|{{Nay}}
|-
| Animals || {{Nay}}|| {{Nay}}|| {{Nay}}|| {{Nay}}
|| {{Nay}} || {{Nay}}
|{{Nay}}|| {{Nay}}|| {{Nay}}|| {{Nay}}|| {{Tick}} || {{Tick}} || {{Tick}}
|{{Nay}}
|{{Nay}}
|{{Nay}}
|-
| Jokers ||{{Nay}}||{{Nay}}||{{Nay}}||{{Nay}}
||{{Nay}}||{{Nay}}
|{{Yellow tick}}||{{Nay}}||{{Tick}}||{{Nay}}||{{Yellow tick}}||{{Tick}}||{{Tick}}||{{Tick}}
|{{Nay}}||{{Nay}}
|-
| Scoring Base || Faan || Faan || Multipliers || Multipliers || Simple || Faan 
|Multipliers|| Simple || American|| Multipliers || Faan || Faan || Faan|| Faan || Varies || Simple
|-
| Scoring || Winner || Winner || Winner || Winner || Winner || Winner 
|Winner|| Winner || Winner|| All || Winner || All || All || Winner || Varies || Winner
|-
| East Doubles ||{{Tick}}||{{Nay}}||{{Tick}}||{{Tick}} || {{Nay}}||{{Tick}}
|{{Nay}}||{{Tick}}||{{Tick}}||{{Tick}}||{{Tick}}||{{Tick}}||{{Tick}}||{{Nay}}||{{Nay}}||{{Nay}}
|-
| Sacred Discard ([[Japanese mahjong#Furiten|Furiten]]) ||{{Nay}}||{{Nay}}||{{Tick}}||{{Tick}}
|| {{Tick}}||{{Nay}}
|{{Nay}}||{{Nay}}||{{Nay}}||{{Nay}}||{{Nay}}||{{Nay}}||{{Nay}}||{{Nay}}||{{Nay}}||{{Nay}}
|-
| Melded chows ||{{Tick}}||{{Tick}}||{{Tick}}||{{Nay}}
|| {{Nay}}||{{Tick}}
|{{Tick}}||{{Tick}}||{{Nay}}<ref>{{Cite book |title=Mah Jongg Made Easy |publisher=National Mah Jongg League, Inc. |year=2024 |edition=2024 |pages=14}}</ref>||{{Tick}}||{{Tick}}||{{Tick}}||{{Tick}}||{{Tick}}
|{{Nay}}||{{Tick}}
|-
| Riichi ||{{Nay}}||{{Nay}}||{{Tick}}||{{Tick}}
||{{Yellow tick}}||{{Nay}}
|{{Nay}}||{{Nay}}||{{Nay}}||{{Nay}}||{{Nay}}||{{Nay}}||{{Nay}}
|{{Nay}}
|{{Nay}}||{{Nay}}
|-
| Complete hand tiles || 14 || 14 || 14 || 14 || 14 || 14 
|14|| 17 || 14|| 14 || 14 || 14 || 14 || 14
|Varies || 14
|- i, volves
| Minimum Points (in variations units) || 3f || 8 || 1y || 1y || 2p || 5f 
|1f|| 7/10t || Varies|| 3f || 2t || ? || 5f || ?
|Varies||0 or 5 pts
|}

===Mahjong solitaire===

{{Main|Mahjong solitaire}}

A single player game employs the tiles of mahjong, usually played on computers or devices. Gameplay is entirely unrelated to mahjong or its variations and is a recent invention. The game involves stacking tiles face up in various elaborate patterns and removing uncovered matching tiles at the end of rows.

== Competition ==
[[File:wk-mahjong2002.jpg|thumb|The top 3 in the [[World Mahjong Championship]] in Tokyo, October 2002. Left: {{ill|lt=John J. O'Connor|ジョン・オコーナー|ja|vertical-align=sup}} (2nd place). In the middle: world champion Mai Hatsune, from Japan. Right: Yuichi Ikeya (3rd place).]]

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 ({{zh|p=Guóbiāo Májiàng|s=国标麻将|labels=no}}). 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.

The new rules are highly pattern-based. The rulebook contains 81 combinations, based on patterns and scoring elements popular in classic and modern regional Chinese variants; some table practices of Japan have also been adopted. Points for flower tiles (each flower is worth one point) may not be added until the player has scored eight points. The winner of a game receives the score from the player who discards the winning tile, plus eight basic points from each player; in the case of ''zimo'' (self-drawn win), they receive the value of this round plus eight points from all players.

The new rules were first used in an international tournament in Tokyo, where, in 2002, the [[2002 World Championship in Mahjong|first global tournament in mahjong]] was organized by the Mahjong Museum, the Japan Mahjong Organizing Committee, and the city council of Ningbo, China. One hundred players participated, mainly from Japan and China, but also from Europe and the United States. Mai Hatsune, from Japan, became the first world champion. The following year saw the first annual China Mahjong Championship, held in Hainan; the next two annual tournaments were held in Hong Kong and Beijing. Most players were Chinese; players from other nations attended as well.

