Below are instructions on how to play mahjong.

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Introduction:

Mahjong is one of the four major games played in China and in the international Chinese community. The traditional American games of bridge, poker, and rummy all share characteristics with mahjong. Mahjong is like bridge in that four players play sitting around a four sided table. Often times the four players are a set group that play on a regular or semi-regular basis. Unlike bridge, however, there are no partners in mahjong. Just as with poker, gambling can also take place during a game of mahjong. Gambling, though, is optional and the flow of the game is unchanged whether or not the players choose to gamble. Also in a similar fashion to poker, the fundamental rules and hands of mahjong are known by many Chinese regardless if they have experience playing mahjong. And just as with poker some individuals will never learn or play the game due to a social conception of mahjong being evil or otherwise polluted. The actual style of game play is familiar to individuals who play rummy or gin. Players take turns drawing tiles and discarding from their hand of 13 tiles. To win the game a player must complete a mahjong hand through drawing their 14th tile. Details on how the game is played follows.

For students of Chinese language and culture, learning the game of mahjong will assist in developing certain linguistic points and insight in both modern and traditional Chinese culture. While at the same time providing a doorway for students to have many hours of conversation with native speakers in a culturally comfortable setting. There are many small variations to the rules of mahjong and this instruction manuel aims to teach the basic principles while shying away from complex and obscure rules, as well as strategy. After a student learns the basic game play they will be comfortable in adapting to specialized situations.

The Tiles:

The game of mahjong is played with tiles (pai). There are 144 tiles that fall into various suits, each tile resembles what Americans would call dominos. Every tile contains a face and a blank side, on the face side a player will find 3 different number suits, 2 different “three of a kind” suits and eight flower tiles.

Number Suits: The three different numerical suits are “wheels” (tongzi), “bamboo” (tiaozi), and “ten thousand” (wanzi). Each number suit contains 4 tiles of each number 1 through 9, i.e. 4 x “1 bamboo” or 4 x “7 wheels”. Only number suits can be used to make runs* as well as “three of a kind” sets

“Three of a kind” Suits: The 2 “three of a kind” suits are the “winds” and the “dragons”. There are four tiles of each of the four winds (north, south, east, and west), as well as four of each of the three dragons “red, green, white”. “Three of a kind” suits can only be used to make “three of a kind” sets.

Flowers: Lastly there are 8 flowers. Each flower is individual but corresponds with a season i.e. ______ grow in summer, etc. The flowers do not directly effect game play, and are only used as bonus tiles which can only help the player when it comes time to score. (And for gambling purposes)

Setup:

All of the four players help in shuffling the tiles. When the tiles are thoroughly shuffled players will flip any tiles that are face-up to face down. Then each of the four players will assemble a “wall” of tiles that is 18 tiles long and two tiles high. The players will then place their wall in front of their position at the table with each end meeting the ends of their neighboring players at a 90 degree angle, this essentially forms a square with open space in the middle.

Starting the game:

There are variations on who goes first, but for the sake of learning each player will role a die and the player with the highest number will go first. To start the game the lead player will roll two dice and using the sum they will count around the table to their right (each player gets one count) until they reach the sum of the dots on the two die which were rolled. Using the designated player's wall the lead will use the same sum of the dots on the two die and count from the left of the player's wall. The stack of two tiles which the lead indicates after counting becomes the tail of the snake; to indicated the tail the lead will lift the two tiles and place them atop the two tiles that were second to last to be counted. The lead will then draw 2 stacks of 2 tiles (4 tiles total) from the point in the wall designated by the sum of the dice (not the tail of the snake). The player to the lead's right will draw the same number of tiles working to the right of gap created by the lead's draw. All four players continue drawing their tiles in sets of 4 until they have 12 tiles. When each player has 12 tiles the lead will draw a single tile to complete their hand of 13 tiles. Each player will draw their 13th tile to complete their hand. When every player has 13 tiles the lead will begin their turn by drawing a 14th tile from the head of the snake.

Gameplay:

Goal: The game is over when the winning player completes a mahjong hand. Mahjong is achieved when the player has 4 sets of 3 tiles and one pair. With 13 tiles in each players hand this means that the player must draw the winning piece. (4 sets of 3 tiles = 12, plus the pair = 14). A set (of 3 tiles) is either 3 of a kind (3 of the same tile) or a numerical run of 3 in the same suit. The pair must be two of a kind.

Turns: The lead player has already drawn their 14th tile from the “head of the snake”. If the player does not have mahjong then they must discard a tile to the middle of the table face up. When the tile is discarded it is “alive” until the next player draws their tile, then it is dead for the rest of the game. After the lead discards a tile (returning his hand to the nominal 13 tiles), the player to the lead's right then draws a tile and attempts to make mahjong. If the player does not have mahjong they must then discard a tile keeping their hand at 13 tiles. This process continues to the right until a player achieves mahjong.

Special Drawing Rules: While the default for drawing tiles is to draw from the head of the snake, a player may also draw from the middle of the table. Only the last discarded tile is alive and available to be drawn and it is only alive until the next player draws their tile at which point the tile is dead and remains face up with the other tiles in the middle.

Peng (Puhng): To peng a tile from the middle the player must already have 2 of the same tile that has just been discarded. When a player pengs a tile from the middle they must lay down their newly formed set to prove it, and continue to play as if they had just drawn a tile for their turn. (Which means that the player must discard a tile and return their hand to 13 tiles) Any player may peng a live tile at any time. Assuming the player does not achieve mahjong, after they discard the player to their right continues the game. This may result in certain players being skipped, which is just part of the game.

Chi (Chir as in “a bird chirps” without the “ps”): The third and last way to draw a tile is to chi (chir). Similar to peng the player must have 2 tiles of a set, the difference being that chi is for numerical runs (not 3 of a kind). And the player may only chi the live tile discarded by the person seated to their left. When a player discards a tile that can be chired by the player to their right, the second player says “chi” out loud, draws the tile, and lays down the set they just made. If the player does not have mahjong they must discard and gameplay continues.

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