# Meld — Riichi Mahjong Glossary

> What is a meld in mahjong? Definitions for chi, pon, and kan with examples. Open vs closed melds and how they affect scoring.

**Source:** https://www.mahjongmaster.co/learn/riichi/glossary/meld/
**Author:** Kenji Tanaka (https://www.mahjongmaster.co/about/kenji-tanaka/)
**Publisher:** Mahjong Master (https://www.mahjongmaster.co)
**Published:** 2026-02-18
**Updated:** 2026-05-10
**Japanese:** 面子
**Category:** hand-structure
**Variant:** general

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## Meld

### Meld at a glance

A meld is a set of three tiles that forms either a sequence (shuntsu) or a triplet (koutsu). In standard mahjong hand composition, a winning hand requires exactly four melds plus one pair (jantou), totaling 14 tiles.

### Meld, explained

Melds are the fundamental building blocks of mahjong hands. Understanding melds is essential to playing mahjong effectively, as hand construction revolves entirely around forming and completing melds.

#### Types of Melds

**Shuntsu (Sequence Meld)**

A shuntsu is a meld consisting of three consecutive tiles of the same suit. For example, 3-4-5 of bamboo or 7-8-9 of characters. Sequences can only be formed from suited tiles (bamboo, characters, or dots) and cannot include honor tiles. The sequence must follow numerical order, and the lowest possible sequence is 1-2-3 while the highest is 7-8-9 of any suit.

**Koutsu (Triplet Meld)**

A koutsu is a meld consisting of three identical tiles. This can be three of the same number in the same suit (such as three 5-dot tiles) or three of the same honor tile (such as three East wind tiles). Triplets can be formed from any tile type in the game.

#### Meld Formation

Melds can be formed in two ways during gameplay:

**Concealed Melds**

Melds formed entirely from tiles drawn from the wall are concealed (a concealed triplet is an *ankou*). These stay hidden in a player's hand and are only revealed when the hand is complete and won.

**Called (Open) Melds**

Melds completed by claiming another player's discard are open (called melds are collectively *fuuro*). When a player claims a discard, they must display the meld face up on the table. The calls are: *pon* (claiming a discard to complete a triplet from a pair), *kan* (claiming the fourth copy of a tile while already holding three), and *chii* (claiming the previous player's discard to complete a sequence).

#### Hand Structure

A complete winning hand in standard mahjong consists of:
- Four melds (either shuntsu or koutsu, in any combination)
- One pair (jantou)

This totals 14 tiles. For example, a winning hand might contain two shuntsu sequences, two koutsu triplets, and one pair. Alternatively, a hand could contain four koutsu and one pair, or any other valid combination.

### Seeing Meld in play

Consider a player holding the following tiles: 1-2-3 bamboo, 5-5-5 characters, 7-8-9 dots, 2-3-4 bamboo, and a pair of East wind tiles.

This hand contains four valid melds:
1. 1-2-3 bamboo (shuntsu)
2. 5-5-5 characters (koutsu)
3. 7-8-9 dots (shuntsu)
4. 2-3-4 bamboo (shuntsu)

Plus one pair:
5. East-East (jantou)

This represents a complete, winning hand with four melds and one pair.

Understanding melds and their types is the first step in reading hands: every winning shape, and most scoring decisions, come down to which melds a hand is built from and whether they stayed concealed.

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*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/glossary/meld/.*