In 2005, the first [[Open European Mahjong Championship]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mahjongnews.com/oemc2005.htm |title=The Independent Internet Mahjong Newspaper |publisher=Mahjongnews.com |access-date=7 September 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012145919/http://mahjongnews.com/oemc2005.htm |archive-date=12 October 2007 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref> was held in the Netherlands, with 108 players. The competition was won by Masato Chiba from Japan. The second European championship<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mahjongnews.com/en/index.php/oemc/oemc2007/121-oemc2007.html |title=Martin Wedel Jacobsen European mahjong champion |publisher=Mahjongnews.com |date=20 June 2007 |access-date=7 September 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120227031322/http://www.mahjongnews.com/en/index.php/oemc/oemc2007/121-oemc2007.html |archive-date=27 February 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> 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<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mahjongnews.com/en/index.php/oemc/oemc2009/283-oemc2009ranking9.html |title=OEMC 2009 Final Ranking |publisher=Mahjongnews.com |date=5 July 2009 |access-date=7 September 2012}}</ref> 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.

In 2006, the [[World Mahjong Organization]] (WMO) was founded in [[Beijing]], China, with the cooperation of, amongst others, the Japan Mahjong Organizing Committee (JMOC) and the European Mahjong Association (EMA). This organization held its first [[World Mahjong Championship]] in November 2007 in the Chinese town of [[Chengdu]], attended by 144 participants from all over the world. It was won by Li Li, a Chinese student at [[Tsinghua University]]. The next World Championship took place in [[Utrecht]], the Netherlands, 27 to 29 August 2010.

Other major international tournaments include the [[Mahjong International League]]'s [[World Mahjong Sports Games]] and the privately sponsored [[World Series Of Mahjong]].

[[American mahjong]] tournaments are held in virtually every state—the largest is in Las Vegas, Nevada, twice a year, and in Atlantic City, New Jersey, by Mah Jongg Madness (MJM), and an annual cruise is hosted by the National Mah Jongg League and MJM. MJM tournaments host between 150 and 500 participants at these larger events; there are several smaller-scale, but equally successful, tournaments held annually by other hosts. Prize pools are based on the number participating. Rules are based on the National Mah Jongg League standard rules.

== History ==
There are two disputed origin of mahjong, namely Ningbo and Fujian. The author of the first mahjong guidebook, Yifan Shen, wrote in his book "Illustrated Mahjong Guide" (1914) that the birth of mahjong was roughly thirty years ago in Ningbo,which is around the late 19th century.<ref name="繪圖麻雀牌譜"> 沈一帆 時務書館，1914年（上海遊藝社1924年重印）</ref> In the book "Endless History (博史）” written by Chinese scholar Yaquan Du in 1933, he believed that "mahjong was originally popular among fishermen in Guangdong and Fujian. Later in the early years of Guangxu, it spreaded among the businessmen in Ningbo.<ref name="《博史”》P.35> 杜亞泉水 開明書店</ref>[[File:沭陽紙牌.png|thumb|Money-suited cards]] Roughly speaking, mahjong started in late Qing, around the 19th century, with different scholars debating its actual year of invention. Late Qing scholar, lecturer of the Shanghai Jiaotong University, Zhixian Xu wrote in the book "Folklore of the Ten Leaves"<ref name="十葉野聞”> 許指嚴, 1917</ref> that the popularity of mahjong grew in the last years of Guangxu (after the end of the First Sino-Japanese War in 1914). We can conclude that the decades between the late 19th century to the early 20th century were the infant years of mahjong. 


Mahjong is based on draw-and-discard [[card game]]s that were popular in 18th and 19th century China, some of which are still popular today.<ref name="Lo">{{cite book|last1=Lo|first1=Andrew|title='China's Passion for Pai: Playing Cards, Dominoes, and Mahjong'. In: ''Asian Games: The Art of Contest''|date=2004|publisher=Asia Society|isbn=0-87848-099-4|pages=217–231}}</ref> They were played with a [[stripped deck]] of [[Chinese playing cards#Money-suited cards|money-suited cards]]. Each deck is divided into three suits of '''[[Cash (suit)|Cash]]''' or coins, '''[[String of cash coins (currency unit)|Strings]]''' of cash, and '''[[Myriad]]s''' of strings. There are nine ranks in each suit. In addition, there are three [[Wild card (cards)|wild cards]]: '''Red flower''', '''White flower''', and '''Old thousand'''. Depending on the game, there are multiple copies of each card.

Games scholar [[David Parlett]] has written that the Western card games [[Conquian]] and [[Rummy]] share a common origin with Mahjong.<ref>{{cite book|last=Parlett|first=David|title=The Penguin Book of Card Games|year=1978|publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-0-14-103787-5}}</ref> All these games involve players drawing and discarding tiles or cards to make [[Meld (cards)|melds]]. [[Khanhoo]] is an early example of such a game. The most likely ancestor to Mahjong was ''pènghú'' which was played with 120 or 150 cards.<ref name="Lo"/> During the late 19th century, ''pènghú'' was used interchangeably with ''máquè'' in both card and tile form.

