Editing Mahjong (section)

=== Equipment ===

==== Tables ====
[[File:Open the mah-jong table (3599421021).jpg|thumb|right|Interior of an automatic mahjong table.]]
Mahjong playing surfaces are typically square and small enough to be within arm's length of all equipment. The edges are raised to prevent tiles from sliding off and the surface is covered in felt to limit wear on the tiles. Automatic dealing tables, often used for high stakes playing and tournaments, are able to shuffle tiles, build walls, and randomize dice. It is an elaborate device built into a table which uses two alternating sets of tiles. It shuffles one set of tiles while the players play on the other set. After the round is finished the tiles are dropped into the table and the standby wall raises upwards.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Chan |first=Yan Xuan |date=2023-05-26 |title=How does an Automatic Mahjong Table Works? A Deep Dive. |url=https://www.themenscave.sg/blog/how-does-an-automatic-mahjong-table-works/ |access-date=2023-06-05 |website=The Men's Cave |language=en-US}}</ref>

====Tiles====
{{Main|Mahjong tiles}}
The following chart shows the most generic set of tiles
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!colspan=2 rowspan=2|
!colspan=11|Numbers
|-
!1
!2
!3
!4
!5
!6
!7
!colspan=2|8
!colspan=2|9
|-
!rowspan=3|Suits
!Dots
|[[File:MJt1-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJt2-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJt3-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJt4-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJt5-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJt6-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJt7-.svg|50px]]
|colspan=2|[[File:MJt8-.svg|50px]]
|colspan=2|[[File:MJt9-.svg|50px]]
|-
!Bamboo
|[[File:MJs1-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJs2-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJs3-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJs4-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJs5-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJs6-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJs7-.svg|50px]]
|colspan=2|[[File:MJs8-.svg|50px]]
|colspan=2|[[File:MJs9-.svg|50px]]
|-
!Characters
|[[File:MJw1-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJw2-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJw3-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJw4-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJw5-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJw6-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJw7-.svg|50px]]
|colspan=2|[[File:MJw8-.svg|50px]]
|colspan=2|[[File:MJw9-.svg|50px]]
|-
!colspan=2 rowspan=4|Honors/Bonus
!colspan=4|Winds
!colspan=3|Dragons
!colspan=4|Bonus
|-
!East
!South
!West
!North
!Red
!Green
!White
!colspan=2|Seasons
!colspan=2|Flowers
|-
|rowspan=2|[[File:MJf1-.svg|50px]]
|rowspan=2|[[File:MJf2-.svg|50px]]
|rowspan=2|[[File:MJf3-.svg|50px]]
|rowspan=2|[[File:MJf4-.svg|50px]]
|rowspan=2|[[File:MJd1-.svg|50px]]
|rowspan=2|[[File:MJd2-.svg|50px]]
|rowspan=2|[[File:MJd3-.svg|50px]]
|[[File:MJh1-.svg|25px]]
|[[File:MJh2-.svg|25px]]
|[[File:MJh5-.svg|25px]]
|[[File:MJh6-.svg|25px]]
|-
|[[File:MJh3-.svg|25px]]
|[[File:MJh4-.svg|25px]]
|[[File:MJh7-.svg|25px]]
|[[File:MJh8-.svg|25px]]
|}

There are variations that feature specific use of tiles. Some three-player versions remove the North wind and one Chinese provincial version has no honors. Korean mahjong removes the bamboo suit or at least its numbers 2–8 so that terminals can be used. Japanese mahjong rarely uses flowers or seasons. The seasons are removed in Korean mahjong, while many Southeast Asian sets have more flower series.

==== Wild cards and jokers ====

Some mahjong variants accept wildcard tiles. The wildcard tiles are decided at the beginning of the game by choosing one random tile. The wild card could be the immediately following tile on the wall, after distributing tiles to all players, or it could also be separately decided by a dice throw. Wildcard tiles cannot be discarded and can only replace tiles in chows. Wildcard tiles cannot replace tiles in pungs and kongs. For example, if a character 4 is chosen, then character 4 and the next sequential tile, character 5, can be used as wild cards in this round. (When the wildcard indicator is chosen and exposed, only 3 tiles remain of the same denomination, so the next tile in the suit will also be used as a wildcard, adding to 7 wildcard tiles for 4 players.) Also, if a tile numbered 9 is the indicator, the suits circle back to 1, after 9. Thus, the number 9 and 1 are wild cards.

