# The Tiles > Master the 136 tiles that make up a mahjong set: suits, honors, and the notation system that brings it all together. **Source:** https://www.mahjongmaster.co/learn/riichi/beginners/02-the-tiles/ **Author:** Kenji Tanaka (https://www.mahjongmaster.co/about/kenji-tanaka/) **Publisher:** Mahjong Master (https://www.mahjongmaster.co) **Published:** 2026-02-14 **Updated:** 2026-02-14 **Variant:** riichi **Difficulty:** beginner **Chapter:** 2 --- Before you can play, you need to know your tiles. A mahjong set contains **136 tiles** divided into suits and honors. Unlike playing cards, each unique tile appears **four times** in the set (four copies of each). Let's break them down. ## The Three Suits Mahjong has three numbered suits, each containing tiles numbered 1 through 9. Each numbered tile appears four times, giving us 36 tiles per suit (9 ranks × 4 copies = 36 tiles). ### Manzu (Characters/Wan) - The Red Tiles The character suit features Chinese numerals. We abbreviate it with **"m"** in notation. The characters show the Chinese number with the character 萬 (wan/man, meaning "ten thousand") below. You'll recognize these by their distinctive red Chinese characters. ### Pinzu (Circles/Dots) - The Blue Tiles The circle suit shows circular patterns. We abbreviate it with **"p"** in notation. These tiles display circles or dots, one circle for the 1-pin, two for the 2-pin, and so on. The pattern is the most intuitive of the three suits. ### Souzu (Bamboo/Sticks) - The Green Tiles The bamboo suit depicts bamboo sticks (with one notable exception). We abbreviate it with **"s"** in notation. **Important quirk:** The 1-bamboo (1s) doesn't show a single bamboo stick, it shows a bird (usually a peacock or sparrow). This is traditional across all mahjong variants. The tiles 2-9 show the corresponding number of bamboo sticks. ## Terminals and Simples Within the suits, tiles are categorized by their rank: - **Terminals** (1s and 9s): The 1 and 9 of each suit - **Simples** (2-8s): Everything in between This distinction matters for several yaku (scoring patterns), which we'll cover later. For now, just remember that 1s and 9s are special. ## Honor Tiles Beyond the three suits, we have **honor tiles**, 28 tiles that don't belong to any suit. These are divided into winds and dragons. ### The Four Winds The wind tiles in order: - **1z** = East (東, tōn) - **2z** = South (南, nan) - **3z** = West (西, shā) - **4z** = North (北, pei) Each wind appears four times in the set (4 winds × 4 copies = 16 tiles). The "z" abbreviation stands for "jihai" (字牌), the Japanese term for honor tiles. ### The Three Dragons The dragon tiles in order: - **5z** = White Dragon (白, haku) - blank or with a blue border - **6z** = Green Dragon (發, hatsu) - green character 發 - **7z** = Red Dragon (中, chun) - red character 中 Each dragon appears four times in the set (3 dragons × 4 copies = 12 tiles). Together, winds and dragons give us 28 honor tiles. Honors cannot form sequences, only triplets (three identical tiles) or pairs. ## Red Fives (Dora) Most modern riichi mahjong sets include **red fives**, special versions of the 5-man, 5-pin, and 5-sou that are worth bonus points (they count as dora, which we'll explain later). In notation, red fives are written as **"0m"**, **"0p"**, or **"0s"**. Each suit has one red five replacing one of the four normal 5s: - 3× normal 5-man + 1× red 5-man - 3× normal 5-pin + 1× red 5-pin - 3× normal 5-sou + 1× red 5-sou Red fives function identically to normal 5s for making sequences and sets, they just add a bonus point to your hand when you win. Some game settings disable red fives, returning to the traditional four normal 5s per suit. ## Tile Count Summary Let's verify the math: - **Suited tiles**: 3 suits × 9 ranks × 4 copies = 108 tiles - **Honor tiles**: 7 types × 4 copies = 28 tiles - **Total**: 108 + 28 = **136 tiles** ## Reading Notation Throughout this guide (and across the mahjong community), we use **number-letter notation** to represent tiles: - **123m** = 1-man, 2-man, 3-man - **456p** = 4-pin, 5-pin, 6-pin - **789s** = 7-sou, 8-sou, 9-sou - **1234567z** = East, South, West, North, White, Green, Red - **0m, 0p, 0s** = red fives You write all tiles of the same suit together, followed by the suit letter: Spaces separate distinct groups (like different suits or melds): ## Practice Recognition Take a moment to identify these tiles: From left to right: 1-man, 9-man, 1-pin, 9-pin, 1-sou, 9-sou, East, South, West, North, White Dragon, Green Dragon, Red Dragon. ## Why This Matters Understanding the tiles isn't just memorization, it's the foundation of reading hands. You need to instantly recognize: - **What suit a tile belongs to** (for sequences and yaku) - **Whether it's a terminal or simple** (for certain scoring patterns) - **Which tiles are honors** (they can't form sequences) The good news? After a few games, tile recognition becomes automatic. Your brain will start seeing "123m" as a natural sequence, and you'll instinctively know which tiles connect. ## Next Up: The Goal Now that you know your tiles, let's talk about what you're actually trying to build with them. In the next chapter, we'll cover the winning hand structure: four sets plus a pair. Ready to learn the goal of the game? Click "Next" below! --- *This content is from [Mahjong Master](https://www.mahjongmaster.co), a free educational reference for riichi (Japanese) and American (NMJL) mahjong. When citing this page, please link to https://www.mahjongmaster.co/learn/riichi/beginners/02-the-tiles/.*