Mahjong characters · 萬子 wàn zi

What do the Chinese characters on mahjong tiles mean?

The character suit is the only one written in words: a number from 一 to 九 above 萬, ten thousand. Nine faces, four copies each, and every one of them is Chinese you will use off the table.

Every face in this suit

On the tile	Called	Reading	What it is
一萬	一万	yī wàn	1 of characters
二萬	二万	èr wàn	2 of characters
三萬	三万	sān wàn	3 of characters
四萬	四万	sì wàn	4 of characters
五萬	五万	wǔ wàn	5 of characters
六萬	六万	liù wàn	6 of characters
七萬	七万	qī wàn	7 of characters
八萬	八万	bā wàn	8 of characters
九萬	九万	jiǔ wàn	9 of characters

The characters, off the table

These are ordinary words. Each one is taught somewhere in an HSK course, and here is where:

Character	Reading	Meaning	Taught at
一	yī	one	数字零到十 · HSK 1
二	èr	two	数字零到十 · HSK 1
三	sān	three	数字零到十 · HSK 1
四	sì	four	数字零到十 · HSK 1
五	wǔ	five	数字零到十 · HSK 1
六	liù	six	数字零到十 · HSK 1
七	qī	seven	数字零到十 · HSK 1
八	bā	eight	数字零到十 · HSK 1
九	jiǔ	nine	数字零到十 · HSK 1
万	wàn	ten thousand	方向与位置 · HSK 3

Save this suit as one card

The same faces as a single image, sized for a phone screen: tap it, then pick 9:16 for TikTok or Reels, 4:5 for a feed, or 1.91:1 for a link preview.

Play with the real tiles

The full set — all 34 faces, a dealt hand to read, a matching game, a 听牌 puzzle and the words spoken at the table — is on the main mahjong page. Tap any tile there for its reading, stroke order and the lesson that teaches it.

The other suits: Dots Bamboo Winds Dragons · All the mahjong cards