Also, if the chosen tile is not in the suited tiles, the wild cards are decided in rules:
[[File:Joker-vietnammj.JPG|right|thumb|Top eight are Vietnamese jokers. Bottom four are Chinese.]]
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Wild card tile chosen !! Another wildcard
|-
| East || South
|-
| South || West
|-
| West || North
|-
| North || East
|-
| Red Dragon || Green Dragon
|-
| Green Dragon || White Dragon
|-
| White Dragon || Red Dragon
|}

The bonus tiles are not available for wild cards.

A feature of several variations of mahjong, most notably in American mahjong, is the notion of some number of Joker tiles. They may be used as a wild card: a substitute for any tile in a hand, or, in some variations, only tiles in melds. Another variation is that the Joker tile may ''not'' be used for melding. Depending on the variation, a player may replace a Joker tile that is part of an exposed meld belonging to any player with the tile it represents.

Rules governing discarding Joker tiles also exist; some variations permit the Joker tile to take on the identity of any tile, and others only permit the Joker tile to take on the identity of the previously discarded tile (or the absence of a tile, if it is the first discard).

Joker tiles may or may not affect scoring, depending on the variation. Some special hands may require the use of Joker tiles (for example, to represent a "fifth tile" of a certain suited or honor tile).

In American mahjong, it is illegal to pass Jokers during the Charleston.

===== Flowers =====
Japanese rule sets discourage the use of flowers and seasons. Korean rules and three-player mahjong in the Korean/Japanese tradition use only flowers. In Singapore and Malaysia an extra set of bonus tiles of four animals are used. The rule set includes a unique function in that players who get two specific animals get a one-time immediate payout from all players. In Taiwanese mahjong, getting all eight flowers and seasons constitutes an automatic win of the hand and specific payout from all players.

Four of the flower tiles represent the [[Four Gentlemen|four noble plants]] of [[Confucianism|Confucian]] reckoning:
* 🀢 [[Prunus mume|plum]],
* 🀣 [[orchid]],
* 🀥 [[chrysanthemum]],
* and 🀤 [[bamboo]].

[[File:MJh5-.svg|50px|Plum]] [[File:MJh6-.svg|50px|Orchid]] [[File:MJh7-.svg|50px|Chrysanthemum]] [[File:MJh8-.svg|50px|Bamboo]]

The other 4 flower tiles (or season tiles) represent seasons:
* 🀦 [[spring (season)|spring]],
* 🀧 [[summer]],
* 🀨 [[autumn]],
* and 🀩 [[winter]].

[[File:MJh1-.svg|50px|Spring]] [[File:MJh2-.svg|50px|Summer]] [[File:MJh3-.svg|50px|Autumn]] [[File:MJh4-.svg|50px|Winter]]

These animal tiles are used in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and local variations. They represent the [[cat]], [[mouse]], [[rooster]] and [[centipede]]. Like flower tiles, they also function as bonus tiles. However, as they have no corresponding seat position, any player who draws one of these gets a bonus point.

[[File:MJat1-.svg|50px|Cat]] [[File:MJat2-.svg|50px|Mouse]] [[File:MJat3-.svg|50px|Rooster]] [[File:MJat4-.svg|50px|Centipede]]

===== Walls =====
All tiles are placed face down and shuffled. Each player then stacks a row of tiles two tiles high in front of them, the length of the row depending on the number of tiles in use:
* 136 tiles: 17 stacks for each player
** Suits of circles, bamboos, and characters + winds + dragons
* 144 tiles: 18 stacks for each player
* 148 tiles: 19 stacks for dealer and player opposite, 18 for rest
* 152 tiles: 19 stacks for each player

====Dice, markers, and counting pieces====
[[File:Mahjong fiches.jpg|thumb|right|Mahjong counting sticks: Left are Chinese while the right are Japanese]]
Depending on the variation, two or three [[dice]] are usually used to decide what part of the wall to start dealing from. They are six-sided dice, traditionally but not necessarily Chinese dice with red one and four pips.

The dealer marker is a round or square object that the dealer places to the side to remind players who the dealer is. The wind marker may be used which indicates the current prevailing wind. In some cases the dealer marker and the wind marker are represented by one large marker, usually a small wheel where one can swivel the outer circle to indicate the prevailing wind (which the dealer holds onto), a cube with the four winds placed onto four of the sides which can be placed in a hollow square (the dealer holds onto it), or a cylinder locked into frame which can be rolled to expose the wind on the top. Japanese mahjong, especially in a gambling environment, may optionally use four yakitori markers to indicate which players have not won a hand yet and has to pay a penalty.

There are a variety of counting pieces used in different countries. They range from Chinese or Japanese counting sticks (thin sticks with various dots on them to represent various points), [[jeton]]s, [[play money]], paper and pencil, or various apps on touchscreen devices used to calculate and keep scores.