Chinese Mahjong Competition Rules (MCR) Terms

Chinese MCR Mahjong Competition Rules Basic Terms and Glossary

Learning general terminology can feel like learning a completely different language. So here is a comprehensive list of terms used Chinese Mahjong Competition Rules (MCR) that you can refer to and its translation as well as definition.

• Lun - One go-around - Everyone has discarded a tile in turn.
• Pan - A hand - Everything that occurs between a deal and either someone declaring a win/“Hu” or nobody winning (Draw Game). A round usually consists of four hands of mahjong. (In English, the term “hand” is also used to refer to the tiles belonging to one player at a table.)
• Quan - Round - Everybody has been dealer once. There are four rounds in a complete game of mahjong.
• Ju - A complete game - Four rounds, or in the case of a tournament, the allotted time to play four rounds has run out. In a tournament setting, a complete game (four rounds or the allotted time has run out) may also be called a “session.”
• Prevalent wind - A complete game consists of four rounds, named according to the four winds. The first round is called the East Round, the second round the South round, the third round the West round, and the last round the North round.
• Seat Wind - The indicator of the player’s seat in each round (also named according to the four winds). The dealer’s Seat is called East, the player to the dealer’s right is South, the player opposite to the dealer is called West, and the player to the dealer’s left is called North.
• Seating - The placement of the players around the table (based on table number) . It is determined by draw lots or arranged the table numbers and places previously according to the Regulations.
• Dealer and non-dealer - The “dealer” is the player sitting in the seat currently designated East. The other players are “non-dealers” (or simply “players”). After completion of the hand, the dealer should pass the dice to the right, regardless of whether he wins the hand or not.
• Seat Rotation - Players change seats according to the Rules during playing.
• Tiles in the hand - There are thirteen tiles altogether after the deal, including any melded Chows, Pungs, and Kongs. The Standing Tiles are those concealed tiles which are not discarded by the player. The player’s thirteen tiles do not include kong replacements or flowers. The tiles which have not been melded prior to declaring a win/mahjong (“hu”) are called “concealed.”
• The Pair - When you succeed in making a complete normal-structure hand, the hand includes one pair (“The Pair”).
• Chow - Three sequentially-numbered tiles of the same suit.
• Pung - Three same-number tiles of the same suit (includes both concealed and melded pung) .
• A Pair - Any two identical tiles. Not to be confused with "The Pair". We make this distinction because the official MCR rules makes this distinction too
• Honor Tiles - The Wind Tiles and Dragon Tiles, taken together, are called “honors.” There are four different Wind Tiles, of which there are four each: East, South, West, North. There are three different Dragon Tiles, of which there are four each: the White Dragon, the Red Dragon and the Green Dragon.
• Terminal Tiles - The Tiles at the ends of a suit (in other words the One and Nine of a suit) and the Honor Tiles.
• Chi Pai - Declaring Chow - To take the discarded tile of the player to your left and meld them with two of your Standing Tiles to make a chow in front of your concealed tiles after you declare “Chi” (Chi Pai).
• Peng Pai - Declaring Pung - To take the tile discarded by another, and meld them with a pair from your Standing Tiles to make a Pung after you declare “Pung” (peng pai).
• Gang Pai - Declaring Kong - To make an exposure consisting of four identical tiles. The term “kong” is also used as a noun to refer to a meld of four identical tiles.
• Bu Hua - Flower Replacement - When you take a Flower Tile, you may expose it, declaring “flower” (“hua”) and take a replacement tile from the back end of the wall, until there are no more Flower tiles in your hand.
• Waiting - The state of waiting for one tile to complete the hand.
• Hu - Winning - Also known as calling Mahjong is the state of success: After you take a discarded tile or take a tile by yourself, the fourteen tiles of your hand form a proper and complete structure as the Rules prescribe, and the hand scores eight or more points.
• Self-Drawn - To win by taking a fresh tile from the wall.
• Win by Discard - To win on a tile discarded by another player
• Declare - You should declare (vocalize) “Chi” (when you chow), “Pung” (“Peng”), “Kong” (“Gang”), “Hua” (“Flower replacement”) or “Hu” (when declaring mahjong), before you act.
• Fan - The various names of the scoring elements according to MCR rules.
• Obligatory Discard - A tile that is obliged to be discarded on the subsequent turn due to erroneous exposure.
• The Winning Tile - The tile you take for Mahjong (Hu) must be set apart from your row of tiles for examination by others. It is forbidden to put the final tile among your other tiles prior to exposure of the complete hand.
• Wrong Tiles Count - When it’s not a player’s turn, he must always have thirteen tiles in his hand (not counting exposed flowers). When there are more than or less than thirteen tiles in the player’s hand between turns, this is an error that disqualifies the player from declaring “Hu.”
• Draw Game - When the wall has been completely depleted and nobody has made a complete winning mahjong hand.
• False Hu - False Mahjong - When a player declares “Hu,” but it is determined that he doesn’t have a valid winning hand according to the rules.
• The Wall - After lining up the stacks of tiles, everybody has eighteen stacks of tiles before them. The four player’s walls are collectively called The Wall (or sometimes The Great Wall).
• The Floor - The square area surrounded by the walls (tiles) of the four players

Here is the basic list of terms you will most likely run across when you are playing Chinese MCR Mahjong! Do not be intimidated and always ask others to help clarify any unknown terminology. Most likely you already know the terminology from another type of mahjong you are already playing.