It is not known when the conversion from cards to tiles took place precisely but it most likely occurred in the middle of the 19th century. The earliest surviving tile sets date to around 1870 and were acquired in [[Fuzhou]], [[Shanghai]], and [[Ningbo]].<ref name="Lo"/><ref name="Stanwick1">{{cite journal|last1=Stanwick|first1=Michael|title=Mahjong(g) Before Mahjong(g): Part 1|journal=[[The Playing-Card]]|date=2004|volume=32|issue=4|pages=153–162|ref=Stanwick1}}</ref><ref name="Depaulis">{{cite journal|last1=Depaulis|first1=Thierry|title=Embarrassing Tiles: Mahjong and the Taipings|journal=[[The Playing-Card]]|date=2007|volume=35|issue=3|pages=148–152}}</ref><ref name="Glover">In 1875, [[George B. Glover]], a commissioner in the Imperial Chinese Maritime Customs Service, donated a set Mahjong tiles to [[American Museum of Natural History]] and the other set to the [[Long Island Historical Society]].  They are the two oldest set Mahjong tiles found in the world.</ref> These sets differ from modern ones in several ways, there were no "flower" and ''fā'' ("green dragon") tiles. In their place were "king" tiles for [[Chinese dominoes|heaven, earth, man, and harmony]] and also for each of the 4 "winds" which may have acted as bonus tiles. In the contemporaneous Himly set, there were no ''zhōng'' ("red dragon") tiles either. Instead there were the wild cards known as Cash Flower, String Flower, and Myriad Flower plus an additional tile, the king of everything. These early jokers are still found in Vietnamese sets.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Stanwick|first1=Michael|last2=Xu|first2=Hongbin|title=Flowers and Kings: An Hypothesis of their Function in Early Ma Que|journal=[[The Playing-Card]]|date=2008|volume=37|issue=1|pages=29–40}}</ref> They may have been removed as the tiles share the same titles as the leaders of the [[Taiping Rebellion]] (1850–1864).<ref name="Depaulis"/> For example, [[Hong Xiuquan]] was the self-styled "Heavenly King of Great Peace" and his top subordinates were called east king, south king, west king, and north king.

The ban on gambling after the founding of the People's Republic in 1949 led to a decline in playing. The game itself was banned during the [[Cultural Revolution]] (1966–1976).<ref name="Lo"/> Today, it is a favorite pastime in China<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.winmahjong.com/mahjong-in-china/ |title=Mahjong in China |publisher=Win Mahjong |access-date=29 December 2014 }}</ref> and other Chinese-speaking communities.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Oxfeld |first1=Ellen |title=Blood, sweat, and Mahjong |date=1993 |publisher=Cornell University Press |location=Ithaca |isbn=0-8014-9908-9 |pages=108–115}}</ref>

=== Mahjong in the West ===
[[File:28.779 SL1 s.jpg|thumb|200px|Mahjong tiles of late 19th century, a gift of [[George B. Glover|Glover]]<ref name="Glover"/> to the Long Island Historical Society in 1875]]

The first Western records about mahjong seem to correspond to the papers of British Consul General F.E.B. Harvey, around the time when he served as consul in Ningbo, during the 1860s.<ref>{{Cite web|title=On the advent and spread of the game Mah-Jong|url=http://yris.yira.org/essays/2802|access-date=2022-02-23|website=The Yale Review of International Studies|language=en-US|date=3 January 2019|author-first=Sam|author-last=Pekats}}</ref> He mentions in his papers making the acquaintance of an English-fluent, rank-three official under the Daoguang Emperor, Chen Yumen, who taught him the game. In the same writings he details the rules he was taught by Chen.<ref>Unfortunately, Harvey’s ‘papers’ and ‘detailed’ description of the game have never been found. This story is probably forged.</ref> In 1895, British sinologist [[William Henry Wilkinson]] wrote a paper which mentioned a set of cards known in central China by the name of ''ma chioh'', literally, hemp sparrow, which he maintained was the origin of the term Mahjong. He did not explain the dialect of the originator or region specific etymology of this information.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Wilkinson, W.H.|title=Chinese Origin Of Playing Cards|journal=The American Anthropologist|year=1895|volume=viii|issue=1 |pages=61–78|doi=10.1525/aa.1895.8.1.02a00070|url=https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03572436/file/chineseorigin%20of%20playingcards-1.pdf|doi-access=free}}</ref> By 1910, there were written accounts in many languages, including [[French language|French]] and Japanese.{{Citation needed|date=April 2014}}

The game was imported to the United States in the 1920s.<ref>{{cite news |title=Recalling the Craze for a Game of Chance |first=Steven |last=Heller |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=15 March 2010 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/18/arts/artsspecial/18MAH.html?ex=1285473600&en=37c8a4976aafc929&ei=5087&WT.mc_id=AR-D-I-NYT-MOD-MOD-M143-ROS-0410-L2&WT.mc_ev=click}}</ref> 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. Mahjong became a central part of cultural bonding for [[Chinese Americans]] in the 1920s and '30s in [[Chinatown, Manhattan]] and was part of community building for suburban American Jewish women in the 1940s and 50s.<ref name="StanfordHeinz">{{cite news |last1=Walters |first1=Ashley |title=From China to U.S., the game of mahjong shaped modern America, says Stanford scholar |url=https://news.stanford.edu/news/2013/july/humanities-mahjong-history-071513.html |access-date=31 March 2021 |work=Stanford Report |publisher=Stanford University |date=15 July 2013 |language=en}}</ref>

Also in 1920, [[Joseph Park Babcock]] published his book ''Rules of Mah-Jongg'', also known as the "red book".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Babcock |first=Joseph Park |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yLarGAAACAAJ |title=Babcock's Rules for Mah-jongg; the Red Book of Rules |date=1923 |publisher=Mah-jongg sales Company of America |language=en}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web |title=A 'Ton' Of Fun: How Mahjong Became A U.S. Phenomenon |url=https://the1a.org/segments/mahjong-phenomenon-america/ |access-date=2022-10-14 |website=1A |language=en}}</ref>

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.<ref>[[Bill Bryson]], ''[[Made in America (book)|Made in America]]''. Harper, 1996, ch. 16.</ref> Several hit songs were recorded during the Mahjong fad, most notably "Since Ma Is Playing Mah Jong" by [[Eddie Cantor]].<ref name=slope>{{cite web |url=http://www.sloperama.com/mjfaq/mjfaq19.html#t |title=Why are so many players of American mah-jongg Jewish? |publisher=Sloperama.com |access-date=7 September 2012}}</ref>

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). 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'', written by NMJL's first president and co-founder, Viola L. Cecil.<ref>Tom Sloper, ''The Red Dragon & The West Wind: The Winning Guide to Official Chinese & American Mah-Jongg'', HarperCollins, 2007.</ref> In 1999, a second organization was formed, the American Mah Jongg Association.

