Season Tiles
The Season tiles illustration is thought to depict the Four Arts of the Chinese Scholar:
1 Zither (a stringed instrument)
2 Board Game (Go / Weiqi)
3 Calligraphy
4 Painting
A more typical variation is:
1 Fisher
2 Woodcutter
3 Farmer
4 Scholar
Dragons
There are 4 Red Dragons, 4 Green Dragons and 4 White Dragons. White Dragons are traditionally denoted by a blank tile and sometimes by a rectangle. All Dragons are Honour tiles.
Winds
There are 4 East Winds, 4 West Winds, 4 North Winds and 4 South Winds. East Wind has special significance.
Winds are sequenced as follows: 1 East, 2 South, 3 West, 4 North. By this sequence, East and West are the opposite of our world view. All Winds are Honour tiles.
Flowers and Seasons
There are 4 Flower tiles and 4 Season tiles, numbered 1 to 4. This number associates the tile with the wind of the same number. The depiction of flowers and seasons varies between sets. Note that in the Flower tiles shown below, Bamboo and Chrysanthemum are not in the normal order.
1 Plum
2 Orchid (Lily)
3 Bamboo (normally 4)
4 Chrysanthemum (normally 3)
1 Spring
2 Summer
3 Autumn
4 Winter
Jokers
Some sets also have 4 joker tiles. These are “wild” and are used to replace the 2 of Bamboos in a special form of the game called the “goulash”.
Dragons
Winds
Red Dragon
White Dragon
Green Dragon
1 2 3 4
East Wind
South Wind
West Wind
North Wind
Plain tile
