What are the four flowers in mahjong?

Depending on the Mahjong set, the flowers are commonly the Plum Blossom, Iris, Bamboo, and the Chrysanthemum. These four flowers/plants represent the Four Confucian Gentlemen/women.

What do the flowers represent in Mahjong?

The eight flower tiles include four tiles representing the four seasons: winter (冬天, dōngtiān), spring (春天, chūntiān), summer (夏天, xiàtiān), and fall (秋天, qiūtiān). The remaining flower tiles represent the four Confucian plants: bamboo (竹, zhú), chrysanthemum (菊花, júhuā), orchid (蘭花, lánhuā), and plum (梅, méi).

What are the flowers in American mahjong?

Two patterns of American Mahjong flowers, the upper one is "Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter; Plum blossom, Orchid, Chrysanthemum, Bamboo" and the lower one is "Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter; Fortunate, Luxurious, Longevity, Noble".

What are flowers and seasons in Mahjong?

Mahjong Flowers

The flower(s) or season(s) corresponding with the winning player's wind may increase the score. The Flowers are represented by a plum, orchid, chrysanthemum and bamboo. Whereas the Seasons are depicted by a fisher, woodcutter, farmer and scholar.

Why do Mahjong sets come with extra flowers?

From the founding of the National Mah Jongg League 70 years ago (in 1937), the NMJL treated flowers as jokers (wild flowers). Beginning with the 1943 card, more flowers were added to increase the luck ratio and to allow for more challenging hands.

Mahjong 101 - How the wind work? Why 4? 麻雀不離四: 風、圈、莊(東南西南)#mahjong #howto #easy #wind #orientation

Why does my mahjong set have 16 flowers?

The set above has just the standard count of exactly eight flowers, but it is not unusual for sets to come with 16 or more flowers. Flower tiles might represent flowers, seasons, trades (occupations), virtues, historical scenes, games, or animals.

What is the rarest win in mahjong?

No prize for guessing, but the Big Four Winds/Big Four Blessings winning hand has the lowest probability in a game of mahjong. With a rare 1 in 57,856 chance of happening, this combination definitely needs to go onto your Instastory!

Why do mahjong flowers have numbers?

The bonus tiles relate to the winds, as each season is associated with a direction and a flower with a season. Some tile sets will have the seasons and flowers numbered 1-4; these numbers correspond to the wind direction it is associated with: 1=East, 2=South, 3=West, 4=North.

How do you count flowers in mahjong?

Because there are two sets of flowers used in Singapore Style mahjong, each player has two flowers that corresponds to his seat. During the game, if a player draws a flower that corresponds to his seat, then that flower would count towards his score; all other flowers are useless and do not count towards his score.

What does mahjong mean in English?

or mah-jongg (ˌmɑːˈdʒɒŋ ) noun. a game of Chinese origin, usually played by four people, in which tiles bearing various designs are drawn and discarded until one player has an entire hand of winning combinations. Word origin. from Chinese, literally: sparrows.

Are flowers and seasons interchangeable in Mahjong?

There are 8 flower tiles in the game. In some sets, they are represented as different varieties of flowers and may also have seasons printed on them. These differences are irrelevant for American Mah Jongg and all flower tiles are interchangeable.

What are the 4 suits in Mahjong?

Bamboo, Character, and Dots are the three main suits. Each suit contains four sets of tiles numbered 1-9, making 36 tiles total for the distinct categories. The Honor tiles have two classifications: Dragon and Wind. There are three sets of four Dragon tiles (12 total) and four sets of four wind tiles (16 total).

Is there a difference between American Mahjong and Chinese Mahjong?

What is the difference between American and Chinese mahjong? Traditional Chinese mahjong sets have 144 tiles, while American version is played with eight additional joker tiles and different score cards.

What does red and gold flower mean?

The yellow or gold rose meaning has changed over the years, but they're ultimately associated with friendship and joy. While the red rose is considered romantic, the yellow rose is its platonic counterpart.

What is Sakura mahjong?

Mahjong Sakura is one of the most popular games in the world. The purpose of this game is to find open pairs of identical tiles and remove them from the board. In order to win, you need to find and remove all the tiles. Free+ + Offers in-app purchases.

How many flower tiles are there in American Mah Jongg?

There are 8 flower tiles (right), which can depict all kinds of things; some of them might be named for the 4 seasons.

What is a dead hand in Mahjong?

A hand is considered “dead” if the player has too many or too few tiles. A player should always have 13 tiles, except in the middle of her turn (after picking up and before discarding), as the “dealer” (before discarding the first tile to start the game), and when she has called Mah Jongg.

What is a heavenly hand in Mahjong?

> Explanation: A Heavenly Hand is when East goes out on the initial deal. > Earthly Hand: Depending on what rules you play, South, West or North. > make an Earthly Hand either on Easts first discard, or on their first. > self-drawn tile, or on any discarded tile in the first round.

What is a chicken hand in Mahjong?

A chicken hand comprises four sets and a pair, so it is technically a winning hand. It is fairly easy to produce quickly but scores few points. Under some rules, it can win but scores nothing. Players use the hand as a spoiler to block opponents' higher-scoring combinations.

What is the secret to winning Mahjong?

Have a clear plan of attack – Think about the direction you want to take your hand and stick with it, while also remaining flexible. Picking up tiles for the sake of it won't work, and patience will always win out in the end. If your strategy isn't working, change tactics and look for other winning possibilities.

What are the winds and dragons in Mahjong?

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).

What do the dragons mean in Mahjong?

There are three "dragons": the red dragon (chun), symbolizing the middle or animal order (including humans), the green dragon (fa), symbolizing the lower or plant order of life, the white dragon (pai pan – white tile), symbolizing the higher or spirutual order of beings.

What is it called when no one wins in mahjong?

Within each round, the winds / seating position will rotate as follows: East, South, West, North (counterclockwise). This also happens in the event of a dead hand (where nobody wins).

What are the hardest mahjong hands?

Big Four Blessings (大四喜) is the hardest winning hand, with a probability of only 1 in 57,856 Mahjong rounds.

Why was mahjong banned?

Ironically, mahjong was outlawed under his rule. The early communists viewed it as an unnecessary distraction for the masses, and disliked its links to gambling and capitalism. It was not until 1985 the ban was lifted. Today the game is as popular as ever.