In the United Kingdom, British author Alan D. Millington revived the Chinese classical game of the 1920s with his book ''The Complete Book of Mah-jongg'' (1977). This handbook includes a formal rules set for the game.

=== Current development ===
{{See also|Mahjong and artificial intelligence}}
[[File:Schoolkidsmahjong.jpg|thumb|200px|Students in the United States learning how to play Mahjong]]
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.<ref>Pakarnian, John, "Game Boy:  Glossary of Japanese Gambling Games", ''[[Metropolis (free magazine)|Metropolis]]'', 22 January 2010, p. 15.</ref> As of 2008, there were approximately 7.6 million Mahjong players in Japan and an estimated 8,900 Mahjong parlors did ¥300 billion (converting to US$2.8 billion according to exchange rates for 30 April 2020) in sales.<ref>Matsutani, Minoru, "[https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2010/06/15/reference/mah-jongg-ancient-progressive/ Mah-jongg ancient, progressive]", ''[[Japan Times]]'', 15 June 2010, p. 3.</ref> There are several [[manga]] and [[anime]] (e.g. [[Saki (manga)|''Saki'']] and [[Akagi (manga)|''Akagi'']]) devoted to dramatic and comic situations involving Mahjong.<ref>Schodt, Frederik, ''Manga! Manga! The World of Japanese Comics''. Kodansha, 1986, Chapter 5.</ref> Since the 1980s, hundreds of different Mahjong arcade machines in Japanese [[video arcade]]s have been created, including [[strip game#Mahjong|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|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 subgenre is the Mahjong movie.
Although the popularity of the game in China is still broad, since 1949, mahjong was frowned upon by the government because it is seen as a means of [[Gambling in China|gambling]] addiction, an issue that the government always sought to tackle.<ref>{{Cite web|title = China unveils restrictive new video game content guidelines|url = https://www.theburnin.com/lifestyle/china-video-game-censorship/|website = The Burn-In|date = 25 April 2019|access-date = 2019-08-05}}</ref>

Prolonged playing of Mahjong may trigger [[epilepsy|epileptic seizures]] according to a 2007 study.<ref>{{citation | title = Mah-jong–induced seizures: case reports and review of twenty-three patients | url = http://www.hkmj.org/article_pdfs/hkm0708p314.pdf |author1=Richard S.K. Chang |author2=Raymond T.F. Cheung |author3=S.L. Ho |author4=Windsor Mak |name-list-style=amp | journal = Hong Kong Med J | year = 2007 | volume = 13 | issue = 4 | pages = 314–318| pmid = 17664536 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110726152307/http://www.hkmj.org/article_pdfs/hkm0708p314.pdf | archive-date = 26 July 2011 | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=England |first=Vaudine |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6931119.stm |title=Mahjong game can induce epileptic seizures |work=BBC News |date=4 August 2007 |access-date=7 September 2012}}</ref> To date there are 23 reported cases of Mahjong-induced seizures in the English medical literature. Some doctors speculate that this may be due to stress and complex manual movement correlated with intense brain function similar to playing chess or card games such as poker.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Only one way to cure mahjong epilepsy – avoid the game|url = https://www.scmp.com/article/602784/only-one-way-cure-mahjong-epilepsy-avoid-game|website = South China Morning Post| date=3 August 2007 |access-date = 2016-02-19}}</ref>

Studies by doctors have also shown in Hong Kong that the game is beneficial for individuals suffering from dementia or cognitive memory difficulties, leading to the development of Mahjong therapy.<ref>{{cite journal|title=''An exploratory study of the effect of mahjong on the cognitive functioning of persons with dementia'' |date=24 May 2012 |pmid=16779765 | doi=10.1002/gps.1531 |volume=21 |issue=7 |journal=Int J Geriatr Psychiatry |pages=611–7 | last1 = Cheng | first1 = ST | last2 = Chan | first2 = AC | last3 = Yu | first3 = EC|s2cid=6080864 }}</ref> Many elderly in Hong Kong actively and regularly go to Mahjong Schools as a form of leisure and entertainment activities. As the Government does not allow gambling after World War II, the Government issued 144 licenses to these "schools" in 1956 in order to legalize the operation of places that provide Mahjong entertainment.

