Shousangen
小三元 | Shousangen
The hand contains two dragon triplets and a pair of the third dragon.
By Kenji Tanaka · Updated
Overview
Shousangen, the little three dragons, is a yaku worth 2 han earned when your hand holds two triplets of dragons plus a pair of the third dragon. On its own it is only 2 han, but it never travels alone: the two dragon triplets are each yakuhai worth a han apiece, so a shousangen hand is effectively worth at least 4 han before anything else, and it combines naturally with honitsu or toitoi for a large score. It is the lesser counterpart of the yakuman daisangen, which it becomes if the dragon pair is completed into a third triplet, so a shousangen tenpai is often one tile from a yakuman. Because each dragon has only four copies, building shousangen usually relies on calling pon and on an early dragon-rich hand. Opponents tend to play cautiously once two dragon triplets and a dragon pair are exposed, since the daisangen upgrade looms.
Example Hand
555z 666z 77z 234m 678s
Conditions
- The hand must contain triplets (or quads) of two different dragons
- The pair must be the third dragon tile
- The remaining two melds can be anything
- Shousangen itself is worth 2 han, but since each dragon triplet is also a yakuhai (1 han each), the hand always includes at least 4 han total (2 for shousangen + 1 + 1 for the two dragon yakuhai)
- Worth 2 han regardless of whether the hand is open or closed
Strategy Tips
- If you start with pairs or triplets in two different dragons, aggressively pursue shousangen. Call pon on dragons when possible since the guaranteed 4 han minimum makes this a very strong hand even when open.
- Watch the discard piles carefully. If several of one dragon have been discarded, completing two dragon triplets becomes impossible, and you should abandon the shousangen plan early.
- Shousangen naturally requires holding many honor tiles, so it can combine with honitsu (half flush) if your remaining melds are from a single suit. This pushes the hand value even higher.