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What are the winds and dragons in mahjong?

They are the honour tiles: four Winds (East, South, West, North) and three Dragons (Red, Green, White), each with four copies. They form triplets rather than runs, and the right ones score bonus points.

Alongside the three numbered suits, every standard set has honour tiles — tiles with no number that can only form pairs and triplets, never runs:

• Winds (風) — East 東, South 南, West 西, North 北. Each player is assigned a seat wind, and each round has a prevailing wind. A triplet of your seat wind, or of the round wind, scores a bonus — and matching both at once is doubly good.
• Dragons (箭) — Red 中, Green 發, White 白 (the blank/framed tile). A triplet of any dragon scores a bonus, and collecting all three (Big Three Dragons) is one of the great hands.

Honours are the tiles most tied to who you are at the table — your seat, the round — which is why they carry scoring weight the plain number tiles don't.

Last reviewed 2026-08-23.

© 2026 Steven Eka Halim · Mahjiku records game points only.