Researchers have also used [[artificial intelligence]] techniques to develop Mahjong-playing agents using [[Artificial neural network|neural networks]] and [[reinforcement learning]]. They have shown that a self-learning machine can be trained to compete with some of the best [[Richi Mahjong]] players.<ref>{{cite arXiv|last1=Li|first1=Junjie|last2=Koyamada|first2=Sotetsu|last3=Ye|first3=Qiwei|last4=Liu|first4=Guoqing|last5=Wang|first5=Chao|last6=Yang|first6=Ruihan|last7=Zhao|first7=Li|last8=Qin|first8=Tao|last9=Liu|first9=Tie-Yan|last10=Hon|first10=Hsiao-Wuen|date=2020-03-31|title=Suphx: Mastering Mahjong with Deep Reinforcement Learning|class=cs.AI|eprint=2003.13590}}</ref>

== Superstitions ==
Even though both skill and chance play a fundamental role in the game, there is no shortage of superstitions in which players believe where they sit, how they hold their pieces or objects they have on their person will somehow affect the outcome. For example, players will try to find seats with the best [[feng shui]] or wear their lucky clothing or trinkets. Usually, after one round (everybody has been the dealer once in a particular prevailing wind), player will switch seats. Yet, some players may refuse to do so when they have won multiple games sitting in that seat. They may believe that position possesses luck that is beneficial to them,<ref>{{cite web|title=新年打麻雀4大風水秘訣|url=https://www.tvb.com/lifestyle-c/%E6%96%B0%E5%B9%B4%E6%89%93%E9%BA%BB%E9%9B%804%E5%A4%A7%E9%A2%A8%E6%B0%B4%E7%A7%98%E8%A8%A3-%E5%8D%B3%E7%9D%87%E5%8D%81%E4%BA%8C%E7%94%9F%E8%82%96%E5%81%8F%E8%B2%A1%E4%BD%8D-%E5%8A%A9%E4%BD%A0%E4%B8%80%E5%AE%B6%E8%B4%8F%E4%B8%89%E5%AE%B6--1004919}}</ref> although feng shui is not science-based. Some believe that specific pieces (one dot, for example) bode bad luck if received in their opening hand.<ref>{{cite web|last=Lam|first=Desmond|title=Chinese Gambling Superstitions and Taboos|url=http://www.urbino.net/articles.cfm?specificArticle=Chinese%20Gambling%20Superstitions%20and%20Taboos|access-date=30 November 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130406215141/http://www.urbino.net/articles.cfm?specificArticle=Chinese%20Gambling%20Superstitions%20and%20Taboos|archive-date=6 April 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> The belief of feng shui is still rather prevalent in the Chinese society,  <ref>{{cite web|title=Why feng shui is Big Business in Hong Kong|url= https://www.timeout.com/hong-kong/things-to-do/why-feng-shui-is-big-business-in-hong-kong}}</ref> with over 47% of Chinese adults believing in it.<ref>{{cite web|title=Measuring Religion in China|url= https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2023/08/30/measuring-religion-in-china/}}</ref>

More elaborate superstitions in mahjong range from those found in the game poker, such as not counting one's wins and losses, to the comical, such as changing one's undergarments after a loss. As with all superstitions in gaming, none of them have been properly demonstrated as effective, though, for some, the rituals have become an integral part of the game experience and its aesthetics.<ref>{{cite web |title=麻将之迷信技巧 |trans-title=Superstitious skills of Mahjong |url=http://www.majiangjing.com/mjsh.asp?id=1918 |language=zh |website=麻将经网 |publisher=洛阳信息港建站中心 |location=[[Luoyang]], China |access-date=2019-09-05}}</ref>

