What is the Flower called 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 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".

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.

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.

What are the symbols in mahjong?

Mah-Jongg tiles are comprised of three suits of One through Nine: Craks (also called Characters, Wan, or Ten Thousand), Bams (also called Bamboos or Sticks), and Dots (also called Balls or Circles), and other tiles known as Winds, Dragons, and Flowers (in American Mah-Jongg, Seasons tiles are referred to as Flowers).

Mahjong Flowers

What is the Flower wall in Mahjong?

In Chinese Mah-Jongg, the Flowers and Seasons are optionally used to give a player extra points. If you draw a Flower (or Season; for simplicity's sake these are usually referred to as just Flowers), it is immediately placed in your meld area and replaced by a tile from the back end of the Wall.

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.

What are the 4 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 is Sakura in Mahjong?

American Mahjong Tiles, "Sakura": Featuring a traditional Japanese cherry blossom motif, "Sakura" is revered as a symbol of rebirth, and the embodiment of beauty and mortality. 166 Cherry Blossom Tiles: The back of each tile of this American mahjong tiles depicts an alluring cherry blossom flower motif.

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!

Is there a secret to 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.

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.

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.

How many flowers in a Mahjong set?

A set of 144 Mahjong tiles consists of 36 tiles in the Dot/ Circle suit, 36 in the Bamboo suit, 36 in the Character suit, 16 Wind tiles, 12 Dragon tiles and 8 bonus tiles (4 Flowers and 4 Seasons). Players are seated around a squared table, signifying the four directions East, South, West, North.

What is the bird in Mahjong?

The number one tile ​does not have a bamboo stick on it. Instead, it has a bird sitting on bamboo, so this set is sometimes also called "bird." There 36 bamboo tiles in a set.

What does fu mean in mahjong?

There are two criteria for determining the winning points: han and fu, which correspond to a points table. Han is the unit for the value of yaku, which are particular patterns or conditions of a hand. Fu is the value of melds, waits and "going out".

How do you use flowers in mahjong?

In American mahjong flower tiles are used just like any suit or honor tile, in which they can be used as pairs or triplets towards completion of your hand.

What is red Dora in Mahjong?

The first and most prominent rule is the inclusion of “aka dora”. This literally translates to “red dora”, and refers to special dora tiles that are completely red. Generally, when aka dora are included, a 5 from each suit will be replaced with an aka dora.

How many flowers are there in American mahjong?

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

What are the flowers in Hong Kong mahjong?

The Flowers are represented by a plum, orchid, chrysanthemum and bamboo, and Seasons by a fisher, woodcutter, farmer and scholar.

What is the red dragon called in Mahjong?

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 does Mahjong mean in Chinese?

In Chinese, the game was originally called 麻雀 (pinyin: máquè)—meaning sparrow—which is still used in some languages in southern China. It is said that the clacking of tiles during shuffling resembles the chattering of sparrows.

Why is one bamboo a bird in Mahjong?

According to one of the historic stories, mahjong was invented during a time in China when sparrows (meaning of mahjong in chinese) were a problem (too many).