mahjong tile
A thick, blocky tile used in the game of mahjong. Mahjong tiles are traditionally made of bamboo and bone, although most modern tiles are made of plastic.
A mahjong set usually consists of 144 tiles. They are:
- 108 suited tiles. There are three suits, each numbered 1 to 9 with four tiles each number, thus 36 per suit:
- Circles
- Bamboos (1 Bamboo actually has a bird pictured to deter cheating by adding more bamboo lines)
- Characters (Chinese numerals with 萬, man/wan written on the lower part)
- 28 honor tiles that are suitless:
- 16 Wind tiles, four each for North (北), South (南), East (東), and West (西).
- 12 Dragon tiles, with four tiles for each "color":
- Red Dragon, symbolized by a red 中
- Green Dragon, symbolized by a green 發
- White Dragon, which is blank in Japanese sets (Some other sets have White Dragon tiles with a decorative blue rectangle on each to distinguish them from replacement tiles.)
- 8 optional "flower" tiles, so called because they are often depicted with flowers (many sets have them, but some including Japanese sets don't):
- 4 tiles representing actual flowers: plum (梅), orchid (蘭), chrysanthemum (菊), and bamboo (竹)
- 4 tiles representing seasons: spring (春), summer (夏), autumn (秋), and winter (冬)
The following tags implicate this tag: holding_mahjong_tile (learn more).