==Glossary==
{| class="wikitable"
|- align="center"
!English||Chinese||Japanese||Comment
|- align="left"
|Simples||{{zh|t=數牌|s=数牌|p=shùpái|j=sou<sup>3</sup>paai<sup>2</sup>}}||{{cjkv|j=数牌|r=shūpai or sūpai}}||
|- align="left"
|Bamboo<br />(Sticks, Strings)||{{zh|c=索子|p=suǒzi|j=sok<sup>3</sup>zi<sup>2</sup>}}||{{cjkv|j=索子|r=sōzu}}||Originally means bar of 100 pence.
|- align="left"
|Dots<br />(Circles, Coins, Wheels, Stones)||{{zh|c=筒子|p=tǒngzi|j=tung<sup>4</sup>zi<sup>2</sup>}}<br />{{zh|t=餅子|s=饼子|p=bǐngzi}}||{{cjkv|j=筒子|r=pinzu}}||Originally meant pennies.
|- align="left"
|Characters<br />(Numbers, Myriads)||{{zh|t=萬子|s=万子|p=wànzi|j=maan<sup>6</sup>zi<sup>2</sup>}}||{{cjkv|j=萬子|r=wanzu or manzu}}||Originally means 10000 pence.
|- align="left"
|Honors||{{zh|c=字牌|p=zìpái|j=zi<sup>6</sup>paai<sup>2</sup>}}<br />{{zh|c=番子|p=fānzi|j=faan<sup>1</sup>zi<sup>2</sup>}}||{{cjkv|j=字牌|r=tsūpai or jihai}}||
|- align="left"
|Winds||{{zh|t=風牌|s=风牌|p=fēngpái|j=fung<sup>1</sup>paai<sup>2</sup>}}||{{cjkv|j=風牌|r=fonpai or kazehai}}||
|- align="left"
|Dragons||{{zh|c=箭牌|p=jiànpái|j=zin<sup>3</sup>paai<sup>2</sup>}}||{{cjkv|j=三元牌|r=sangenpai|l=three fundamental}}||
|- align="left"
|White dragon||{{zh|c=白板|p=báibǎn|j=baak<sup>6</sup>baan<sup>2</sup>|l=blank tile/to be stone-broke}}||{{cjkv|j=白|r=haku}}||
|- align="left"
|Red dragon||{{zh|c=中|p=zhōng|j=zung<sup>1</sup>|l=center or middle}}<br />{{zh|s=红中|t=紅中|p=hóngzhōng|j=hung<sup>4</sup>zung<sup>1</sup>|l=red center}}||{{cjkv|j=中|r=chun}}||Originally a fifth Wind.<ref name="Stanwick1"/>
|- align="left"
|Green dragon||{{zh|c=發|p=fā|j=faat<sup>3</sup>|l=fortune}}<br />{{zh|c=發財|p=fācái|j=faat<sup>3</sup>coi<sup>4</sup>|l=to get rich}}||{{cjkv|j=發|r=hatsu}}||Entered the set by 1890.<ref name="Lo"/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stanwick|first1=Michael|title=Mahjong(g), before and after Mahjong(g): Part 2|journal=[[The Playing-Card]]|date=2006|volume=35|issue=1|pages=27–39}}</ref>
|- align="left"
|Chow||{{zh|t=順子|s=顺子|p=shùnzi|j=seon<sup>6</sup>zi<sup>2</sup>}}||{{cjkv|j=順子|r=shūntsu or jūntsu}}||[[Run (cards)|Run]] of three tiles from the same suit.
|- align="left"
|Pung||{{zh|c=刻子|p=kèzi|j=haak<sup>1</sup>zi<sup>2</sup>}}||{{cjkv|j=刻子|r=kōtsu}}||Three identical tiles (three of a kind).
|- align="left"
|Kong||{{zh|t=槓子|s=杠子|p=gàngzi|j=gong<sup>3</sup>zi<sup>2</sup>}}||{{cjkv|j=槓子|r=kantsu}}||Four identical tiles (four of a kind).
|- align="left"
|Concealed Kong<br />(hidden Kong)||{{zh|s=暗杠|t=暗槓|p=àn gàng|j=am<sup>3</sup>gong<sup>3</sup>}}||{{cjkv|j=暗槓子|r=ankantsu}}||
|- align="left"
|Forming a Chow from discard||(Mandarin) {{zh|c=吃|p=chī}}<br />(Cantonese) {{zh|c=上|j=soeng<sup>6</sup>}}||{{cjkv|j=チー|r=chī}}||
|- align="left"
|Forming a Pung from discard||{{zh|c=碰|p=pèng|j=pung<sup>3</sup>}}||{{cjkv|j=ポン|r=pon}}||
|- align="left"
|Forming a Kong||{{zh|s=杠|t=槓|p=gàng|j=gong<sup>3</sup>}}||{{cjkv|j=カン　|r=kan}}||
|- align="left"
|Calling a win||(Mainland China) {{zh|c=和|p=hú}}<br />(Taiwan) {{zh|c=胡|p=hú}}<br />(Cantonese) {{zh|c=食糊|j=sik<sup>6</sup>wu<sup>4</sup>}}||{{cjkv|j=和了|r=hōra}}<br />{{cjkv|j=アガリ|r=agari}}||Declaring a completed hand.
|- align="left"
|Self-draw<br />(from the wall)||{{zh|c=自摸|p=zìmō|j=zi<sup>6</sup>mo<sup>1</sup>}}||{{cjkv|j=ツモ or 自摸|r=tsumo}}<br />{{cjkv|j=自摸和|r=tsumoagari}}||Drawing the tile from the wall required to complete a legal hand on one's turn.
|- align="left"
|Calling a win from a discard||||{{cjkv|j=ロン|r=ron}}<br />{{cjkv|j=栄和|r=ron'agari}}<br />{{cjkv|j=出和了り|r=deagari}}||
|- align="left"
|Discarding a tile from which another player calls a win||(Mandarin) {{zh|c=放炮|p=fàngpào}}<br />(Cantonese) {{zh|s=出冲|t=出衝|j=ceot<sup>1</sup>cung<sup>1</sup>}}||{{cjkv|j=放銃|r=hōjū}}<br />{{cjkv|j=振り込み|r=furikomi}}<br />{{cjkv|j=当たり|r=atari}}||
|- align="left"
|Ready hand||(Mandarin) {{zh|s=听牌|t=聽牌|p=tìngpái}}<br />(Cantonese) {{zh|c=叫糊|j=giu<sup>3</sup>wu<sup>4</sup>}}||{{cjkv|j=テンパイ or 聴牌|r=tenpai}}||A hand that is one tile away from winning.
|- align="left"
|False Mahjong||(Mainland China) {{zh|s=诈和|p=zhàhú}}<br />(Taiwan) {{zh|t=詐胡|p=zhàhú}} <br />(Cantonese) {{zh|c=詐糊|j=zaa<sup>3</sup>wu<sup>4</sup>}}||{{cjkv|j=錯和|r=chonbo}}||Calling a win without a legal hand.
|- align="left"
|Short hand||{{zh|c=小相公|p=xiǎoxiànggōng|j=siu<sup>2</sup>soeng<sup>3</sup>gung<sup>1</sup>}}||{{cjkv|j=少牌|r=shōhai}}||Having too few tiles to win (e.g. if a player forgets to draw a tile after declaring a kong). In literal Chinese: "small husband".
|- align="left"
|Long hand||{{zh|c=大相公|p=dàxiànggōng|j=daai<sup>6</sup>soeng<sup>3</sup>gung<sup>1</sup>}}||{{cjkv|j=多牌|r=tahai}}||Having too many tiles to win (e.g. if a player draws a tile by mistake after calling a pung from a discard). In literal Chinese: "big husband".
|- align="left"
|Draw<br />(goulash)||{{zh|c=流局|p=liújú|j=lau<sup>4</sup>guk<sup>6</sup>}}<br />{{cjkv|s=荒庄|t=荒莊|p=huāngzhuāng}}||{{cjkv|j=流局|r=ryūkyoku}}||When no player has won the round.
|}

