| Ken Shirriff -> Mah Jongg -> Mah Jongg Tiles |
Mah Jongg uses three suits (bamboo, coins, and numbers) that run from 1 to 9:
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
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There are also three dragons and four winds:
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| Name | Picture | Chinese | Mandarin | Cantonese |
| Red dragon (Middle) |  | 中 | hóng zhōng | hung4 zung1 |
| Green dragon (Prosperity) |  | 發 | qīng fā / fā cai 發財 | faat3 coi4 |
| White dragon |  | 白 | bái ban | baak6 baan2 |
| East Wind |  | 東 风 | dōng fēng | dung1 fung1 |
| South Wind |  | 南 风 | nán fēng | naam4 fung1 |
| West Wind |  | 西 风 | xī fēng | sai1 fung1 |
| North Wind |  | 北 风 | běi fēng | baak1 fung1 |
| Bamboo | | 索 | sǔo | sok3 |
| Coins | | 銅 | tóng | tung4 |
| Numbers | | 萬 | wàn | maan6 |
| 1 | | 一 | yī | jat1 |
| 2 | | 二 | èr | ji6 |
| 3 | | 三 | sān | saam1 |
| 4 | | 四 | sì | sei3 |
| 5 | | 五 | wǔ | ng5 |
| 6 | | 六 | liù | luk6 |
| 7 | | 七 | qī | cat1 |
| 8 | | 八 | bā | baat3 |
| 9 | | 九 | jiǔ | gau2 |
The dealer throws three dice and sums up the total. Counting counterclockwise so that the dealer is '1', a player's row is chosen. Starting at the right edge, 'sum' tiles are counted and shifted to the right.
The dealer now takes a block of 4 tiles to the left of the divide.
The player to the dealer's right takes 4 tiles to the left, and players (counterclockwise) take blocks of 4 tiles (clockwise) until all players have 12 tiles for 13-tile variations and 16 for 16-tile variations. In 13-tile variations, each player then takes one more tile to make a 13-tile hand. In practice, in order to speed up the dealing procedure, the dealer often takes one extra tile during the dealing procedure to start their turn.
The board is now ready and new tiles will be taken from the wall where the dealing left off, proceeding clockwise. (from wikipedia)
See also MJ terms FAQ
Images are from Wikimedia Commons under GPDL. See here and here for license details.