*Heavenly Hand (天糊)
*Big Four Winds (大四喜)
*Big Three Dragons (大三元)
*All Kongs (十八羅漢)
*All Honor Tiles (字一色)
*Thirteen Orphans (十三么)
*Nine Gates (九蓮宝燈)
*Four Concealed Triplets (四暗刻)
*All Triplets (對對糊)
*Mixed one suit (混一色)
*All one suit (清一色)
*Pinfu (平糊)
*Little Three Dragons (小三元)
*Little Four Winds (小四喜)

== In popular culture ==
In the Korean television series, ''[[My Love from the Star]]'', the character Do Min Joon (played by Kim Soo-Hyun) plays Mah-jong and becomes the best player in Seoul. Wong Kar-Wai's film ''[[In the Mood for Love]]'' takes place in 1962 Hong Kong. The families and owners who live in the boarding house play there for entire nights.

The manga and anime ''[[Saki (manga)|Saki]]'' revolves around a high school Mahjong club. ''[[Akagi (manga)|Akagi]]'' and its prequel ''[[Ten (manga)|Ten]]'' deal with a college student who quickly becomes a prodigy of Mahjong, evolving within the Yakuza. Other manga with include ''[[Furiten-kun]]'', ''[[The Legend of the Gambler: Tetsuya]]'' and ''[[The Legend of Koizumi]]''.

In Thomas Harris's novel ''[[Red Dragon (novel)|Red Dragon]]'', a serial killer, who calls himself the "Red Dragon", carves the Mahjong symbol corresponding to his nickname on a tree.

Mahjong serves as a minor plot point in the 2016 film ''[[Arrival (film)|Arrival]]'' where General Shang uses the game to interact with the extraterrestrials.

The video game series ''[[Like a Dragon]]'' allows a player to play Mah-jong games in the form of mini-games. In ''[[Final Fantasy XIV]]'', a game called Doman Mahjong, a version strongly inspired by Mah-jong Riichi, can be played individually or multiplayer at the Gold Saucer, a casino inspired by ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]''. The MMORPG offers two game rules, one option with kuitan authorizes the formation of the yaku Tanyao after the announcement of chi, pon or kan.

In the 2008 American animated comedy film ''[[Kung Fu Panda (film)|Kung Fu Panda]]'', [[Po (Kung Fu Panda)|Po]]'s father, won his noodle shop in a Mahjong game. Mahjong is subtly present throughout the whole franchise of film, TV series and games.{{citation needed|date=August 2025}}

In Le théorème de Marguerite (2023) by Anna Novion, the heroine Marguerite, a brilliant doctoral student in mathematics at the ENS, starts playing Mah-jong to earn money.

In the 2018 film [[Crazy Rich Asians]], the main character Rachel lets the extremely traditional mother of her boyfriend win a Mahjong game at a parlor as a major plot point to convey the nature of their relationship.

== See also ==
{{Portal|China|Asia|Games}}
* [[Chinese playing cards]]
* [[Japanese Mahjong]]
* [[Khanhoo]]
* [[Madiao]]
* [[Mahjong (Unicode block)]]
* [[Mahjong and artificial intelligence]]
* [[Mahjong solitaire]]
* [[Mahjong tiles]]
* [[Singaporean mahjong]]
* [[Three player mahjong]]

==References==

=== Notes ===
{{reflist}}

=== Further reading ===
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite book |last1=Lo |first1=Amy |title=Book of Mahjong |date=2001 |publisher=Tuttle Publishing |location=North Clarendon, Vermont |isbn=0-8048-3302-8 |edition=First}}
* {{cite book |last1=Lo |first1=Amy |title=Complete Book of Mah Jongg |date=2016 |publisher=Tuttle Publishing |location=North Clarendon, Vermont |isbn=978-0-8048-3302-8 |edition=Second}}
*Zhou, H. X. & Wang, Y. L. (2002). The Origin and Development of Mahjong. Journal Of Ningbo University(Liberal Arts Edition)
* {{cite book |last1=Rep |first1=Jelte |title=The Great Mahjong Book |date=2007 |publisher=Tuttle Publishing |location=North Clarendon, Vermont |isbn=978-0-8048-3719-4}}
* Pritchard, David B., ''Teach Yourself mahjong''. McGraw-Hill/Contemporary: 2001. {{ISBN|0-658-02147-8}}.
* {{cite book |last1=Sloper |first1=Tom |title=The Red Dragon & the West Wind |date=2007 |publisher=HarperCollins |location=New York |isbn=978-0061233944}}
* Wright Patterson Mah Jongg Group, [http://wrightpattersonosc.org/mah-jongg.html ''Mah Jongg; Wright-Patterson Rules'']. Wright Patterson Mah Jongg Group: 1963.
{{refend}}

=== Historical research ===
{{refbegin|30em}}
* Culin, Stewart, ‘The Game of Ma-Jong, its Origin and Significance’. In: ''Brooklyn Museum Quarterly,'' Brooklyn, NY, Vol. XI, 1924, p.&nbsp;153–168. Also found at; [https://web.archive.org/web/20110516224304/http://gamesmuseum.uwaterloo.ca/Archives/Culin/Majong1924/index.html Gamesmuseum.uwaterloo.ca]
* Depaulis, Thierry, ‘Embarrassing Tiles: Mahjong and the Taipings’. In: ''[[The Playing-Card]]'', Vol. 35, No. 3, 2007, pp.&nbsp;148 – 153.
* Ebashi, Takashi, ‘Proto Mahjong. Mahjong Tiles in the 19th Century’. In: ''Mahjong Museum Report'', Vol. 5, No.2, Issue 9, April 2005, pp.&nbsp;14 – 17 (in Japanese).
* Lo, Andrew, ‘China’s Passion for Pai: Playing Cards, Dominoes, and Mahjong’. In: ''Asian Games: The Art of Contest'', Colin Mackenzie and Irving Finkel, eds. Asia Society. 2004. pp.&nbsp;217–231.
*Greene, M. (2016). The Game People Played: Mahjong in Modern Chinese Society and Culture. Cross-Currents: East Asian History and Culture Review, 5(1), 1–27. doi:10.1353/ach.2016.0001{{ISBN|0-87848-099-4|}}
* Stanwick, Michael, ‘Mahjong(g) Before Mahjong(g): Part 1’. In: ''The Playing-Card'', Vol. 32, No. 4, 2004, pp.&nbsp;153–162.
* Stanwick, Michael, ‘Mahjong(g) Before Mahjong(g): Part 2’. In: ''The Playing-Card'', Vol. 32, No. 5, 2004, pp.&nbsp;206–215.
* Stanwick, Michael, ‘Mahjong(g), Before and After Mahjong(g): Part 1’. In: ''The Playing-Card'', Vol. 34, No. 4, 2006, pp.&nbsp;259–268.
* Stanwick, Michael, ‘Mahjong(g), Before and After Mahjong(g): Part 2’. In: ''The Playing-Card'', Vol. 35, No. 1, 2006, pp.&nbsp;27–39.
* Stanwick, Michael and Xu, Hongbing, 'Flowers and Kings: A Hypothesis of their Function in Early Ma Que'. In: ''The Playing-Card'', Vol. 37, No. 1, 2008, pp.&nbsp;29–40.
* Stanwick, Michael and Xu, Hongbing, 'From Cards to Tiles: The Origin of Mahjong(g)'s Earliest Suit Names'. In: ''The Playing-Card'', Vol. 41, No. 1, 2012, pp.&nbsp;52–67.
* Wilkinson, William H.,(1890): Published in 1901 as pp 184–194 of ''Catalogue of the Collection of Playing Cards Bequeathed to the Trustees of the British Museum'', [[Freeman Marius O'Donoghue|F. M. O’Donoghue]].
* Wilkinson, William H.,(1893): Published in Culin, ''Games of the Orient'', Tuttle, 1958. First published under the title ''Korean Games, with Notes on the Corresponding Games of China and Japan'', University of Pennsylvania, 1895.
* Wilkinson, William H., ‘Chinese Origin of Playing Cards’, in ''[[The American Anthropologist]]'', Volume VIII, 1895, pp.&nbsp;61–78. Can also be found at; [http://infospace.yolasite.com/mahjong.php]
{{refend}}

==== Chinese classic ====
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |last=Babcock |first=J. P. |author-link=Joseph Park Babcock |title=Babcock's Rules for Mah-Jongg: The Red Book of Rules |date=1923 |publisher=Mah-Jongg Sales Company of America |location=San Francisco |edition=Second |orig-year= 1920 |url=https://archive.org/details/babcock_202209}}
* {{cite book |last=Hartman |first=Lee Foster |contribution=The American Code of Laws for Mah-Jongg |contributor-last1=Babcock |contributor-first1=J. P. |contributor-last2=Hartman |contributor-first2=L. F. |contributor-last3=Foster |contributor-first3=R. F. |contributor-last4=Smith |contributor-first4=John H |contributor-last5=Work |contributor-first5=Milton C. |contributor-link1=Joseph Park Babcock |contributor-link3=Robert Frederick Foster |contributor-link5=Milton Work|title=Standardized Mah Jong: A Manual of Tactics for Mixed Hands, Cleared Hands, One-double Game |pages=285–305 |date=1924 |publisher=Harper & Brothers |location=New York |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6mJLAAAAYAAJ}}
* {{cite book |last=Millington |first=A. D. |title=The Complete Book of Mah-Jongg |date=1977 |publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson |location=London |isbn=0-297-81340-4 |language=en}}
{{refend}}

==== Chinese official ====
{{refbegin}}
* ''Competition mahjong Official International Rulebook''. Takeshobo: 2002. {{ISBN|4-8124-0944-6}}.
* ''Handbook for the Competitions of the Chinese MaJiang. '' Organizing Committee of Chinese MaJiang: 2005.
* Hatsune, Mai and Takunori Kajimoto, translation by Ryan Morris ''[http://museum.takeshobo.co.jp/kokusai/index.html World-Class Mahjong with World Champion Mai Hatsune]'': 2005.
* Pritchard, David B., ''The New mahjong''. Right Way: 2004. {{ISBN|0-7160-2164-1}}.
{{refend}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Mahjong|lcfirst=yes}}
* {{bgg|2093}}

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